CNet reviews the Canon Powershot A700 and writes – ‘Like its stablemate, the PowerShot A540, the compact Canon PowerShot A700 offers abundant manual controls, respectable image quality, and acceptable ISO 800 performance. Either camera should appeal to enthusiast photographers or serious beginners who want some control over exposure and focus. But the A700’s biggest edge is its 6X zoom lens, a nice step up from the A540’s 4X glass. Plus, the A700 includes macro focusing down to 0.4 inch, a higher-resolution 2.5-inch LCD, and a rear-sync flash that fires at the end of your exposure to keep car headlights from looking like laser beams.’

Read more about the Canon Powershot A700.
Check the best price on the Canon Powershot A700.

CNET reviews the Canon PowerShot SD430 Digital Elph Wireless and writes – ‘Using Canon’s RemoteCapture utility, which currently runs only on Windows XP SP2 (Mac OS X support is due this spring), a PowerShot SD430 user can remotely control zoom, image size and compression level, ISO speed, white balance, metering mode, color mode, focus point, macro mode, autofocus type, and flash mode. There is a live image preview that can be turned off to preserve the camera’s battery (though an optional AC adapter is recommended for remote shooting), and images can be saved to the memory card, the computer, or both. In automatic interval shooting mode, the number of images that can be saved is limited only by disk space, up to 99,999 shots.’

Remote controlled digital camera. Cool.

Read more about the Canon PowerShot SD430 Digital Elph Wireless.

The Canon PowerShot A700 is the latest in Canon’s popular PowerShot line. It sports a 6.0 MP sensor, as well as a 6x optical zoom. The backside is dominated by a large 2.5″ LCD. This camera is available now, with an MSRP of $349.99.
From the Canon Powershot A700 Press Release:
‘The PowerShot A700 Digital Camera
A new addition to the line-up of PowerShot A-Series digital cameras, the PowerShot A700 model features
six-megapixel resolution together with a retractable 6x 35-210mm optical zoom lens (35mm equivalent). The A700 model incorporates 22 shooting modes from fully automatic to fully manual to achieve optimum results for any photographic application. The new camera is also compatible with optional wide angle and telephoto lens converters, as well as a close-up lens and a wireless flash unit.

The A700 model offers ISO equivalent speed ratings ranging from 80 to 800 with dramatically less noise at ISO 400 than previous PowerShot models. The camera also features a large 2.5-inch 115,000-pixel LCD color monitor, making it easier than ever to review captured images and even to do limited in-camera image editing and retouching such as a new Face Brightener function to help compensate for backlit images. The PowerShot A700 digital camera will be available in March for an estimated selling price of $349.99².’

Full press release.

Canon PowerShot A700 Reviews:

Digital Photography Review reviews the Canon PowerShot A700 and writes – ‘

Like every A series PowerShot I’ve ever tried, the A700 offers an awful lot of bang for your buck, and more importantly, is a frill-free but very reliable photographic tool with remarkably reliable focus, exposure and color in a wide variety of shooting situations. If you’re looking for a compact camera with full photographic control and like the idea of a bit extra at the long end of the zoom then the A700 is a fairly easy choice (mainly due to the lack of direct competition).
So would I buy one? That’s a more difficult question. At the moment the A700 sits pretty much in a class of its own; there are equally compact, similarly-priced cameras with big zooms on the market, some (such as the Panasonic LZ5) with the added benefit of image stabilization. But none offers the level of photographic control or the added versatility off add-on lenses (and flash), and my experiences with the A700 would indicate that you can get away without image stabilization at focal lengths of up to 210mm equiv. in most daytime shooting situations. Because of this (and if you can live without the tilting screen) I’d certainly choose the A700 over the A610 or A620.’

CNet reviews the Canon Powershot A700 and writes – ‘Like its stablemate, the PowerShot A540, the compact Canon PowerShot A700 offers abundant manual controls, respectable image quality, and acceptable ISO 800 performance. Either camera should appeal to enthusiast photographers or serious beginners who want some control over exposure and focus. But the A700’s biggest edge is its 6X zoom lens, a nice step up from the A540’s 4X glass. Plus, the A700 includes macro focusing down to 0.4 inch, a higher-resolution 2.5-inch LCD, and a rear-sync flash that fires at the end of your exposure to keep car headlights from looking like laser beams.’

Steve’s Digicams reviews the Canon PowerShot A700 and writes – ‘I was very pleased with the overall image quality of the A700’s 6-megapixel Large SuperFine mode. Our outdoor samples were beautiful, showing good exposure and color saturation. Thanks in part to the Canon 6x optical zoom lens, just about every single shot I took was nice and sharp from edge to edge. In fact i saw almost no signs of edge blurring or softness; a common trait of consumer models. Noise is nonexistent at the lower ISO settings (80 or 100), but does become more noticeable as the sensitivity is increased. While ISO 800 is filled with visible imager noise, I feel the ability to use higher than normal shutter speeds in marginal lighting conditions makes up for the decrease in image quality.’

Digital Camera Resource Page reviews the Canon PowerShot A700 and writes – ‘The PowerShot A700 features both automatic and manual controls. For those just starting out you’ll find an auto shooting mode, plus numerous scene modes. While you won’t use them often, the My Colors features are fun to play around with. When you’re ready to use manual controls, you’ll find that the A700 has a full set of them, from exposure to white balance to focus. There’s also a nice burst mode, which can take 2 pictures per second until the memory card is full (high speed card required). The movie mode is also very good, though you’ll hit the 1GB file size limit in just eight minutes.
Camera performance was good in most areas. The A700 turns on quickly, focuses without much of a wait (it seemed faster than the A540), and shutter lag wasn’t a problem. Low light focusing was very good, thanks to the camera’s AF-assist lamp. Battery life was above average, with the A700 squeezing out 400 shots using two 2500 mAh NiMH batteries (using the CIPA standard).
Photo quality was very good. The A700 took well-exposed photos with accurate color, low purple fringing, and reasonable noise levels. The A700’s 6 Megapixel sensor has pretty good ISO performance, allowing you to print 4 x 6’s through ISO 400. The ISO 800 isn’t terribly useful, though you may be able to squeeze out a smaller print after running the image through something like NeatImage. The one area in which the A700 ran into trouble was with regard to “redeye” in flash photos.’

Let’s Go Digital reviews the Canon PowerShot A700 and writes – ‘May the results of our tests be clear. The remarks made about the slightly more negative sides of the Canon PowerShot A700 are generously outweighed – and even erased – by the camera’s strong points and assets. The Canon PowerShot A700 is an excellent digital camera with major potential. A camera that suits a very broad group of consumers, not to mention a perfect first step to a more advanced camera. Its compact size and light weight encourage the user to carry the camera along often. The Canon A700 evolved from a strong concept, and will without question continue the success of the Canon PowerShot A series digital cameras. ‘

Check the best price on the Canon Powershot A700.

Whew that’s a mouthful. That’s probably the longest name for a camera that I can think of.
PCMag reviews the Canon PowerShot SD430 Digital Elph Wireless and writes – ‘Moving pictures via wireless is slower than using a USB cable. In my tests, it took about 3 minutes to transfer 24 pictures to my laptop wirelessly. When you compare that to a USB 2.0 connection, which took just 16 seconds, it seems pretty slow. Still, there is something enjoyable about not having to hook up any cables, instead letting your wireless network handle the connection. Of course, you can transfer video clips, too, but this will take longer, since those files are larger. Your transfer speeds may vary depending on your wireless adapter, your computer, and your network environment. I have also noticed that the wireless cameras I’ve tested drain my laptop’s battery more quickly than standard digital cameras do.’

Steve’s Digicams reviews the Canon PowerShot SD430 Digital Elph Wireless and they write – ‘Shooting performance was very robust with power up until the first image captured taking only 1.6 seconds! Shutter lag, the delay between depressing the shutter button and capturing an image, was almost instantaneous (less than 1/10 of a second) when pre-focused, and only 2/10 of a second including autofocus. In single image drive mode, the shot to shot delay averaged 1.2 seconds without flash, and 2.2 seconds with flash. Using its continuous (burst) mode, I was able to capture 10 frames in only 4 seconds. When shooting in burst mode, the LCD briefly displays the last image captured making it difficult to follow moving subjects; You’ll achieve better results using the optical viewfinder.’

Digital Camera Resource Page reviews the Canon PowerShot SD430 Digital Elph Wireless and writes – ‘ The biggest selling point on the SD430 is its built-in 802.11b wireless transmitter. Once you get that set up (which is pretty easy), you can transmit photos without wires to your Windows PC, either as they are shot, or later in playback mode. You can also use Canon’s RemoteCapture software to control the camera right from your PC. In addition, the bundled Wireless Printer Adapter hooks into any PictBridge-enabled photo printer, so you won’t need a USB cable for that either. The downside here is that none of the wireless features are Mac compatible, though that will change in May of this year when a firmware upgrade is released.
Like Canon’s other cameras which utilize their DIGIC II processor, camera performance on the SD430 is excellent in almost all areas. The camera starts up quickly and shutter lag and shot-to-shot times are minimal. Autofocus speeds, while good, aren’t as fast as on some other cameras in this class. The one disappointing area in terms of performance on the SD430 is battery life, and it’s even worse than the estimates if you use the Wi-Fi a lot.’

 CNET reviews the Canon PowerShot SD430 Digital Elph Wireless and writes – ‘Using Canon’s RemoteCapture utility, which currently runs only on Windows XP SP2 (Mac OS X support is due this spring), a PowerShot SD430 user can remotely control zoom, image size and compression level, ISO speed, white balance, metering mode, color mode, focus point, macro mode, autofocus type, and flash mode. There is a live image preview that can be turned off to preserve the camera’s battery (though an optional AC adapter is recommended for remote shooting), and images can be saved to the memory card, the computer, or both. In automatic interval shooting mode, the number of images that can be saved is limited only by disk space, up to 99,999 shots.’

I’ve always been a fan of the Elph line myself – I love cameras that are small enough to take anywhere. Of course, that doesn’t explain my current 10x optical zoom, gigantico Kodak, but that’s neither here nor there. The SD430 Wireless seems to be a rather solid device, with great picture quality, excellent speed, and of course the fantastic form factor. It is rather pricey,with weak battery life, and wifi transfers are slower than cable ( did anyone NOT see that coming? ) However, what is it worth to eliminate yet another cable from your computer area? Priceless to me, which is why I’d vote for this device. If it were in an election or a contest of some sort, which I’m not aware that it is. So nevermind. Anyway, another solid device from Canon, on the way to making the perfect digital camera.

Canon Powershot SD30 Reviews

The Imaging Resource reviews the Canon Powershot SD30 and writes – ‘The Canon ELPH series of digicams continues to be a popular option for many consumers, given its tiny size and reputation for great build and image quality. Although exposure control is mainly automatic, the availability of exposure times as long as 15 seconds and adjustable ISO on the PowerShot SD30 increases the camera’s exposure versatility a great deal. The uncomplicated user interface and smooth styling helps novices and more advanced amateurs alike feel at home, with enough control over the exposure to make both happy. The Canon SD30 makes a great “all around” camera for anyone, and would make a good “second camera” for enthusiasts for those times when they don’t want to lug along their full-size all-the-bells-and-whistles camera. All considered, the PowerShot SD30 is one of the better subcompact digital cameras currently on the market.’

Steve’s Digicams also reviews the Canon Powershot SD30, and here’s what they have to say – ‘The SD30 is a robust performer thanks to its Digic II processor. Power up to first image captured measured approx. 2.6 seconds. Shutter lag, the delay between pressing the shutter release and capturing the image, measured 1/10 of a second when pre- focused and 2/10 second including autofocus. When shooting rapid sequences in single exposure mode, the shot to shot delay averaged about 1.5 seconds without using the flash and just 3 to 5 seconds with the flash, depending on subject distance. The SD30 does offer a continuous or “burst” mode, using this I was able to capture 10 frames in only 4.7 seconds!’

Megapixel.net reviews the Canon Powershot SD30 – here’s their take – ‘Elegant and beautifully crafted, the PowerShot SD30 appears at a glance to be a classy simple camera, an impression that stems from the fact that it has few external controls. Yet the reality is that the SD30 is a surprisingly capable camera, but that most of the modes and controls provided are contained within its various menus, making it more complex to use that it would appear if its functions and capabilities are going to be fully utilized.’

Digital Camera Resource Page reviews the Canon Powershot SD30 and writes – ‘The SD30’s photo quality is good in most respects. Outdoors it takes smooth-looking photos with accurate color and low noise levels. Corner softness i was an issue in some of my real world photos. Indoors you’ll be disappointed with the camera’s weak flash and high redeye, which is why this camera is best suited to the outdoors. Noise levels in long exposures were a bit higher than I would’ve liked. Also disappointing was the camera’s movie mode, which isn’t nearly as good as those on the other cameras in the SD series.
A few other minor quibbles: the camera’s battery life is okay, but the competition seems to be pulling away. Also, the included 16MB card is very small for a 5 Megapixel camera.’

An attractive, functional little camera that comes in a variety of colors, the Canon Powershot SD30 has some potential to be successful. Canon continues to produce competitive cameras in a great form factor.

Check the best price on the Canon Powershot SD30!

Imaging Resource reviews the Canon Powershot A610 and writes -’Canon’s PowerShot line of digital cameras have always been big favorites of IR readers, valued for their user-friendly design, excellent photo characteristics, and good build quality. The Canon PowerShot A610 is an very worthy addition near the top of that line, offering a 5-megapixel CCD and a very good quality 4x optical zoom lens.’

Steve’s Digicams reviews the Canon Powershot A610 and writes -’Bottom line – Canon has struck gold with this winning combination of high-quality and low price. The A610 offers users outstanding image quality with robust performance, all in a stylish and very durable package. With its wealth of exposure modes, your entire family will love using it, and with 5-megapixels of resolution you can create high-quality 13×19-inch or heavily cropped 8×10-inch prints. With an MSRP of around $299, the Canon PowerShot A610 offers an excellent value and is definitely one our pics for 2005.’

CNET reviews the Canon Powershot A610 and writes -’If you like to shoot video clips with your still camera, you won’t be disappointed with the PowerShot A610’s VGA movies with sound at 30fps. Unlike most cameras in the A610’s class, it’s compatible with a number of optional accessories, including an underwater housing that’s good to a depth of 130 feet; wide, telephoto, and macro lenses; and a higher-powered flash.’

The Canon Powershot A610 seems to be a very popular, affordable digital camera. As you can tell, it has a lot in common with the A620, which you can read about here. The A610 is available now, with an MSRP of just $299.

Digital Camera Reviews reviews the Canon Powershot A620 and writes – “I highly recommend this camera. Its quick operation and image quality provide a camera that will not disappoint. This camera is a great choice for someone who wants top-notch quality, wants some manual/creative controls and someone that doesn’t mind a camera larger than an ultra-compact.”

Steve’s Digicams reviews the Canon Powershot A620 and writes ‘These are some of the most well designed models I have dealt with. They are not your typical compact consumer models, yet they are small enough to be carried in a coat pocket or purse. When I first saw the A620 and A610, it seemed like they were a cross between the consumer A95 and the prosumer G6 . After working with the A620, I can now confirm that this is the case. Its high-end features speak of “only the best”, while its more affordable price says “I’m easy on the wallet”.’

The Imaging Resource reviews the Canon Powershot A620 and has this to say – ‘With a silver-metallic case and stylish shape, the A620 is an impressive step up from Canon’s A95, which also started out at $400 when it was introduced a little over a year ago. But the A620’s improvements are far more than skin deep, starting out with its 7.1-megapixel CCD–a significant jump from the A95’s 5-megapixels.’

Digital Photography Review has a review of the Canon Powershot A620. They write – ‘In August 2005 Canon announced two new A series digital cameras, the five megapixel A610 and seven megapixel A620 on test here. Both cameras replace the long-running, and very popular A95, and join the A520 as affordable, well-specified compacts for the enthusiast user on a budget. The A620 certainly looks promising on paper; newly kitted out with the fast DIGIC II processor and a 2.0-inch vari-angle LCD, it has a wealth of shooting options and 4x optical zoom.”

Digital Camera Resource Page has a detailed review of the Canon Powershot A620. Here’s a snippet – ‘The A620 performs very well for a lower priced camera. It starts up in just 1.2 seconds, it focuses quickly, and shutter lag was not a problem. Shot-to-shot and playback speeds were also very good. In low light situations the camera focused accurately thanks to its AF-assist lamp. The PowerShot A620 shines in other areas as well. Its movie and continuous shooting modes are very good, assuming that you’re using a high speed SD card. With that you can record up to 1GB of continuous VGA video with sound, or keep taking photos at 1.9 frames/second until the memory card is full. If you use high power NiMH batteries the A620 beats all of the competition in terms of battery life — too bad Canon doesn’t include any with the camera!’

CNET reviews the Canon Powershot SD450 and writes ‘ The Canon PowerShot SD450, a 5-megapixel update to the SD400 Digital Elph, has more in common with its 4-megapixel SD300 sibling than it does with the top-of-the-line 7-megapixel SD550. Instead of the slightly larger, curvier body found in its higher-resolution stablemate, this Elph has the same boxy, ultracompact frame as the SD300 and shares virtually every other spec except resolution. What you get for your extra money is improved image quality–and that might be enough.’

Steve’s Digicams reviews the Canon Powershot SD450 and writes ‘The PowerShot SD550 and SD450 Digital ELPH cameras have essentially the same body sizes and specifications as the PowerShot SD500 and SD400 Digital ELPHs, but offer consumers a wider range of options. In addition to a large color LCD display, The SD450 and SD450 offers an optical viewfinder so these cameras can be used in all types of lighting conditions.’

The Imaging Resource reviews the Canon Powershot SD450 and writes ‘With the PowerShot SD550 and SD450 Digital ELPH, Canon has once again stood its stylish ELPH digital cameras on end, packing even more features into the stylish compacts. The 7.12-megapixel SD550 and 5.0-megapixel SD450 have the same shell and specs as their SD500 and SD400 predecessors (which continue to be available), but offer more options. Canon has retained their acclaimed optical viewfinder but matched it with a large 2.5-inch LCD monitor, redesigning the user interface to take advantage of the new screen. Both continue to offer the extremely unusual (and frankly, rather cool) “My Color” modes that allow you to selectively replace any color in your photo with a different one, or to make the image black and white with the exception of a single color. Overall, the SD450 is one of the more appealing subcompact digital cameras we’ve seen to date.’