  Canon PowerShot Pro70 Megapixel-plus resolution, flexibility, and control make for a strong "Pro" offering. Initial Review Date: 14 November, 1998 |
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1,536 x 1024 pixel resolution |
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2.5X optical zoom (28-70mm equiv) | |
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Optical and LCD viewfinder | |
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Full external flash support | |
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Excellent low-light capability | |
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Supports DUAL CompactFlash cards |
Long one of the dominant players in the world of high-end film cameras, Canon's
entry into the digital world has been measured and cautious. With the introduction
of their PowerShot A5 model in mid-1998 though, they clearly advanced into the
ranks of leading digital camera makers: The tiny A5's attractive, compact format
and high-quality imagery have helped make it a big success with consumers. Now,
with their PowerShot Pro70, Canon has aggressively moved to expand their position
into the high end of the "prosumer" marketplace for digital cameras.
To that end, the Pro 70 incorporates a number of features that uniquely suit
it for professional use, particularly for in-studio shooting.
PowerShot Pro70 "High Points" overview
Several readers have requested quick, up-front feature summaries
of the cameras we review, which we'll be doing from this point onward. Herewith
are the key characteristics of the Canon PowerShot Pro70, ranked in a completely
arbitrary order reflecting our own personal biases and dispositions ;-)
- 1.7 megapixel CCD sensor
- 2.5x zoom, with equivalent focal lengths ranging from 28-70 mm
- Works with sophisticated external auto flash unit, including flash-head zoom and EV compensation
- AP (Aperture Priority) auto-exposure mode, truly independent of shutter speed
- "CCD Raw" mode for totally uncompressed images
- "Review" mode holds last image on LCD screen as long as shutter button is depressed
- Tilt/folding LCD screen is very handy in studio - we liked the option of positioning it to the side of the camera, or directly on the back...
- Optional remote release very handy in studio for long exposures
- Superb low-light capability
- AF-assist illuminator guarantees accurate focus in any light (giveaway of AF light will prevent candids though)
- Phase-differential passive autofocus is very accurate
- Fine-grained exposure-compensation adjustment (1/3EV steps) a welcome feature
- Dual CF cards for mondo in-camera storage. (Also supports Type II CF cards - should handle IBM 340-megabyte microdrives when they become available)
- Fairly fast cycle times (max of 11 seconds for uncompressed mode), for such a high-resolution camera.
- Average shutter delay, but very fast (0.2 seconds) if pre-focused
- Excellent ergonomics, very stable camera platform
- Works well with Canon dedicated speedlights, possibly usable with 550 super-speedlight? (multi-unit auto flash operation)
- NiMH battery pack provides high power, rapid charge
- Very fast, responsive menu system
- Standard 37mm filter threads for aux lens mount
- Very capable automatic white balance, works in virtually any lighting
- Wider angle lens, plus low light capability, plus external flash integration make for a superb "indoor" camera!
Overall, the Pro70 is an extremely strong offering, but there are a few things we'd really like to see in a camera of this level and target audience. (None of these are "fatal" flaws, but all would be useful to the Pro70's target audience):
- Spot Metering
- Manual white balance settings
- Faster autofocus
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Overview
In the PowerShot Pro70, Canon has created a package designed to satisfy the
"real camera envy" so many of us experience when working with most
digital cameras. The Pro70 boasts a very high resolution of 1536 x 1024 pixels,
with the familiar 3:2 aspect ratio of conventional 35mm film. It also has excellent
ergonomics, with a very solid "feel", and a shape that lends itself
to very stable camera-handling. The optics appear first rate, with two aspheric
elements in the total complement of 13, covering a somewhat wider-angle range
than is common in most digicams, ranging from equivalent focal lengths of 28-70mm.
When you work with cameras a great deal in the studio (as we do, with
our extensive studio-based test shooting), you quickly appreciate the major
impact seemingly small features can have on usability and productivity. In the
case of the Pro70, we came to greatly value the flip-out, rotating LCD screen,
optional remote shutter-release, and the reasonable working range the macro
option combined with the 70mm lens provided. Couple this with stationary (non-rotating)
37mm filter threads, aperture-priority autoexposure, and the ability to work
with external flash units, and you have a real winner! Finally, the 1/3 EV-unit
exposure compensation provides exceptionally fine exposure control. (This is
not to diminish at all its usefulness as a field camera: We were just particularly
struck with how pleasant it was to work with in the studio.)
Other key features include a very accurate autofocus system with assist-illumination
that will work in literally any ambient light, exceptional low-light capability,
and capacious removable-memory capacity. (The Pro70 will support the forthcoming
Type II CompactFlash cards, which promise storage capacities as high as 340
megabytes by the middle of next year.) Until Type II CF cards are available
though, the Pro70 can accept two CF cards, which currently means you can stuff
as much as 128 megabytes of storage into it! The availability of enormous storage
capacity combined with the uncompressed storage option may very well sound the
death knell for the JPEG format in professional applications.
Design
The Pro70 has an unusual but very functional design, borrowing heavily from
Canon's Optura line of compact video camcorders. The camera's design and placement
of user controls essentially mandates a two-handed grip, with the right hand
curling around the grip built into the body, and the left hand cradling the
"snout' of the camera's lens assembly. (The reason this two-fisted approach
is necessary is that the zoom control is located on the left-hand side of the
lens barrel, requiring the use of the left hand to actuate it.) While some folks
like to use a one-handed camera grip for quick candid shooting, the grip dictated
by the Pro70's design will provide a very stable camera platform.
As we mentioned earlier, we found ourselves particularly liking Canon's
implementation of the LCD viewfinder: In the studio, the ability to swivel the
viewfinder out to the side of the camera and angle it upward avoided a lot of
bending and squinting to frame our shots.
While far from tiny, the Pro70 is exceptionally comfortable to hold,
with its generously-sized molded hand grip, and the auxiliary support provided
by a left-hand grip on the lens barrel. Definitely not a "shirt pocket"
camera, the Pro70 measures 5.7 x 3.3 x 5.2 inches (148 x 84 x 130 mm), and weighs
in at 1.3 pounds (about 600 grams), without the battery pack.
Actually, the only quibble we can find with the design of the Pro70 is
that the ovoidal-shaped front element requires a rather large, oddly-shaped
lens protector cover that's bulky to store off-camera: Some sort of clip on
the neck strap or other storage option would be handy...
Viewfinder
Like most current digital cameras, the Canon Pro70 provides both optical and
LCD viewfinders. As we mentioned earlier, the LCD viewfinder on the Pro70 was
one of the "little" features that we really appreciated, particularly
in the studio. When not in use, the LCD panel stores face-in against the back
of the camera body, protected against damage and nose-smudges. You can also
flip it out, rotate it around, and snug it back against the camera body again,
this time facing out, in which mode it acts like the LCD on most digital point
& shoots. With the camera mounted on a tripod though, we most often found
ourselves swinging the LCD panel out to the side of the camera, and angling
it upward: This is the first digital camera we've tested that didn't give us
a severe backache by the time we were done with the finicky resolution tests!
The LCD display is normally off in recording mode, but can be turned on at any
time by pressing the "LCD/Video" button on the camera's top panel.
The display illuminates automatically in Macro mode. We found the LCD viewfinder
on the Pro70 to be very accurate: It displays almost exactly 100% of the field
of view vertically and horizontally, and is well-centered in both directions.
The one trivial complaint we have is that the bezel around the display screen
crops it very slightly on the ends, making the view just slightly less than
100% at the left and right edges. The LCD display has a very fast 25 frame per
second refresh rate, and was both bright and very sharp, although Canon doesn't
include the display's pixel count in its published specifications. The display
is relatively resistant to wash-out in bright sun, and also has a high-brightness
mode that helps further in such situations.
The Pro70's optical viewfinder was very functional as well: It zooms
along with the lens, as you move from wide angle to telephoto and back again.
Like those on most digicams, the optical finder on the Pro70 shows less subject
area than the image sensor ultimately captures, displaying about 85% of the
final image area. The optical finder on the Pro70 was unusual though, in how
well the viewfinder image remained properly centered relative to the sensor
field of view throughout the zoom range. Another nice touch on the Pro70's viewfinder
was a "dioptric" adjustment to correct for near- or far-sightedness
on the part of the user. For those of us whose eyeballs are losing their flexibility,
this is a very welcome addition!
"Instant Review"
When shooting critical photos, you often need to review the image you've just
captured on the camera's LCD panel, to make sure all is well before moving on.
Many cameras provide some sort of an immediate review, flashing the just-captured
image on the LCD screen for a few seconds after each picture. But what if you
want to study the image for more than those few seconds? Most digital cameras
require you to switch to "play" mode, which generally involves a delay
of a few seconds, and then another few seconds to return to "record"
mode to take the next picture. It doesn't take much of this to be a real aggravation!
The Pro70 has an elegant solution to this problem: The "instant
review" image shown on the LCD screen can be held for as long as you want,
simply by holding your finger down on the shutter release button after you've
taken the picture! With so many of our studio shots requiring precise framing,
we found this feature to be an incredible (even luxurious) time-saver! A small
touch, but just one of many that help make the difference between a professional
tool and just another point & shoot.
Optics
Superb optical quality has long been Canon's hallmark in the professional 35mm
arena, so you'd expect the optical system on the PowerShot Pro70 to be first
rate. The unusual complexity of the lens system, with 13 elements (2 of which
are aspherical), in 9 groups seems to support this, and in our tests, geometric
distortion and edge-to-edge sharpness were indeed excellent. (The total lack
of geometric distortion at all focal lengths was impressive and, in our experience,
very rare.)
The lens focal length ranges between equivalents of 28mm and 70mm on
a 35mm camera. This is a bit "wider" overall than most digital cameras,
a welcome fact for people shooting indoors or in cramped quarters. (Combined
with the excellent low-light and strong white-balance capability, the Pro70
would make a superb camera for shooting interiors for real estate and other
applications.) The somewhat shorter telephoto capability can be remedied through
accessory lenses fitted to the standard 37mm filter threads on the lens' front.
(Although add-on lenses would doubtless degrade the exceptional performance
of the Canon optics.) The zoom works very smoothly under control of the barrel-mounted
control, and we found it easy to select the focal length we wanted for a given
shot.
The optical system on the Pro70 is also unusual in that it completely
separates shutter speed from lens aperture, a very rare feature in digital cameras
selling for less than several thousand dollars. The maximum lens opening ranges
from f2.0 at 28mm to f2.4 at 70mm. Apertures of full open, f2.8, f4.0, f5.6,
f8.0, and f8.0 plus a neutral density 4.0 filter can be selected in program
mode, or automatically by the camera in "auto" mode. The last setting
deserves a bit more explanation: For whatever reason (diffractive limits on
resolution at tiny apertures?), Canon chose to build the Pro70 with a minimum
aperture of f8.0. To accommodate very bright conditions though (or to allow
very long exposures when desired, under more normal illumination), they provide
an additional "aperture" setting, of f8.0 with an ND4 neutral-density
filter added in. This produces the same light transmission as an aperture of
f16, but the depth of field (and aperture diffraction) will correspond to the
physical aperture of f8.0.
The lens autofocuses from 28 inches (71cm) to infinity in "normal"
mode, and from 4.7 inches (12 cm) to infinity in "macro" mode. (This
is unusual - we didn't try the macro setting at more than a few inches, so can't
validate the claim that it can focus all the way out to infinity in that mode.
Also, one set of data from Canon stated normal close-focus as 28 inches, while
another gave a figure of 12.6 inches. We'll try to clear up these discrepancies
in the weeks to come.) The macro mode provides for close-ups of small objects,
covering an area of roughly 2.1 x 3.2 inches (5.4 x 8.1 cm) at closest approach.
(For reference, the small brooch in the "macro" test shot is about
1.05 inches (27 mm) wide.) This is excellent macro performance: Combined with
the high basic resolution and sharp focus of the Pro70, the level of detail
you can capture is pretty amazing!
Exposure
One of the areas in which the PowerShot Pro70 really excels is in its exposure
system: It not only offers a powerful aperture-priority exposure mode, and very
fine gradation in the manual exposure compensation, but it provides really exceptional
low-light performance as well. It's more sensitive in low-res (768x512) mode
than in high-res (1536x1024) mode, but even in high-resolution mode, its ability
to capture an image in very low light is amazing. Canon claims a lower limit
for effective exposure in high-resolution mode of about EV3: Based on our own
tests, we feel that this is pushing it a bit, and that a value of 4-5 would
be more realistic. On the other hand, we fully agree with their minimum-light
rating of EV2 (!) for the low-resolution mode.
If you haven't had much experience with digital cameras yet, you may
not realize just how extraordinary these numbers are: Most cameras we've tested
are lucky to get down to EV 6-7. An illumination level of EV2 is dark enough
that most people will have difficulty discriminating fine detail with their
own eyes, let alone with a digital camera. Even more remarkable is that this
performance is achieved with a maximum exposure time of 1/2 second! Some cameras
can get down to EV 2-3, but require a 2-4 second time exposure to get there.
To compare this performance with conventional film, Canon rates the camera at
a variable ISO of 100-200 in high-resolution mode, and ISO 400 in low-res mode.
(As we note in the next paragraph though, we feel these ISO rating numbers are
highly conservative.)
With a mechanical shutter speed range of 1/2 to 1/500 of a second in
high resolution mode, lens apertures ranging from f2.0 to an equivalent of f16,
and an ISO ranging from 200 in dim light to 100 in bright light, the usable
lighting range of the PowerShot Pro70 should be from about EV7 to EV22. In low-resolution
mode, the ISO 400 rating and electronic shutter speeds of 1/2 to 1/8000 should
translate into a usable lighting range of EV6 to EV23. This is interesting,
in that the lower end of the usable illumination scale actually extends quite
a bit further than the raw ISO and shutter speed numbers would suggest. In actual
use, it appears that the effective ISO speed in low-resolution mode is more
on the order of 1600 or even 3200. Thus, while we didn't test the upper end
of the illumination range, our tests generally agreed with Canon's published
sensitivity numbers at the low end of the scale, other than our slightly more-conservative
rating in high-resolution mode, mentioned above.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The 1/2 second lower limit on shutter speed can be a
great help in getting shots that would otherwise be too dark. This is a long
exposure though, well beyond most people's ability to hold the camera steady
enough to render a sharp image. Use a tripod when it's that dark! Some camera
manufacturers have unfairly taken some knocks for "poor autofocus"
in dim lighting, when the fault in many cases may lie with the photographer
for not stabilizing the camera sufficiently. A few pros may be venture to hand-hold
a 1/2 second exposure, but it's just about guaranteed that most amateurs will
have a hard time below 1/30 or even 1/60. All that said, the combination of
"fast" lens on the Pro70 and its higher-than-normal CCD sensitivity
will let you hand-hold safely in much darker settings than will pretty much
any other digital camera now available (early November, 1998) for under $3,000.
Exposure Compensation
Like any autoexposure system, that of the Canon Pro70 is subject to being
"fooled" by unusual subjects, whether a light object against a dark
background, a backlit subject, or one that's unusually uniform in overall brightness
(such as a snow scene). To accommodate these situations, Canon includes an exposure
adjustment control with a range of +/- 2 f-stops, in one-third-stop increments
to accommodate these situations. Thus, if you think the situation calls for
it, you can easily request lower or higher exposure through the top-panel controls
when in "P" or "Program" recording mode. Since we find ourselves
using exposure compensation fairly frequently, we like the rapid-access provided
by top-panel controls, rather than being forced through the LCD menu system.
The Pro70 also has an "exposure lock" system, that allows you
to pre-set the exposure prior to the shot itself: Pressing the shutter button
halfway actuates the autofocus and autoexposure systems, without firing the
shutter. Once the exposure and focus is set in this fashion, they will stay
"locked" at the selected settings as long as you continue to hold
down the shutter button. With this feature, you can easily accommodate off-center
subjects by turning to center them, locking the focus and exposure, then turning
back to frame the shot to your liking before firing the shutter. (This "half-press"
operation is also supported by the very handy optional remote shutter release.)
One feature that we definitely felt the lack of in a camera of such otherwise
impressive stature and specifications was spot metering: While offered by very
few digital cameras at this time, the ability to set exposure based on just
a tiny portion of the subject area is a very useful feature, albeit more of
a convenience than a necessity. In practice, we never encountered a situation
in which we weren't able to obtain a satisfactory exposure through a combination
of manual exposure compensation and the exposure lock function, but we still
would like spot metering. (Given that the CCD is sensitive enough to handle
autofocus, you'd think it could be used for exposure metering as well. The camera
actually uses a small light sensor just below and to the right of the lens to
determine exposure settings.)
White Balance
The PowerShot Pro70 white-balance compensation performed quite well in our (fairly
severe) indoor portrait test, under household incandescent lighting. Colors
were very natural & well-saturated, with no abnormal color casts. The automatic
white balance adjustment left enough of the warmth of the incandescent lighting
in the image to let you recognize that it was an indoor shot, yet still produced
a very natural rendering of the colors in the floral bouquet.
While the Pro70's white balance control was unusually sure-footed in
its handling of a wide range of lighting conditions, we still like the added
control that manual white-balance selection provides, and missed that feature
on the Pro70. On the plus side, the Pro70's exposure system and sensor electronics
(no doubt aided by the 10 bit per channel digitization) manage to preserve good
detail in both highlights and shadows, providing ample data to work with in
Photoshop or other imaging programs post-exposure, to correct any remaining
color casts in the images.
Flash Operation
Flash capabilities are a key part of the "big story" of the PowerShot
Pro70: The camera has no built-in flash unit, but incorporates a multi-contact
"hot shoe" to support very sophisticated dedicated speedlights from
Canon. The Pro70 is specified to work with the model 220 and 380 speedlights,
and we've heard rumors it will also support the incredible 550 flash unit as
well. Our evaluation unit arrived with a Canon model 380 flash unit, which we
experimented with a fair bit. This is a very impressive unit, with a variable-geometry
flash head that can adjust the flash's coverage to match the focal length of
the camera's zoom lens(!). This provides not only very broad coverage at the
wide angle setting, but an exceptionally long "reach" with the lens
operating in telephoto mode. (We neglected to write down the maximum flash range
with the 380, but recall being very surprised (100 feet?). The exceptional range
is apparently due to the flash's ability to focus it's light output when the
lens is zoomed out to the telephoto setting. This concentrates the light greatly,
dramatically extending the usable range.)
We very quickly discovered a major benefit of the dedicated flash unit
in the excellent coupling between the camera's exposure-compensation controls,
and the flash's output: The two work seamlessly together, with the result that
is very easy to get perfect flash exposures under almost any conditions. The
tilting head on the 380 was also very welcome in our indoor portrait setting:
We were able to bounce the flash off the room's ceiling to produce the exceptionally
natural lighting you can see in that image. (This shot was also taken at an
exposure compensation setting of +2/3 of an EV unit.) After working within the
limitations of the built-in flash units on essentially all digicams we've tested
to date, it's hard to say enough about the power, control, and flexibility provided
by the Pro70/380 combination. This is one of the features that really puts the
Pro70 into the "pro" category!
We also experimented a bit using the Pro70 with a non-dedicated flash
unit (an old SunPak auto-thyristor cheapie). Somewhat to our surprise, the results
were quite good: While we didn't have much control over the flash output, we
were able to match the required lens opening quite well, using the Pro70's manual
aperture settings. The combination performed at least as well as the same flash
did on a film camera. While this is good news for anyone considering the Pro70
who already owns an existing auto flash unit, the advantages of the dedicated
Canon 380 are so dramatic that we strongly encourage you to go all the way and
get the Canon flash.
Cycle Time & Shutter Lag
We've recently begun tracking "cycle times," the amount of time after
a picture has been taken that it takes the camera to prepare itself for the
next shot. Despite its high resolution, the Pro70 posted respectable cycle times
from image to image. In its highest-quality compressed mode, the shot-to-shot
time was about 8 seconds, decreasing to about 5.2 seconds for small-format images.
In uncompressed mode, the camera could capture an image every 11 seconds. To
review a captured image by switching to "play" mode required 6.7 seconds.
(Although the "instant review" achieved by holding down the shutter
release really eliminated the need for the latter.)
Shutter lag is a measure of how long it takes the camera to actually
take the picture after you've pressed the shutter button. In this category,
we found the Pro70's behavior much more variable: Depending on the scene and
shooting conditions, it could take as long as 3 seconds to shoot the picture
after we'd pressed the shutter button! On the other hand, if the camera was
pre-focused (by half-pressing the shutter button prior to the shot itself),
the shutter response was extremely fast, consistently taking 0.2 seconds or
less!
A note about our shutter-lag testing though: We were using the shutter-delay
timer created by Digital Eyes to
perform this test, and the timer has a set of large numerals counting down on
it to prime you to trip the shutter. We suspect that the rapidly-flickering
numbers on this countdown display were interfering with the sensitive phase-contrast
autofocus system of the Pro70, making it hard for the camera to lock focus on
the screen. We weren't aware of abnormally long focusing times during our normal
shooting, but could easily be wrong there, too. Bottom line, please take these
figures with a large grain of salt until they can be independently verified!
Operation and User Interface
As digital cameras have become more sophisticated, our operating descriptions
have started to run away with us a bit. In an attempt to provide an accurate
picture of each camera's operation, we've frequently ended up with enormous
volumes of descriptive material, to the point that we suspect we're burying
our readers with unnecessary detail. In this review, we're going to try for
a happy medium, by moving to a more terse format for describing the camera's
controls. Hopefully the result will be nearly the same amount of information,
but in a much more readable form. In the section below, we'll simply list the
camera's controls, along with a (very) brief description of what each does:
Control overview
5-position function wheel
- Major camera modes are set via a side-mounted "function wheel." Available modes include: Off, normal (auto) shooting, "Programmed" shooting (manual adjustments), Playback, and PC-connect modes.
8 top-panel buttons with top-panel LCD readout, plus shutter release
Multi/Quality
button - multi-image select in playback mode, image quality in record
mode. (high/low compression in normal record mode, high/low/no compression
and large/small image size in programmed mode.)
- Jump/Drive button - Jump ahead/back 10 images at a time, or to the first/last image in playback mode, select normal, continuous-shooting, or self-timer options in record mode.
- Info/+/- button - In playback mode, display image info on the LCD (exposure compensation, sound annotation time, image quality/size, date/time of capture, CF card lot number). In "programmed" shooting mode, activate +/- exposure compensation.
- Macro button - activate Macro mode when in any recording mode. Automatically sets lens to 70mm telephoto position.
- Microphone button - Record sound to annotate a picture, when in either record or playback, mode. (Must push back-panel "set" button simultaneously to activate recording function.)
- CF button - selects which of the two CompactFlash cards in the camera will be active. (Enabled only when more than one card is present.)
- Menu button - turns LCD menu system on/off, for more in-depth option control.
- LCD/Video button - turns the LCD panel and external video signal on or off. (Default is off to conserve battery power.)
3 rear-panel buttons
- Rear-panel controls are +, -, and "Set." +/- are used to cycle through various LCD menu options (see below), increase/decrease exposure compensation, step forward/backward through images in playback mode, etc. Set fixes a particular selection in most modes, is also used in conjunction with the Microphone button to activate sound recording.
Zoom control on left lens barrel
- Mentioned in main body of the review, the zoom control for the lens is located on the left-hand side of the lens barrel. In a different location than we were accustomed to, and requires two-fisted camera grip, but very handy and conducive to stable camera-holding once we got used to it.
Menu system on LCD screen
- The LCD-based menu system on the Pro70 shows different options for record
and playback modes: We'll describe these separately below. The menu system
is activated by the top-panel "Menu" button mentioned above, and
then the +/- and "set" buttons are used to navigate between options
and select menu choices. Overall, even though it's an attractive, color/3D-looking
design, we found the Pro70's menu system very fast and easy to navigate.
Record Modes and Controls
Auto Mode
- Only "large" format images (large/high, large/normal)
- "Drive" limited to self-timer, no +/- exposure control
- Macro, sound, LCD/video, CF-select, menu-activate work normally
- LCD menu doesn't allow manual aperture
Program Mode
- Allows Large and Small image sizes, with 2 compression levels for each, plus "Raw" (uncompressed) storage in large image size only.
- Drive enabled, provides up to ~3fps in "small" size
Note: "Drive" mode fixes exposure, focus based on first shot taken. - Exposure compensation allowed, +/- 2EV in 1/3 EV steps
Top-Panel Record-Mode Controls
- Quality: Fine/Normal, also selects large/small/raw in "program" mode.
- Drive: "Motor Drive" mode for 3fps rapid-fire "small" pictures.
- Macro: Enable macro mode, zoom lens automatically to 70mm setting.
- Microphone: Record sounds, in conjunction with back-panel "Set" button.
- Menu: Enable LCD menu system.
- LCD-Video: Successive actuations cycle between no display, LCD, Video output.
- CF Select: Switch between CF storage cards if more than one present.
Record Mode LCD Menu Structure
- Review - on/off
- Aperture - auto, full open/F2.8/F4.0/F5.6/F8.0/F8.0+ND4
- Reset File number
- Setup
- LCD - normal/bright
- Beep - on/off (annunciator for camera functions complete, etc.)
- Power Save - on/off (3-5 minute auto power off when selected - Drat! We neglected to test whether the camera would stay on indefinitely when Power Save was off! We'll try to find out from Canon.)
- Date/Time - Style (ddmmyy, mmddyy, etc)/date/time
Playback modes and controls
Top panel Playback-mode controls:
- Multi for 9-up image display
- Jump to move rapidly through 9-up display (also "jumps" when in single frame mode
- Info button: one press gives frame number, date/time, number on card. Second press gives size/compression, card number
- +/- controls (rear panel) advance view and/or cursor one frame at a time, or jump 9 frames.
- Menu: Enable LCD menu system.
- LCD-Video: Successive actuations cycle between no display, LCD, Video output.
- CF Select: Switch between CF storage cards if more than one present.
Playback Mode LCD Menu Structure
- Slide Show
The Pro70's slide show mode allows you to either display all images in memory, or to mark up to 3 different groups of them to be displayed as three separate shows. Each image in memory may belong to 0,1,2, or 3 shows. Herewith the menu controls relating to slide shows:- Start - "all images", or shows 1,2,3 (to select 1 of 3 possible shows
- Mark/Unmark - select show 1,2,3 - then go to a 6-up display of images to mark or unmark the images for the show you've selected
- Clear Marks - select show 1,2,3 to clear all marks for that show.
- Play Time - 5, 10, 15 seconds, or +/- manual (three fixed slide-timing intervals, or full manual control with back-panel +/- buttons.)
- Repeat - off/on (If on, slide show loops continuously.
- Protect - Protects individual images against bulk erasure. Camera goes to single-image playback mode, use /- to step between images, then set button to set/clear protection status.
- Erase - single/all
- Copy - if 2 CF cards installed, allows copying images between the two CF cards, either one at a time, or all of the images on a card onto the other.
- Setup
- LCD - normal/brigh
- Beep - off/on
- Power Save - on/off (We didn't think to check this while we had the test unit (@#!) - Apparently, the camera will remain powered-on indefinitely if the "power save" function is set to "off.")
- Date/Time - sets the style of the date/time display, as well as current date/time.
- Format - Displays a useful readout of CF capacity, current Kbytes used, provides option to format the CF card.
- Language - Choose English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese for the menu language. (A bit tough to get back out of if you change it to a language you don't understand, so be careful!)
- Print Mark - Mark/Unmark images for subsequent printing on a Canon model CD-200 printer, supporting direct printing from CF cards. (takes you to 6-up image display). Clear Marks option resets all marks, letting you start fresh.
- Reset File Number - The Pro70 maintains an absolute numbering
system for image files, even between multiple image cards. Until the file-number
counter is reset, it increments every time a picture is taken, insuring
that each image file produced by the camera has a unique name. This menu
entry resets the counter to either zero, or one higher than the highest
file number on the CF card currently in use.
Image Storage and Interface
One of the more decidedly "Pro" aspects of the Canon PowerShot Pro70
is it's unusually capacious memory capacity. It uses "CompactFlash"
memory cards, which are currently available in sizes as large as 64 megabytes,
soon to increase to 96 megabytes. As if that weren't enough, the camera supports
two such cards, making for a total on-board memory capacity as large as 128
megabytes currently, soon to increase to a total of 192 megabytes! Not only
that, but one of these slots will support the new CF Type II standard, providing
for hard drive-based CF-format memory cards due to arrive in early- to mid-1999,
in capacities as large as 340 megabytes. These enormous storage capacities would
encourage use of the camera's "CCD Raw" storage mode, which saves
data directly from the CCD without compression, producing a 1.9 megabyte data
file.
When compared to the enormous storage devices just discussed, the 8 MB
CF card included with the camera sounds pretty miserly! In actuality, 8 MB is
as large a memory device as is currently being shipped with any of the "prosumer"
digicams. (Although this will doubtless change over time, as memory costs continue
their downward spiral.) One nice thing about the dual CF slots is that you don't
have to throw away your original memory card when you upgrade - just plug the
new one in alongside it. (In earlier non-disclosure briefings on the camera,
we had heard that it would automatically switch between cards when the one in
use became full. We weren't able to test this function though, and didn't see
any mention of it in the manual.)
The maximum number of images that can be stored on a memory card varies
quite a lot, depending on the combination of image size and compression level
selected. As mentioned earlier, the Pro70 saves images as standard JPEG files
(making it a "finished file" camera) at two different image sizes
(1536x1024 and 768x512 pixels), and three different compression settings (uncompressed
or "CCD Raw", fine, and normal). These various options translate into
three 1536x1024 file types (CCD Raw, Fine, and Normal), and two 768x512 types
(Fine and Normal). Average file sizes range from 1.9 megabytes (!) for the CCD
Raw format, to about 400K for large/fine, 200K for large/normal, 140K for small/fine,
and 83K for small/normal. These sizes correspond to storage capacities for the
8 meg card of 3, 20, 40, 50, and 96 images respectively. (Note though, that
final file sizes are highly variable, depending on the subject content: Shots
with finer detail will end up much larger than those with large, "flat"
areas of little detail. In our own testing, file sizes for the "large/fine"
setting ranged from a high of 532K to as low as 236K.)
As a minor side note, we liked the fact that we could easily insert or
remove the CF card(s) while the camera was mounted on a tripod. Not a big thing,
but some cameras use a bottom-mounted arrangement for memory cards, meaning
you have to unmount them from a tripod in order to pull the card. This arrangement
is especially key for a camera that might be used extensively in the studio!
As to "interface," a defective software CD prevented our testing
the Pro70's serial-cable computer connection. We instead relied exclusively
on the included PCMCIA adapter card for the CF media, downloading the images
onto a laptop. Although we regret our inability to furnish performance information
for serial-cable downloads, in practice, we suspect relatively few Pro70 owners
would use this method: Even 8 MB of image data takes a LONG time to move across
a serial cable, and most Pro70 owners will probably buy and install even larger
memory cards. In recognition of this fact, Canon includes a PCMCIA adapter in
the box with the Pro70.
As to memory card performance, we found that the PowerShot Pro 70 appears
to be heavily optimized for the standard SanDisk/Canon memory cards: We found
little improvement in cycle times when a high-speed CF card from Lexar Media
was substituted.
Video Out
Again, although we did not explicitly test it, the Pro70 supports direct video
output, apparently running out to the video port whatever would normally appear
on the LCD screen. Repeated actuations of the LCD/Video button cycles between
no display, LCD screen, or TV screen: The LCD and video output can't be used
simultaneously. While it's likely that Pro70 models built for Japanese or European
markets will support the PAL video standard, the US-market unit we tested only
supported NTSC.
Power
Like the earlier PowerShot A5, the Pro70 operates from either a custom NiMH
battery pack, or from a conventional 2CR5 lithium battery. Although we like
the flexibility of individual AA cells, we were quite impressed by the capacity
of the dedicated NiMH pack: While we don't have any standardized battery-life
measurements in our test suite, our distinct impression was that the battery
pack in the Pro70 lasted a very long time. In our experience, most manufacturers'
battery-life projections are, shall we say, "optimistic." In the case
of the Pro70 though, Canon claims a battery charge life of "400 shots or
100 minutes of playback." Based on our experience, this seemed like a very
reasonable projection of battery life. The first day/night we had the test unit,
we shot about 150 images, all using the LCD viewfinder. While we didn't measure
the length of time the LCD was working, it had to have been at least a full
hour, and more likely close to two. This would agree very well with Canon's
claims. Technically, at 1400 mAh, the capacity of the battery pack isn't that
much above typical NiMH AA cells, which run from 1200-1300 mAh. As we've all
learned though, mAh capacity is only part of the story when it comes to predicting
battery life in digicams. Perhaps the Pro70's battery pack is a bit better optimized
to the camera's requirements than AA NiMH cells are for most digicams.
To power the camera from wall current, Canon employs an unusual device,
in the form of a dummy battery pack made of plastic, with a cord running back
to the AC adapter/battery charger. While a bit odd, this is actually a much
more robust design than the typical jack on the side of the camera, as the contacts
are well-protected, and no amount of tugging on the cable can damage them. Alas,
the AC adapter can either charge a battery (in only about an hour), or power
the camera, but not both.
The ability to use a 2CR5 lithium cell to power the camera in a pinch
is a nice touch, and avoids an objection we might otherwise have to the dedicated
battery pack. An advantage of AA-powered cameras is you can always find alternate
batteries in a pinch, which would often not be the case with custom battery
packs. The 2CR5 option deals with this problem nicely.
Included Software
As we mentioned above, we weren't able to test any of the Pro70's software because
the writeable CD we received with our test unit was unreadable. The software
suite bundled with the camera is quite complete though, and mirrors that provided
with the PowerShot A5. Accordingly, we direct our readers to the A5 review for
more information on Canon's software package.
Test Results
In keeping with recent policy, our comments here are rather condensed, summarizing
our key findings: For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the
PowerShot Pro70's "pictures" page.
As with all Imaging Resource camera tests, we encourage you to let your
own eyes be the judge of how well the device performed: Explore the images on
the pictures page, to see how the Pro70 performed, and how its images compare
to other cameras you may be considering buying.
Overall, the Pro70 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 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 Pro70 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 Pro70 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)
Conclusion
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 Pro70 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!
Reader Sample Images!
Do you have a PowerShot Pro70 camera? If you'll post an album of
your samples on one of the photo-sharing services and email us at [email protected],
we'll list the album here for others to see!
For More Info:
View the data sheet for the PowerShot Pro70
View the test images from the PowerShot Pro70
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