The Canon PowerShot S70 is a secondary purify of this year's previous uncovered angle powerhouse, the S60. At the best of Canon's "mid-sized compact" line, the sleek S70 leverages its wide-angle shoot lens (reaching untarnished to 28mm ringer focal roll  at its widest streak setting) by adding a 7.1 mega pixel imager to an already superbly crafted camera. Hidden within the PowerShot S70's trim case is a new level of optical sophistication, thanks to Canon's advanced molding process that permits aspheric lens elements to be (reliably) crafted from high-index optical glass for the first time. The result is a zoom lens that's capable of very wide angle operation, in a very compact form factor, yet with lower levels of distortion than was formerly possible.

In addition to the supplementary lens technology unaffected uses, the 7.1-megapixel PowerShot S70 further includes a besides check of updates to both the user interface also controls. The Canon S70 is an distinct point-and-shoot winsomeness digital camera that incorporates alive with features from the high-end Canon PowerShot G6 model, but in a more compact, portable format. With the exception of the rotating LCD monitor and external hot shoe, the PowerShot S70 has almost all of the advanced features of the G6, including an impressive range of automatic and manual exposure controls, JPEG and RAW file formats, and in-camera adjustment of image contrast, sharpness, and color saturation, as well as a user-controlled AF point that can be moved around the screen in the manual exposure modes.

Just shy of the range of the G6's 4x lens, the S70's 3.6x optical zoom lens reaches a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 28mm at its widest. In addition to these features, relative to last year's very popular S45 and S50, the S70 also offers an updated user interface (a slight redesign), and the new Print/Share button that is appearing on all new PowerShot cameras, designed to make the Partridge direct-to-inkjet printer connection that much easier. With an estimated selling price at introduction of $599, the PowerShot S70 comes in at $100 more than the S60, but does offer a few more pixels for that price. It is sure to be a popular choice among business users, presume photographers, realtors, advanced amateurs, and even beginning photographers who want a high-quality digital camera that delivers large, sharp, colorful photos.

Main Points

• 7.1-megapixel CCD delivering up to 3,072 x 2,304-pixel resolution images.
• 1.8-inch, color LCD monitor.
• 3.6x optical zoom lens, 5.8-20.7mm (equivalent to a 28-100mm lens on a 35mm camera) with auto and manual focus, adjustable focus area, 9-point AiAF in Auto and Image Zone modes, and focus bracketing.
• Up to 4.1x digital telephoto.
• Full automatic, program AE, shutter priority, aperture priority, and manual exposure modes, as well as five preset exposure modes and a Custom mode.
• Manually adjustable aperture settings from f/2.8 to f/8.0, depending on zoom setting (f/5.3 at max optical zoom).
• Manually adjustable shutter speed settings from 1/2000 to 15 seconds. (Aperture of f/4 or smaller aperture is required to achieve 1/2000 sec.)
• ISO sensitivity equivalents: Auto, 50, 100, 200, and 400.
• Three metering modes: Evaluative, center-weighted average, and spot metering.
• White balance setting with nine modes, including underwater mode, and a manual setting.
• Built-in flash with five operating modes and flash exposure compensation (power adjustment in Manual mode).
• JPEG and RAW still image file formats, movies saved as AVI / Motion JPEG and WAVE formats.
• Images saved to Compact Flash Type I or II memory cards, 32MB card included.
• Movie mode with sound.
• Interval shooting mode, plus two Continuous Shooting modes.
• Stitch-Assist mode for creating panoramic pictures.
• Record up to 60 seconds of sound with individual images.
• DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility.
• USB cable for high-speed connection to a computer.
• Canon Digital Camera utility applications, plus Arc Soft application software bundle. (Arc Soft Photo Studio and Video Impression, for both Mac and Windows)
• Powered by Canon NB-2LH rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, with optional AC adapter. (Increased power capacity over the pack that shipped with the S-45 and S-50.)