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Canon SX70 .... September (1 Viewer)

Really brings home how huge the P1000 is...wow!

It's easy to see the priorities of Nikon's engineers: reach. Harder to draw a line from the SX50 to the SX60 and deduct Canon's philosophy for the SX70. Could be a prosaic "management wants a new model shortly before Xmas." OK I am being mean... ;)
 
It's easy to see the priorities of Nikon's engineers: reach. Harder to draw a line from the SX50 to the SX60 and deduct Canon's philosophy for the SX70. Could be a prosaic "management wants a new model shortly before Xmas." OK I am being mean... ;)
Probably not that mean, honestly. I'm still curious about the IQ of the SX70, but in the end it's not an upgrade option for me (and my SX60). The lack of hotshoe kinda tanked it for me.

If I were staring all over today (say, my SX60 got destroyed) I'm not sure if I'd get the P1000; probably get another SX60.

If the P1000 existed back when I first was shopping for a bridge camera to replace my digiscoping rig, then I might have actually considered the P1000, not knowing what I know now about my photography habits and back then more willing to carry around a monster bridge camera.
 
I saw a birder using a P1000 the other day and it looked very big and cumbersome. To me it's not what a bridge camera is all about.

I'm also waiting to see what the IQ on the SX70 is like before I deside weather or not to replace my trusty SX50.
 
Hi Gary,have you considered the much smaller p900......it's bigger than the canon but still manageable.
I've posted a photo to show the image quality its capable of.
I don't understand canon to be honest...why bring out a new model with the same size zoom as the previous model,particularly when the competition is doing so well with bigger zooms.
The larger optical zooms of the nikons aren't just gimmicks,they genuinely help nature photographers get better quality images.Bad move by canon i think.
 

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Hi Neil. Yes the P900 is on my radar, I have seen some good results with it.

I don't think a bigger zoom is the main issue, as I've always said that my SX50 doesn't need more magnification just better image quality. I hope Canon have done something special with the IQ, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
Fingers crossed bud.....i was hoping that Canon was going to do something a bit special with the sx70...i'm not brand loyal and am just interested in getting the most out of whatever i buy.You never know it may be a really good camera.
 
It's pleasing to see that the SX70 has a microphone input, but disappointing to find out that there is nowhere to fasten it????

There is a small section of flat space, just behind the flash cover, where a simple, metal, microphone shoe could be glued. They can be purchased at music equipment stores. It might be possible to glue it on top of the flash cover and it might not interfere with raising it to use the flash. Also, a microphone shoe can be mounted on an arm that would fasten to the tripod jack, under the camera and would stick out, to one side. These can be bought from accessory dealers.
 
Manuals in various languages are available here. The fifth (last) manual is the English version. Others are in Swedish, Greek, Danish...
The German Canon site has actually managed to publish the version in German only.

These manuals offer only basic information, very poor effort for a major company like Canon. I more and more get the impression the SX70 is a rushed, last-ditch production. Still there is hope...
 
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Manuals in various languages are available here. The fifth (last) manual is the English version. Others are in Swedish, Greek, Danish...
The German Canon site has actually managed to publish the version in German only.

These manuals offer only basic information, very poor effort for a major company like Canon. I more and more get the impression the SX70 is a rushed, last-ditch production. Still there is hope...

I bought a Canon camera a dozen years ago, before there were very many discussion forums to exchange the information, that is not provided by the manufacturers. The controls for features such as Contrast, Sharpness and Color Saturation were hidden in a place that was accessed by a button that was separate from the main controls. Nothing was explained about it in the printed manual. It took me months, before I learned that those controls even existed or how to work them. For the small number of us who come to these forums, this is no longer a problem as we can help ourselves. But the other 98% of camera users have not discovered this option.

One suggestion is to read the manuals in other languages, as sometimes, more information is provided in them. Many online translators are available to assist in this. I'm impressed by how many of those from other countries are becoming so fluent in English, mainly due to their school systems, that teach it from the first year of enrollment.

In the newly-released manuals for the SX70 by Canon USA, there seems to be nothing about the video bit-rates for various modes. But on their website, they have separate information pages with these details. The bit-rate for the highest quality level of 4K 30p or 25p, is 120 Mbps. For 1080 60p or 50p, it's 60 Mbps. These bit-rates are higher than is used by other manufacturers of similar models. The Nikon P1000 uses a variable bit-rate (VBR) for 4K 30p or 25p video, of about 78 Mbps. A higher bit-rate actually makes it easier to decode and render in editing, as there's less compression, although the file sizes are larger. If you experiment with the bit-rates of edited 4K production output, it's surprising how low a rate is needed to provide playback quality of an adequate level.
 
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The German manual is as poor as the English version. OK, the camera could still be great. Merely a hint that the SX70 is not a priority for Canon. The new shipping date for the camera seems to be January 18th, 2019.

The bit-rate for the highest quality level of 4K 30p or 25p, is 120 Mbps. For 1080 60p or 50p, it's 60 Mbps. These bit-rates are higher than is used by other manufacturers of similar models. The Nikon P1000 uses a variable bit-rate (VBR) for 4K 30p or 25p video, of about 78 Mbps. A higher bit-rate actually makes it easier to decode and render in editing, as there's less compression, although the file sizes are larger. If you experiment with the bit-rates of edited 4K production output, it's surprising how low a rate is needed to provide playback quality of an adequate level.

Very interesting, thanks for the information. Extracting stills from 4K videos is one of the reasons why I am tempted by the SX70.
 
If you look on Amazon UK, it's available for next day delivery. There's also a customer review.
Only one German dealer among 22 claims immediate availablity. The same company offers it on Amazon.de - for delivery circa December 11th. The review on the UK site looks like an outlier.
 
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I am surprised there are no sample photographs on Birdforum yet as the camera seems to be on the shelves now. I will keep waiting. Perhaps most are thinking the same as me before they buy.
 
I am surprised there are no sample photographs on Birdforum yet as the camera seems to be on the shelves now. I will keep waiting. Perhaps most are thinking the same as me before they buy.

I've seen enough photos and videos from the SX70 in other places, to convince me that I will not be buying this model. The image quality is a big disappointment. The photos I've seen that were just passable in quality, had been shot in RAW and processed. If Sony doesn't finally produce another full-size superzoom model within the next two months, I'll probably spend much more money and get a Nikon P1000. There are many very good pictures from it online and some skilled photographers have gotten shots with it, that are barely distinguishable from those of a good D-SLR. And it does have a mike shoe.
 
Canon have been a complete disappointment as far as this model is concerned.They knew what they were up against with the p900 and they have totally failed in reality.Canon can do much better than this so why allow a camera onto the market that is a backward step.
I'm afraid this has been a costly mistake for Canon.
 
Canon have been a complete disappointment as far as this model is concerned.They knew what they were up against with the p900 and they have totally failed in reality.Canon can do much better than this so why allow a camera onto the market that is a backward step.
I'm afraid this has been a costly mistake for Canon.

Yes perhaps so. I really wanted this model to come good to replace my Canon SX50. Now I am struggling to find one better. So I will just stick with it. I would have gone for the high end Sony but feel it is lacking on zoom for birding. The lower end Sonys have the zoom but that's about all. The Nikon P1000 just seems to me to be too much as the reviews and samples seem to show its downfall at full zoom so what's the point? That is its main feature.
 
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