Canon PowerShot S70 7.1MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Zoom

I've owned more than a dozen cameras since i first caught the photography bug thirty years ago, but the S70 is by far my favorite (so far!). I could go on and on about the amazing range of features packed into the S70's compact, sturdy little body (and i must admit that both the features and the design are impressive!). But what impresses me most about this camera is the consistently excellent images it produces. The optics are superb; they are quick to focus and produce razor-sharp photos. The metering, too, is excellent, even in high-contrast situations. And the color fidelity is among the best i've ever seen in a digital camera, at any price. This camera also boasts a true wide-angle lens, which is great if you photograph landscapes or architecture. And at a whim, the S70 can be a fully automated "point and shoot" or the next-best-thing to a fully manual SLR. I also love the thick plastic cover over the LED screen on the back! The flash is perhaps a bit underpowered, which can contribute to the "red eye" some other reviewers complained about. I've noticed this to be a problem only in very low light, though, and it's my only complaint (and a minor one, at that!). If you're looking for a rugged, reliable compact digital camera that consistently captures great images, look no further than the S70.

The s70 is a good all around camera for the secrete paparazzi in you. At its highest resolution you get amazing detail in the pictures. The digital zoom does make the picture a little grainy, which is a bummer. This is one camera where you need to read the manual if you want to take advantage of all of its features. I was a little disappointed in the TV viewing of my pictures. Perhaps it is my TV but the images are black and white. With this camera you really must upgrade your flash RAM to 2GB. You can pick it up from [...] for about $100. The high rez pics are very large. I also bought the lens adapter and the tele-lens. Haven't received them yet so I can't let you know how they work. Over all rating of this camera is good. With the other accessories; tripod (large and pocket size), 2GB memory, lens adapter, lens, remote control, and spare battery this setup is great for the dad looking for a camera to capture the family moments in life.

Unfortunately the Powershot S70 I received was defective out-of-the-box (washed-out streaking on the LCD display when focusing). Worse still, the left 4-way button quit working after only two weeks of use. As for the latter, the button that failed felt different than the others when it did work. If any button is different in tactile feedback, return the unit immediately because it may fail down the line. What I liked about the Powershot S70: (1) Amazing detail - the photos were great under ideal circumstances (but only under ideal circumstances!), (2) oodles of manual controls in a compact format, (2) 28 mm equivalent wide angle, and (4) the protective slider over the lens (great for camping, skiing, and hiking). What I disliked about the Powershot S70: (1) LCD is unusable in bright daylight and is too small (also needs anti-glare coating), (2) lens distortion makes stitching panoramas difficult, (3) chromatic aberration is still too high, (4) lens is too slow at full zoom, (5) "P" mode automatic setting for aperture favors wide-open F-2.8 too much of the time, and (6) movie mode lacks decent frame rates at 640x480 resolution. Because the Powershot S70 is still too thick to put in one's shirt pocket or the pants pockets of slacks or jeans, I think having made it thinner than the old S50 accomplished very little (the old S50 fits nicely in coat pockets and the pleated expansion pockets of hiking pants). Instead, the designers should have kept the same thickness as the Powershot S50 and devoted that thickness to a better/faster lens or a mount in front of the lens to add a protective filter. As for the increased capacity of the new NBL-2H battery, I would rather it had been used to power a larger and brighter LCD because I still need to carry around a second battery anyway (even the new batteries don't last a full day of heavy shooting). In other words, some of the "improvements" over the older S50 haven't proved to be very useful and the lack of quality control has proved to be utterly useless.

Good older camera with a nice wide angle lens. For the price used that this camera is going for you can't go wrong. It has a nice wide angle lens and that's why I bought it as the 3X zoom is basically old school. I used either my Canon 520 HS with a 10x zoom, my Canon SX 50 with a 50x zoom or a Panasonic FZ 150 or Panasonic FZ 30 for an older camera with zoom and barrel focus. This camera while a bit large for a pocket will fit in a pouch. It takes exceptionally good pictures. I've attached a photo

It is incredible to me that we purchased this camera 10 years ago, used it a ton, and then handed it down to the kids. It still works perfect thanks to the rugged all metal body and well protected optics, switches, and buttons. You don't see many products with this quality anymore. Thanks Canon!

It was a descent camera at the time. I bought it in 2005 for about $390 something from BuyDig(finally a place that gave me no hassle, or the ussual run around.) With wide angle lens, sliding lens cover. But here's what I learned: The slider is flimsy, and comes off of it's sliding rails sometimes, it doesn't do too well in low light. Forget about trying to take a candle lit shot of an altar. I ended up taping a piece of tissue to compensate for the overly bright flash. Above 100iso setting things tend to get rather grainy. This is a very sensitive and finicky camera to work with, you can have it on a setting that you like and as soon as you close the clam shell your setting disappears, and you're back to the default settings that may or may not work for you. Also the mode dial moves too easily, so you gotta be careful when you pull it out of your bag. So save yourself the money. Because if you were to look on current market for point & Shoot digi cam, you'll find other cameras that are (1)cheaper, with (2)higher mega pixel counts, (3)Built in image stabilization/vibration reduction etc. (4)Slimmer body(so you don't look like you're overly excited, or have a pet gerbil hiding in your pants) Finally, if you've been shooting film SLR you probably won't be satisfied with most digicam unless you're getting Nikon D3, or Canon EOS-1Ds MkIII. Because unlike film cameras, the processor in those little digicam decides almost everything if it doesn't live up to standards you're stuck! ...with grainy, unnaturally color balanced images.

We got many years of excellent pictures from this camera. Finally wore out the sliding door and replaced it with an Elph.

Purchased it used, primarily for its 28mm (35mm equivalent) lens & the fact that it can use an infrared remote shutter control. Worked well for my needs.