The Canon PowerShot A700 is one among four new cameras launched by Canon in the venerable A-series. The PowerShot A700 offers a 6-megapixel image sensor and comes with Canon's DIGIC II image processor. This combination should be more than sufficient for the casual photographer to shoot noise free pictures. Canon offers a Canon 6x optical zoom (35 - 210mm) capable lens with the Canon A700. As a first for a 6x optical zoom camera, the optical viewfinder maintains a real-image view at any optical zoom position.

The 2.5-inch LCD is big enough to see what you are shooting or reviewing. It comes with a Night Display mode for easy viewing in low light conditions. With a 9-point AiAF and 20 shooting modes you can experiment shooting photos to your heart's content. The Canon A700 offers ISO equivalent speed ratings ranging from 80 to 800. That's good news; you can use the faster shutter speeds to eliminate effects like moving-subject blur.

The Canon PowerShot A700 includes a widescreen resolution option, for capturing images and videos that are perfect for your widescreen TV or computer monitor. For video capture you can choose among the Fast Frame Rate Movie Mode which allows you to record for up to 1 minute long in QVGA at 60 fps (320 x 240 pixels), or the Highly Flexible Movie Mode which allows you to record at VGA (640 x 480 pixels) and QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) with frame rates of 30 fps and 15 fps for recording up to 1 hour or 1GB, or the Plus Compact Movie Mode (QQVGA; 160 x 120 pixels) which records at 15 fps for up to 3 minutes. Connectivity options include high-speed USB and PictBridge.

The Canon PowerShot A700 will be available in March 2006 for an estimated selling price of US$349.99. I say it's a great buy.

Product website: Canon