Canon PowerShot Pro1 Canon PowerShot Pro1 ReviewPhil Askey, April 2004

Review based on a production PowerShot Pro1, Firmware v1.00 Just when we had hoped that manufacturers were moving on from the megapixel race we caught news of Sonys ICX456 eight megapixel CCD sensor which was leaked onto the Internet in June last year. And so at that time it wasnt difficult to predict that we would see a rash of eight megapixel digital cameras just in time for PMA 2004. Sony were first to market with their DSC-F828 which utilized a unique version of this 2/3" Type chip which instead of an RGBG color filter array had an all new RGBE color filter array (more info here). As predicted we each of the remaining big five manufacturers introduce their eight megapixel digital camera at PMA; Canon PowerShot Pro1, Nikon Coolpix 8700, Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom, Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2.Canons offering is the eight megapixel, seven times opticalzoom PowerShot Pro1. A camera which appears to bridge between what somewould like to call the G8 (an eight megapixel G series camera) and afollow-on to the Pro70, Pro90 IS series. Canons lens design is also interesting,the same seven times optical range as we first saw in Minoltas DiMAGE7 (and subsequently the 7i, 7Hi, A1 and now A2). An "L-series" lens Just as Sony did with the F828 Canon are ensuring thatthey make a quality statement about this cameras lens. Not surprisingwhen you consider that the pixel pitch (the distance between the centerof each pixel location) of this 2/3" Type eight megapixel sensoris just 2.7 µm (about the same as the 1/1.8" Type five megapixelsensor used in some compact digital cameras). And the fact that it hasan ambitious (by compact digital camera standards) 28 to 200 mm equiv.zoom range. This is the first time Canon have designated a digitalcamera lens with the "L-series" label, normally reserved forprofessional quality SLR lenses. Apparently this lens can carry this markbecause it has a combination of both UD (ultra-low dispersion) and fluoritelens elements. I am sure that the L mark will make many people ooh andahh, however the proof of the pudding, as they say, will be in the imagesamples, lots of people got equally excited and later disappointed bythe Carl Zeiss T* lens on the Sony DSC-F828. Despite having a large ring around the lens barrel thezoom on the Pro1 is still zoom by wire (electrically driven) ratherthan the preferred mechanically linked setup as seen on the Minolta DiMAGE7x, A1 and Sony DSC-F828. However Canon are at least driving the zoommechanism with a USM (ultrasonic motor) which provides both multiple speedand relatively quiet operation.The lens, while perhaps not as fast as the Sony lens doeshave a very respectable maximum aperture of F2.4 at wide angle and F3.5at telephoto. This should provide the AF system plenty of light for quickfocusing as well as the exposure system / photographer plenty of opportunityto stop down the lens (use a smaller aperture) for optimum sharpness.

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions.Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window.To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top.DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This article is Copyright 2004Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced inany electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images)please contact: Phil Askey

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