Canon PowerShot SX70 HS

The Canon PowerShot SX70 HS is a bridge camera released in 2018. Its lens is built in and cannot be swapped, and the body is shaped for two-handed use with an electronic viewfinder at the eye rather than living in a pocket.

That single-unit design suits travellers and family photographers who want one camera for holidays and school events, with no extra lenses to buy or carry. The 20-megapixel sensor produces files that are easy to store and share.

It weighs 608g and measures 127 x 91 x 117mm, so a bag or neck strap is the practical carrying method. WiFi and Bluetooth are built in for wireless connectivity.

Stills come from a 20-megapixel CMOS sensor in the small 1/2.3-inch format, handled by the Digic 8 processor. That resolution gives plenty of detail for prints and cropping. The ISO range runs from 100 to 3200, which points toward shooting in daylight and well-lit rooms rather than dim venues.

The lens is fixed to the body, so there are no lens choices to research and nothing extra to carry. It also means the camera cannot be upgraded with a brighter or longer lens later on.

For action, the shutter reaches 1/2000s and bursts top out at 10fps, enough to catch a fleeting expression or a bird taking off. That burst figure is a maximum rather than a sustained speed.

Autofocus uses nine points. There is no in-body stabilisation, so shutter speeds need to stay quick, or a support used, for sharp handheld results. The 2.36-million-dot electronic viewfinder gives a detailed view for composing and checking results.

Video tops out at 4K resolution, which preserves detail for large screens and gives editors room to crop or reframe a shot.

For slow motion, frame rates reach as high as 120fps, allowing fast movement to be replayed with the smooth, drawn-out look used in sport and nature clips. The top frame rate and the 4K resolution are listed as separate capabilities, so the highest-rate clips may record at a lower resolution.

Timelapse recording is built in, so you can capture a scene changing over time, such as clouds crossing a valley or a street filling with people, without an external trigger.

Files save as MPEG-4 or MOV, so recorded footage is handled in one of those two formats.

The 3-inch TFT LCD carries 922,000 dots, enough detail to check focus and review shots clearly. It flips out from the body, which helps with waist-level pictures, overheads and self-framing, and live view keeps the rear screen usable for composing.

There is no touch input, so focus placement and menu settings are changed through the physical controls instead of tapping the display.

WiFi and Bluetooth are both built in, so the camera offers two wireless connection standards for linking with other gear.

A built-in flash adds light in dim rooms, though there is no fitting for an external flash unit, so the lighting setup cannot be expanded later. No weather sealing is fitted, and there is no built-in GPS.

Storage runs through a single SD, SDHC or SDXC card slot. SDXC support means modern high-capacity cards can be used, which helps on long days of stills and 4K clips. With only one slot, there is no in-camera copy of files, so careful card handling and regular offloading matter.

Power comes from an LP-E12 battery rated at 325 shots per charge. That rated figure is not a promise of real-world endurance, which will vary with use of the screen, flash and wireless connections.

The battery cannot be charged over USB, so charging requires a separate charger rather than a USB connection. Carrying a charged spare is simple insurance for longer outings away from power.