Megapixels and Zoom
The Canon IXUS 70 is a seven megapixel digital camera with a three times optical zoom lens. There is also a feature that allows you to increase the amount of zoom by almost 2x if you shoot at lower resolutions. 4x digital zoom is available too. The lens has a focal length equivalent to 35 - 105mm in 35mm format. The maximum aperture is f2.8 (wide) / f4.9 (tele).
Basics
For when you would like to appear in the photo there is a self timer function with a two or ten second delay.
60 seconds of commentary can be added to a photo after it has been taken.
A special resolution is available for you to take extra wide photos suitable for playback on a widescreen television.
Various colours effects can be used. These are Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color.
Focusing
In macro mode the IXUS 70 can focus from 3cm away from the subject.
Face detection focusing is available for portrait shots.
LCD
As well as a 2.5" LCD screen there is also a viewfinder for composing your photos. The screen is made up of around 230,000 pixels.
Flash
Flash modes are Auto, Manual Flash On / Off. You can also turn on red eye reduction and slow sync speed. The range of the flash unit is 3.5m. This falls to around 2m when the zoom lens is in use.
If a photo you have taken using flash is ruined by red eye then you can try to improve the photo by using the built in red eye correction software.
Scene Modes
The built in scene modes are Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium and Underwater. By using a scene mode you indicate to the camera the type of photo you are about to take and it adjusts its internal settings accordingly.
Movies
The IXUS 70 has a wider range of movie modes than most cameras do. To start with there is the standard TV quality movies. These can be captured at a rate of 640 x 480 pixels and with a top speed of thirty frames per second. Sound can be recorded and zoom is available while shooting is in progress. Up to 4GB or one hour of footage can be captured.
The second type of movie you can record is a high speed one minute movie. These can be played back in slow motion allowing you to analyse activities such as gold swings and tennis serves.
Finally you can capture time lapse movies. These take still snaps at predefined intervals. These are often used to track flowers opening or clouds moving across the sky.
Advanced Features
There are a few more advanced features that you can use to get you out of tricky situations. These include metering (Evaluative (linked to Face Detection AF frame), Centre-weighted average, Spot (centre)), sensitivity (AUTO, High ISO Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600), exposure compensation (+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments) and white balance (Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom).
Continuous shooting is also available. This works at a maximum speed of 1.7 frames per second.
Shutter speeds are set automatically by the camera. These work in the range 15 - 1/1500 seconds.
Computer - Printers - Television
All the necessary cables and software are included in the box to connect the IXUS 70 to a printer, television set and a compatible printer.
Extras
Canon can supply a case (WP-DC13) that is waterproof to a depth of 40m if you would like to use the IXUS 70 underwater.
To boost the power of the flash unit you can buy Canon's High Power Flash HF-DC1.
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