S70 underwater performance/review

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Kevster

Contributor
Messages
437
Reaction score
49
Location
Perth, Australia
# of dives
500 - 999
Experience with Canon S70.

Been searching a few forums now looking for details on the Canon S70.
Thought I would do my own review.

I have approx 50 logged dives, most in warm waters using the S70 & the Canon housing (WP40 I think).Topside I have been very happy with the camera. Manual control is very good and 28 mm wide angle is great. However the performance underwater is not so good.
I shoot in raw using the underwater white balance mode. This makes for decent post dive processing.Raw takes about 5 seconds writing to the card.
I have tried various shooting modes. Automatic, Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter priority.
Best results have been using natural light in the AP mode. Generally shutter speed 1/80, 1/100. Aperture 4.5 to 6.
Was in Egypt in Jan & viss was good resulting in some great natural light photos.
However the big problem has been focus. Focus is the major problem with this camera, especially in low light conditions. This is inline with all the other reviews.
Focus in macro mode using the full zoom is terrible. Using the zoom means the minimum focal distance is approx 1-2 foot. Even at the wide end of the lens in macro it is very hit & miss.
Compared to other P&S cameras from other divers on my trips the S70 focus performance is very poor IMHO. The Canon IXUS series seems to produce sharp focus for such a small camera.
I have recently bought the Inon UWL110. Just back from Thailand where the viss was approx 10 m. The wet lens was ok. Was hoping this lens would enable me to do up & under shots but this was only possible in flat pool like conditions.
Will need a few more trips with better viss to get better results. Major drawback is that the coverage of the internal flash is very small using the wide lens.
I now intend to get the Inon D2000 strobe and perhaps the UCL165 wet lens in a last ditch effort to get decent macro performance.
Hopefully the focus light on this strobe and the macro lens will improve the focus problems. If not I am ditching the S70 and will look at the new A series.

Anyone heading to Thailand should to do Anemone reef & King cruiser wreck dives. These were the best dives I done in 5 days of diving including Phi Phi & the Similan Isl. Would recommend diving with Sea bees.
Does anyone know if the S70 fires a preflash on A,M modes.?
Overall would rate camera 6.5/10.

Would be interested to hear from any other S70 or S80 users.
The S80 appears to provide much better focus performance (but lacks RAW). Photos from the artist of the month on the Inon website using the S80+strobe+UCL were excellent.
 
The UWL 110 is the wide angle lens? You will either need a strobe or a Magic-Filter.

I think the D2000 strobe has a modeling light, which should help the camera focus in macro mode.
 
Do not use the zoom when in macro mode. The S70 manual states using the zoom in marco mode will cause focusing issues.

You're review sounds like my first experience using the S70. Keep at it. You will be amazed at how your results will improve as you gain experience with the camera.

For more info on using the S70, here are some links to threads I found very helpful:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=166062
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=144122
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=129206
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=139112
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=127697
 
Underwater, you would do well to pretend the zoom does not exist. Doesn't help in macro mode, and will only serve to make everything blue in telephoto. In UW photography, the goal (forced by circumstances) is always to work with the shortest distance possible between the photographer and the subject, to minimize the water column in between. This helps eliminate backscatter, etc.

Don't zoom. Get closer. Once you're as close as you can go, take the shot, and if you need to, crop it later to "zoom".

There are exceptions, of course, but this is the general rule of thumb.
 
Kevster:
Experience with Canon S70.

Been searching a few forums now looking for details on the Canon S70.
Thought I would do my own review.

I have approx 50 logged dives, most in warm waters using the S70 & the Canon housing (WP40 I think).Topside I have been very happy with the camera. Manual control is very good and 28 mm wide angle is great. However the performance underwater is not so good.
I shoot in raw using the underwater white balance mode. This makes for decent post dive processing.Raw takes about 5 seconds writing to the card.
I have tried various shooting modes. Automatic, Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter priority.
Best results have been using natural light in the AP mode. Generally shutter speed 1/80, 1/100. Aperture 4.5 to 6.
Was in Egypt in Jan & viss was good resulting in some great natural light photos.
However the big problem has been focus. Focus is the major problem with this camera, especially in low light conditions. This is inline with all the other reviews.
Focus in macro mode using the full zoom is terrible. Using the zoom means the minimum focal distance is approx 1-2 foot. Even at the wide end of the lens in macro it is very hit & miss.
Compared to other P&S cameras from other divers on my trips the S70 focus performance is very poor IMHO. The Canon IXUS series seems to produce sharp focus for such a small camera.
I have recently bought the Inon UWL110. Just back from Thailand where the viss was approx 10 m. The wet lens was ok. Was hoping this lens would enable me to do up & under shots but this was only possible in flat pool like conditions.
Will need a few more trips with better viss to get better results. Major drawback is that the coverage of the internal flash is very small using the wide lens.
I now intend to get the Inon D2000 strobe and perhaps the UCL165 wet lens in a last ditch effort to get decent macro performance.
Hopefully the focus light on this strobe and the macro lens will improve the focus problems. If not I am ditching the S70 and will look at the new A series.

Anyone heading to Thailand should to do Anemone reef & King cruiser wreck dives. These were the best dives I done in 5 days of diving including Phi Phi & the Similan Isl. Would recommend diving with Sea bees.
Does anyone know if the S70 fires a preflash on A,M modes.?
Overall would rate camera 6.5/10.

Would be interested to hear from any other S70 or S80 users.
The S80 appears to provide much better focus performance (but lacks RAW). Photos from the artist of the month on the Inon website using the S80+strobe+UCL were excellent.

Check my gallery here on the board and via the link to imagekind.com .........S-30/50/60/70..........I like them all and the 70 the best. The macro focus doesn't cause me any probs at all. Mostly practice practice practice.
 
Guess my question is why???? Why are you wasting all this money on old outdated tech? Why pay more for add ons to make a poor camera preform a little better when the same money will buy a new cam and case that has the newest up to date tech.

The S80 is good but was produced mainly to correct the many shorcommings of the S70. I had an S80 and it was an excellent cam until 1 drop of salt water got into the corner of the case and shorted the LCD out. Canon said "forget it" your 6 month old cam is junk and not economically repairable.

Anyway, As the others have said. Never touch that zoom lever underwater! and never never in macro. My S80 would dive awesome shots to less than 1" in macro but as soon as you touched that lever it wouldn't focus under a foot!

In short, quit flogging a dead horse. Canon is now up to the digic III processor and believe me there is a good reason for the change. save that S70 for surface stuff and get a new, "much improved" A series camera for those precious underwater shots.
 
Which A series camera has the coveted 28mm wide-angle lens?

I never had any problems using my S70 underwater. It worked great. Alas, I lost it last week in Bonaire on my last dive (wipe tear). I'm looking to replace it with an S80. Why get an A-series without the wide angle?

I *hate* those zooms that only go to 35mm equiv. I was considering the SD800IS, but it has noise issues. I'm not convinced Digic III is a step forward from Digic II.
 
Good luck finding an S80. They've been discontinued for a long time, and have been sold out forever. They're a great camera however which is why they're going for a fortune on eBay.
 
Dusty2:
Guess my question is why???? Why are you wasting all this money on old outdated tech? Why pay more for add ons to make a poor camera preform a little better when the same money will buy a new cam and case that has the newest up to date tech.

The S80 is good but was produced mainly to correct the many shorcommings of the S70. I had an S80 and it was an excellent cam until 1 drop of salt water got into the corner of the case and shorted the LCD out. Canon said "forget it" your 6 month old cam is junk and not economically repairable.

Anyway, As the others have said. Never touch that zoom lever underwater! and never never in macro. My S80 would dive awesome shots to less than 1" in macro but as soon as you touched that lever it wouldn't focus under a foot!

In short, quit flogging a dead horse. Canon is now up to the digic III processor and believe me there is a good reason for the change. save that S70 for surface stuff and get a new, "much improved" A series camera for those precious underwater shots.



That's what I'm thinking, get a A570 & be thru with it.....$400+ US......I'm in love with mine......
 
bgi:
Which A series camera has the coveted 28mm wide-angle lens?

I never had any problems using my S70 underwater. It worked great. Alas, I lost it last week in Bonaire on my last dive (wipe tear). I'm looking to replace it with an S80. Why get an A-series without the wide angle?

I *hate* those zooms that only go to 35mm equiv. I was considering the SD800IS, but it has noise issues. I'm not convinced Digic III is a step forward from Digic II.


Look @ some of my photos with the A570(see my sig), & I'm just getting the hang of it(digital different than 35 mm IMO ie shutter lag, white balance etc)......
 

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