Canon Powershot SX70 Canon - Review 🏆

The Canon Powershot SX70 is a versatile digital camera that offers great performance and features for both photo and video. It has a powerful 65x optical zoom lens to get you close to the action, even from far away. The 20.3MP sensor provides plenty of resolution for large prints or heavy cropping. It can shoot 4K video for ultra high definition footage. Overall, the SX70 is designed to be an easy to use, do-everything camera for travel, events, and everyday use. It provides a nice balance of portability and performance. While not Canon's flagship camera, the SX70 offers great bang for your buck with its long zoom range and mix of useful features. Its combination of power, versatility and compact size make it a great all-around camera for hobbyists and enthusiasts looking for extended zoom capabilities.

Design

The Canon PowerShot SX70 HS sports a classic DSLR-style body that's comfortable and intuitive to use. Weighing in at just 1.4 pounds, it feels sturdy yet lightweight enough for all-day shooting. The contoured handgrip provides a secure hold, while the textured coating helps prevent slippage.

At 4.7 x 5.0 x 3.6 inches, the SX70 HS remains compact for a superzoom camera with a 65x optical zoom. It's small enough to fit into a jacket pocket or bag when traveling. The controls are sensibly laid out, with a mode dial, exposure compensation dial, and zoom toggle surrounding the shutter button for easy operation. Most settings can be changed via the vari-angle LCD screen.

Overall, the thoughtful design allows you to concentrate on framing shots and capturing great images rather than fiddling with controls. The SX70 HS feels great in hand and is a joy to shoot with.

Another excellent option is the Canon PowerShot SX620 HS (White). This compact camera is designed for both casual and serious photographers, offering a 25x optical zoom lens and a 20.2 MP sensor. Its slim profile makes it perfect for travel, while built-in Wi-Fi and NFC allow for easy sharing of your favorite shots. With a 3-inch LCD screen and a variety of shooting modes, capturing high-quality images is a breeze.

Image Quality

The Canon Powershot SX70 features a 20.3MP 1/2.3” CMOS sensor paired with the DIGIC 8 image processor to deliver high-resolution images with excellent detail and clarity.

The sensor has a native ISO range of 100-3200, which can be expanded to 6400. Overall noise performance is very good, with images remaining relatively noise-free up to ISO 800. At higher ISOs some noise and loss of fine details becomes apparent, but overall image quality remains very usable up to ISO 3200.

The 20MP resolution provides a lot of flexibility for cropping images while retaining enough detail. Photos have accurate colors and good dynamic range in both JPEG and RAW formats. The DIGIC 8 processor does an excellent job of minimizing noise and artifacts while retaining textures and fine details.

Overall, the image quality from the SX70 is highly impressive for a compact superzoom camera. The combination of the 20MP sensor and DIGIC 8 processor enables sharp, low-noise images ideal for mid-size prints.

In addition to the Powershot, the Canon EOS M200 Kit (White) + EF-M 15-45 IS STM offers outstanding image quality in a mirrorless format. This kit includes a versatile 15-45mm lens that's perfect for capturing everything from landscapes to portraits. The 24.1MP APS-C sensor ensures detailed images, and its dual-pixel autofocus makes shooting fast and precise. Whether you're a beginner or an enthusiast, the EOS M200 provides an excellent balance of performance and portability.

Optical Zoom

The Canon Powershot SX70 offers an extremely impressive 65x optical zoom lens, providing a focal range equivalent to 21-1365mm. This allows you to capture wide angle shots as well as get incredibly close to distant subjects. At the 21mm wide angle, you can fit expansive landscapes and architecture into the frame. On the telephoto end at 1365mm, you can zero in on small details on distant objects. This makes the SX70 great for birding, wildlife photography, sports, and surveillance applications.

The 65x zoom is supported by Canon's Intelligent IS image stabilization, which helps reduce camera shake when shooting at long focal lengths. This allows you to handhold the camera at much slower shutter speeds than normally possible, enabling sharp images even when zoomed all the way in. When recording video, the stabilization also produces steady footage when panning and zooming.

Overall the zoom performance is excellent. The lens mechanism is quick and smooth when zooming in and out, allowing you to easily track fast moving subjects. Autofocus also keeps up well across the entire focal range. Images stay crisp and clear through the frame, with minimal softness or chromatic aberration. The versatile zoom range lets you handle an incredibly diverse range of photographic situations with just this single built-in lens.

Video Recording

The Canon Powershot SX70 offers excellent video capabilities for a compact superzoom camera. It can shoot video at up to 4K resolution at 30 frames per second. 4K video provides extremely high detail, allowing significant cropping flexibility in post production.

For smoother footage, the SX70 can also capture full HD 1080p video at up to 60 fps. The higher frame rate results in smoother motion capture. Fast moving subjects will have less blur and jitter compared to 30fps.

The camera provides both auto and manual exposure controls for video. You can lock in the exposure settings to prevent fluctuations in brightness during recording. An external microphone jack allows improving audio quality by using an optional external mic. The SX70 also has a wind filter option to reduce wind noise when recording outdoors.

Overall the video features of the SX70 allow capturing high quality, detailed footage for both 4K and full HD productions. The manual exposure controls and mic jack cater well to more advanced videography needs.

Autofocus

The Canon Powershot SX70 features a fast and accurate autofocus system. It uses Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology, which utilizes phase-detection pixels on the image sensor itself to achieve quick and precise focusing.

For still photos, autofocus acquisition is very fast at around 0.2 seconds in good light. This allows you to capture shots quickly without missing the moment. Focusing remains relatively fast even in dim conditions.

Autofocus tracking of moving subjects is also quite good for a compact camera like the SX70. The phase-detection AF pixels provide smooth and consistent tracking of subjects as they move across the frame. This makes the SX70 well-suited for photographing kids, pets, sports, and wildlife.

Overall, the autofocus capabilities of the SX70 allow you to capture sharp, properly focused photos and videos in a wide variety of shooting scenarios. The fast acquisition, accuracy, and tracking make it a versatile option for everyday shooting and travel photography.

LCD Screen

The Canon Powershot SX70 features a high-quality 3-inch LCD screen on the back. The screen resolution is 922k dots, providing a crisp and detailed view for image and video playback.

One of the most useful aspects of the LCD screen is its vari-angle design. The screen can tilt up 180 degrees and down 45 degrees, allowing you to shoot from high or low angles while still being able to see the live view. This is incredibly handy when taking photos with the camera above your head or close to the ground.

The LCD is also a touchscreen, giving you quick control over camera settings as well as the ability to tap to focus when taking photos. You can navigate menus, change settings, and browse through images efficiently.

Overall, the large 3-inch vari-angle touchscreen LCD provides excellent functionality for composing shots from challenging positions. The high resolution delivers a clear view, making it easy to review captured photos and videos.

Connectivity

The Canon Powershot SX70 offers several connectivity options to make transferring photos and videos easy. It has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth which allows you to pair the camera with your smartphone or tablet. From there you can transfer images wirelessly and even use your mobile device as a remote control for the camera.

For a wired connection, the SX70 has both a USB 2.0 port and a Micro HDMI port. You can connect the camera directly to your computer via USB to offload images and videos. The HDMI port allows you to playback your photos and videos directly on an HDTV.

The built-in WiFi makes sharing content on social media simple. You can connect the SX70 to your phone and then upload images and videos directly from the camera to platforms like Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. The connectivity options give you a lot of flexibility in how you transfer or share your photos and videos from the device.

Battery

The Canon Powershot SX70 HS is powered by the NB-13L lithium-ion rechargeable battery. This battery provides enough power for approximately 325 shots per charge, based on CIPA standards. Real-world battery life will vary depending on usage.

Charging time for a fully depleted battery is approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes using the included charger. This is fairly typical for a camera battery of this size.

The SX70 HS has some battery-saving features to help extend shooting time on a single charge. Eco mode reduces LCD brightness to conserve battery life. There is also an auto power down setting that will turn off the camera after a specified period of inactivity. Overall, battery performance is decent but photographers on extended outings may want to carry a spare battery.

Pros and Cons

The Canon Powershot SX70 offers excellent image quality and a versatile 65x optical zoom in a compact body. However, it does have some drawbacks.

Pros:

• Impressive 65x optical zoom range, allowing you to get very close to distant subjects
• Excellent image quality and 20.3MP resolution
• Capable 4K video recording
• Fast autofocus system
• Fully articulating rear LCD screen
• Built-in WiFi and Bluetooth for wireless transfer of photos/videos
• Good battery life of around 325 shots per charge

Cons:

• No touchscreen capabilities
• No microphone or headphone ports
• Raw shooting buffer fills quickly when shooting bursts
• Screen can be hard to see in very bright sunlight
• High price point

Overall, the SX70 offers outstanding optics and imaging in a portable form factor. The versatile zoom range, 4K video, and wireless connectivity make it a great choice for travel and day-to-day shooting. However, the lack of ports, small buffer, and high price may make some enthusiasts look elsewhere. It's ideal for casual shooters who want excellent quality from a compact superzoom camera.