Very overpriced compared to exact model here in Erlangen, De ( that's here in Germany.) The photo shop here in the mall is selling them brand new for 369 Euro ( 1 euro = $.93 US.)

I think the pro 70 is very good digital Camera,if you want to take some simple picture for your trip or party, you should select a small size, and cheaper one, because this one is a big one, and it is heavy, BTW, it need an extra flash light, no internal flash.

But if you really care about the quality of your picture and want to take some good pic, esp for the use of your web site or your company's web site, you really need it, it is the one designed as a digital camera, not changed from the regular camera, and the color is pretty good, it give you the rich color and good layer. never compare the 70mm to some 120mm or 135mm, they are useless in most of time, but the 28mm is very useful, when you take some pic of the flower or the face of a baby, it is very useful, also this camera are good for night view shoot as a professional camera, it has big lens. The LCD screen can be foled, it is usefully when you want to take self shoot. Any, I like it very much, it is very good camera for those person who like take photos, and want some high quality picture.

I found this camera very easy to use right out of the box. One thing I see was not mentioned was its capability of using the new IBM micro drive avaiable in 170 or 340 mb . I have the 340 mb and it will hold 928 high res pictures ! It would be great for a vacation or other high capacity needs. this drive is pricey ($ 499.00), but the capacity is worth it ! I highly recommend this camera !

They all have major flaws, including the Pro 70.

Pro70 Good and Bad

Good:

1. The flip out LCD is great. Highly visiblein sunlight. Great for over the head and low to the ground shots.

2. I would not buy a digital camera that depends on a tiny built-in flash. The Pro 70 with 380EX is great!

3. Very well built. Solid feel. Ergonomics better than most. Menu system easy to navigate. Easy to operate.

4. 28mm wide angle is great. I would rather have a wide low end than a long telephoto. There are times I wish for something longer than 70mm but overall I would rather have the 28 and an excellent overall optical system. People are always crying for longer zooms of 4:1, 5:1 and greater. Optical quality has to be compromised somewhere in these long zoom ratios.

5. Dual flash card slots are great.

6. Finder is brighter and has better eye relief than many other digicams.

7. Has focus assist light and can focus under almost all conditions.

8. Fast lens compared to some others. F2.0-2.4. If you are going to spend $$$$ on a camera with a non-removable lens it should be reasonably fast.

9. Comes with a great NiMH battery and charger. Charges in one hour. Can also use a common 2CR5 lithium battery. I always keep one in my case and it has saved me more than once until I can get back to the charger.

10. Zoom is quiet and smooth. Some cameras I tried made noises that cried out "cheap mechanism!"

11. You can hold down the shutter after taking a shot and the LCD retains the image until you release the shutter. Great for quick reviews of the shot and showing your friends without switching modes to PLAYBACK and waiting for the image to load.

12. Takes great pictures!

Bad:

1. RAW images do not display full size when played back on the LCD. They show up 1/9 screen size in the middle. Useless for a rough evaluation of the image, or to show your friends what you just shot. JPEG's are always full size, however.

2. If you set aperture manually at less the f8.0 the max shutter speed is 1/180. If aperture is f8.0 or f8.0+ND4 the max shutter speed extends to 1/500. I don't understand why there has to be a 1/180 limit at lower apertures. It is annoying.

3. I wish there were an option to display on the LCD what the camera is choosing for aperture and shutter speed when in automatic mode. Even better, show it in the viewfinder. I hate not knowing what is going on. When you choose an aperture in Program mode however, you will see the shutter speed on the LCD subject to the limitations in #2 above. You would think for the prices they ask of these cameras they could provide basic exposure information in the viewfinder like SLR's have done for 25 years now!

4. Lag time is excessive, but you get used to it. Prefocusing helps quite a bit.

5. I wish the camera could focus continuously when the subject is moving. Once you prefocus, thats it. You have to take the shot or prefocus again if the subject moves. It is really tough to take pics of my 1-1/2 year old niece! She is always on the move.

6. If the 380EX is on the camera, shutter speed is set at 1/90 even if the flash is turned off. I would expect the camera to ignore the flash and use the full range of shutter speeds as long as the flash is not turned on.

7. Spare NiMH battery costs...

If I had to do it again right now I would buy the Pro 70. The Sony F505, Olympus C2500 and C2000 would be tempting but each has something major missing from my list of likes for the Pro 70. I would love to see Canon follow up the Pro 70 and address some of my dislikes.

I have lots of photos from the Pro 70 on Zing. If you would like to see them go to them in their website. On the main page of Zing type drose55 in the search box and click search. This will take you to my albums. The Camp Sunshine album is the only one that is not from the Pro 70 (they are scanned slides). Many of the others are JPEG's straight out of the camera at the highest quality setting.