Blue at last!! Thanks to all the reads and rates :-) Rob
Blue at last!! Thanks to all the reads and rates :-) Rob
Member since:20.01.2003
Reviews:25
Members who trust:10
I've been contemplating purchasing a digital camera for a long time but as i have a reasonably good 35mm camera i'd held off for as long as possible. Deciding to travel to america this summer eventually swayed my decision to purchase one. When looking at purchasing a digital camera i did a lot of research (read loads of reviews, tech specs) and shopping around and finally decide on the Canon A70.
Firstly i bought this from Amazon for £244.99 and it came with a free 64MB memory card. As of today (30th June) this offer was still on.
It is extremely important that you consider what YOU want when buying a digital camera, as a camera that is great for one person may not suit another. So why did i buy the A70 i hear you ask. Mainly because in this price range £230-£270, for a
3.2 Megapixel camera it is unrivalled in terms of features. It is simple enough for a begginner but also has enough advanced features for almost everyone.
The list of features is too many for me to name but i recommend you go to the Canon website for full specifications
Upon first using the camera i found it very easy to use and navigate but did have to refer to the manual to learn the hoards of advanced features.
Another thing i was concerned about when purchasing a digital camera was battery life. I'd previously used my parents Sony DSC P50 which is a nice camera but the battery life was terrible. The Canon A70 uses 4AA batteries. I also purchased 4x NiMh (2000MA) batteries with a charger (£15 on Amazon). Using these rechargable batteries i was able to take around 200+ pictures +movies. This included using the flash on many shots, having the lcd screen on, and also a lot of time reviewing pictures and watching movies. I was suitably impressed so would definately recommend buying the NiMh batteries. AA batteries also have the advantage that they are easy to biy anywhere in the world, so unlike the lithium ion powered cameras you'll never be stuck with a flat battery!
I was also looking for a camera which had a good zoom lens: this has a 3x Optical zoom and a 3.3x Digital zoom. Also, like everyone, i wanted a camera which was reasonably small and looks good. This camera isn't the smallest around but will quite comfortably fit in a jeans pocket to carry around.
The thing which has impressed me most about this camera however is the quality of the movie mode, it takes excellent movies with sound (the sound isn't brilliant if used outside in windy conditions but is very clear when used inside) in resolutions upto 640x480. The length of the movies is limited by the size of your memory card (and a seperate time limit) but will take movies of upto about 3minutes. The lcd screen is also excellent quality and very bright which means its excellent in most conditions except if the sun is shining directly on it. I've found when the sun is shining on it, it is best to just use the viewfinder to take the shot.
Other things which i have been particularly impressed with are the continuous shoot mode (which shoots 2.2images per second) and the landscape mode which allows you to take multiple pictures and join them together with the software provided.
The software provided is really good, it has an easy to use interface, although does lack some advanced features. I'd also highly recommend the canon image gateway as a way of sharing your photographs with friends and family.
To date i have been slightly dissapointed with the optical zoom. It works perfectly fine but just does not seem to magnify as much as my 3x optical 35mm camera did. I'm not sure if this is common amongst all digital cameras, maybe some advanced photographers amongst you might be able to help!? My other niggle has been with the night use of the camera; the range of the flash doesn't seem that great, around 4.5metres but again this may be common with all cameras. My final complaint is that it did not come with a camera case but in a way i was quite glad as i wanted to purchase a waterproof case anyhow.
All in all the Canon A70 is a great camera packed with loads of features, i'd definately recommend it to anyone (already have to my family and friends), and is great value. The movie feature is amazing, the picture quality is all you could wish for and just about everything exceeded my expectations. What more could you ask for?
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I'm currently considering buying a digital camera and your op has been very helpful to me. I see that there is now an A80 which is the same as this but has a rotating LCD screen and 4MegaPixels and does not cost much more.
luesley 30.10.2003 11:42
great op!!! dan....
weemam 09.08.2003 22:24
sounds brilliant I have a couple of pencams i fool about with . I took Ross photo on my profile page. Good OP...margaretxx
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Jun 30th, 2003
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