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NZ Macguide Issue 11  | Canon's A70 uses a wide area to select one or more focusing points | The A70, with 3.2-million pixel resolution, has all the characteristics of Canon's big guns at a bargain basement price from full manual control with exposure +/- information displayed in the top left hand side of the screen, plus easily programmed picture modes. (The A70 and its little brother the 2 million pixel A60 share the same features.) If you're familiar with the Canon EOS range of SLRs then you'll be at home with the A70. The easy dial lets you select the exposure mode effortlessly. On the top side of the dial are the advanced features - Manual, Shutter and Aperture Priority plus program modes. In these settings you have a bigger range of features in the functions menu. White balance from the dependable automatic, plus settings for daylight, cloudy, tungsten, two fluorescent settings and a custom function to let you be more creative with the exposure. Choose from single or continuous shooting and two self-timer settings - a super short two seconds for shots where your finger depressing the shutter is likely to cause camera shake or the conventional 10 second self-timer that lets you into the picture. There are so many functions in the menu, it's exciting. Choose special effects from sepia and black and white, low sharpening and neutral plus a vivid setting. Canon's three metering modes are also synonymous with their other cameras. There is bundled software for OS9 and X with an amazing array of programs - PhotoStitch, Canon's panorama software, now even has the ability to save the final panoramic image as a Quicktime VR file. You can build a panorama of your favourite scene and save it in this format for your web site - ideal for real estate agents. Print Direct lets you plug the A70 directly into a Canon printer and print. Having a Canon S530D myself, I can testify to the convenience of this feature. My wife enjoys nothing better than plugging a camera into the printer and printing a proof sheet and a selection of images without having to turn a computer on. There is great value here. This camera is at the bottom end of the price spectrum and it is so expandable it's not funny. Not only can you get in closer with a macro lens, use a more wide angle lens or extend the telephoto range but you can also take it diving with the optional underwater housing. The optional Wp-DC 700 is waterproof up to 40 meters that will be great for checking the underbelly of our next Americas Cup boat. Your hard earned dollars will be well spent on one of these cameras. Pros Print direct
Compact size and ease of use
Great software bundle, impressive features Cons No remote control
Small (16MB) card
Needs rechargeable batteries © Parkside Media 2004
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