Canon - Definite Power in the PowerShot A70

Author's Rating:

Pros: Most bang for your buck, AF assit lamp, excellent images, ease of use.

Cons: Reflective LCD frame, delicate port/battery covers.

The Bottom Line: 
The Canon PowerShot A70 has proven to be an excellent camera. It produces fantastic images in all lighting conditions, it's easy to use, feature-packed and an excellent value.

Author's Review
Far be it for me to over-analyze a product before buying it, but I went to the extreme reviewing digital cameras (over a 3 month span) and I feel I finally decided on a winner with the Canon PowerShot A70. Read on for the skinny!

Short Review (For Those Who Want to Skim):

Overall, and excellent camera, with a ton of features. It's simple to use, produces excellent photos and fits in a pocket for easy travel. For those of you who are curious, the other models I compared and contrasted included the Nikon CoolPix 3100 and the Fuji FinePix 3800. In the end, I wholeheartedly recommend this camera for anyone looking at a 3.0 megapixel camera in this price range.

Upsides:
- Great price for a 3.0 megapixel camera (given the feature set - $299)
- Auto-focus assist lamp (a rare feature in this class - and a huge bonus!)
- 3x zoom and an excellent lens
- Standard AA battery compliant (use rechargeable NiMH's, which pack more power and convenience)
- Fantastic picture quality
- Excellent movie mode with sound (the quality is great, although not a replacement for a DV camera - read: perfect for high-quality short clips)
- Integrated lens cover
- Quick timing between shots (low lag)
- An abundance of features (for both auto & manual modes)
- Easy to use, with a rather robust construction
- Excellent use of battery life (I've gotten about 200 pictures over a week's use when using rechargeable NiMH's - with the LCD always on)
- User-friendly software included in bundle
- Customizable components (start-up imagery and sounds, if you're into that - and yes I am! at least with the imagery - the sounds can be distracting though)

Downsides:
- Rubber cover over I/O ports appears flimsy
(but if you take care of your electronics, I don't foresee any problems with it).
- Reflective bezel around LCD was initially distracting
(I think I originally paid attention to it because I read other reviewers complaining about it) but I no longer notice it when taking pictures, even on bright sunny days.
- LCD gets superficial scratches
(although minimal, I expected this would be the case after owning a number of PDA's. So far, they are only noticeable in the "right" light, at the "right" angle, and they haven't interfered with picture taking at all, and I don't consider them an issue).
- That's it!

Long Review (For Those Who Want the Full Skinny)

After pawning my digital PDA and other electronic toys I no longer seemed to use, I went searching for my next great thing - a digital camera! I reviewed reviews upon reviews, compared minute details, and finally narrowed my selections down to the following: Canon PowerShot A70, Nikon CoolPix 3100 and the Fuji FinePix 3800.

Having printed out detailed specs and multiple reviews of each camera, I sat down and started to highlight the pros of each in one color, and the cons in another. After that, I listed out all the pros and cons in a two-column list, and then removed what I thought wasn't a deal-breaker item. In the end, the Canon was the winner (by a large margin) - but my research didn't stop there. Every day, I would revisit a few major review sites "just to make sure" I was selecting the right camera, and I'd start second-guessing myself (can you relate?). In any event, the path to making my final decision went something like this:

Reviewing with a Grain of Salt

During my research I realized three important things: 1) there are "professional" review sites (http://www.steves-digicams.com, http://www.dcresource.com etc.) dedicated solely to reviewing products - usually by an individual of a professional caliber, and 2) there are "consumer" review sites (http://www.epinions.com, http://www.pricegrabber.com etc.) with reviews by general consumers such as myself, and 3) that I initially weighed too heavily on the "professional" reviews - until I realized that's just what they were - professional reviews - by professional photographers with a professional eye for everything to do with picture taking.

My not-so-subtle point is that professional reviews tend to take note of the smaller, sometimes more subtle details (which I'm prone to pay most attention too, whether it be a pro or a con) than the average consumer would. So when a site lists the downsides of a camera as "purple fringing occasionally a problem" or "slight lens curvature in the corners" or "no diopter correction knob" or "red-eye more often that I would have liked" - I had to wonder: should I be concerned with these issues?

In the end, after fretting over the small details which didn't really seem to matter (my wife could barely notice the purple fringing in a photo after I pointed it out to her, red-eye is a piece-of-cake to remove with software (although I have yet see it in any photos), I have yet to notice any lens curvature issues at all, and I have no concerns about a missing diopter knob - and I occasionally wear glasses). Badda bing!

So instead of sweating the details, and trying to find the "perfect" camera, with the "perfect" feature-set at the "perfect" price - I selected an excellent camera, with an excellent feature-set at a great price. And I haven't been disappointed yet.

Why I'd Buy Another One or Why This Camera Rocks

To sum it up in a couple sentences (and a sentence fragment), I was able to take the camera out of the box, power it up, and take sharp photos with excellent coloring (my first picture was a macro close up of a grasshopper on a plant leaf in direct sunlight) without adjusting a thing. Simply power-on-point-frame-focus-shoot. Needless to say, I was impressed - and knowing I had the ability to adjust many of the features manually, I was even more impressed.

In the short review above, I listed the main upsides and downsides, so I won't reiterate them here. But there are a few points worth elaborating on:

1) Indoor photos and bright outdoor photos have both come out excellent. I have yet to try long shutter-speed capturing (like a night shot of a city) but I have no worries.
2) The movie feature is awesome! I've taken small movie clips of my kids to send to grandparents, and they've all turned out great. They're crisp, and the sound is excellent. A very cool bonus with this camera. Other comparable models don't have sound, and/or have a short record time.
3) The AF assist lamp - I can't imagine what I'd do without it. I've been taking many pictures in low-light settings, and if it wasn't for the AF assist lamp, I don't think I'd have the sharp pictures I've been getting. Given that the A70 was the the only model of the ones I was comparing to have the AF assist lamp, it was a gimme almost from the start. Big bonus!
4) Ability to add external lenses - a very cool feature that extends the flexibility of the camera. I have yet to purchase any, as they, for some reason, ALSO cost money ;)
5) Easy to use, easy to use, easy to use. My wife loves it, and my 5 year-old takes great pictures with it!
6) Battery life has been phenomenal and features are plentiful.

Are the Downsides Really That Bad?

After reading a number of reviews about the A70 from this site, as well as others, there seemed to be a common thread about what people considered to be a downside to the camera (as I initially did too). Now that I own one, I thought I'd list the commonly listed downsides, along with my, now personal, experience. Here they are:

1) Flimsy covers (batteries and I/O ports)
Although the design could be improved (from a design engineering point-of-view) I think the term "delicate" is more appropriate than flimsy. They do what they are suppose to do, and I don't get the feeling they are going to fall off at any second. If you take care of your electronics (as you should), I don't think you'll have a problem!

2) Soft images and purple fringing
I will admit, if you don't pay attention to your surroundings and shooting conditions, there are times when you make get a softer than expected image (not realizing the longer exposure in a low-light setting, and moving the camera etc.) But for 99% of the pictures I've taken, they have all been crisp and detailed, with negligible purple fringing (which I've only spotted in one photo - and you wouldn't even notice it if you didn't know what to look for) And no, I'm definitely not a professional photographer ;)

3) Reflective frame around LCD
It's one of those things where, it's not a concern or a noticeable issue until someone _else_ points it out. THEN you always seem to notice it. Basically, it's like a small mirror around the LCD, but to be honest, I don't notice it anymore. I initially thought it would be a problem when trying to frame shots using the LCD (which I do 99% of the time), but it isn't. I'm not a fan of shiny metallic parts, but I'm no longer concerned about it.

That's my story!

Accessories for a Perfect Combination

One thing I noticed that was missing from almost all the reviews of this camera were recommendations for the almost "necessary" accessories you should consider purchasing when you are looking to buy a camera (larger CF card, rechargeable batteries and charger etc.) Seeing as they also required a little research on my part, here is a list of the items I purchased to round-off an excellent camera package (these are my honest personal opinions, as I have no affiliation with any company represented below - I currently own these products after doing hours of comparison shopping, and I would buy them again if I had to):

1) 2200mAH AA Batteries & MHC401FS Charger Kit (includes 8 rechargeable NiMH's)
http://www.nimhbattery.com/mhc401fs.htm ($63)

2) Lowepro D-Res 20AW Case (purchased at Ritz Camera)
http://www.lowepro.com/pages/series/dres/dres20aw.html ($25)

3) Lexar Media 256 MB USB 12X High-Speed CompactFlash Card
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005U0HU/qid=1062521823/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-1665143-3563100 ($55 after $10 rebate)

4) Photoshop Album 1.0 (although the software that comes with the camera does a great job, I've found Photoshop Album to be an excellent tool. As you may have noticed, I'm picky about details, and there are a ton of features which make it my personal choice (the timeline view & search feature is suhweeet!)

So now I have an excellent camera, a rotating set of excellent rechargeable batteries, and a perfectly sized CF card (for holding a bunch of video clips, as well as all the photos I've needed in a days shooting). True, I am missing a CF card reader, which would be a great asset (as it conserves battery power), and I plan on getting one in the near future.

In The End

The Canon PowerShot A70 has proven to be an excellent camera. I'm _extremely_ happy with the purchases I've made as I've forayed into the realm of digital photography, and the best thing about having a digital camera, is that I can now compile and send pictures to grandparents the same day that I take them. I highly recommend the A70 to anyone looking for a worthwhile 3.0 megapixel camera - I know they've been in high demand as of late, as most bricks & mortar retailers around here have been completely sold out for weeks - grab one while you can!

Best of luck with your future purchases...