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August 19th was a big day for Canon, as they introduced five new digital cameras in their Powershot line. Among these cameras was the Canon Powershot S70 (spec sheet) which joins, but does not replace, the Powershot S60 released earlier this year.
"The key design goal is to make the camera as slim as possible. We wanted to improve upon the small size of the S series camera. The lens is a big component there in terms of giving it the character it has," said Rudy Winston, Canon Spokesman.
The Canon Powershot S70 upgrades the S60 goes above and beyond by offering 7.1 megapixels and a brand new lens at an MSPR of $599. Both the Canon Powershot S60 and S70 digital cameras offer a 1.8 inch LCD screen, an ISO range of 50-400, and shutter speeds ranging from 15 to 1/2000 seconds. The 3.6x zoom lenses on each camera are equivalent to 28-200mm, which gives wide angle capability and portrait-length telephoto.
The new ultra-high-fraction lens is an aspherical lens technology containing high-refraction glass that can bend light severely. The glass on this new lens is molded precisely to bend light even further and ultimately give better wide-angle coverage. "We were able to get better image quality throughout the zoom range and make the lens itself physically smaller," said Winston.
The total weight of the Canon Powershot S70 is 2.5 ounces less than the previous S60, which Winston attributes to its new lens. "The key design goal is to make the camera as slim as possible. We wanted to improve upon the small size of the S series camera. The lens is a big component there in terms of giving it the character it has."
In addition to upgrades to the resolution and the lens, Canon also added a new direct-print option to the Canon Powershot S70. ID print mode (included in the other newly introduced Powershots) allows users to print passport images directly from the camera. The Canon Powershot S70 also has a new underwater white balance option that is not available on the S60 model.
The Canon Powershot S70 will be available in September for $599.