Canon Pro70 Digital Camera with 28-70mm ZoomOverall, the Canon Pro70 digital camera turned in a very impressive performance. It was interesting to notice our own reaction to the camera as we worked (played?) with it: We'd been looking forward to this unit for so long that its arrival had built in our minds to a significance only slightly short of that of the Second Coming. When it finally did arrive, we experienced a little letdown, not due to any problem with the camera, but only because we had built such an emotional expectation that no (human) device could satisfy it! Once we began working with the camera in the studio (and later, outdoors) though, we were repeatedly surprised by how comfortable it was to use. We really can't think of a better adjective to describe our experience: A myriad of little touches like the rotating LCD screen and instant review feature (when the shutter button is held down) combined to eliminate many of the minor annoyances we usually face when taking test shots with other cameras. Overall, the image quality of the PowerShot Pro70 camera is exceptional, as one would expect from a camera with its price tag and pedigree. Images were consistently well-exposed, colors were clean and bright, and detail superb. The Canon Pro70 digital camera also did a good job of using the available tonal range, preserving detail in both strong highlights and shadows. Color accuracy and saturation were very good, with only slight weaknesses in bright yellows and blues. We found colors not as "bright" as those of some cameras, but felt that overall accuracy was for the most part improved by this: There was no false over-saturation of colors to produce "pretty" color at the expense of accurate color. (As a side note, we've been noticing this as a trend among the higher-end cameras recently: We believe manufacturers as a group are moving away from the artificially bright colors of earlier models, toward color-management schemes that more accurately reflect the real world.) Detail and resolution were very good, with a visual resolution of approximately 600-650 line pairs/picture height in both vertical and horizontal directions, clearly at the top of the field. Performance in the outdoor far-field shot was also exceptionally good. We found the lens to be remarkably free from any geometric distortion, across the entire range of focal lengths. Due to the malfunctioning software CD, we weren't able to experiment with the Pro70's "CCD Raw" file format at all, which is unfortunate: Given the obvious quality of the lens and sensor, we would have liked an image-quality setting that employed less compression than did the "fine" mode. This obviously is where the CCD Raw format comes in, but we weren't able to experiment with it. (Just in case, we saved several "raw" mode files so we can process them after the fact, should we get another chance with the software.) The optical viewfinder on the Canon Pro70 digital camera is about typically accurate, showing 85% of the field of view captured by the CCD. The view through the LCD was exceptionally accurate though, showing (as close as we could tell) 100% of the final image. The framing of the optical viewfinder is almost perfectly centered at the telephoto end of the lens' range, shifting downward slightly at the widest-angle setting. The P70 did very well in macro mode, focusing down to a minimum 4.7 inch (12 cm) working distance, capturing a small 2.1 x 3.2 inches (5.4 x 8.1 cm) minimum area, with razor-sharp focus. Normally, this is where we'd comment on the camera's flash performance.: Although the Pro70 lacks a built-in flash, this is far more than made up for by the full integration with Canon's dedicated flash units. The model 380 we used in our testing really opened our eyes (so to speak) to the power of a separate flash unit: The bounce-flash lighting in the indoor portrait shot was so much more natural than anything we'd become accustomed to for digital cameras that the result was little short of startling. If you're looking for a digital camera to use specifically for flash photography, the Pro70 is by far the best solution we've found to date! (November, 1998) Canon refers to this camera model as the PowerShot Pro70, and after using it, we appreciated the appropriateness of the "Pro" designation: It affords not only excellent picture control, but a number of little niceties such as the rotating LCD screen and cable-remote that make life in the studio immeasurably easier. We expect many Pro70s will find good homes with pro and semi-pro photographers looking for a high-quality digicam for less than $1,500. Also, while we don't want to consign the Canon Pro70 digital camera to a narrow niche, it deserves pointing out that the combination of unusually wide-angle lens, exceptional low-light capability, and wonderful external-flash integration make for a superlative "indoor" camera! |