Canon PowerShot SX700 HS Digital Camera - Wi-Fi Enabled (Black)

Canon PowerShot SX700 HS Digital Camera - Wi-Fi Enabled (Black)

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• Built-in Wi-Fi connectivity with NFC, plus one-touch Mobile Device Connect button
• 16.1 megapixel 1/2.3-inch high-sensitivity CMOS sensor combined with DIGIC 6 image processor (Canon HS SYSTEM)
• 30x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom and 120x combined zoom with Optical Image Stabilizer
• 3-inch TFT color LCD with wide viewing angle
• Capture stunning 1080p HD video with a dedicated movie button

Buy Now : Canon PowerShot SX700 HS Digital Camera - Wi-Fi Enabled (Black)

Brand : Canon
Category : Electronics,Camera & Photo,Digital Cameras,Point & Shoot Digital Cameras
Rating : 4.3
Review Count : 509

Canon PowerShot SX700 HS Digital Camera - Wi-Fi Enabled (Black)

• For the recent few years Canon has made great efforts to improve their travel-zoom compact cameras, and the new SX700 is their next remarkable achievement on that way. It\'s a little bit bigger than its predecessor (SX280) but it is very well built and has an attractive look and feel (I like the black one). It also got a new front grip which makes one-hand shooting more convenient, even when shooting video, since the Video button was moved from the back to the top and you can now use your thumb solely for holding the camera.Here is a brief list of the new camera pros & cons:PROS:* A very good design and build quality with the attractive finish.* A new powerful 30x optical zoom lens in just a pocket-size body.* Incredible range from 25mm wide to 750mm telephoto for stills and video.* Zoom Framing Assist - very useful new feature to compose your pictures at long telephoto.* Very effective optical Intelligent Image Stabilization for stills.* 5-axis Dynamic Image Stabilization and continuous AF for movies.* New 16MP high-resolution, high-speed CMOS Sensor.* The recent DIGIC6 processor with a new advanced Noise Reduction algorithm.* Intelligent Contrast system to retain shadow detail in high contrast scenes.* Full HD 1920 x 1080, 60 fps progressinve movie recording in a popular MP4 format.* Good-quality stereo microphones facing the subject being recorded.* A dedicated Movie-button for instant recording, now on the top of the camera.* A new high-resolution 922K, 3\" display.* WiFi and NFC (Near Field Communication) features for transferring files to your smartphone or tablet.* Short startup time (just about 1 sec) and no any noticeable shutter Lag.* Almost the same battery (NB-6LH) as for SX280 (NB-6L) - old one works fine .CONS:* Slightly bigger and heavier than its predecessor SX280.* A new Noise Reduction algorithm is more aggressive on low-contrast areas.I\'m basically a photo-amateur, but sometimes I do big prints and so my first priority is the image quality, and in particular its clarity at the pixel level. That\'s why my recent travel-zoom cameras consequently were SX230, SX260, and SX280, since Canon is doing all their best to preserve the fine details of the picture even at higher ISO\'s. With my recent SX280 I took many good pictures - sharp and clean, with nice colors, however while doing some research regarding the new SX700 camera features and characteristics I got a number of reasons for upgrade which I would like to share with you. Actually there are 3 main reasons: 30x Zoom Lens, 16-Megapixel CMOS sensor, and the advanced DIGIC 6 processor with the new Noise Reduction Algorithm.LENS: A new powerful 30x optical zoom lens with an Optical Image Stabilization, which spans an incredible 25-750mm equivalent range in a pocket-sized body, is a significant improvement over the SX280\'s 20x range. The real achievement is that the aperture of the new lens at its maximum 30x telephoto end drops to almost the same (F/6.9) value as of its predecessor at only 20x (F/6.8), what means the additional zoom will not cost you the increased ISO and therefore will not bring more noise to your pictures.On the other hand, when wide-open, the new lens provides slightly better aperture - F/3.2 than the older one - F/3.5, what gives you some advantage for shooting in low light conditions. The new SX700 also introduces an interesting feature - Zoom Framing Assist, which should help with composing shots of far distant subjects. I have to play with it for a while to find out how it actually works.SENSOR: The newly designed 1/2.3\" CMOS sensor can produce 16 Megapixel images while having actually 17 MP - it seems extra pixels are needed to provide additional digital image stabilization along with the existing optical one, what would be very helpful for shooting with such a long zoom. From the prospective of the image resolution, it is nice to step up from the prior 12 MP to the new 16 MP especially for landscape photos, what allows to present more fine details and to make your pictures to look more natural than before. Of course, packing more megapixels into the same sensor size causes less light to be collected by each pixel, but on the other hand, Canon stated this new one is a \"High-Sensitivity CMOS sensor\" and also a new noise-reduction algorithm works more effectively, so such a resolution leap should not cause any noticeable deterioration in IQ.I\'m really thankful to Canon especially for the two design decisions: for years they were not following that crazy mega-pixels race; and they were not afraid to generate large (up to 10MB) jpeg files in \"Large\" mode to preserve as much fine details as possible. Having got such detailed jpeg files you can have much less regret of not having the RAW output, than if your camera always packed your pictures into just 2-3 MB with a lot of smearing and smudging in low contrast areas. On the other hand if you don\'t need so detailed pictures you can always select either \"Medium\" or \"Small\" file size.NOISE REDUCTION: The Canon SX700 uses the recent Canon\'s DIGIC 6 processor, which was first introduced in the SX280 model and provided the improved noise reduction technique especially at higher ISO\'s. It\'s a kind of luxury for such a small camera to have such an advanced processor, and at the moment of writing this review only a few enthusiast\'s Canon cameras like G1X II, G16, S120 was equipped with that powerful picture processing engine.Although both cameras SX280 and SX700 use the same processor, the latest model has more advanced Noise Reduction Algorithm which provides more smooth rendering of the low-contrast areas with significantly less visible noise. People say one picture is worth a thousand words, but the Amazon rules do not allow to include external links to pictures in the text of the review itself, however they do not mind them in the comments. So I put those links with the respective explanations into my own comments and so you can treat them as a part of this review. Actually you will find there the links to the two 100%-crop fragments of green leaves taken by the old and new camera respectively. While the most bright areas on both fragments look pretty much the same, the areas with less light on the older camera\'s shots show the noticeable noise, while the SX700\'s counterparts look almost clear, however a bit softer.LOW_LIGHT: Both cameras have pretty similar and one of best on the market High Sensitivity (HS) system for taking pictures in low-light conditions with minimal noise. In many cases if you shoot even at the highest ISO and then browse those pictures on you monitor without additional cropping, you hardly can see any noise at all (since even Full HD monitors have resolution just about 2MP, and the most advanced - not more than 3-4MP). So from that prospective the difference between two cameras is not that big: the new SX700 provides slightly less visible noise (if any at all) but at the price of somewhat softer images, however all those imperfections of both cameras for most of the ISO range from 100 to about 800 in reality are visible only on the really big prints, and only above ISO-800 the smearing of the fine details becomes visible. So both cameras can be considered as good players in the low-light league. I took the 2 series of shots at high ISO with both cameras, and for the viewers convenience I put them as the 2nd part into my most first comment for this review.SHARPNESS: The sharpness of the output jpeg pictures pretty much depends on the \"Compression\" settings: to get the maximum details you have to select the \"Super Fine\" mode, which will produce the jpeg files with the size up to 10MB. If you don\'t need big prints you can choose \"Fine\" compression which will result in jpeg files about 5MB or less for the full 16MP resolution. Be aware that with the \"Fine\" setting the pictures at 100%-crop will look significantly softer at any ISO, however if you browse them on your monitor in the full-screen mode they will look almost the same. Also if you\'re only going to upload them on Internet or make small prints, you can even choose instead of \"Large\" resolution the \"Medium\" one (actually there two of them - \"M1\" with 8MP and \"M2\" with 3MP) what will produce even smaller files and will give you more room on your flash memory card and hard disk.So I took some comparative test shots with my both cameras SX280 and SX700 at the ISO-100, max resolution, and the Super-Fine compression in the range of the equivalent focal lengths from 25mm to 500mm. Since the both cameras have a pretty good noise reduction mechanisms, the noise is not visible on all those shots, and the only difference is in the effective sharpness, which can vary in the zoom range. I put the links to those shots into my comment on 04/10/14 with the respective explanations.SAMPLE_PICTURES: I\'ve uploaded some real-world pictures and you can get links to them in my comment with the respective title posted on 04/13/2014.VIDEO: As the same as its predecessor, this camera can capture stunning 1080p 60p/30p Full HD video using a dedicated movie button which now resides on the top of the camera. And to provide sharp results the new SX700 is equipped with an Intelligent Image Stabilization system plus 5-axis Dynamic IS for steady movies.VIDEO_SAMPLES: I\'ve uploaded some video clips and you can get links to them in my comment with the respective title posted on 04/11/2014.So this new Canon camera is a very good compact device for taking nice still pictures and advanced video recording.
• I\'ve been a long time photographer, advanced amateur or semi-pro depending on what time you catch me. I\'ve become a huge fan of these relatively inexpensive zoom cameras. I take them into the field, get great shots and do things with them that I\'d never even think about doing with an expensive DSLR! Hang them off a boat, trudge through a river or stream, deal with a bit of rain...whatever...I call them adventure cameras and I generally replace them every couple few years when the technology gets better.This jump, however, didn\'t turn out as expected.I\'ve owned quite a few cameras in my days and honestly, I have to say, this thing isn\'t even quite as good as my older SX130IS series it replaced that I paid 2/3rds as much for. One might think that more megapixels and current processing/focusing technology is better, but the image quality in this camera just hasn\'t quite lived up to my expectations. That really disappoints me because I\'ve been a long time fan of Canon\'s optics and camera gear and this is the very first camera I\'ve been less than impressed by.I can pretty confidently say that I\'ve run this camera through it\'s paces in multiple environments, lighting and types of photography. It excels really well at portrait styles, producing high quality, colorful images that practice both color fidelity and clarity. In my opinion, however, this model falls flat on it\'s face when it comes to both detailed scenic situations as well as high-contrast environments. The problems I\'ve experienced are related to both clarity/sharpness as well as it\'s ability to deal with a relatively high dynamic range, producing images that are somewhat flat and commonly poorly exposed for the situation. Examples of the clarity issues are easily found in mountain vistas, deciduous tree lines or other areas where you expect both good contrast and sharpness to define the characteristics of what you\'re trying to shoot. Even at high resolution, the output is somewhat more grainy (even at low ISO) and fuzzy that I\'d expect...and I\'m not expecting SLR quality here, just what a camera made five years ago could produce with less resolution! The high dynamic range issue is always a challenge for any camera, but this one will almost force me to get my exposure against the sky and then shoot my subject, resulting in a very easy out-of-focus scenario. Pretty much any picture with a mostly-cloudy sky will result in a white sky with virtually no detail. Also, many shots experience what I\'d most relate to noise even at low ISO...but it\'s probably best described as micro-artifacts in the final output...enough that a noise filter can\'t really do anything about them.I did settle on this model after doing a fair bit of research, but since I was interested in purchasing the \"latest and greatest\" in hopes that it would perform as well, or better, than it\'s predecessors...the information was somewhat limited at the time of my purchase. What reviews I did find didn\'t really mention any issues with capture quality...or at least anything out-of-the-norm for a typical highly portable zoom lens.Overall, it has all the features that one could expect out of a camera. It of course features your auto modes (both with manual or auto ISO control), aperture mode, shutter speed mode and even a full manual. There\'s a number of scene options that I don\'t typically use, but might be useful to a less experienced photographer. The video functions are highly improved over my previous SX130IS...no longer is there a video time limit and it also features 1080P captures in video mode. The optical zoom featured on this camera is rather astounding, the 30X can really reach and you only get a little bit of clarity loss at the fullest extents. As with all cameras of this nature, the additional digital zoom is a virtually worthless feature as the quality drops extremely quickly. (It\'s really odd though since the displayed image looks good...the output, however, does not.) It does feature some nice automatic image processing features where you can get different results in one shooting...kind of fun to play with a bit, but something more easily done with better results after the fact outside of the camera.Physically, this is one of the best small zooms I\'ve ever had. It\'s a very nice size, easy to shoot with one hand, plenty lightweight and hardly noticeable in a front pocket. The reduction in size from my previous SX series was much appreciated. The buttons are all well laid out and operation is fairly easy to figure out if you\'ve used a digital camera previously. I haven\'t had any issues to note with navigating the camera\'s features and adjustments to speak of. The manual does detail these things out fairly clearly if you need assistance.As for the video capture, I\'ve played around with it a little and it\'s about on par for what I\'d expect from these zoom cameras. Not great quality, but not inferior either. You won\'t get a National Geographic quality shot no matter how hard you try or light your scene, but it\'s watchable. It does improve on my older SX model in both image stability and overall quality. Surprisingly, though, compared to my previous SX130IS camera, indoor and low-light performance is incredibly noisy, almost approaching unusable..maybe just good enough to archive your family memories and so forth, but definitely not anything you\'d want to produce professionally. It doesn\'t feature the death-blow video crash that it\'s predecessor experienced when it comes to switching to video, so that\'s a welcome change. But if quality video (especially indoors) is an important thing to you...you\'ll probably only be happy with a DSLR setup, really.The supplied battery isn\'t very good, in my estimation. Without flash or even much in the way of LCD usage, you can maybe squeak out a hundred pictures or so. I purchased two higher capacity Vivitar batteries to accompany the new camera and these are improved, but also don\'t have very accurate scales when it comes to battery remaining...they go from two bars to death in a few pictures. I haven\'t even measured with a lot of LCD use or flash usage, but I\'d anticipate even worse performance regardless of the power source.A few features that I was really expecting from a camera that came out this year and didn\'t make it? Panoramics! I can do this on my cell phone...why can\'t my dedicated expensive camera do it? HDR captures? Something I really wanted to also see and isn\'t found on this camera. Lastly, and probably most importantly, I wanted to see RAW support. This lacking feature has found it\'s way into competitors platforms of similar make and model, so there\'s no good reason for it not to exist in this unit..it\'s just simply a superior capture method with the memory cards we have these days. I knew all of these limitations going in...but it\'s a little disappointing to me that Canon isn\'t keeping up on the feature sets. I\'ve never not bought a Canon camera...but my next camera might not be one.Don\'t get my review wrong. I\'m a Canon fan and bought this camera even though I knew competitors were outpacing Canon in the feature sets. (If you doubt me, find my glowing and popular review of the SX130IS!) I did not want to throw them under the bus for a less than stellar product. Maybe some of these issues can be fixed in firmware...who knows. But, I think this camera will get scheduled for a relatively early replacement and find itself as a backup camera sometime next year.If I could do it over again, I might have held out for the SX520HS, but more than likely, probably would have given a more serious look at competitors. Some of the cameras I looked at had all the features I wanted, with better optics, for not much more than this camera.

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