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Monday, 18 September 2023

Canon Powershot SX70 HS bridge camera user review 18 September 2023

 

All photos Canon SX70


I am a big fan of bridge cameras because of their versatility and all-in-one-do-most things capability.

Bridge cameras look like and in most ways operate like Digital SLR cameras or Mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. The main difference is that the lens on a bridge camera is a super or ultra zoom, fixed in place, not interchangeable. In addition bridge cameras have a smaller sensor than interchangeable lens types.

In the heyday of digital photography, around 2010, there were many bridge cameras on the market from Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Panasonic, Olympus, Sony and Leica.

These days there are fewer makers in the bridge cam market offering fewer models.

But some have persisted, including Canon.

The Powershot SX(xx) IS or more recently  HS line with two digits has been in the middle of Canon’s bridge camera range since the original SX10 IS in 2008. Models in this range generally have a built in EVF over the lens axis, a decent set of controls, handle and thumb support and in recent years, a fully articulated monitor screen and Raw capture. They are clearly aimed at the moderately enthusiastic amateur photographer who wants a proper camera with a big zoom range at a budget price, without the complication of having to change lenses.

The SX70 HS introduced in 2018,  continues this tradition.

I bought an SX70 and have been using it intermittently for several months. Unfortunately my experience using this camera has been less enjoyable than the specifications might suggest.

I think the word which best describes the SX70 is “mediocre”. It does what the label says but slowly and with  image quality which is acceptable for social media but not much more.

The SX70 is compact, light and comfortable in the hand with a nicely shaped handle and a well positioned  thumb support. The single control dial is well positioned behind the shutter button in typical Canon fashion. The monitor screen is fully articulated. And the strap lugs are handlebar type which is way better then those stupid sticking-out loops on some other cameras, which always dig into the hand and get caught on anything near the camera.

But there is no hotshoe, no filter thread, no lens hood in the box, the screen is not touch sensitive and there is only one control dial.

JJC has a solution to both the lens hood and filter thread problem in the form of the LH-JDC100 hood which includes a bayonet mounted ring onto which the reversible hood and 67mm filter can be mounted.




There are enough dials and buttons to enable the user to take control of camera settings and operation if desired. However the process of doing so can be slow as it often involves using two or more control points due to the limited number of those control points.  For instance there is no direct way to move the active AF area. We must first press an assigned button then we can move the AF area with the cross keys but not with touchscreen because the camera lacks that feature.

We can apply exposure compensation with the control dial but only after pressing the Down cross key.

We have access to manual exposure control but only by doing a little dance with the control dial and the up cross key to select and alter the various exposure parameters.

It is easier to turn the Mode Dial to P,  let the camera figure out the appropriate exposure settings and hope this delivers a good result. Which it sometimes does and sometimes does not.

Or we can set the dial to [Auto] which confines us to JPG capture and completely camera-controlled operation.

Canon SX70 with Panasonic Lumix FZ300


But even then the performance is not wonderful. Single AF is slow with hunting back and forth in low light. The camera uses old-style contrast detect AF, not the excellent dual pixel AF which we find on Canon’s RF mount models.

Image quality is hampered by the tiny sensor with 20 Mpx crammed onto a 6.17 x 4.55mm chip, producing a lot of digital noise even at low ISO settings. JPGs from the camera do a reasonable job of suppressing the noise at the expense of detail.

If we want to use a device which takes photos with the least possible user input,  just point-and-press, then almost any smartphone will do a better job than the SX70 in terms of image quality and connectivity.

The way to extract the best possible performance and image quality from the SX70 is to use Raw capture and A, S or sometimes M capture modes, then run the files through Adobe Camera Raw with its new and excellent Denoise AI or one of the other AI driven denoise programs.

But here is the problem. If we are going to take control of camera operation and post process in Adobe, then there are plenty of cameras which give us a better starting point in terms of performance and image quality than the SX70.

The lens’ specification looks really impressive on paper with a focal length equivalent to 21-1365mm, as marked on the lens barrel. But in practice the lens is not very sharp at any focal length. At the wide end the periphery is soft with strong purple fringing at high contrast transitions. The fringing can be difficult to remove in post processing. The lens is also prone to flare at the wide end of the focal length range.  The lens is best in the middle of the focal length range where it can deliver decent results if used carefully. At the long end there is overall softness which in my experience is typical for cameras of this type.

One thing the SX70 lens can do quite well is close-ups. I tried it on flowers with good results hand held. So that’s a positive capability.

I compared the SX70 at an indicated 1365mm equivalent focal length to the Panasonic Lumix FZ300 at an indicated 600mm focal length, hand held using a variety of distant subjects. When the images are viewed side by side at the same output size I cannot see any more actual subject information in the SX70 pictures.

All of which makes me think the extreme zoom range of this camera is mainly there for marketing purposes.


Summary

The Canon Powershot SX70 HS bridge camera is a disappointing product which I cannot recommend. It offers the user a few positives but too many negatives.

The Panasonic Lumix FZ300 is slightly larger and heavier and in Australia sells at a slightly higher price. It does everything better than the SX70: Ergonomics, performance, image quality and the user experience. The FZ300 is a really interesting classic bridge camera which offers capabilities, features, lens  and image quality available on no other bridge camera which uses the tiny 6.17 x 4.55mm sensor.

I think that Canon is likely to suffer self inflicted reputational harm and is not doing its customers any favours by keeping the SX70 on the market.

Canon could make a good bridge camera though. I would like to see them produce a new camera line which I call EOS G. Specifically I envisage the lens from the Powershot G3X (discontinued) fixed permanently (not interchangeable)  to the EOS R10 body enclosing a 15.9mm diagonal sensor (like the G3X) with dual pixel AF.  That might be  very interesting to many photographers who like using a proper camera but baulk at spending the price of an automobile for the privilege of so doing.

 

 

3 comments:

  1. I would like to see them produce a new camera line which I call EOS G. Specifically I envisage the lens from the Powershot in CCTV Cameras

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andrew, I'd buy an ESO G with the lens from the G3X in a heartbeat.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The clarity of the images on this best cctv monitor is impressive, ensuring every detail is captured

    ReplyDelete