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It is 11x5.5x3.5cm and weights less than 300grams. It comes with a 32MB Compact Flash card and solid rechargeable battery.

There are five image sizes 3072x2304 (large), 2592x1944 (medium 1), 2048x1536 (medium 2), 1600x1200 (medium 3), and 640x480 (small). Like almost all recent digital cameras it can take short movie sequences but instead of just 160x120 and 320x240 the normal images sizes this can also take 640x480 as well.

Giving any clear number of images is like predicting the winner of the Grand National. I took large images that were 1.5MB and also others that were 2.5MB so with that amount of differential accuracy is impossible. However if you press the function button on the camera the on screen display will give it's best guess. With a blank 32MB card it told me 15 images for large down to 200 at the small size. You should have enough information to print an A3 image from a large image. Medium 1 or 2 should still be able to produce an A4 image. Medium 3 an A5 or postcard size image while the small is useful for emails.

See also: Digital Cameras

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There is a whole raft of software and one piece the Canon Easy Print Toolbox will load up on start up until unticked, this is excellent for the beginner.

While I found the camera great I can see the absolute novice being put off by the shear range of options available. I would suggest you leave the camera on Auto mode for a while, it makes a good enough guess for most images. However when you progress beyond that you can investigate the other 12 positions on the wheel on the top of the camera, the only other item on the top is the shutter. The left side has the AV and mini USB socket. The right side a rather strange oversized chromium wrist strap anchor point, this seems rather odd as the shutter button is the only other chromium coloured item with black and very dark grey the colours of the camera.

The front has a slider that turns the camera on and hides the lens, flash and viewfinder. The lens is a 3.6 wide angle (5.8-20.7mm 35mm equivalent). The rear is what might frighten the novice with a total of 16 buttons as well as the 3.7x2.7cm TFT display. If you are unsure about the diagrams or abbreviations above the buttons look in the excellent 180 page manual. There is also a getting started sheet to help the novice user.

As with a lot of recent cameras this can print direct to a lot of inkjet printers and while you are somewhat limited as to what it can produce it works quite well.

In fact making almost any adjustment on the camera is quick and efficient providing you start from the right place. Dabs.com  have it for £398 with the option to pay next September.

http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product_finder/cameras/digital/powershot_s70/index.asp