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Canon PowerShot Pro 1 8MP Digital Camera with 7x Optical Zoom | List Price: $799.99
Discount Price: $1,399.99
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Brand: Canon
Binding: Electronics
Features: - 8-megapixel sensor captures enough detail to create photo-quality 16-by-22-inch enlargements
- Canon 7x optical L-series zoom lens
- 2-inch LCD screen; movie mode; 1.2-inch macro mode; PictBridge compatible
- Store images on Compact Flash Type I or II cards (64 MB card included)
- Powered by Rechargeable lithium ion battery (BP-511A) (included with charger)
| Accessories: | | | 
Canon 550 EX Flash for G6, G5, G3, G2, G1, Pro1, Pro90 & all EOS SLR Cameras |
Canon STE2 Speedlite Transmitter for 580EX/550EX/420EX Speedlites |
Canon MR-14EX Macro Ring Lite for 5D, 1Ds, 20D, 30D, G2, G3, G5, G6, Pro 1 & Rebel XT |
Canon Speedlite 220EX for Canon Pro1, Pro 90, G Series and all EOS SLR Cameras |
Canon PSC-4000 Deluxe Soft Digital Camera Case for the Pro 1 |
A GREAT CAMERA, SIMPLY FANTASTIC [Posted on 2006-09-28]
I bought this camera used at a consignment shop over a year ago, my second digital camera after losing my Samsung in Mexico. Battery life is great, and the battery charger was with it. The only bad thing I could find was lens cap had no string, and not USB 2.0. Canon's software package was it's usuall fantastic set. Took hundreds of pics with this camera, and resolution was just awesome.
Ran over the camera with my 1965 Mustang, and still take pictures with it. Beat that with any other camera!!! I will only buy Canon, also have a PowerShot A520 and A530. Love them all.
good for non-action pics with good light, bad for everything else [Posted on 2007-01-09]
I've used this camera pretty heavily for about a year, mostly for travelling. I've used it for candids, landscapes, action, and wildlife. Previously, my photo experience has been with Canon point and shoot digicams and Nikon film slrs. It's a bit unfair reviewing this now that it's almost 3-yr old technology, but I noticed that people are still selling this camera for over $1000 on this site.
For a "pro" camera, it has a large number of critical flaws (listed in order of how much they bug me):
1) slow focusing esp in low light. This renders the camera almost useless for action, and difficult to use for wildlife and even candids, where capturing the moment is everything. The focusing may be faster in continous mode, but then its always focusing and you have to keep the subject centered-- I like to not be looking in the viewfinder unless I'm about to take a picture. I don't own a canon accesory flash so I don't know if their focusing aids help. The manual focusing on the EVF display is too slow and cumbersome to use routinely.
2) slow shutter lag. Even on manual focus, with problem 1 taken out of the picture, there is a bit too much delay to consistently capture the shot I'm looking for.
3) Dust gets _inside_ the lens. I have read that this is a problem with this camera. Canon was good enough to rectify this when I sent it in, and they even said they sealed the lens to prevent the problem from happening. My brother has the same camera and this happened within 2 weeks of a trip to Europe-- not especially dusty. Unfortunately his is out of warranty so I don't know if they will do the same.
4)) hi noise at ISO 200 or 400. I think with commercially available noise reduction software this is a bit repairable. To be fair, the grain of most 400 speed color film can be as unattractive as the noise of this sensor at ISO 400. Since digital SLR's with less grain at ISO 1600 are now available, I don't think anyone should be selling this camera for $1000.
5) bayonet mount on front of lens scratches filters when used with included 58mm adapter. My $50 polarizer is now dedicated to use with this camera since with other lenses the scratches are in the optical axis.
6) built in flash pics are harsh. This is a problem with any built-in flash on any camera. Again I have no canon accessory flash to compare, so I can't really comment on this as a negative for a pro camera.
On the plus side, the camera does some things amazingly well:
1) super macro is quite impressive, even though 8mp or raw isn't possible.
2) the regular macro works pretty well.
3) it's a pretty compact solution for a 28-200 lens equivalent. The equivalent SLR is a lot bigger, though maybe not much heavier. I don't know how the lens quality of the pro 1 "L" lens compares to the non-L SLR lenses. You definitely won't find an affordable f2.8 SLR zoom lens for an attractive price (not a Canon at least). The lens is pretty good-- little distortion except at 28mm and little chromatic aberration. A hint of vignetting at 28mm as well.
4) It's ultra quiet. When I mute all the sounds, it makes only barely perceptible aperature noises.
5) the rotating lcd allows for true WYSIWYG composition from different angles, allowing for some stealthy shots and also good for macro stuff.
6) really great depth of field (I haven't objectively tested this so I don't know if the 7.2mm objective actually has better depth of field than an effective 28mm on an slr)
Taking into account it's strengths and weaknesses, I use the camera for travelling and taking landscapes when I don't want to carry around a big slr for the super wides. It's smaller and quieter than an slr and better for the surreptious candids, esp with the rotatable LCD. It'd probably be a good macro-specific camera but I haven't used the macro flash. For most uses, it can't possibly be worth it if fast-handling, low noise SLR with equivalent lens is available for the same cost or cheaper. I got it as a gift before lightweight travelling so it was great for that, but I'm looking to buy an SLR now.
Powershot Pro 1 [Posted on 2007-05-12]
Canon made a masterpiece at that time, it is a very well thought and designed camera. Though it may look outdated now, but even now no one will match its potential. All in one camera, I am not ready to leave it at any cost.
Unacceptable.... [Posted on 2007-12-06]
Recently, I inherited this camera at my job, to use for conferences and job fairs, and I've been forced to use my personal $250 Nikon to get decent pictures. The only good news is that I didn't pay for this Canon. Not having image stabilization really hurts this camera when used in low light situations - all shots are blurry. Fiddling with aperture and other settings helps only slightly. I've studied the manual cover to cover, fiddled with more settings, and no go. Of course no one believes me - that a camera that costs this much could take such terrible pictures, (it must be Operator Error!), so I let others snap some shots - then they see the light. Don't buy this camera!!
unique combination of features in the single device [Posted on 2008-07-04]
To start, I would like to note that I had purchased this camera in 2004 and took over 70,000 images so far with it. Back those days nothing better existed on the market. Still no one beats the unique combination of features this camera provides: small and light-weight, L-lens with 7x zoom (and as the result - amazing quality of images), video recording, flipping Life-view screen, durable aluminum body, top LCD, etc. It took Canon over 4 years to integrate some (but not all) of the Pro1 features into the latest DSLR. Sure, this camera is useless for night-photography but other then that - this single unique device can satisfy any and all needs as a walk-around camera delivering uncompromising image quality, something you can get only by investing at least 3-5K in to DSLR.
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