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| canon powershot sx260 review |
I received my
canon powershot SX260 last Wednesday and have taken about 700 shots and a
few quick 5 minute video. Without writing a novel, here are the high/low
points of this unit. In addition to this unit, I also purchased a
couple of aftermarket batteries (and after market A/C adapters for about
$5.00 each) for about $5.00 each and the batteries work fine. With the
battery (original and aftermarket) I was able to get over 300 shots (50%
flash) with zooming and playback and the battery meter still showed
about 25% charge remaining.
Pro's
Zoom - very long for a subcompact camera 20x optical, total 81x combined (yes 81 times!)
Image
Stabilizer - Excellent (far superior than the DSC-HX9V); Even at 81x
the picture did not come out of focus, but of course not as sharp. I
think it's still acceptable
Scenes - A few scenes; I think the
portrait, sepia, B/W works real well (the Portrait+ suppose to blur the
picture a bit, but it's not to my liking) It has a few effects (fish
eye, toy, miniature) that's very effective and can be fun for creative
shots.
Auto Mode - was able to pick the correct type of scene almost
all the time; it has an easy mode, and smart auto. Not sure why they
have an easy mode, but the smart auto works great
Size/Weight - very
compact and weigh's 8.2 oz. I would have prefer if the lens was flushed
with the unit, but at 20x it may not have been possible
Uniformity - the unit does not feel cheap, and beautifully curved; no sharp jagged corners
Grip - the right side of the camera has a nice plastic strip for easier grip
Controls
- Dial extremely easy to use with one hand. The other buttons, if
you're a previous Canon user, it's a no brainer; the menu and setup are
practically the same across all their models.
Screen - 3 inch TFT LCD screen very beautiful; nuff said
Processor
- Didn't notice that much difference between the DIGIC 4/DIGIC 5, but
compared to the DSC-HX9V, this camera is like a Ferrari.
GPS - Camera
has it, but I never used it and probably won't; at least for the time
being. Am more interested in a camera that takes excellent picture
Con's
Video
- compared to the Sony DSC-HX9V this Canon comes in a distant second;
if you plan on using this primarily as a video recorder, look elsewhere.
I think Sony has excellent lens on their camera but their processing
technology is clumsy, painfully slow and unacceptable; whereas with
taking videos, the Sony does not do any processing (not to mention it
captures at 60fps compared to Canon's 24/25 fps) This is one thing I
will miss dearly.
Flash - not sure if there is a good place but I had
to change my grip as the flash is on the top left corner. Couple of
times, I had my left index finger on the flash and the camera gave some
flash error message and had to power off and power on the camera to
reset the flash.
If you're a casual or intermittent photographer
(or a professional wanting an everyday point and shoot camera without
carrying a luggage everywhere) that is interested in looking for a well
refined point and shoot camera, yet has manual controls usually found on
higher end DSLR (or higher end point and shoot camera), this is it!
UPDATE
04/14/2012 - I paid $349 and today I noticed it's selling for $299, a
15% price drop in less than a month! I thought cars depreciate quick ...
UPDATE
04/18/2012 - The Live Mode works great! For those hard shots (for
example, taking indoor picture with fluorescent lighting and without a
flash), you can view the screen and make the adjustment right then and
there. You look at what you plan to take, compare it to the SX260 LCD
screen and press the shutter button.
canon powershot sx260 review