Canon PowerShot A700

Reviewed May 2006

Characteristics

The PowerShot A700 is the first of any A-series camera to benefit from a longer zoom. The A700 is equipped with a 6X optical zoom that covers a focal length range of 5.8 to 34.8 mm, the equivalent of a 35 to 210 mm.

The maximum aperture of the lens is of f2.8 at the widest angle, diminishing progressively as the zoom is used so that at the maximum telephoto the aperture becomes f4.8, while the smallest aperture is a constant f8.

At the lower right of the lens barrel when facing the camera, a button can be pushed to remove the lens trim, revealing a bayonet mount which serves to attach the optional Conversion Lens Adapter (LA-DC58G) and in turn:

• 58 mm diameter lens filters.
• Wide Converter (WC-DC58N) which applies a 0.7X to all focal lengths, producing a wide angle of 24.5 mm.
• Tele-converter (TC-DC58N) which multiplies the focal length by 1.75, yielding a maximum telephoto of equivalent to a 367.5 mm.
• Or a Close-up Lens 250D, which makes it possible to focus on a subject 18 to 25 cm distant from the lens when the zoom is at the maximum telephoto setting.

The PowerShot A700 captures image using a 1/2.5 inch CCD with 6.2 million pixels of which 6 million are effective to yield a maximum image size of 2816 x 2112 pixels. CCD sensitivity ranges from 80 to 800 ISO, and it can either be set manually when the camera is set to P, Tv, Av, or M modes, or set to Auto. In all other modes sensitivity is automatically controlled by the A700. In addition, an Auto High mode is available, allowing automatic sensitivity increases beyond 800 ISO.

Shutter speeds, on the other hand, cover from 1/2000 second to 15 seconds, the precise range available to the camera varying according to the aperture and the focal length in use, and the shooting mode. Furthermore, flash synchronization takes place between 1/60 and 1/500 and noise reduction is automatically applied to any image captured with a shutter speed longer than 1.3 second.

As explained in the Ergonomics section, the image size and compression for the PowerShot A700 is set using the Function Menu, called up by pressing the FUNC. SET button at the centre of the 4-direction control:

• Large = 2816 x 2112 pixels
• Medium 1 = 2272 x 1704 pixels
• Medium 2 = 1600 x 1200 pixels
• Small = 640 x 480 pixels
• Wide = 2816 x 1584 pixels, a 16:9 aspect ratio that corresponds to HDTV.

As with some other recent Canon cameras, the A700 offers an image format called Post Card. The format captures a 1600 x 1200 pixels (3:2 format) image that is proportional to a 4 X 6 inch (10 x 15 cm) print and which does not need to be cropped. The compression applied to the image is preset, and cannot be modified, but it is the only mode that allows the shooting time and date to be permanently superimposed on the digital image itself. (See further.)

Three levels of JPEG compression are available at all image sizes with the A700:

• Super fine: the highest image quality, applies a compression with a ratio of approximately 6:1.
• Fine: an average image quality that has a compression ratio of approximately 12:1.
• Normal: the lowest image quality, using a compression ratio of 20:1 which makes it possible to store more images into a given memory space, at the expense of some of the image quality.

In addition to the parameters that can be set in the Function menu, other settings are located in the REC. menu, which is called up when the MENU is pressed. The menu is composed of three sections, each identified by an icon at the top of the screen. The first tab on the left is the REC. menu:

• AF Frame serves to select the way the auto focus functions:
  • AiAF: allows the camera to choose the focus using any of 9 AF frames that are clustered near the centre of the screen.
  • Centre: focuses only using the centre AF frame.
  • FlexiZone: makes it possible to manually move the AF point anywhere in the frame using the 4-direction control (the monitor must be turned on).

• Red-Eye (On or Off). When turned on red-eye reduction is achieved using the orange AF assistance light on the left of the optical viewfinder's front window, which also doubles as the Self-timer indicator.
• Spot AE Point has two possible settings: Centre which locks the spot metering at the centre of the frame, or AF Point which locks the spot metering to the AF point, wherever it is in the frame.
• MF-Point Zoom: On or Off, decides whether or not the centre portion of the image is magnified to assist focusing when the Manual Focus mode is used.

• AF-Assist Beam: On or Off, makes it possible to turn off the AF-Assist lamp if it is bothering.
• Digital Zoom: On or Off, controls the 4X digital zoom that crops the centre portion of the image and interpolates the cropped image to the currently selected image size, resulting in some image degradation. (The digital zoom is not available when the A700 image is set to the Post Card format.)
• Review: decides whether or not the image is shown on the monitor immediately post capture (Off, 2 through 10 seconds, or Hold which leaves the image on the screen until a control is pressed).
• Save Original: On or Off, when On the original image is retained when Colour Accent or Colour Swap is used, in addition to the altered image.
• Grid Lines: On or Off, displays grid lines on the monitor to help when composing an image.
• Date Stamp: is only available when the image is set to the Post Card format, and decides whether or not the time and date at which an image is captured are permanently superimposed on the image.

The second section of the menu, identified by an icon that looks like a wrench and a hammer, contains the Setup menu. The contents of the Setup menu are detailed in the Interface and Software section of the review, and is a section that is common to all modes.

The third section of the Rec. menu is also common to all modes, but appears as the fourth section of the Playback menu (see below). Called My Camera, it contains options that allow personalizing the A700.

The options in this section make it possible to change the sounds produced by the camera for operations, self timer, and when the shutter release is pressed, as well as the image it can display when starting up.

By default, Canon places 3 themes in the A700's memory which contains an image each associated with a group of sounds. However, over 40 more themes are available with the software that comes with the camera, and any of these can be used to replace the sounds already in the camera while it is connected to the computer.

Set to the Playback mode, the menu is organized much like the Rec. menu, with the playback options presented in the first section. The second section however is the Print menu, pushing back the Setup and the My Camera options to third and fourth place respectively.

The first section offers the following choices:

• Auto Play: plays back all the images on the card with a 3 second interval.

• Sound Memo: makes it possible to attach a sound recording, up to 60 seconds long, to an already captured image.
• Protect: makes an image's file "read-only", preventing it from being accidentally deleted.
• Rotate: serves to rotate an image by 90° or 270°.
• Erase All: erases all images on the memory card, with the exception of those that have been protected.

• Transfer Order: serves to choose the images that will be transferred automatically via USB to a computer running the software supplied with the camera.

The next section, Print, serves to select images for printing automatically when the A700 is connected directly to a PictBridge, Canon Direct Print, Bubble Jet Direct, or DPOF compliant printer:

• Print: starts the printing process when the camera is connected to a compatible printer.
• Select Images and Quantity: to select the images to be printed, and the number of copies to make of each image.
• Select All Images: selects all the images currently on the memory card for printing.
• Clear All Selections: clears all selections and print orders.

• Print Settings: serves to choose the type of print to make (index or image by image), whether or not the print should have the date imprinted on it, the file name, and whether or not all the Print Data should be automatically deleted once the images are printed.

The PowerShot A700 is compatible with SD (Secure Digital) and MMC (MultiMedia) memory cards, and the North American market version of the camera reviewed here is supplied with a 16 MB SD card. The card slot is located underneath the camera, behind the same solid door that covers the battery compartment. The memory card is ejected by pressing it on its edge.

The chart below provides an idea of the number of images, and the length of videos that can be captured with both the supplied card, and an optional 1 GB SD card:

The PowerShot A700 is supplied with 2 alkaline AA-size batteries, which are housed in the grip section of the camera. Rechargeable Ni-MH batteries can also be used, giving the camera greater autonomy.

First at the top is the A/V out (Audio/Video), which serves to connect the camera directly to a television. The output signal can be set to either NTSC or PAL in the Setup menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review for more details about the options contained in the Setup menu). Next is the USB connection (compatible 2.0 Hi-Speed). And at the bottom is a DC-IN jack that allows the PowerShot A700 to be powered from household current when the optional AC-DC converter (ACK600) is used.