Canon Digital IXUS 70 Review
(also known as the Canon Powershot SD1000)

Review Date: April 9th 2007

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Conclusion

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4
Ease-of-Use	4.5
Image Quality	4
Value for Money	3.5

The Canon Digital IXUS 70 is a stylishly retro, well-made, responsive point-and-shoot digital camera that successfully recalls the original IXUS design and which thankfully doesn't sacrifice substance for style. The IXUS 70 is a tiny and slim camera that both looks great and works well, with a number of innovative features on offer. On paper it doesn't seem to offer anything different to a lot of other, cheaper cameras - 3x optical zoom lens, 7 megapixel sensor, 2.5 inch LCD screen - but pick the IXUS 70 up and there is an undeniable sense of quality which exceeds most of the competition. Just as impressively, Canon have managed to include a large LCD screen and small optical viewfinder despite the tiny dimensions of the IXUS 70. Unfortunately image quality isn't quite up to the high standards set by the rest of the camera, with image noise being the main issue. The 7 megapixel images are noisy and slightly blurred at ISO 400, with ISO 800 and particularly 1600 being best avoided. With no optical image stabilisation system available, this limits the camera to good light photography only. ISO Auto Shift is a useful feature that's sadly let down by the quality available at ISO 800, whilst beginners will love the Face Detection feature which provides well focused and exposed family pictures. So the Canon Digital IXUS 70 is obviously not going to satisfy everyone, as it doesn't offer full manual control over aperture and shutter speeds and the image quality is not best in class, but if you want a stylish ultra-compact camera, the IXUS 70 is still well worth considering.

PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Canon Digital IXUS 70 have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.

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