Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital Camera with 20x

Loving my new camera so far
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I received my SX10IS in the mail yesterday and have been playing with it since. I am not a pro my any means, but I knew I wanted to upgrade to a better camera that takes quality pictures. I was thinking about buying an SLR until I found the Canon SX10IS and did my research. This camera has so many options, a fantastic zoom, is very user friendly and takes beautiful pictures. Like many reviews have said, if you don’t want to go the SLR route yet, this is the next best thing. Now, I really feel like I’m working with a “real” camera that is so far proving to give me the pro-like photos I want to achieve. I’m also very determined to learn how to use this camera correctly. I have been reading the manual and researching online so I know how to set my camera to the appropriate setting to achieve the desired look I want. Out of the box you can set this camera to auto and shoot away for great photos, but I believe that understanding how the camera works and its settings are going to give you the best quality shots. I’m not going to lie, I don’t have it all perfect yet! Today I tried setting the self-timer and taking a few shots of the myself and the sun was really glaring on me in the photos, so I do have to work with the setting to perfect this! Lastly, it’s only been two days, so I have a long way to go, but so far I’m very satisfied with my canon. Some of the pictures I’ve taken are just gorgeous and look like postcards! The price is also fantastic for this camera. I remember paying more for my little point and shoot three years ago and the photos don’t even compare!

Farrell’s Review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought the camera for my wife for christmas and she loves it. Easy to learn and takes top quality pictures.

The Best Alternative to your Hum-Drum Point and Shoot!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have a simple Cannon point and shoot which I love but I was searching for something beyond that. I found this Digital SLR and once I received it, I knew I made the right choice. It has all the niceties of point and shoot with the added bonus of facial recognition, image stabilization, serious zoom in capabilities and a rotating review screen. Basically, it’s perfect for the weekend photographer or someone who’s just getting into photography. The picture quality is crisp and sharp with easy to use features. I didn’t even read the owners manual and I had no problems getting everything set up.

BEST CAMERA ON EARTH!!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is the best camera on earth. I bought this camera to create beautiful memories of my daughter growing up. I’m mainly leaving this review for people with kids who are wondering if this camera can keep up with taking quick fast shots, without missing out on precious moments.

Fast Camera!!!

This camera has NEVER missed a shot and she’s a very quick and fast little two year old. I’ve captured every single quick smile, precious pose, and all of her active moments. I do this using the sports mode. In this mode, the camera actually takes the picture the very same instant you press down on the button (no delay whatsoever). In this mode, when she’s running, there is no blurryness.

Great Indoor Camera!!!

This camera also takes GREAT indoor pics as well. It is a bit heavier than the little camera’s out there….but if you want to sacrifice qaulity and performance…go for a little one.

Outstanding Detail and Zoom qaulity

I wanted something that was powerful, and something that my husband can take to football games, basketball and other sporting events. That’s actually how I sold him on the idea of purchasing this camera. The zoom capability is out of this world. For example, we went to the park the other day and I was able to get pictures of the ducks from the OTHER SIDE OF THE LAKE….and in very clear detail. Now that’s powerful.

Easy to use!!!

The minute this camera arrived, I took it out of the box and started using it. I didn’t even read the instructions…that’s how easy it is to use. I’m more of a beginner type when it comes to camera’s. I popped the batteries in, and went crazy taking pics. The video mode has a dedicated button so you can video events very quickly without fussing with dials.

No Regrets!!!

I hope I’ve helped someone out on making their purchase decision. I get compliments all of the time on how fast the camera is and how wonderful the pics look. I love this CAMERA!!! I can tell you that you won’t regret this purchase.

Happy with the SX10 IS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This camera replaced my old Olympus C2100, a formidable 10x zoom camera introduced 8 years ago that started the mega-zoom race. Have played with the SX10 IS for a week now and very happy with it.

Below are what I like:

-It uses regular “AA” batteries. Never buy a camera that uses specialized batteries no matter what people may tell you. Updated 6/27/09: this camera is so power efficient that it can take 600 photos on a single set of AA rechargeable batteries according to a leading consumer magazine (no other camera can even come close, non).

-It has a useful 28mm wide angle lens. This means you can include a whole group of people in a picture without standing too far back(such as in a small room). Most cameras (I say 90%) do not have lens this wide.

-You can zoom (optical & digital, with audio) while taking movies. Many cameras do not allow optical or audio during movie taking.

-It takes SD memory cards which is most popular (plentiful, cheap). Do not settle for cameras that take any other type of memory cards.

-It has a rotating LCD display.

-It is quick to take (and view) pictures and movies.

-Picture and movie quality (with stereo audio) is superbly competitive to any other high quality cameras.

Below are what I don’t like:

-No grip: this is one slippery camera. I like its size and weight but its grip needs to be designed accordingly.

-The LCD display is very easily scratched. Do not wear this camera with a neck strap with the LCD facing out, because your shirt buttons will scratch the LCD. Immediately put a protective screen on this LCD first; there are several protective screen or tape products available.

-The lens has no thread so you can’t put on a lens filter to protect it from smears and dust.

-The lens cap has no tether or tether hole so there is little you can do to attach the cap to the camera. Canon, what was you thinking?

-I wish it can record movies in widescreen 16:9 VGA. It does not have HD movie feature but I don’t need HD, I only wish widescreen VGA.

Currently there are several 20x zoom cameras available, such as the Olympus SP-570UZ and SP-565UZ, Casio EX-FH20. I’ve tried all of them, and eventually chose the Canon SX10IS as I think it gives you superb features and quality for an unbelievable price.

Perfect Camera for Us
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Did a lot of research on which was the best camera for us and I am very please with our decision to buy this one. Do not buy this camera if your first concern is size, but other than that it is awesome.

Sooo happy
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I needed a better camera for my trip to Panama, especially one that would take decent pictures inside as well as out. This camera was a little intimidating at first as it has lots of functions, but after a little time with my daughter in law, who is a photographer- I found that it is really easy to use for basic picture taking. I learned the basics and will build on that over time. It is a great buy for a great camera.

You can take some amazing photos with this camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2ZS3APKV5JUHQ I have to admit, I’m a point and shoot type of person who likes a small digital camera that I can carry in the pocket of my jeans or in my purse so it’s always handy. I didn’t want to spend a whole lot of money on a camera and have to spend hundreds on extra lenses. My Casio camera serves me just fine in many circumstances. I take a lot of people pictures and pictures at parties and get-togethers. But there were always those times when I was in a beautiful location and wanted something that would do a good job with pictures of mountains, lakes and other landscape features. Or I wanted to take a photo of our Christmas tree at night with the lights in a dark room and I just could never really capture the shot. I often wanted to take pictures of the squirrels or a woodpecker on the tree but with a 3x optical zoom you just can’t get “up close and personal”. This camera will do all that and more. It will also do automatic, point and shoot photos, just like my little point and shoot camera.

I hate to read manuals and instructions. But with this camera it’s something you just have to set aside some time and pretty much read through the well organized little manual that comes with it. It’s easy enough reading and well organized with references to page numbers describing each feature and cross referenced well. Perhaps someone with experience on other SLR cameras or more complicated cameras would find this camera intuitive, but I had to sit down a study a bit before really getting into all the features. Once I had the camera set up and tried the different features and settings it was easy enough to do, but there is a little learning curve. The good news is there are many more things I can do with this camera than I ever imagined.

With other cameras I’ve owned I could take macro photos of things like flowers or food. With this camera I can take a super macro of not only the flower, but the bee on the flower and the hair on his legs! With other cameras low light photos were just so-so. With this camera you can take photos in very low light which I find myself using more and more, now that I have a camera that will handle it. The 20x zoom is nothing short of amazing. This is great for taking photos of outdoor critters or spying on your neighbor’s gardener. It’s almost like having a pair of binoculars and being able to capture it on digital film. You can take great movies with stereo sound. It’s so much easier than getting out the video camera every time you want to take a short movie of the dog doing something cute or your neighbor’s kid doing something stupid. There are some special scene settings that are a quick way of setting up the camera for different types of photos. I’ve had very good results using these and look at all the different circumstances they cover: You have settings for portraits, landscape, night scenes or snapshots, sports, indoor, sunsets, foliage, snow, beach, fireworks (can’t wait to try this one out), aquarium, ISO 3200, color accent and color swap.

The flip-out and rotating 2.5-inch LCD screen is a feature I love and I haven’t seen it on any other camera in this class. It makes it simple to see what you’re taking from any angle and is nice because you can tilt it out of the sun. I find all the buttons, built in flash and controls easy to use and I can re-set it quickly for different types of circumstances. I really like the stitch assist for taking panorama shots that I can later stitch together on my computer into one wide panoramic image. There are so many more settings and things that you can do, just too many to list here.

The camera will definitely not fit in the pocket of my jeans but the weight and size aren’t bad. I bought the Carrying Case / Shoulder Bag for the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi, PowerShot S5 IS, Powershot SX1 IS, SX10 IS case which is perfect for this camera. I’m posting a short video showing the case and just a few features of the camera. It’s too bad I couldn’t use this camera to take the video. The close-ups would have been a lot clearer than what I could do with my video camera. I thought of including some photos taken with the camera on the video, but with the compression needed to fit the videos on this website the wouldn’t do them justice. Even the photos posted by other reviewers on this site, as amazing as they are, look even better when you see them on your own computer or printed.

I did a lot of research on cameras and then I hesitated for a long time, wondering if I would use it enough to justify the cost. I shouldn’t have waited. This is an amazing camera and one that will keep me happy for a long, long time.

Canon Power Shot SX101S
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized ZoomThis camera showed itself to be hardy, reasonably weather resistant, capable of numerous actions that I never used before. It does not take B&W, but changes a color shot into B&W. 20x is a little far for it, or for me to keep it really stable. Fine for views, but not as good for birds, which turn out to be fuzzy at that distance. It worked hard for me and did an excellent job within my parameters. I would recommend it for any sincere but not into changing lenses photographer. It does not collect dust inside! I am still learning all the things it can do (have had it for a month).

Top-notch enthusiast point-and-shoot
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Much has been said in earlier reviews so I’ll limit my review to subjective feedback. This is my 7th digital camera, including use of a Canon XSi. I’ve had limited shooting opportunities with this so far, but am VERY impressed with how capable it is. I’ve shot several shots now at the full 20x zoom and am very surprised by the high level of detail captured by this lens (see sample photo of a shore bird on the beach). Video quality is likewise superb and is one reason that this is my take-everywhere camera. The fact that it has a hotshoe allowing you to add a pro-level flash (e.g. 430EX) adds to the versatility of this camera. Also appreciated is the swivel LCD. This is a carry-over from older models. Few cameras offer this now. For most shooting, I prefer the optical viewfinder, but you’ll be surprised how many uses you find for an LCD like this.

Is this camera for you? That all depends on what you’ll do with the camera. The zoom feature (including wide angle), combined with excellent image quality, is really what pushes this camera over the top for me. There is very little you cannot do with this camera. The downside is that it is not a pocketable camera. It is fairly large and heavy. But if you don’t mind the bulk, the camera will reward you with some great shots and video. It is worth a serious look.

I AM A BELIEVER!!!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have owned 3 Sony Cybershots H1,H5 and H9 prior to my purchase of my Canon today. I was about to purchase the new H50 and decided that the quality, the functions, extra shooting modes and 20x zoom were the clinching factors in my switch.I have only shot about 100 pictures i am seriously happy as a novice photographer. Incidentally the lens cap can be attached to the neck strap.

Big Zoom disappointing pictures
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Am I the only one that noticed the picture quality looks overexposed with little detail nor proper color levels. I’d try and find a S5IS which is a superior camera in regards to picture quality. I think the advantages of the “super zoom” are also part of the downfall. Looking through a tunnel, and you’ll get pictures that reflect this aspect.

Take your time and look at the picture samples taken from the S5IS versus the XS10IS – base your decision on your taste, not what you read.

I am not a professional photographer, however, I take professional shots with this camera.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I highly recommend this camera. I purchased it just before my trip to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii this year. The camera really rocks. Easy to use, plus it takes great shots.

Great camera !!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera is amazing. If you want to have 20X optical zoom and zero cm for macro this should be your camera of choice. I am using digital cameras for 15 years now and had the first Canon “pro90 IS” which was 10X optical zoom and I must say that this one is state of the art at the moment.

Pictures are in high quality and Image Stabilizer works great.

I added UV filter to keep the lens from scratches.

I recommend this camera as additional to your compact camera.

very good camera!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
It was really hard to choose between this camera and a more expensive DSLR ….and all that entails…but I wish i’d made the jump…

But that’s just my personal take…

This is without doubt a great camera, with features galore for the enthusiast.

Or those willing to become one…:)

The main reason for my purchase, beside the manual controls…

is the great swiveling LCD…once you’ve used one you don’t want go back (sort of like dial-up vs cable

And there’s that big zoom lens…

Most folks will find the wide angle more useful than extreme zoom, but the long zoom is fun to play with.

It’s an excellent camera…you just have to learn how take advantage of it’s strength’s

and you will experience a learning curve…it’s one you will HAVE to play with, read the user guide, refer to frequently… and then perhaps love to play with

It is a a great feature-packed, photography enthusiast imaging tool that produces excellent images, and it FEELS like a real camera, solidly built

The features and price points sort of blur when you can get a camera like this with so many features and control options versus a DSLR…

with a better sensor…that is a consideration, indeed…$

otherwise,it’s a good buy IMHO!

I think the SX10 offers an outstanding value for photographers that want extended control over the camera, and are willing to put some time and effort learning how to do so…without breaking the bank…

but there’s that darn DSLR looming….

Bottom line,

I love this camera,

not everyone will,

it loves to have it’s buttons pushed, just so you know where YOU are…

or where to lead you..

And you must read/refer to the manual

It’s definitely not a point&shoot except on A

upgrade to better digital camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I wanted to upgrade from my not-too-old digital camera to one that had a super zoom on it. I had spoke to various folks at camera stores, and they ALL recommended this camera. I have not used it a lot, and there is a big manual to read, but so far, I am enjoying the expermentation. I definitely recommend reading the manual as it gives you some fine tips on taking different types of photos. A little heavy, but the zoom makes up for it. I plan to take photos at my daughter’s wedding.

Super Camera – Super Seller – Great Buying Experience
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this for my son for Christmas to take on a trip to South America. I had done my research and knew it was a great camera.

My Review is about my buying experience not the camera.

I went online, found the best price at one of the NY camera houses only to to told a few days later that the camera & instruction book were the Japanese version. For another $30 I could get the English version. Needless to say I cancelled.

I placed the order a second time with another camera house only to be told the camera was not available. They tried to upsell me – once again I cancelled.

I had just about given up on the camera when I went to search one more time.

This time I found the camera here on Amazon. With the free postage the cost was only about $10 more than the least expensive I had found to date.

I placed the order and had the camera in 8 days.

My son trekked around Patagonia and took wonderful shots both at close range and distance using the 20x zoom. If it is not the best camera in its class out there I don’t know what is.

The MORAL here is save yourself the aggravation of dealing with the NY camera houses which are known for somewhat questionable tactics. Just order it from an Authorized Amazon seller!!!

Ewald Wiberg

author of The Perfect Vacation: One Couple’s Adventures at Sea With and Without the Kids

I’m Enjoying This Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After using this camera for nearly a week, and taking close to 200 photos, I’m satisfied. My zoom lens works just fine, I’m getting use to the controls and reading the manual. And I’ve taken some incredible shots. I’ll be sharing some on this site soon. If you want to move beyond simple and inferior pictures, this camera is the right one. Yes, I’ve had problems with the lens cap, but that can be solved by buying an attachment for it. Securing it onto the lens is best done by just holding one end as you snap it back on; squeezing both ends of the cap creates a difficult time of trying to get it to stay on right. My lowlight handheld results have come out just fine, even without a flash at 800 ISO. Of course I’ve always known that it means steadying yourself. I’ve owned several Nikon SLRs in the past, so the weight isn’t an issue either. Only if one is only use to carrying nothing but compact digitals. I’m keeping it and can’t wait to see continued superb results. But you have to study the manual, as with any advanced equipment.

Wonderful Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a wonderful camera. I wanted to start learning more about photography with a camera that was better than just a little point and shoot. It takes gorgeous pictures even on just Auto. I took our family Christmas pictures in our back yard with a tripod on the manual setting and they turned out looking professional. Definitely a good buy.

Great Super Zoom
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great little camera…. already have 3900 shots on first one…. bought a 2nd camera as back-up.

I am hand-holding 1/8 second at 560mm, 800 ISO & getting over 50% good photos….amazing I.S. system. I frequently get good results on ISO 80 at 1/15, 560mm.

I shoot everything at minus 2/3’s stop under exposure with great results….with bracketing by locking exposure in different areas of frame.

Digital noise at ISO 800 is terrible though.

Plan on adding rubber grips in (3) different places for right hand …. camera surface is real slick. Use 3M safety tread with PSA adhesive similar to material used in bath tub strips.

Also, plan on buying the filter adapter from Lens Mate which allows full use of 58mm filters……use a 58mm aluminum screw lens cap after installing the filter adapter & filter. (available from B&H.)

Don’t believe the 1 star dummies on the review list…. I bought two of the things !!!

Sample photos can be viewed on [...]

Rich Barger

Good Camera for the Price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I like this camera. I was debating between this camera and 12 MP Canon SLR, and went with this one because it’s cheaper and the lens is longer. It has a nice feel to it.

Very Good Camera for the Class
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just bought this camera and took some shots. It’s an excellent one. I am the owner of both S3 IS and EOS XSi, so I can easily judge the quality of the SX10 IS. For $400, it’s definitely a good buy. It’s bigger than S3 IS, almost the body size of Xsi.

Image quality is very good, correct color rendering (surely, not as good as Xsi, however, but its sharpness is better than Xsi).

The only thing I don’t like is the EVF. When I move camera around, the view is not smooth, rather jumpy, make my eye uncomfortable. Again, for the price, what you get is a lot.

Great Camera – Versatile
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera is the cat’s meow! Has all the features I like–super zoom, flip screen, photo stitch, color accent, image stabilizer, etc., etc. I have a Canon xSI and I love it but it’s heavier and changing lenses is a hassle so I suspect I won’t be using it as much as my SX101S. It’s user-friendly and easy to learn.

Dramatic disappointment
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I already own a Canon S3 and bought this camera as an upgrade in focal length. I like to shoot nature photography. I took the new camera to Monte Vista, CO to shoot the sandhill cranes that stop over on their migration north. I shot about 1000 pictures and if I got 20 in focus it was good. Nothing in the frame is in focus in most pictures. Not the mountains, not the trees, not the birds. I read the instruction book cover to cover, studied the settings, made changes. After 3 days of shooting I came home very disappointed, packed up the camera and returned it. If you are looking for the added focal length forget it. The photos are uniformly soft which I guess is good for something, but not for me.

Review of Canon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
What can I say? This is the best digital camera I have ever used. For the money it must be one of the best there is.

Canon with Movie mode
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I spent a few years waiting & researching & asking others with Sonys, Nikons, etc., concerning digital cameras that would suit my needs, basic indoor, sports & wildlife in Yellowstone (all times of day & night). This camera has a lot of zoom, enough pixellation to enlarge pics w/o losing quality, and a movie mode. I had been using an old Sony camcord with a Sandisc card to snap photos & make movies, I wanted the same options with a digital camera. I can film movies and can snap stills at the same time.

Other advantages: it runs on 4 AA batteries that seem to last forever which means no battery pack (or expensive lithium batteries) to run low just as a herd of antelope shows up. Very easy to download pics into computer. It’s not tiny but it isn’t heavy or awkward. Only dowside, the lens cover is easy to lose (I tied a thread to it so it’s now attached to the strap). Price is very reasonable. Took a few years but I feel I made the right choice.

Compared to other brands that offer much of the same (except Movie mode, which few seem to have) I’d recommend this Canon SX10.

First Impressions- Canon s10is: First Update
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have had the Canon s10 for less than 24 hours, so these are my first impressions. I will update later. Assuming you have read other reviews, let me add some different information. Specific points.

1. Comments about the lens cap are absolutely true; it is awkward and does not fit easily. You wind up dropping it frequently and sticking your fingers on the lens. This is not good.

2. After inserting the 4 AA batteries, it is very hard getting the cover correctly shut. I am guessing that it will break easily, if that task is not done very carefully.

3. The feel of the camera is great; it fits my older arthritic bulky hands very well.

4. I didn’t know until I read part of the instruction manual, that the camera has a control that allows you to vary the loudness of separate functions of the camera; shutter, turning on, menu opening, etc… PLUS, there is a button on the top left of the camera that enables you to MUTE ALL sounds of the camera if you press it as you are turning the camera on. I think this sound adjustment feature is very handy, although my poor ears have difficulty hearing anything…

5. The pictures I have taken have been very good and sharp for me. I was coming from an older Panasonic point and shoot.

6. I am really, really having to read the manual to learn all the different capabilities. If you get this camera, plan on spending some real time with the manual. For example, it is not intuitively obvious how one changes the size of the desired image from 10 to 1 megapixel. It took real manual reading to figure that out.

7. Despite my nit-picks, I am loving this camera. It is absolutely doing what I wanted. Namely giving me some really good manual and varied functions in a premium point and shoot without the expense of a DSLR.

My plan, if I continue to use this and enjoy photography, then I will upgrade to a DSLR, but right now, I have lots to learn, and enjoy with the Canon S10.

Nick

UPDATE: 16 Dec 2008

Still love the camera, but still learning. You MUST read the User Manual, and study it, in combination with playing with the camera. Good way to spend a couple of hours at Star$$s. The manual tells you specifically how to make certain changes in settings; however, it does NOT tell you when or why to make the changes. You need to study it and THINK. If you want a camera just to take simple, quick snapshots, this camera will do it, but that would be wasting this cameras terrific abilities. Spend a lot less and get a regular Canon or Sony P&S.

If you want a camera to learn how to do manual settings, like aperture and shutter priority settings, and others, WITHOUT spending the big $$$s needed to buy a DSLR, then this is the perfect camera for that.

Specific points:

1. The built in flash is not very strong at all. I will need to get a Canon external flash, probably the 430ex model, to make it as strong as I would like.

2. Figuring out how to change the image size, from 10 M to 8 or even down to less than 1 M for a 640×480 pixel photo is NOT intuitively obvious. You have to read the manual and learn that it is necessary to push the Function button while the camera is in take photo mode and then look down the list of items and choose from: 10M, 8M, etc…

3. The lens for this camera isn’t the world’s greatest. When it is dark it will only open up to 4.0 and that just isn’t fast enough; then with a low power flash, your low light shooting is compromised yielding “noisy”/unsharp images.

4. I haven’t found a camera bag that suits my taste for this camera yet; still looking. I want something that will carry the camera, an external flash, a spare set of batteries, and little nit-bits. I am sure they exist, just haven’t found the right one. But then, searching for photography stuff is always fun… I AM loving the camera, but would still leave the rating at four stars.

Great pics, versatile
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera offers so many options for the user. I’m able to use the manual settings to satisfy my more creative moments and I can set it to auto when I’m looking to get the quick, no hassel shot. Even handed it over to Mom (hates new tech) to take a few shots and she had very little problems. Still playing with the features, but it’s easy to use and menus are easy to navigate. The zoom makes for great printed pics.

Best all around camera I have ever owned
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
You will not go wrong with this camera. It is the most versitile camera on the planet earth. You will not believe the zoom on this camera and how well it works with the image stabilization. You will not need to carry a set of binoculars on your hike. This camera is simply amazing. Very high quality pictures at the maximum zoom even without a tripod.

Canon SX10-IS, best in its class
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After many weeks of research and reading of reviews on multiple different brands and models of cameras, trying to find a replacement for my Sony P72 which I was unhappy with before it broke, I settled on purchasing the Canon SX10IS. Checking out some review sites that showed pictures taken with the differnt cameras, the pictures taken by the Canon SX10IS were better than any pictures taken by other superzooms in the same conditions and settings. Besides good picture quality, it also has all the features I was looking for in a digital camera: full manual controls, a camera that wasn’t small and easily lost, AA batteries, and good macro and wide angle capabilities. When I was looking for the camera I didn’t realize I actually desired a good zoom capability as well. In my first actual use of the camera at a baseball game where my son’s class sang the national anthem, I found myself thanking myself for having gotten one with 20x zoom. I was able to get good pictures of him by home plate while I sat in the outfield nosebleed cheap seats. I’m loving the outstanding zoom capabilities.

In all of my tests and real world use of the camera I’ve not been let down. It performs just as well as the reveiwers said it would. I switched to rechargable AA batteries, but I wasn’t able to drain the four alkaline AA batteries that came with it, before I replaced them before the earlier mentioned baseball game, and I took about 150 shots with the alkalines. I’ve taken video and about 200 shots with the recharables and haven’t yet drained them. I do have a backup set of recharable batteries for when I really get to some extended photo sessions, but I don’t see needing more than the one extra set. I have no complaints about its battery life.

I was also very pleased with its image stabilization. I was able to take pictures at extreme zoom that I know I wouldn’t have been able to take clearly without it. I also took some macro photos without using a tripod, hand held only, and got some very clear results.

I’m glad it didn’t come with a small memory card like some other people complain about. My old Sony came with a 16MB Sony card which was all but useless, as I could only get 12 or so pictures on it. Nobody has a use for that small a card. The SX10-IS not coming with one allowed me to get one of the size I want and not have to be saddled with a wasted card.

My only complaint is that it is fairly heavy and you’ll definitely want to use the neck strap. You won’t want to hand carry this camera around for long periods of time.

I do not regret for an instant purchasing this camera. I know I would have been unhappy with other models had I chosen differently. It’s my first superzoom and with its similarity and functioning similar to a DSLR, it has me seriously thinking about taking the plunge into the DSLR realm at some point in the future after I improve my photography skills. In the mean time there are some third party add ons that can expand it’s capabilities to be more DSLR like until I decide to take the plunge.

Sorry Canon – just not quite there yet!
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Another one returned! Sorry Canon, I really like your products, but KEEP UP WITH THE TIMES for goodness sake!!!! (Excuse the rant) I’ve tried just about EVERY point and shoot that takes some kind of video, plus countless other digital cameras over the years. The HD P&S’s I’ve tried are: Canon TX1, Panasonic TX5, several flash drive camcorders that also take still pic’s, Sanyo HD1000 & HD700, Samsung HV24HD, and ALL the Kodak’s that take HD Video. Plus there has been other camera’s – too many to mention (i.e. Canon 550, 770, etc.)

Anyway, I just bought (and returned) the SX10. I really wanted to love this camera, but will stick with my Sony T500 for now (check my review of the T500 – that little baby is a keeper).

To keep it short, the still pictures are what you would expect from a Canon, but actually, I think my old Canon G7 takes better pictures. But here are the grips (I prefer the cons in a review more than the pros) in no particular order.

1) The Camera is BIG. Easy to hold but BIG. Love the flip screen – but the camera is BIG. Great lens – but BIG. I guess what I’m trying to say, the damn thing is BIG, almost as big as a DSLR. This is something that you can not just slip in your pocket and run! I guess I would put up with the BIGness of the camera if the video was better (see below).

2) Battery: some might like it, but I did not. Four “AA” batteries! I had to buy a rather expensive charger and rechargeable batteries. Come on, what’s going on here! Now adays with all this new technology, Canon couldn’t come up with a small battery that holds a decent charge! I know the Sony T500 has poor battery life, but at least the camera is small – you would expect that! Who wants to schlep around 4 extra “AA” batteries – not me! This one was my fault, I did not ever read about the batteries before I bought the camera, but like above, if the Video was better, I could look the other way.

3) Video: This was pretty important to me (again check out the T500). What is up with only the small video format when EVERY other camera company is opting for new 16:9 widescreen format? Again, my old G7 takes just as good “small” video and I can play/edit it with anything! Actually, the video from the SX10 is not all that good, except the fact that you can zoom all the way in (actually that is pretty cool), but not worth keeping it. I was hoping that even though the SX10 was not widescreen 720/1080, it would take decent “HD like” video with the new .MOV video format. Why Canon did not bring the SX1 out first I’ll never know; because then if the videos were good – I might have kept the Canon. As many other reviewers have mentioned, I just don’t understand these companies or their marketing plan. If they need any help, all they have to do is ask a few geeks like me – I’ll tell em’ an ear full!

So all in all, I’m keeping the Sony T500 – even if the pictures are not quite as sharp. That little camera is all I need – “right now”! Just my opinion Canon lovers.

Very nice camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great camera. I wanted a great zoom lens and it certainly has that. It is a well built camera with great features. The picture quality is fantastic. It is everything that I expected.

Downloading pictures is a bit more cumbersome than with my old Kodak camera, however.

Be patient and experience the learning curve
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The camera is awesome! The flexibility to allow for a wide range of ‘modes’ is exceptional and not found on most point and shoot cameras. There is a learning curve for those of us who have not had a Cannon digital but given time I have managed to become capable of using quite a few different modes.

Patience is the key to becoming proficient and productive with this very powerful camera. Cannot be beat in its price range!!!!!!

It is defintely a Powershot + More
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
i just bought my Powershot on tuesday gone and so far so good. This camera is so user friendly it’s a crying shame.

love my camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Outstanding camera. Great telephoto and easy to use. Saved about $100 by buying online. Came fast and in excellent condition.

Canon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great camera!!!

The telephoto is better than expected and the low light capabilities are really impressinve. Several other features are fun, but the main reasons for my choice – long distance wildlife shots and quicker shutter speed – are great.

this camera take great shots with or without me.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love this camera! It does everything I need it to; and more. I have not been able to figure out what I’m doing wrong inabling me to NOT use the videa feature, but lets talk about still photos. And still pictures of moving things. Amazing. Brilliant! effortless! This camera does have some complicted choice you can make, that is for sure!!! I try to think of is as giving me room to grow; I expect many years of advancing skills on this one. But for now, I will just use auto, take great photos and ohhhh, BTW, the editing softwear that comes with the camera is VERY good indeed.

Canon Powershot camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
awesome camera…love taking video and pictures with ease. uploading to my mac’s iphoto is so easy. i made the best choice EVER with this camera… but then, it is a CANON and they’re the best!!

Excellent camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just love this camera. It takes great pictures and movies. And it’s easy to use, even for a beginner photographer. I would not hesitate to recommend this camera to anyone looking for a great point-and-shoot camera. I have purchased Canon cameras before and once again this company does not disappoint.

Love the camera, hate the flash.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I’ve been very happy with the many features of this camera so far. The only let downs have been figuring out the new video format and the flash. Right up super close it seems to be OK. But if you are taking a picture in just a room in the house, you’ll want to consider the optional flash upgrade. I have not decided which one I am going to get yet. Thought it was a smoking deal on a camera, but with the flash it is getting to be more spendy.

Versatile, excellent super zoom camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had this camera a few months now and have been able to run it thru it’s paces. This camera has performed quite well in a variety of situations. Landscapes are probably it’s strongest suite with vibrant colors and sharp images. Even when zooming in at 20x the images still look respectable. It’s only weakness would be the builtin flash It’s somewhat weak past a few feet and harsh up close. I reccomend an external flash. The camera is full of features that I’ve yet to master, in fact it can be too complicated at times to use. Also, the viewfinder is digital, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. An optical viewfinder would of made this camera perfect. If you want the versatility and quality of a DSLR and don’t have the need for multiple lenses, save yourself alot of money and get this camera. So far, I love it.

A Fantastic Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Having previously used the Canon S2 IS, I looked forward to using the SX10 IS, and I was not disappointed. The SX10 IS is all I expected and more. I’ve looked for things to be critical of, and can only find two minor ones; the door covering the USB connector is a tad loose after first use, and the movies are stored in MOV format rather than the AVI format that was used by the S2. As my video editing program (Pinnacle Studio) won’t accept MOV files, a conversion step is required. There are plenty of free conversion programs available that can be used to solve the second problem (I use “format factory”). The 20X optical zoom, 10 megapixel resolution, comfortable “feel”, and long battery life (with rechargeable NiMH batteries) makes this a tremendously versatile camera, and it’s all there without the need for interchangeable lenses. The quality is what I’ve come to expect with Canon cameras. I recommend this camera for any serious amateur photographer, and it just might do it for beginning professionals.

Cannon Power Shot
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The camera does exactly what I hoped it would do. The pictures are awesome. Delivery, however was very slow. Next time I’ll choose UPS

two days.

Nearly There
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Canon SX10 is an outstanding camera sold at a fair price. The highly literate nature of some of the reviews gives a good clue as to who is buying it.

I am depriving it of one star because of one inept design decision – albeit one that the user easily can remedy.

As designed, the camera cannot take filters which would be a serious defect in a camera of this class. My guess is that some marketing person did not want the SX10 to compete with Canon’s more expensive SLR’s, a marketing strategy that has been tried, unsuccessfully, by other companies in the past.

The fix is easy. The SX10 comes with a sunshade that attaches to a fixture built onto the barrel. Lensmate sells a well-made ring which uses that fixture and which holds 58mm screw-in filters. Of course, while it is attached one cannot use the sunshade, but for about $7 one can buy a screw-in sunshade that works just as well and that can be used in conjunction with the filters.

Flash is not automatic and Lens cap does not has fixture
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The flash of this product is very tedious to set.It is not automatic.

The lens cap provided does not have proper accessory to hang it to the Camera.Not sure, if the product does not provide it or if Amazon didnt provide it.

Otherwise Camera is pretty normal and good like other Canon Digi Cams

Great Versatility!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a wonderful camera. I wanted to replace my Canon G2 with something a little better with more range. I missed having wide angle and telephoto capabilities. I stumbled across the Powershot SX10IS which provided great features: 20x Zoom and 28mm Wide Angle in one package. No need to carry heavy lenses. I went on a trip to Alaska and got some really beautiful shots including the Mt. McKinley, Moose, Grizzly Bears, Lynx, Caribou, and Dall Sheep walking the Mountains in Denali.

Caveat: The camera uses up alkaline batteries pretty quickly so I recommend 2 sets of rechargeable AA batteries. I had good luck with the Sony 2500 mAH rechargeable batteries which lasted 3-5 days depending on use. (Your mileage may vary from mine!)

Pretty neat camera, but has a few glitches.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The photographs are fine. Handling the camera is a bit of a problem for me.

When the neck strap is attached, you cannot hit the Power button easily. However with the strap off, it is heavy and bulky to hold because of all of the batteries. It takes wonderful videos, with incredible sound when you play them back on your computer. But for the price, I think I can live with it happily.

disappointed by lack of dynamic range
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I’m sad that I’ve had this camera for too long to send it back to the store. It has a very limited dynamic range and if there is any sunlight in the picture, light-colored objects in the sunlight have no detail. If I change the exposure, the shadows become impenetrably black.

Excellent first step
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am very happy with this purchase. I am entering into a new field, having no photography experience, and needing to take good pictures for my website, [...]. I needed “easy,” and that’s what I got. I spent an hour or so familiarizing myself with the manual. Then, I started taking pictures. It took about an hour’s worth of pictures to begin to understand the simplicity of the functions. Using the auto function created good pictures. Since then, I purchased a “gray card” so that I could properly set the shutter speed for hopefully even better indoor pictures using a couple of light stands. We’ll see how that works out. All in all, the pictures in general, really good. I just had to learn to press the button down half way and allow the picture to autofocus, which takes a second, then 99% of the pictures come out perfect. The only issue, shooting black objects or white objects. I still have a lot to learn about how to take those pictures. But, I’m very happy with this camera.

Seems Perfect for My Use
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’m in first days so can’t give detailed report but I can say it is a big step ahead of my Powershot A620, that was a very satisfactory camera. But the 20x was a big inducement since it will help me in kind of shooting I enjoy. There are many more controls than I am used to, and it will take time to make full use of all. But I am already benefitting from such controls as iContrast. Today I was trying to photgraph a waterfall and was frustrated by a shadow in the center because sun not exactly as I would have liked. I turned on iConrrast and took the shot. The shadow was gone and the rocks it was hiding were clearly seen. I don’t think I could have done better if the sun changed position. I have also taken photos with the zoom and achieved results far superior to what I was getting with previous camera.

I think there should be threads on end of lens so that I could use filters, such as a polarizer. However, Lensmate is fabricating an adapter that will permit the use of filters. But the absence of threads is one of reasons I gave it a 4 instead of a 5.

This is definitely a camera anyone who wants an advanced non-SLR camera should consider. For me, it seems to be the perfect camera, giving me many of the controls of an SLR but without need to buy and carry lenses.

UPDATE

I have taken several hundred photos since writing my first review so can now say it is perfect for my use.

Some reviewers complain a bit about the weight; I like the weight. It weighs noticeably more than my Powershot A620, but I like the substanial feel when I use it. I don’t shake more with this camera, if anything less, and the image stabilization lens takes care of that.

Some have commented about the camera being slippery. I have not noticed that. Don’t know why, but to me the SX10 is not a slippery camera.

I am really pleased with the wide angle lens, something I did not have on the A620. I didn’t know what I was missing. Likewise the 20x zoom. What a difference compared to the 4x I was using. This is great for distance shots, I am also using it like a macro lens.

I know now that I made the right choice. I have most of the options I would have if I purchased an SLR, but at a much lower price.

The camera isn’t perfect, but no camera is. I’d like threads so I could use a polarizer, and I don’t like the wheel used to change the aperture value or shutter speed. It works, but is more time consuming than the way it was on the A620.

I like the camera so much that now I feel as thought I was nit-picking when I rated it 4 instead of 5.

It’s the best camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Esta la mejor cámara que he tenido en mi vida.

es impresionante su tecnología de punta y todo lo que puede hacer con esto.

claro que hay mejores cámaras más profesionales pero sin duda esta trae muchas satisfacciones a los que nos gusta la fotografía por afición.

The best of the best.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Have always been a fan of Canon, will always remain a fan as long as they make such wonderful products.

Recently had a chance to experience their fabulous customer service too:

Still have the PS A95 that bought 4 years ago which works perfect but had a bug (ccd malfunction) and they repaired it free of charge and even renewed most of the outside appearance. the warranty had already been expired 3 years ago. even Apple does not honor such a generous service as far as i know.

Big mistake of Canon
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
It’s Continuous shooting rate in sports mode can only reach 0.8 fps. Less than one frame per sec for a burst mode. You must be kidding me. It is a downgrade from S3 IS which has 2.1 frames/second.

Also the size is bigger.

No expert photographer, but still disappointed
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
After owning an old Sony Cybershot for over 6 years, I thought it was time to upgrade to something with a few more bells & whistles. A high zoom camera seemed to fit the bill – I didn’t have the time, nor inclination, to learn all the ins & outs of a true DSLR, but I wanted to have a few more options in a basic point & shoot with a good zoom for taking close up shots of my little guy. I did considerable research, and was impressed with all 300+ reviews for the Canon Powershot SX10IS on Amazon. I also read (& re-read) reviews from some well-respected digital photography websites, many of which gave this camera their highest ratings. After hemming & hawing for some time, I bit the bullet & eagerly awaited the fabulous pictures that this Canon would produce. I knew it was possible; I’d seen the examples on Amazon – all 500+.

The evening that my purchase arrived, I took my time, reviewing the manual (rare for me as I tend to do first, then read) & learning about my new camera. Then a test drive. Disappointment followed. Almost nothing I did – not putting the IS on continuous, not raising the ISO, not tweaking the aperture or the shutter speed, nothing short of using the flash – seemed to fully eliminate camera shake. But, I thought, it’s nighttime & I’m indoors. Tomorrow I’ll try again.

I awoke to a beautiful sun-washed morning, grabbed the camera, & started shooting pics of my 18 month old son playing in natural light. Same problems. I get it, taking indoor pictures means making some compromises. Either a little on the dark side or maybe a little more noise; things which can mostly be cleaned up by editing. But the quality of these pictures was horrible. The camera was constantly registering camera shake unless the flash was up – even in clear, beautiful, morning sun. Crushed.

I had some reasonable good luck when taking shots outside, but nothing that seemed to warrant the high praise written of this camera. My 6 year old Sony Cybershot, with only 4mp & 6x zoom, has given me reliably excellent photos even in the dimmest of light, something I would think this newer technology could easily provide. Not so. Color me disappointed.

Great camera!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I want a camera that takes excellent pictures but really don’t want to learn all of the intricacies of photography. This is the camera for me. The set up was relatively easy following the simple directions, and the camera setting is for “Auto” and probably will never be changed. I have been practicing before our vacation with all different kinds of pictures and they have come out awesome! I love this camera and will be enjoying it for many years to come!

All-around semi-professional camera.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After one month and over 3000 pictures later, I can happily say I love this camera.

The fun part is figuring out what it can do. With all the available settings, it can be a bit intimidating at first. My first photos – especially of my 19-month-old son – turned out a bit blurry.

However, with some practice I’m now catching the little guy more consistently.

Playing with the macro has been the most fun. I’ve caught some amazing photos of insects and flowers. As for the zoom, I’ve taken pictures of high-flying birds and planes, many of which turn out surprisingly clear.

My only gripe is I can’t get closer to my macro subjects. However, with the purchase of a macro lens — which I plan on purchasing soon — will fix that.

It’s also fairly easy to upgrade. With the purchase of an adapter from lensmate, I can now use filters, and of course with the hotshoe I can add an external flash.

If you’re looking for a versatile camera, but don’t have the cash for a DSLR, this is the camera for you.

DON’T FORCE A FILTER ON THIS GEM…..
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Heys guys, this is indeed a sweet camera. Great features which have been covered in other reviews already. This is to simply provide an alternative to applying a filter on the end of this unit. It was not designed to carry one as is. But there is a solution. Amazon does not allow links in these reviews since mine was removed. But the company’s name is Lensmate. They do have a website. This company has come to our rescue, knowing how important a protective filter is. So voila! An adapter which will accomodate any 58mm filter or step ring. I bought mine I also got the lens cap and a UV protective filter ring from this company. A god-sent for sure. Now lets get to shooting some serious pictures without the worry of scratching our camera lens.

Cordially, Manny from Tampa

canon camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is the best camera i have ever owned. Beautiful pictures,you can easily grab and hold it well, and not worry about it falling out of your hand.

Great Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My use of this camera to date has been somewhatly limited. But so far the camera has been exceptional. All of its many features work and work well. I have read a lot of reports about the cameera being big, bulky and heavy. Well it is all of those, but I find these things to be an attribute. It makes it feel adequate rather than flimsy and cheap.One thing I am not too happy with is battery life. So far I have used only the AA alkaline batteries, which are used up rather soon. In the past I have used NiMH batteries and found them to die from not being used instead of wearing out from use. Which is worse. Your total number of shots is still limited. This camera has an abundance of features and uses power accordingly. The camera has features that are not well covered in the user manual. Trial and error is the answer. All in all this is a very good camera, and I am very happty with it.

Unbelievable
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The zoom on this camera is unbelievable. This is an awesome camera with so many features I still have not mastered! I upgraded from a pocket digital that I felt I had outgrown. I love this camera! On the downside, I highly recommend an additional flash if you intend to take night photos. The built in flash works well until about dusk.

The perfect camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My wife and I purchased this camera due to the Canon name and the long reach zoom. It has been everything we expected and more. If you are looking for a small compact camera with all the benefits and advantages of an SLR with out the weight or having to change lenses continually, you will love this camera.

Best of everthing price and performance
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
A great shopping experience. The camera is wonderful. I wish the type in the hand book was larger.

sx10iscanon
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
instruction book writen very well.takesgreat pictures.i do wish it would have a uv filter to fit it.

great camera/great pictures
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I really liked the ease of use, right out of the box! pictures are really good. It has so many options, I’m still experimenting with the camera but it’s a lot of fun!

Best Bridge Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have owned manual slrs, digital point and shoots and auto slrs. I take pictures everywhere I go, for pleasure and work. I previously owned the powershot elph cameras which I liked and found functional. I wanted to upgrade to a digital slr, but the price was too high for me at this time.

This camera does everything a digital single lens reflex does, but without the ability to change out lens. But who needs to with wide angle, macro, supermacro and 560mm zoom capability? For a slr equivalent the weight is actually lighter because the lens is more compact. It handles well. I really like the flexible view finder and how it pivots, but most of all I like the versatility of the picture taking experience. The macro is perfect for close ups. I recently zoomed in on the statute on top of the US Capitol and could clearly see the details. The video is easy to use too.

This camera does everything and at an affordable price. I enjoy taking pitures with this camera and take it with me all the time.

Good Upgrade from older camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Received this as gift for Christmas, and was excited! Been using 8 year old point and shoot and was wanting to get something nicer. Easy to use and has lots of functions which I am sure if you like to tinker then you like this one. Like the video mode and the zoom.

An expensive doorstop!!!!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Ok,let me first say I am a fan of Canon products and purchased this one for the great reviews. This camera is awful! I was deciding between a DSLR and a ‘point and shoot’ and opted to go with the point and shoot. Even though the DSLR would have been nice…all I really need the camera for is taking pictures of my daughter. The fatal flaw of this camera is that it cannot take an action shot to save its life. Try telling a two year old to stay still every time you want to take a picture! All of my pictures come out blurry…in a series of about 20 pictures maybe 1 might be actually usable. I have tried setting the dial to the “action/sports” setting and it is no better than any of the other settings. I have also tried the custom settings to get it to work…but that kind of defeats the purpose of the point and shoot…not to mention it still doesn’t work. My $100 little pocket camera takes better ‘real’ pictures than this. The camera is nice for taking pictures of still shots…but that’s it. Not a good value for the money. Either upgrade to the DSLR or downgrade to a good point and shoot.

Great Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Canon Powershot SX10IS is great. This is the third Canon Powershot SX I’ve had because Canon keeps adding new improvements. The controls are easy to use and understand. I take wildlife picures out my diningroom window and at 20X zoom it’s like they’re right outside the window. The pictures are clear and bright. I would highly recommend the camera to my friends.

Small complains
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this as an upgrade to my trusty old Canon S2. Based on 3 days experience, the photographic aspect of the camera is great – better than the S2 particularly the 28mm wide angle. However, I have a few little complains on the ergonomic side.

(1) The cammera is significantly larger and heavier than the S2. And it is bit of a pain since I cannot reuse my old S2 camera case.

(2) The SX10 comes with a clip-on lens cap which is pretty finicky to put on in comparison to the S2 plastic lens cap which I can easily and quickly slap on to the lens housing. Furthermore, while the S2 cap comes with a string to be attached to the camera body. That is not the case with the SX10. So I can see losing my lens cap pretty soon.

(3) The inside grip on the S2 is kind of sanded so it can be gripped firmly. The grip on the SX10 is smooth and a bit slippery. It does not offer me as firm and confident a grip as the S2, particularly when the camera is heavier. May be it will become less slippery with time.

Other than the above, good camera.

Very Good but Low light performance is a major weakness!!!
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I recently upgraded from an S3 IS to the SX10 IS. Canono has made a lot of improvements (more optical zoom, better display with more information, higher ISO, higher pixels, better face detection). The list is quite long and I must say that some additions really add value to the camera and improve the perforamnce. I won’t go into too much details as they have been amply covered by other reviewers.

The pictures are generally sharp outdoors and are comparable to other point and shoot cameras with super zoom. Without being too technical, I can say that the camera’s value for money is very good in its own class.

My only complain is the low light performance, especially the video. I tested the camera indoors during a school concert and I was surprised to find that the camera struggled to keep the subject in focus during video recording. I have never experienced that with the S3 or the S2 that i owned previously. Moreover, still pictures taken in low lights also are affected by the camera’s weak autofocusing. I was prepared to live with the conversion from the AVI to the MOV format but the low light performance is really a turn off for me.

A major strength of the IS series was the excellent movie mode with zoom and stereo sound and I did not feel the need to carry my camcorder for recording movies.

If you own an S3 or an S5, I would recommend not upgrading rt now. I am on the verge of returning the camera after christmas primarily to the Poor low light performance.

Update (12/27/2008)

Returned the camera today. Extensively tested the low light perofrmance and flash results but its not worth spending 400 bucks for such a performance. Am seriously considering the XSi DSLR as my next camera.

Great camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It took only two days for me to get the camera. This is really a great camera with reasonal price, I can try a lot of staff.

A great option for the serious amateur
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Having owned a Canon Powershot S1 IS for several years, this camera had many familiar touches. There are some differences, too, so there is a bit of a learning curve. However, the more I use the camera, the more I appreciate the changes. For example, to set the self-timer, I push a button on the back of the camera instead of one on the front top. The view finder is much more clear and the LCD screen is significantly larger than previous models – and very usable when I choose to not use the view finder. What I like about this over many cameras in its price range is that it has multiple automatic settings and it has manual settings for the serious amateur who wants full creative control over what the camera does. The ONLY down side I have found is that the camera really does not support lens filters. I have been able to gently screw the 52 mm UV filter from my old camera in place, and I have not had any problems doing so. But I can tell the few threads on the lens are not really intended for this use, so I won’t be changing filters any more than absolutely necessary. If Canon would make that one change, I would say this is the perfect camera for someone who does not need the step up – in both price and weight, as well as cost – of a full DSLR, but who wants to do much more than point and shoot.

i like it
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I couldn’t wait to get my new canon Powershot Sx10is, This is my first camera like this and I am having fun alot of the pics are turning out good, I still need to play more and learn some of the other setting. Iam having some troubles with night shots turning out blurry. went on vacation to the beach and those pics turned out the best. I love it and like I said I need to play with it more to learn all the other settings.

Great camera!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Before my new Canon SX10IS camera I had a small digital. There is no comparison. We were just at the beach for a week and I could zoom in on boats out in the Gulf of Mexico so clearly you could read the name of the ship. When you put it into macro you are zooming in at 80x when at full zoom! It is wonderful! I am only 1/3 thru the instruction manual and can not believe what all this camera can do. I would recommend it 100%!

Canon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
(+) Upgraded from the 6MP model, which I loved. This camera meets all expectations. Similar easy-to-use format; a few minor changes for the good. And, yes, you can see the craters on the moon with the 20x optical zoom. But I prefer using it to bring objects 6 feet away to within inches. This model also features a hot shoe for an optional flash. The Zoom-Browser software has been improved…good for maintaining files and simple photo fixes.

(-) Had to buy a lense cap tether. Sometimes the auto-focus has trouble if you are zooming in too much on close-ups. (That’s just a matter of getting used to the camera’s quirks.)

Best $300-$400 Camera on Market,Period!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is the best advanced compact on the market. Very easy to use. Great results. Powerful zoom and many controls.

Great Point and Shoot
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This camera has been a joy to have. You can take great pictures with auto set and fantastic pictures with the manual controls. This is a great starter camera for the money.

Use the camera for my hiking adventures and it has never failed me yet. Camera is solid built, easy to handle and the rotating LCD screen is fantastic!

Canon SX10 IS Review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great purchase! For those looking to get into photography and don’t know a whole lot, like myself, this is a great “gateway” camera. At the very least, it improves your regularly taken picture’s quality. Can’t say enough about this camera.

Great overall camera.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Im in love with my new camera. It has so many features i cant tell, picture quality its excelent, video quality its great.. and beeing able to shoot a picture while recording and full zooming whatever you want IN and Out without having to stop the video like in some other cameras its just amazing. The 20x zoom with image stabilizer exceeded my expactations, it works great.. i just went to a concert the other day and got great pictures and video from very far away.

I think this is the best camera on the market in its class and most of all in PRICE .

The only disadvantage i see in it its the fact that it works on 4 AA batteries wich you can solve with buying an rechargable batteries kit.

A must have

Love love love this camera!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I absolutely love this camera! I am not a professional photographer, and this camera is perfect. I am still learning all the different things it can do. I like that there is so much to it, but you don’t need to know how to use all the extras to take nice pictures. The LCD screen did get a small scratch on it already, but I am extra careful with it to make sure that doesn’t happen again. And the lens cap is easily misplaced, so you need to be cautious of that.

I am still learning how to use this camera. It is taking a while, because I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, but I use the camera all the time.

I love it
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I simply love it. This is the best camera in this price range. A good starting point for learning about photography as well.

Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great camera and I consider a good investment. The cost was great and the pictuer quality is fantastic. What a great camera…..

Good camera, fair software, horrible manual
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is a good camera. I am a forensic scientist and have to take photos for a lot of my work. Overall I am pleased. It has a little trouble capturing the focus under lower light conditions. The software is not great, but if you learn its quirks, it get the job done (some menus are “concealed”- only accessible by pressing an obscure series of buttons- it you do not have the secret sequence you won’t find the menus). The manual is really really bad- Example: Hmmm, how do I operate the self timer? OK, thats in the index- go to the page- it tells you it can be operated in several fashions -BUT DOES NOT TELL YOU HOW TO ACTUALLY DO IT! Frustrating on an otherwise good camera

Canon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Lot’s of features for the money. I’m a NIKON person myself but I like this better than the average point and shot camera. No tripod necessary even with 10 MGP because of the image stabilizer which is why I bought the camera. It has a 20X zoom, a micro setting, a huge view screen that swivels for your convenience, takes movies with sound (3 mics). And these are just some of the features. Be sure to purchase a 4Gig memory card if you want to take advantage of the movie setting so you can shoot for 20 continuous minutes. Instead of packing up my NIKON gear I now take this camera with me almost anytime I go out. You can take very good pictures with it with just a little bit of practice so you will remember to change your distance settings to capture the “right” depth of field. I would recommend this camera to novice and serious amature alike. It’s GREAT! If there is a drawback it’s that you can’t use filters with it. To me that is not important with this camera.

A great camera, period!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera to replace my older point and shoot Canon because I have recently gotten into racing photography and graphic design for my business. I needed something a little more high end without going the full digital SLR route. Honestly, most people that carry around the SLR’s and 4 lenses are total overkill anyway. The shots from this camera I can almost guarantee you, are just as good as theirs.

This camera has totally exceeded my expectations in both picture quality and ease of use. The manual adjustments on this camera make it really easy to adjust settings for various environments, including racing photography. The size of the camera is perfect and I love having the flexibility of it without having to buy or carry around 10 different lenses, flashes, etc.

I have tested this camera out on all sorts of different subjects and it really produces great shots across the entire spectrum. For the money, I really don’t see how this camera can be beat. Unless you are some stalker paparazzi type of person, this camera should fit most any photographic need you have, while still being a simple camera to operate.

I find the layout of the buttons to be quite nice, contrary to other reviews. The screen on this camera is also really nice, but I rarely use it.

My only negative for this camera (as others have mentioned) is that the lens cap needs a string on it or some way to keep better track of it.

Overall, a great camera that I am extremely happy with. I have purchased Canon products for the last 10 years and will continue to do so.

What a Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
If you want a professional camera for less, this is your option, the best in the market for begginer and sure for professionals, this is incredible, i love it. Its a bargain…

Good enough just got better
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been using manual SLR’s all my life and was reluctant to go digital. Amazon of course had the best price, but was I ever surprised regarding quality when I began using this camera. It really does have all the functions a fancy SLR does but at a fraction of the cost. For prior Canon EOS users, this is almost an exact replica. You can still manually focus and manipulate shutter speeds and F-stops. The picture quality is UNBELIEVABLE-even better than my fancy Hadsselblad. It’s small enough to carry anywhere and easy to use. Memory card is only $14 at Best Buy. The photo manipulatin software that comes with it is great too. You can doctor up any image and make it perfect. You will need an extra flash on the hot shoe if you are shooting from very far away in a dimly lit room but otherwuse the one the camera comes with does the job.

I LOVE MY NEW SX10IS CAMERA!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I couldn’t make up my mind what type of camera I wanted to purchase; an SLR or a point and shoot. I knew what features I wanted, but up until recently I couldn’t find a camera fitting all my needs. I decided that for my purposes of taking travel pictures I wanted something easy to use, but an upgrade to my present camera, a Canon PowerShot A610. I really liked the shape of the camera, which is easy to hold with one hand. Then one of the best features was vari-angle LCD. After searching different cameras I was thrilled when I found the SX10IS which had most if not all the features I had been looking for. I wanted at least 18x optical zoom and this has 20x; I definitely wanted the vari-angle LCD for taking pictures either higher or lower than a comfortable viewing level. (It sure saves on backs when wanting to take a close up of a flower and you can turn the viewer up and hold the camera down at arms length to get a great picture). It also has the easy grip like my older camera, however I find there are more buttons that I sometimes push inadvertantly, and get out of the mode that I want to be in. As I get more used to the camera I don’t mess up as often. The pictures come out crystal clear and I can zoom in when viewing on my computer and still get great pixel clarity. The finished photos I have had processed have come out close to studio quality. Recently I took portraits of guests at our Christmas party and had rave reviews of the finished product with many ordering additional prints to send to family and friends. Also, I was extremely pleased when taking photos at the Tournament of Roses parade last week.

Most electonic gadgets have more features on them then one will ever use, and this camera is no exception. Slowly, I am trying to learn more to take advantage of more features. On the other hand, if you want ease of use then with this camera you can be out taking pictures as soon as you put in your batteries and memory card. Speaking of memory cards, you will want to buy a high speed card to take advantage of the continuous shoot feature. This is great when taking pictures of moving objects. Another feature I haven’t mentioned is the great video (with sound) that you can take with this camera. Having a high capacity memory SD card helps. I always carry extra cards, but with my new 8 GB card I won’t be using the extra cards very often.

Face recognition is another feature I haven’t used before. It is an interesting feature and new tool when taking group shots.

I could go on and on, there are so many good things I could say about this camera. I really don’t have any negatives other than accidentally pushing buttons when I don’t want to. As I had read in another review, the controls are “touchy” and you have to be aware of where your “fat fingers” land.

I’m a senior citizen who loves to take pictures and have thousands of photos on my computer. I enjoy viewing slide shows of all the pictures of our travels throughout the USA and also abroad. If you want to take a step up from the compact point and shoot then I would highly recommend the Canon PowerShot SX10IS. It has features you will appreciate for taking photos both indoors and out.

Amazing ZOOM and Stabilization
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
If your pictures aren’t turning out, you’re probably doing something wrong. Small changes make a huge difference. Especially simple things like the White Balance/changing the light source. Take a picture of a cut open watermelon and watch the red heart go from auto bland to a bright juicy red. You can even set the Red in the Colors menu. But just changing the light source makes all the diffence in the world! The most amazing thing with this camera is the Stabilization!!! You can free hand all the way into the digital zoom and have your pictures come out clearer and better than they even look through the lcd. I’m constantly amazed at how stable it is. That’s what made me choose this over the Nikon with 20x optical zoom and the rest of the competition. Just zoom out in the store and watch it find and track Faces from 10′ to 100′. It even seperates the Facial Recognition pic.s when you download into it’s own file, just faces.

Just for the hell-of-it, when I registered this camera, I let CANON know that my 4 year old A75 PowerShot stopped working. It blurred out with purple vertical lines. They said to send it in and they’d fix it for free if it was one of those that got a bad CCD. Ten minutes ago the Fed Ex guy brought it back and it’s fixed!!! FREE, new CCD and adjusted and cleaned! Amazing. Just that alone makes me glad that I picked the Canon. What other company would pay shipping and fix a 4 year old camera for FREE?! NONE!!! Very Impressed with Canon. They’ve made me a loyal customer for life. They probably fixed it because I just bought this SX10IS. But, they didn’t have to. I never expected them to do this. I was just curious to why my A75 went bad and if it was worth fixing to use as my work camera. Anyway, I never write reviews, but no one’s ever fixed a camera that’s years past warranty for free and had it back in under 2 weeks!!! My next camera will be a Canon, and the one after that, and after that… When I was researching for the SX10IS, the main complaint was that the lens cap gets lost. Mine hasn’t and they make caps with a lanyard for like [...] bucks! What it comes down to is, shake all you want, your pictures will still come out butter smooth, even a mile away!!!

Great for the Money / Would Rather have had SX1 IS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Powershot SX10 IS is the best overall camera you can purchase for the money. Money saving features are as follows: AA batteries, SD Card, 28mm to 560mm lens. Batteries are a big thing. Rechargeables will not last forever, they wear even if you aren’t using them. When you need batteries, at the last minute, you can use Alkaline AA. For your typical tourist activities the lens will be more than enough. The SD cards are the cheapest around.

The one additional feature the camera has is the menu/picture review screen. The screen works much like the screens on Digital Camcorders. It allows moving the camera overhead and around corners or is just convenient for use when taking self-portraits on a timer. You can rotate the screen around to point in the same direction as the lens.

No other camera, other than the SX1 IS w/CMOS, combines all these features. Since the SX1 IS is currently only being sold in Europe and Asia, at the time of this review, and any warranty work would be problematic this leaves out this camera. It’s an extra $300-$400 extra the same price as a SLR, but you still have AA batteries and SD card.

The picture quality is great, the addition of full manual control, VHS quality video and a High Speed ISO makes this camera a great buy and a bargain.

awesome camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I tend to stick with Canon video cameras. I have been wanting something with high res. and a good zoom. This one fill the bill. You can get really close, takes great pics and I love the facial recognition for a timed photo.

Review for the Canon SX10IS camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a great camera. I bought it on the recommendation of a friend who has one, and it does everything I want it to. The 20x zoom is perfect the the sports mode which I tried out at the beach, works perfectly. The only thing I do not like about it is that the lens cover is not attached. My Kodak had a string attached to the lens cap so it could never be lost. This cap doesn’t and is supposed to clip on the strap but fell off. It is also difficult to attach. Other than that, the camera is perfect.

One of the better cameras I ever owned
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
It’s not a DSLR but it comes pretty darn close. What doesn’t it have that a DSLR does?

1. Well the obvious is you can’t change lenses but with such a large zoom and super macro why carry around all that stuff just to take hobby shots?

2. The sensor is never going to be as great as the higher end cameras, but it does a darn good job if you know how to work your settings and use a tripod.

3. You can’t shoot raw. Again this is for the person who likes to take photos rather than switching out lenses, cleaning innards of the body, and sitting in front of the computer tweaking all day.

That being said if you’re looking for a more “professional camera” go for the new Rebel (I believe the new one has live view that the older models don’t and that is a real plus.)

Okay so shooting at anything above 400ISO gets noisy. My solution – use a tripod for longer exposures at a lower ISO or use flash when possible.

The zoom is great and though you do lose some quality there is an image stabalizer, you will get shake — again use a tripod or monopod.

The thing is so easy to use, I never even read the instruction manual. It’s all right there on the camera, you just have to play around with it.

Burst mode is kinda slow, but again it’s under $400 camera — there are going to be some trade offs for the all-in-one-point-and-shoot.

USE the scene settings, they are marvelous, and can actually help train you on how to set the camera manually. The indoor mode is fantastic at setting the white balance.

The best situation for any camera is lots of light so expect noise, blur etc in darker settings. Get yourself a flash — Speedlite 430ex or better if you have the cash. I am still waiting for mine, but if you like to bounce flash off the wall behind you do some more research on it. Get a diffuser and/or bounce the crap out of it. Experiment and play. Once you learn the camera and its nuances, you will be able to get the most out of it.

Spend the money and get a fast memory card with a lot of space.

This camera is now my baby and I have used the Olympus Camedia 3.2 MP for quite some time and I have taken a lot of great photos with it. I had the older rebel, hated that it didn’t have live view and didn’t have the money to buy fast telephoto lenses. Sold it. I recommend you keep yours if you have one though… they are great cameras.

I will be shooting intimate events (baby showers, small weddings, birthday and holiday parties) with this one and using my friend’s rebel as a backup. LOL imagine that!!? I figure I can make some of my cash back maybe even enough to get the new rebel.

If you want something that is easy to use, has a great zoom lens, takes great photos and is under $400, this is the camera for you. It’s a canon and the resale value should stick should you want to upgrade in a year.

T-

canon sx10IS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I only have this camera for less than 1 month and only used it once. So far, it gave me excellent pictures. I have to learn more about it before I could give it a higher rating

Nhut

Excellent choice!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Excellent camera and is the best I’ve ever bought. This camera has brought my photography to a whole new level.

Caution is the word for this camera
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
You get what you pay for, and I evidently down-sized in some unanticipated ways from a Panasonic FZ-50 to this Canon, hoping for the added benefit of the extra zoom. Just beware of this camera’s limited capabilities in low light – and without bright light – the problem of uncertainty of focus at maximum zoom. When you change the ISO to 200, you pick up discernible noise, inapparent when you check you pictures on the LCD. I should add that the “wheel” which manages ISO and other changes is cheaply made and awkward to use and that both the view finder and the LCD are – frankly – not quality. By the way, the video button, which is easy to get to, is in fact awkward to use and I find I have to push down. I will say I have no problem with the rechargeable battery solution – though its a nuisance – and an obvious way of Canon controlling costs. Do know I spent much less for this camera than for the Panasonic when it first came out, so I understand I got what I paid for. There are some interesting bells and whistles, but these compensate for the shortcomings in the basics. My hunch is that this is the case with the SI 20 as well. But with any luck Canon won’t have me as a consumer again.

I love this camera!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I want to preface and say that I am not a professional photographer, but an amateur amateur photographer. I like to take quality pictures without having to go thru alot of hassle. My previous camera was a Kodak Easyshare C875, which is a great camera and allowed me to take some pretty awesome shots…but I knew i was ready for more. I take my friends’ kids’ pictures in every season…again, its really just for practice for me, and she reaps the benefit.

So I do my homework and read reviews on this camera, and pretty much everyone who uses it likes it. I get it in my hands finally and i LOVE the way it feels….it is a little bulky, but I like the weight in my hands. I love the swing out LCD screen, which also doubles as a protective measure for it too. The pictures I have taken so far with this camera have been of amazing quality, and print out fantastic. I like that this camera is great for people of all abilities too….as I learn more about photography, I can do more with the camera. But someone could even “point and click” with this camera too. I cant wait to be able to get more out of this camera. I love it!

Fantastic Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just received this camera after months of research.I narrowed it down between the sx10 and the fx28. I now know I made the right decision with the sx10. Any bad reviews on this product can only be for three reasons.

they are canon haters, they dont know how to operate the camera, or they received a defective camera. This camera focuses spot on quickly in light or dark areas.The picture quality is close to dslr quality. The movie mode is as good as my sony digital handy cam.The camera feels great in your hands and there are so many options that it is a great camera for photo enthusiasts. It is also a great point and shoot camera if you dont want to get into all of the options. The purple fringing everybody talks about is absent on regular size prints. If you blow them up the pictures look beautiful, with vivid scrumptious quality. If you purchase this camera make sure you buy the 4000 leather case made by canon for it. they go well togeather. Like I said dont listen to the negative feed back. True it doesnt have raw, But I know it will be available on wiki soon for a download. Dont hesitate get it now Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoomyou wont be disappointed.

Canon Powershot SX10IS Digital Camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Quick delivery! I’m still learning how to navigate the menu options. It’s very different from from Kodak Easy Share, which seemed more user friendly. Love the video option.

best ever
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
if you want a camera thats not too big and not too small then get this one. it is the BEST ever! it takes out-of-this-world pictures and high quality videos. this camera can meet all of your photography needs. it even takes great pictures at night. it may be a little on the pricey side, but it is well worth it. trust me and just get it.

Great Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been using digital cameras for a while now, & I am impressed with this one. I am a “use to learn” type of person, so I am enjoying finding new options on my camera as I go. I occasionally review my manual if there is something I must know right away, but all in all I really am enjoying learning my way around this camera.

What a great camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
First let me say I am not any kind of photography expert. I have owned a 35mm Canon rebel and a Minolta SLR. The rebel took decent pictures but the Minolta was terrible. So needless to say I never really learned to use them. I was alway a Point and SHoot gal. This camera takes AMAZING pictures straight out of the box. THe large zoom really focuses well. I still haven’t taken the time to learn about all the features but so far I am loving this camera.

Powershot
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The first Powershot I got was DOA…Amazon was lightning quick about replacing it and the 2nd one was far better EXCEPT PLAN on replacing the batteries IMMEDIATELY! I am still learning the immense capabilities of this camera and love that I can take movies as well as still shots.

Canon SX10 IS Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Purchased this camera as a gift and checked it out first. The first camera had some defects and I returned it. Amazon was great in their response, had the replacement shipped before I could return the original unit. Second camera was terrific. Felt good to operate, and focusing and shutter release responses were great. Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Excellent product and terrific service from Amazon. Joseph G Shimandle

Love it – but purple fringe still there
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I adored my old Canon S2 IS so much that when it got dropped in the ocean there was really no question about replacing it with another Canon superzoom. I take a lot of wildlife pix, and the availability of a 560mm lens in a small, light, inexpensive package made the selection of my new SX10 IS pretty much a no-brainer.

The trick new features like evaluative color balance and the histogram-in-viewfinder are easy and intuitive to use, but it’s that incredible lens that really makes the package. It’s not perfect – any lens that’s so compact has to have some chromatic aberration: there’s purple fringing visible in high-contrast areas of the images. It all depends on how closely you look, and how picky you are. But it’s a fair trade, considering that the long lens allows me to capture images that I couldn’t even consider with the average DSLR. Not to mention that the size, weight, and cost of DSLR’s means that they stay home on most casual outings.

Go ahead and price a stabilized 500mm lens for your SLR, and after you recover from fainting, you’ll appreciate how much this little guy offers for the price. Amazingly, I paid exactly the same for my new SX10 IS that I did for my S2 IS several years ago.

Downsides: I miss the time-lapse feature, or “Intervalometer.” The package is heavier than my old S2 IS. And there’s that fringing visible in outdoor shots.

Upsides: 20X, low price, fast & intuitive controls, and zero shutter lag. It’s also nice to use SD cards and AA batteries.

Easy to learn in a pinch
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My 11-month-old Olympus died just before I was scheduled to leave for a three week visit to England. Olympus would not honor their warranty and I refused to pay nearly $200 to repair a $300-camera and ordered this one instead. Free shipping from Amazon got it to me the day before I left so I had no time to become familiar with it, something I was apprehensive about since I’d never owned a Canon but it was not difficult to use at all. I bought a 16GB memory card in London so I would had lots of space available to practice but found I really didn’t need it. I got some great shots and some very good videos of my friend’s birthday celebration with a minimum of deletions. (I also use it to take photos for newspaper articles I write.) Definitely not disappointed and I give this one a huge thumbs up for quality and ease of use and to Amazon for quick service.

a good cam
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
a good cam, don’t listen to the low light stuff, just learn how to use “M” mode. It’s a tool, and ya gotta learn how to use it, read the manual and take lots of test shots. Its big, but that makes it stable, and the view finder lets you use your head as a tripod. Vibrant color setting makes a difference, and IS set to shot makes a difference. Use the highest image quality setting, spend the [...] bucks and get a 8 meg card. Shoot with the lowest ISO you can get away with. I think my pics rival my brother’s D50 dslr in quality. The 20x zoom lets you play around and get some cool background/foreground in/out of focus shots. The stereo video is cool too. The wheel thing is fine once you get used to it, would have been better if it was like the sx110, which is also a good cam.

Perfect Camera! So glad I picked the Canon SX10IS!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Before purchasing the Canon SX10IS I did about three months of looking over reviews, going in stores to actually hold different cameras, and constantly changing my mind from Canon to Sony to Panasonic and back again. As you know there are plenty of diehard Canon and Sony lovers that have reviewed their particular purchase. I have not been brand loyal when it comes to digital cameras. I have had mostly Sony’s, a few Canon’s and some lower end Kodak’s. So when I finally made my decision to push that order button on the Canon SX10IS it was because I felt it was the best camera for me.

I was in a heated internal battle between the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 and the Canon PowerShot SX10IS. Both cameras have great ratings and reviews on Amazon and other electronic sites. One small thing to others was a big thing to me, the battery situation. I prefer to be able to use AA batteries over having to buy Sony batteries. Just for the ease of AA being handy no matter where I go. The other selling points for me were the flip LCD screen and the hot shoe feature for future use if I decide to get serious with my photos.

I have waited to post my review because I wanted to use the Canon a while before giving my final thoughts. I am by no means a top tier photo person and I do not know half of what my Canon will actually do (yet, still reading the manual as needed). However, I can honestly say the pictures are flat out beautiful that I have been taking. The 20X zoom is far more than enough for all my needs. The pictures I was taking so impressed the folks sitting next to me at a recent concert that they wrote down the model of the Canon so they could go home and order it from Amazon too! We were sitting in the middle of the arena and my shots of the singers are like I was in the third row. Not only are the pictures great because you can actually see who is on stage (unlike some of my previous camera’s photos due to low zoom capability), but they are also so crisp. A major concern of mine prior to buying my camera was that there are not too many reviews that talk about concert photos. I give an A+++ on this bad boy when it comes to concerts.

The Canon SX10IS is a tad heavier than the Sony DSC-H50, but after holding both I liked the little extra weight. When we are getting to this level of point and shoot cameras, I liked the feel of holding something with a little more substance to it.

I hope this review helps you make a decision. On a side note, the shipping from Amazon was wonderful. My camera arrived two days earlier than expected!

Amazing
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Canon Powershot SX10is is probably the nicest digital I could ever want to use. The pictures are clear and crisp. I love that you can take pictures WHILE taking videos and the features are OUTSTANDING. It is an easy to use digital with all the bells and whistles that one could hope for in its price range!Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Best Digital Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital camera is by far the best digital camera I’ve ever had… and I haven’t even touched the surface on all the things I could do with it. It’s easy to use and the zoom is unbelievable!

Highly recomended
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I think this is an Excellent camera y highly recomend it. I am no pro in picture taking and this camera makes me feel y am an excellent photographer. The definition is great. It has an awesome zoom. Easy to use. The cons i see is it is a little bit heavy and bulky compared to a pocket camera and the pick up flash is not automatic. It has excellent colours and a good dispay even though I would have liked a little bigger one as some of the competition cameras.

Keeps getting better & better
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve been a (more or less) serious photographer for almost 70 years, and an earlybird with practically every technological advance in photography since then. In other words, I’ve seen ‘em all.

Digital is the great revolution — nothing in the past comes close to that leap forward. I migrated to it 10 years ago, have owned a dozen or more cameras, and haven’t looked back since.

Disclaimer: I’m not a professional photographer. What photos I sell might cover my expenses plus a little (13″ x 19″ prints take lots of expensive ink). I don’t have to produce near-perfect work day in and day out in a studio or on assignments. Those who have the talent and energy to do this work should have whatever equipment fits their needs. They earn it.

I, on the other hand, am among the legions who have the luxury of picking and choosing when, where, and what to photograph. I can make as many errors as I do without damage except to my ego. I can play around with subject, setting, lighting, color, mood, and all those little things that differentiate photography from cellphone snapshots. I don’t pay penalties for my goofs.

I’ve had my Canon SX10IS for a only a few weeks, but I can conclude that its value for the money is simply incredible! Whatever nits I can pick (and there are a few) are more in the realm of digging through its scores of features and trying to decide which to use; not in the overall quality, which is simply outstanding.

That said, I have to object to what appears to be an ongoing undercurrent of disdain for anything-but-SLRs that keeps coming up in product reviews. Aside from larger CCD sensors, I can’t find anything significantly better in most SLRs than in the mid-range non-SLRs such as the SX-10. After decades of lugging several bodies and a half-dozen lenses around in multiple suitcase-sized bags, missing shots because it took so long to screw everything together, while paying many thousands of bucks for the inconvenience, I’m absolutely liberated from the SLR and hope I never have to use one again. The SX10’s incredible 20x wide-angle optical zoom eliminates any need I might have for multiple lenses — I’m not a telephoto zealot. The ease of use eclipses any extra features the SLR might have. The historic SLR advantage of an image seen through the taking lens has been made obsolete by the electronic viewfinder and LCD screen that see through the lens. All that’s left for the SLR is lens super-quality and interchangability, more light-gathering ability, and snob appeal. Most of us won’t improve our non-professional results much, if at all, with these technical advantages. (I can use Tiger Woods’ $10,000 golf clubs and not take a stroke off my score. But he can take my $750 set and shoot under par right out of the bag.)

There are mossbacks out there who cling to the notion that if it ain’t film, it ain’t photography; and that if it ain’t an SLR, it ain’t a camera. Nonsense. It ain’t the equipment, it’s what you do with it.

Oh, and by the way — the best camera is the one you have with you. For me, it’s my Canon SD-1100-IS that’s always in my pocket; my SX-10-IS is now the one that rides around with me in my car; while my SLRs and bags of lenses languish at home in the closet.

These are serious cameras for the rest of us. Bless you, Canon

GREAT CAMERA
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased the camera a few days before my trip to the Caribbean. I didn’t have much time to get the feel of it but took it anyway. It was quite user friendly and took out superb pictures. All my friends were amazed by the clarity and detail shown in the pics. I would recommend this camera to anyone who wants to snap some professonal style pics without having to purchase a $800 plus camera.

The product met my expectations
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera is very good. Zoom is very big for semi-professional cameras. The product met my expectations.

Excellent Buy
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Wonderful, amazing product. Superb results. You can’t go wrong with this one.I am no professional, but having used a canon digital box camera earlier, this is a big switch & makes you relize that you have been living a stone age life so far. The zoom is excellent. There are few places you won’t need to travel to view them, coz’ this powerful zoom will bring those things much closer to you. Even night results are great, although if shooting with subjects in front, you have to be cautious of the distance as too close or too far can make or break a great picture.

The only downside is the battery pack, which you need to change often. For example during our last vacation with a whole day road trip planned which included sight seeing, the batteries hardly lasted us for the whole day & if you are making movies, then it’ll eat it up even faster.

I would strongly suggest to carry extra batteries at all times.

If canon can replace this for a lithium battery pack, then that’ll make this unit flawless.

On the whole i’ll still give it 2 thumbs up & definitely suggest to others to buy.

I like it.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’d looked for a camera to amateurs, sporadic jobs, hobbies, etc. with some goodies and semi-professional works. When I saw this model, I thought that’s my camera. Now I try to know its capabilities, and let me tell you, its a lot. I’ll never imagined its versatility and functionality. I like so much, and even learn all about, because its necessary. If you are seemed as me, I recommend you this camera.

Great Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The camera has lots of functionality and is worth the price. It is a little on the heavy side but with the super zoom it’s worth it.

Excellent Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have experimented with the camera in multiple settings, each time it has performed wonderfully. As an amateur, I find the basic settings of the camera easy to use. I look forward to learning more about it. Highly recommended!!!

great camera, a little bulky
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This camera is easy to use even for an inexperienced photographer. It is a bit bulky, but has a great range from telephoto macro.

The best long zoom Point & Shoot?—–Probably is.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is our second Canon Powershot. The SX1 IS was terrific and after 25,000 saved images, the focusing gears were literally griding. (The time spent taking photos in a desert sandstorm may have contributed!) The SX10 IS is terrific because–it has low shutter lag time, excellent face recognition focusing, is solidly built and fits the hand well, 20X zoom, very effective image stabilization that allows frequent use of the long zoom in surprisingly low light, has 10 megapixel resolution and uses normal AAA batteries, We always use rechargables and get several hundred photos (without flash usage) between recharging. The swivel screen is a major aid in taking closeups of flowers, insects and small children. With 7 grandchildren and living in the beautiful Northwest, it rarely cools off!

As close to professional as you can get.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera to take photos of some collectible items for a magazine. The camera is simple enough to figure out straight out of the box, but has numerous features that make this camera great for most situations.

I don recommend that you read the book to get a better understanding of the uses and you will need to buy a stronger flash if you plan on taking photos that require the camera lighting from more than 20feet away.

Very impressive product
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Bought the SX10IS recently. Had done a lot of research prior to this decision as I was really conflicted whether to invest in a DSLR or a prosumer camera. In the end, given my usage, I think I made a very wise decision.

The range of this camera is fantastic. Like most canon products it is very technologically advanced and it did take some time to figure out options. It probably has more than I will ever use.

Got some good results in very low lighting and it was not as large or heavy as I expected it to be. The zoom lense is simply unbelievable but a tripod is required for really exploring the distance.

This is second camera and again a Canon. I had waited for Digital tech to reach a point where it becomes worth investing. This camera fit the price, quality and feature equation perfectly. In my view, its a better buy than an entry level DSLR.

Best in features and quality
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I upgraded from the S2 IS, an excellente camera.

To see an extensive and deep review of the superzoom cameras check this:

[...]

If you are looking for a digital camera with more zoom than 5X, the SX 10 IS is the one. You will have 20X, Video mode in just a button, snapshot while filming, zoom while filming. Picture quality is superb, a lot of modes, like Auto, you just point and shoot, Manual, you perform your own scenario, and a lot more. If you like to make close-ups, the Macro mode is unique, you can put the object at the lens 0cm, and works perfect.

If I had to change something, I would give the lens more aperture, it comes with 2.8-5.7, I would like 2.8-4.5.

Go for it.

Danny

Canon SX10IS Digital Camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Wow, what a piece of equipment! I am still getting used to all the settings on this camera! There is so much more capability than a point & shoot style digital camera I just graduated from. One thing I do not care for is the fact that this camera does not accept filters, I am a big fan of polarizers. But, as Canon has explained to me, you correct your exposures with the editing software included with this camera. I love the zoom range, the lens is perfect for all photo opportunities & situations. This is a great camera if you like to dabble with settings and exposures like you could with the old film SLR’s. And the price is way below the digital SLR’s. If you just want an easy camera that you can pick up & shoot, this may not be the one for you. It requires some thought about what setting you need to use. But if you are a discriminating photographer, there’s probably features that are not available on this camera. It’s a good middle of the road camera with SLR body styling.

Nice design, Two non-fatal flaws – depending…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I upgraded to this from a simpler Powershot A70 (if I recall the model correctly) that “fried” after 2500 photos on a study tour at desert archeological sites last year. I wasn’t ready for carrying and swapping multiple lenses and larger bags whether climbing through tight quarters in ancient temples or over slippery rocks and trails in rain forests. So the SX10IS was a logical move with the easy for a non-power-user interface, what was the most powerful zoom at the time for the price range, and 10MP. So far the photos have been pretty good, with only a few blurred. Colors appear clear and bright. Battery life appears to be pretty good. And I like the movie mode that runs as long as I have power or memory left. However, it has two flaws a new buyer should consider. The lesser is the very blurry optical viewer. It is only good for aiming the camera at an object and trusting the auto-focus to get the shot. It usually does a good job of focusing if given enough time for the autofocus to engage. The digital viewer works great though. The bigger issue is with the time it takes to refresh in between shots. If you need to take a series of shots within 3 seconds, forget it. Refresh rate is very slow. Use the movie mode instead. I am adjusting my tactics to get the images I want around these two flaws and overall I still like the camera. The pluses outweigh the minuses for my use. But be informed before making your decision.

A great bridge
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera because it is large enough to hold on to and has many features of SLR – without the price. So far I have loved using it. It has a few buttons (diaopter) that are a little hard to use because they are small. Over all it makes a great addition to the canon line which I have always loved.

All you expect a Canon to be
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am extreamly happy with this camera, it does everything I wanted it to do. Great zoom, and Great macro. Perfect for all types of photos.

Canon Powershot -powerpooped!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Camera failed after only 2 months of sparing use! ( I don’t think I took 20 pic’s ) Went to erase photos and keep getting “busy” signal. Would not erase. Then I took shots and camera said “no image”. I would not buy a Canon digital camera ever again nor would I recommend one.

Fantastic Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Let me start by saying that I’m basically a point and shoot kind of camera user, from time to time I get creative and do a little bit of macro photos and B&Ws but that’s it.

I upgraded from the S2 IS and I must say that I’m really happy with my new camera, it feels less clunky that the S2, the black body color is definitely nicer that the old silver and the bigger screen is a superb improvement.

The IS works pretty well and you will notice it the most at full zoom. Another really nice thing is the wide angle lens, no one is left outside the photo in confined spaces (like small rooms, or cramped restaurants) anymore.

I’ve been reluctant to buy a SLR because of the wider selection of lenses and the investment that it demands, with this camera so far I can cover all my needs and postpone the jump to a SLR even further.

Bottomline, if you want an all around camera with a super zoom and wide lens then this is the camera for you…

GOOD BUT A LITTLE SLOW TO USE THE TIME TO flash
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
EXELENTE CAMARA DE VERDAD DE MUY BUENA CALIDAD LAS IMAGENES QUE SE OPTIENEN LO UNICO QUE E NOTADO ES QUE SE PONE UN POCO LENTA AL MOMENTO DE USAR EL FLASH INCORPORADO PERO NO ES ALGO DE GRAN RELEVANCIA.

CON RESPECTO L TRATO DE AMAZON ES EXELENTE FUEON PUNTUALES EN SU ENTREGA Y EL PRODUCTO LLEGO EN OPTIMAS CONDICIONES.

DE VERDAD LOS RECOMIENDO..

good for the price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a very good camera for beginner photographers to learn all about cameras and their different settings , but you won’t get photos as good as a dslr camera like the canon rebel xs for example , but it has everything you need and the zoom range is awesome but if youre looking for something more of a professional type i suggest a dslr camera

digital camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I absolutely love the camera. It is easy to use and takes great pictures. Gives me the ability to zoom way in without having to change lenses.

Great camera, still not SLR but close
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a great camera for a point and shoot. The zoom lens is nice but still gets blurry at times. The camera is heavy and made of good quality. The dial is similar to SLR dials so it seems to be a good stepping stone to a SLR. However, the clarity is not quite as good. The nice factor is being able to carry around one camera with the lens attached instead of having to carry around multiple lens, etc. The red eye feature is one of the best I have ever seen. I was able to capture beautiful close up pictures of flowers with vibrant colors, as well as capture fireworks scenes, and sunsets. The features are nice. The camera is easy to use and learn. Seems like a good starting point before a SLR purchase.

Rec. camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The camera was easy to use from the start. More time is needed to use all the features to their fullest. The zoom range is excellent. It is easy to take to a variety of activities, especially for a camera with these features.

Good camera quality, disappointed with video!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I purchased the SX10IS because I really liked my S3IS but I wanted the 10MP so that I could print out large high quality prints of my wildlife pictures. I haven’t had a lot of time to test the camera out, but one thing that I have found that I really am disappointed with is the new video format. The old AVI format is much more compatible with my programs then the new MOV format. Also, the SX10 only offers two video qualities, both at 30 fps. The S3 offered 5 different video capture settings. I made full use of the video mode on my S3, so I was really upset to see the changes. The 20X optical is really nice, unless you need more zoom, because you are not able to attach a telephoto lens. I have a telephoto lens that attaches to my S3 which really gives me the extra zoom that I wanted (about 36X optical), however it needs a lot of light to produce good pictures and takes up a lot of room in my camera case. The SX10 does have threads that accept a 52mm UV filter or polarized filter, even though canon won’t admit it. It is bigger and heavier than the S3, but not enough to cause problems. Both the S3 and the SX10 auto modes are a let down in low light conditions, however for the amateur wildlife photographer the auto modes will allow you to quickly take good quality pictures without any adjustment from the user. In low light conditions a tripod and manual camera adjustment are a must to get good pictures.

Conclusion: For the $$$ it appears to be a good buy for 20X 10MP camera. I would have liked to see the same video settings as the S3, especially the lower resolution 60 fps option and the cameras auto focus doesn’t do as well at full zoom as expected. Maybe I should have waited for the SX1 to get down to a reasonable price, or just purchased the S5IS.

Canon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve only had this camera a short time, haven’t even had time to play with it beyond the basic functions, but already am thrilled with it. Still shots of birds on the far side of the back yard are amazingly clear and focused. The most amazing is the close-ups, both still and video. After taking many pictures of a flower spider, and cropping and enlarging some, I saw incredible details that I hadn’t noticed, even with my face 6 inches away from the real thing! The translucence of the skeleton, copper-colored markings, hairs on the legs… If a camera can get me this excited about a spider, it’s got to be good!

Awesome!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The only thing that I can say negatively about this camera is that the camera lens isn’t connected some way. I just know I will lose it. Other than that, it is fantastic. I recently took it to Aruba and the pictures are amazing. I have always been disappointed in the past cameras I have bought with the zoom. I took a close-up from my balcony of my husband in the pool. It was fantastic. There are some complicated features but with a little practice, they are easy to master.

Good !
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Overall okay.

Good things:

- Fully manual controls.

- 20x zoom (560mm).

- Macro!.

- Swivel Screen.

- DIGIC 4.

Bad things

- The large amount of noise even at low ISOs.

- The low brightness lens needs a lot light.

- Many chromatic aberrations.

Best Bang for the Buck
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom The Canon SX10 IS is just what I was waiting for in a Canon point and shoot camera. Pro’s are is the 10 megapixels and the long 20 X zoom. The price won’t rob your wallet either. The photos I have taken are great, sharp and clear. The con’s I have to mention is that it doesn’t accept filters but I believe a company is working on making something fit. I’ve read on line actually that some folks are using a 52 mm filter but Canon says it wasn’t made to be used with filters. Also the program to download photos to your computer are not as easy as my Canon S-2 or XTi but that is not a big deal. You will be impressed with the pictures it takes.

Best camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve had Canons for years. Most recently, the Rebel XT and the PowerShot 880IS. I have loved all of my Canon cameras, but this one is the best ever. The 20x optical zoom is spectacular. In shots I took of Big Sur over Christmas, the rocks on the beach are very visible and bright even at full zoom. The movie button rocks — it’s convenient, and it lets you take still shots while filming video.

Nice Image Quality, Image stabilization, Video quality ans amzing Zoom
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is my first ultrazoom camera.

I have used in Macy’s thanksgiving parade.

Pros :

-> Image Quality is good even in max zoom, Low light

-> Image Stabilization works fine taking pic in max optical zoom

-> Auto focus work fine.

-> If you have understanding of Shutter speed and Appeture, it gives nice manual Control, if you dont know – Auto mode will take care of everything.

-> I like flipping LCD, which helps me to take picture with raising my hands it helped me take pics in too crowded area where i was not able to see parade, taking my pic with flipping LCD at 180 degree.

-> Video Quality is realy nice, and I was surprised by very clear Sound Quality which it capture with two microphones infront of camera.

Cons:

Little bit bulky.But you have to pay prise for getting alle this above nice features.

Conclusion : Superb Camera with all Nice features..!

Excellent Camera & Easy to Use
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased the Powershot SX10IS a couple months ago and am thrilled

with it. I was a little nervous at first with all the bells and whistles

this camera provides, as I’ve been using a very basic/simple point and

shoot for a couple years now. Surprisingly, I got the hang of how to use

the camera very quickly. The dials and zoom features are all right where

you can easily reach with your thumb, so you don’t miss the shot you

want trying to get the settings set up.

My favorite feature by far is the 20x zoom lens. The zooming is simply

incredible. I had been used to close up photos looking a little fuzzy,

but not with the Powershot! You can take very detailed, up close photos

that come out sharp and in focus. The sharpness is amazing.

I am glad I splurged and bought this camera.

Canon Powershot full power
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this camera as a replacement and love it. It’s 2o x optical zoom takes you right into the action with little to no loss of picture quality.

Love it
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera does exactly what I wanted it to do.

I take a lot of pictures at car shows and cruise nights.

Cars are usually packed in tight or up close to a wall or fence

and with my old Canon I could never get the whole car in the shot,

but with this new Canon with the wider angle lens I get the shots I need,

I love it. Plus it is as easy to use as the old Canon.

Rich

Jack of all trades
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve only had the camera for a short time but I’ve been very impressed w/ it’s performance. From Macro shots of flowers to telephoto shots of the moon it’s done a really nice job. You sacrifice some image quality compared to a SLR but for the price it’s a great deal and a great way to capture quality images for a good price!

Awesome!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great camera! I was looking for a camera that was easy to use with easy to follow features. This was the perfect upgrade for me; not too fancy, and reasonable. This camera is exactly what I wanted.

My Favourite Camera ever
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I really love this camera. Used it for my year end trip in Dec 2008 and shot in various conditions.. Night/Rainy/Sunny as well as Cloudy condition. The results are just awesome.. specially the night shots.. though it is not very fast… but serves my needs.. zoom is excellent. I was able to take pictures of distant objects at full 20x without tripod… and pictures came really nice.. did n’t notice any blur…

one small thing I miss though.. the lens cover is not having any kind of tag to attach it to camera.. every time i take it out I need to put it in my pocket..

Absolutely worth the money!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this camera after a great deal of research. The camera (if you take the time to read the manual) is user friendly, and takes great pictures. I especially like the image stabilization, and the viewfinder outlining the faces for proper alignment. Though a bit heavier than some of the competition, the body is solid and I believe it will last.

Super Savery Bad Delivery by Amazon
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This review is a critique of Amazon’s change in the way it delivers items to the purchaser. I selected the super saver option and the item has historically arrived within 5 business days. Typically less. I ordered this item and it has been two weeks and it still has not arrived. Amazon needs to communicate changes to shipping policies and not let me find out by items not showing up in a timely manner. I will not order from Amazon if that is what is going on and I recoment that you purchase elsewhere.

LCD monitor scratches easily, paint wears off
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I used the Canon SX10is daily over a period of two months on a trip to Peru, and shot around 600 images during that time. I would call this “normal” use. The LCD monitor on my camera appears to have an anti-reflective coating which resists fingerprints. The coating on the LCD monitor on my camera wore through in less than two months of normal use, and it scratched easily. The paint on the “function set” button on the back of the camera also wore off in less than two months, which I considered an unacceptably short time. This is not covered by the Canon warranty, according to Canon customer service. I had expected better durability. If you buy this camera and intend to have it hanging around your neck and brushing against your shirt, be sure to buy a plastic screen protector to protect the screen, or else turn the vari-angle screen inwards anytime you’re not shooting. I don’t know what to say about the paint on the buttons wearing off, so I’ll just mention that it happened on mine and recommend that Canon use a more durable paint in the future. Otherwise the camera performed about as expected, although it went through AA batteries very quickly. If you buy this camera, also buy 8 rechargeable AA batteries and a rapid charger, and carry 4 spare batteries with you if you anticipate a full day of shooting.

Wonderful Camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
We purchased this camera to update our existing Canon S2IS just before our first trip to Israel. Overall, this camera was excellent and consistently took great pictures. I shot about 1,300 pictures, some under very challenging conistions. The menus and operation were somewhat similar to our old S2IS so there was very little learning curve.

Modes used: I shot most pictures using the “P” mode which allows some manual settings such as ISO, white balance, flash strength, and exposure adjustment. The remainder I shot in manual mode.

What I liked: The old S2IS often took a long time to lock focus. This camera focuses very quickly allowing me to get a lot of “just now” shots. The image stabilizer, like the one in the S2IS was phenominal. With still subjects, I could consistently get clean, well focused shots at 1/8 second, and I have a slight hand tremor. Sometimes I could get good shots at slower shutter speeds. This really helped indoors where flashes were not permitted, or the subjects were distant. It also helped a lot at night. Another huge feature is the range of the lens. It goes from slightly telephoto at 28mm to 560 mm (20X zoom). I was able to get shots of things I could hardly see with my naked eye. I was also able to get close ups at great distance. Many of my best shots were at high zoom. With dslr’s you often have to change lenses and these shots would have been missed. The manual settings were generally easy to use and really expanded the pictures we could shoot. Generally, I used shutter priority. I really liked the electronic viewfinder. It saves battery power and accurately shows how a shot will be exposed. It also has a diopter adjustment. The flip out and twist tilt screen was also a help with crowd shots. The flash was strong and can be enhanced. In addition, there is a “hot shoe” for an add on flash. I did not have an add on flash, but I can see how it would be useful in lower light conditions. I discovered there is a “mute” button on the top left that suppresses all noise. This is handy when you can’t be obtrusive. To turn sounds back on, you have to go into the menu. Battery life was also very good. I used rechargable nmh batteries that when fully charged would handle the almost 200 shots per day without indicating much use on the battery level indicator. Overall the camera provided well focused and well exposed shots in a variety of conditions, with plenty of adjustments and clever features.

What could be better: Occasionally the autofocus would be fooled in low light or with objects intervening between me and the subject. I would revert to the manual focus mode, but it was a little awkward to use. In shutter priority mode, you spin a wheel on the back of the camera to adjust shutter speed. The change in shutter speed did not respond predictably to my thumbing of the wheel. Not a major problem, but I noticed it. In cloudy lighting (much of our trip in December) some shots were a bit overexposed in “P” mode inducing me to use shutter priority. To be fair the shots would often consist of brighter sky, and darker buildings. The camera does have several exposure algorithms to choose, but I stayed with the default. And since this is a point and shoot, and not a dslr, shooting at higher ISO’s resulted in somewhat grainy pictures. The highest ISO I used was 800, sometimes at night and sometimes in caves so the “noise” was not all that relevant to the picture quality.

I gave the camera 4 stars because it was excellent, but not perfect.

Update June 17, 2009: I have happily used this camera for family and school events since my last review and I am very pleased. I also shot an Ultimate Frisbee tournament that my son participated in and was held indoors. With indoor lighting, I was not able to capture very many good shots, even when overiding shutter speed settings and shooting at 800 ISO. I ended up taking most of the pictures using a dSLR from my son’s school newspaper. There was a world of difference in quality. The better sensor of the dSLR was able to handle the lower light with no problem. I am still very pleased with the SX10IS, its fine overall picture quality, and many features, but recognize the limitations of its point and shoot sensor.

Almost
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is more than a point and shoot and less than a SLR. Moderate wide is most useful; super tele occasionally will find use. Close to ideal for general candid travel and family photos. Limited by sensitivity for low light and high motion shots. Controls more complex than necessary for 99% of people/shots, but nice for the other 1%. Excellent value for the dollar.

Canon has done it again!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had the S1 & S2. This is a worthy upgrade. I did not think they would be able to imrpve the 10X optical zoom on the S1 without stepping up into a SLR model…then they came out with the 12X optical(S2 & S3).

I also love the wide angle lens. I can take a picture of a group of people in a living room without stepping way back! As far as I am conerned this is the best camera you can get without going to SLR.

The only thing I am bummed about is the size. It still is the same size(roughly) as the S1,S2,S3. I guess you can’t have your cake and eat it too. How else can they pack a powerful lens in a small package. If you want a pocket point and shoot, this is not the one.

Fantastic camera for many situations
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is one of the most feature packed little cameras I’ve used. The first hint is the nearly 300 page manual. It really requires reading at least twice, with camera in hand, to get a grasp on which functions are ones you will use and which ones are of lesser interest for your style of shooting. From focus bracketing to overlap assisted panoramic mode to in camera image editing, the SX10 IS will amaze you with its capabilities. If you aren’t interested in spending some real time to learn what this camera can do for you, buy a simpler camera with a fully automated mode and save your money. This camera is geared toward the person that uses a camera frequently and can remember how to access its many helpful features. Of course, it has a fully auto mode if you want to hand it to a person to snap away for you, without having to know what every button does.

Next comes the most important reason for buying any camera – image quality. Again, this camera can hold its own. This is a very small sensor camera. There is not a camera on the market with this size sensor that is going to produce high ISO, low light images that amaze you with beautiful, highly enlarged images. You’ve got to step way up in size and money for that kind of shooting. Otherwise, the SX10 IS will really surprise you. I’m astounded by the great images I can get up to ISO 400. Even ISO 800 shots are more than acceptable in decent lighting situations.

Combined with a Canon 580EX II, you can get some fantastic flash photography. Admittedly, this is a huge flash for such a small camera, but I already had one so I use it. You don’t give up the best features of the flash with this camera. Many cheaper cameras won’t use many of the features of the high end flashes. Not so with this combination. Things like high speed sync that allow very short shutter speeds are supported.

And of course, there is the main reason most people will even consider a camera in this league, the ultra long focal range. Combined with the easy portability of this camera, the lens makes this a great camera for doing it all. You can really stretch out there with a 35mm equivalency of 560mm focal length. The camera’s IS feature allows you to hand hold the camera and still get good shots at this focal length in good lighting. The 28mm short end of the lens is quite good too.

As you can probably tell, after several weeks of using the SX10 IS, I am excited over this camera. To say it has replaced my Canon DSLR for casual shooting is an understatement. It has become my preferred camera in situations I never dreamed it would be used. If I don’t need extremely short depth of field or very high ISO, super low noise images, this is the camera I pick up. It comes as close to a “do everything” camera as I have found.

This Is A Really Good Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I got this camera from Amazon about a week ago. Aside from using a simple cheap point and shoot camera, I’m new to photography. I bought this camera because I wants something that took video and pictures. This camera takes very good pictures and very good video (NOT HD). I’m new and I am amazed at some of the shots I can get with this camera. I now look for shot as I drive and go out to take nature photos. I will say that you need to read the manual. Which I did right after getting the camera. There is a lot to learn with this camera. It can be as point and shoot or as manual as you want it. My dad liked my camera so much that he bought a camera based solely on messing around with mine. This is a very good camera. Check out some of the photos I uploaded for this camera. There are some aspects of the camera though that I can see that aren’t the best. The higher ISOs gets grainy, I wish it was a little faster, like to have a better flash, and I wish there was a better way to manually focus. The dial wheel that some people complain about isn’t that bad as far as I can say. I haven’t had that much of a problem using it. All in all this is a veery good camera.

Camera I Never Received !
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
On (March 18) I ordered a Canon Powershot SX10 camera from “Annattna” a Amazon sponsored vender. It is now (April 18) and I still NEVER received this item, I have sent 4 emails to Amazon and Annattna and never even got a response back. I had to cancel my order. Just a warning to all, DO NOT ORDER FROM ANNATTNA, you will never receive the item and you will have to jump through hoops the get your money back.

Disappointing
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I was a long time user of the Canon EOS SLR’s and I loved them. I say that only because readers should know I am an experienced photographer. I make this review after using this camera for about six months. I’ve had plenty of time to put it through its paces in various situations.

First let me say that I’m not comparing the SX10IS to an SLR but rather to my Panasonic DMC FZ20 with 12X zoom Lieca lens. The Panasonic is an excellent camera, by the way and I recommend it highly.

The Canon SX10IS camera has been a big disappointment. It was purchased mainly for wildlife photography. The 20X zoom works fine, but its bad points far outweigh the one good feature this camera has.

1. First the lens. The images are soft, not as sharp and crisp as the ones from the Panasonic. This could also be the auto focusing mechanism. Near, far, where ever the subjects are, the focus is soft.

2. Camera design is poor. Buttons cover every available surface of the camera’s body. My small hands just cannot hold the camera without pushing one of the numerous buttons that cover the camera’s surface.

3. I wish they had not attempted to cram every conceivable feature into this camera. More is not always better. The menu is a nightmare to navigate. No changing settings quickly to capture a bird in flight. Thankfully they left out the wash and spin dry feature but that is the only thing missing.

4. The optical viewfinder, which you need to use when shooting wildlife (especially if you are a former SLR user or if you wear glasses), is very poor. The view is fuzzy and the viewfinder is very small.

5. The camera body is cheaply made. Handle it very carefully. For example the door to the memory card is hinged with cheap material that will easily break with much opening or a slip of your fingers.

6. When holding the focus at 20X waiting for a subject to turn just the right way the camera makes a chugging sound and the image jumps. That can’t be good.

These are my main complaints about this camera. Some advice: Don’t just order this product online. Hold one in your hands, do some trial shots. Try to use it as you would in your everyday photography before you purchase it. Look at other camera models and compare before you buy.

All of that I waited
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have this wonderful camera only two weeks in my hand and I must to learn many of their functions, but until now the pictures and videos that it produces seems to me superb.

I’m very happy with this purchase and also I’m sure that with practice, the results will be better.

Nice camera……..
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Other than being just a bit heavy, this is one great camera… It takes a little time with the manual, but then you figure out a bunch of very cool things you can do, and the photos are wonderful. My wife uses it too, just points and shoots in the auto mode. I recommend it highly.

Canon Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
We purchased the Powershot SX101S from Amazon and not only is the camera fantastic, but the delivery was just as good. I would recommend this camera for an amateur or something with camera experience. The photos are great, small and convienent in size and the price was the middle of the road. Just Perfect!

Glad I Did!!!!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I get great photographs right out of the box with this camera. It has some things I would like to see to be easier to use, but if I read the manual carefully, I can get amazingly good photographs. What’s not to like? Product and service as advertised.

Great Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After lots of thinking (only because I still have/had a perfectly working digital camera, although already somewhat outdated) finally decided to buy this camera, and after the first minute all doubts were gone. Compared to my old camera (also a Canon), everything is so much improved that I should have bought it much earlier. For me, the perfect combination between a DSLR and a compact camera.

Great All-purpose Camera!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am very happy with this camera. I was looking to replace/upgrade my Canon SD600 and significantly increase the zooming capability without getting back into the SLR realm. My current photography requirements call for a flexible point & shoot camera, and I did not want the bulk of another SLR system. This camera fulfills my needs perfectly. Although it’s too large to fit in my pocket, the SLR-like capabilities it comes with make up for the larger form factor. Several friends who are new digital SLR owners were all impressed with the SX10’s zoom range.

I have shot almost 900 pictures in the four weeks I’ve had the SX10, but am still learning many of its controls and capabilities. I’ve discarded about 5% of the shot I’ve taken due mainly to poor exposure or focus, but have learned how to aim the focusing points and exposure metering properly to eliminate those problems.

My previous cameras were: Nikon FM2, Canon RebelG (35mm), Canon A70, Canon A75, and Canon SD600. The SX10 reminds me of the RebelG in terms of flexibility and ease of use.

I like Canon’s use of AA batteries and SDHC memory cards, both of which are inexpensive and readily available. I was able to get a pair of Sandisk 8gb Extreme II and 3 Sandisk 4gb Extreme III SDHC cards for under $25 each during Black Friday sales, which should be more than sufficient for any future trips I take.

I would strongly recommend this camera to anyone looking for a feature-packed point & shoot that is willing to sacrifice camera size for capability.

Great Product Great Camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This camera is great!! Love the optical zoom it is amazing. The only downfall is the batteries are not lithium so it takes 4 AA batteries which have to be changed often. Otherwise great product!!

Canon SX10 IS Digital Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this camera in Jan., 2009. Takes great outdoor photos (haven’t used very much indoors).

Upgraded from the Canon S3. I think the S3 takes better photos and is more user friendly for the every day, non-professional photographer.

I’ve had problems with blurry and grainy pics, especially if anything slightly moves. I feel as though this may be from a wrong setting.

I still love this camera! Have had for 8 months and still trying to learn the features.

I purchased the step-ring and UV filter to protect the lens, 2 sets of (4) AA rechargeable batteries. One set of batteries takes about 400-600 photos (without flash). I also purchased Bert’s photo cheat sheet and the Short Course in Canon Powershot SX10 IS Photography book.

I take a lot of cemetery headstone photos and it works great!

Still learning!

great camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The camera was recieved quickly and as ordered. I have used the camera on a number of occassions. The pictures are clear and the camera is easy to use.

All the features without the hassle
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera is what we were looking for. We wanted one camera with the versatility to capture everday life. This camera is great for taking pictures at a distance, like shots during the the school play or on the ball field. Without changing a lens you can zoom in on the detail shots, like a butterfly landing on a vibrant flower or fish under water. I was going to wait and pay more money for all the same features as the new PowerShot SX1 IS. I am glad i didn’t. This camera has been worth every dollar. Previously we had a sony cyber shot and this camera lacked in quality and capability when compared to this camera. No comparison! You actually feel like your holding a sturdy camera not a toy electronic device. I just wish it came with the power cable for down loads. You have to buy that seperate and Canon recomends using one for downloading.

A big raspberry….
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Not what I had hoped. I have yet to get a picture of the grandkids where some part of the picture is not blurry. I’ve tried every setting. I’m going back to my Fuji.

DIGIC 4 Image Processor has arrived
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
So many things in one relatively small camera, wow!

Let’s start with the lense. Very wide angle, careful to keep your foot out of the picture all the way to 20X zoom. Stood on the beach shooting an island a mile away and zoomed to people on the island beach not visible with the unaided eye without changing lenses. You are looking through the lense in this DSLR with diopter control if you wear glasses.

The DIGIC 4 is the computer chip that arranges pixels from the 10meg digital CCD. Even most triple priced DSLR cameras do not have this next generation digital chip yet. They have the DIGIC III (3). Want to change colors in the picture or black and white pictures with or without one color? It will take some time to learn all the composing powers this SX10IS has to offer because of the DIGIC 4 chip.

Needs 4 AAs instead of two like my other “pocket” cameras. That adds to the size and weight putting the SX10IS into a heavier catagory BUT way lighter than most DSLRs. Easy to hold with one hand. Four batteries means the right handed grip protrudes more with a nice little lip for your second finger to fit into to leaving your first finger on the picture button.

Several hundred pictures down the road with many armchair reviews in the 2 1/2″ LCD that pulls out and swivels no battery change yet. AAs are cheap and available everywhere. Won’t even bother with rechargeables because one set lasts so long the rechargeables will run down waiting to be used. Two and half inch LCD and not highly detailed but adequate. Zooming in while reviewing taken pictures nice. I suspect that DIGIC 4 is helping too.

SX10IS is not a pocket camera in size or weight. Last trip to Mexico took the 590IS which is pocket size along with this one but never used it. 20X and wide angle and other features were so nice to have. Generally I do not try to carry a camera ALL the time. Like to carry with one hand and wrist strap. Never around my neck.

Smallest quality bag that fits is the LowePro Apex 100AW roughly 3 1/2 x 4 1/2 by 6″. That is pretty darn small. Plenty of room for batteries. Too small for instruction book. Tossed the neck strap and cut the water proof bag off to gain storage. I carry bag with built in handle. Usually just carry the camera without the bag. Think I bought this from Amazon. Might also fit in shoulder bag where you carry other things.

Settings for special picture conditions like night, or action, or many many others extensive. “Auto” seems to come pretty close to compensating for most pictures. And you have all the manual choices too. If you shoot a lot of pictures in specific lighting conditions you can set ISO, shutter speed, etc then record that group of settings along with multiple others as custom choices easily selected again later. DIGIC 4 again?

Easy camera for no-brainer shots. If you are a technocrat that likes many composing elements here is a camera that offers choices you never imagined. Movies with sound and zoom, yes! Panorama 180 or 360 degrees………..or just pick it up and shoot.

I would suggest this camera is an excellent choice that fits above point and shoot and below much bigger much more expensive, change the lense, type cameras. Moms that just want a simple, small, light camera, might find SX10IS more than they wanted………..unless you want a close-up at the other end of the soccer field when your little hero kicks a field goal. It is just not an easy walk around, carry it all the time, type of camera. It is a super-power camera of picture choices that will look spectacular in you large digital picture frames.

P.S. Just noticed Consumer Report gave this camera a “78″ rating. Among all the other digital camera categories only one had a 78, Nikon D300 which is in the “advanced” section and costs $1600 before you buy lenses. No other camera of any type rated as high. Type of personal usage still determines which is best. Multiple photographing choices make up for being a little larger than a point and shoot for me.

I love this camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera is awesome. This was an early christmas present from my boyfriend. I took it to the Nebraska vs. Oklahoma football game. Our seats were in the North endzone and I was able to get a clear picture of midfield during the cointoss and of Coach Pellini. I was also able to get some pretty good action shots with the sports setting. That’s really the only thing I have used the camera for at this moment. If you are looking for a camera that takes really good sports photos or any photos, I would recommend this camera. Once I figure out how to post a couple of pics with this post, I’ll post some.

Great for the price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Pretty awesome camera for the price. Its really hard to find a good automatic camera with this many features. Definitely not the point and shoot regular camera. This is for people who want awesome quality.

Canon Powershot SX10 w/image Stabilizer
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Very happy with my purchase. Great pictures and when I learn about the technology other than AUTO, I should have some great photographic results. Easy to use and other than clunky, a great buy with all the features it has for the money.

Excellent camera at a budget price!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great Camera at a great price! It has very good feel to it although it’s a little bulky, has excellent picture quality, lots of features and excellent zoom capability (20X). I don’t think you can ask for anything more from a lower end digital SLR quality camera. However, to use all it’s features and capabilities do take time to go through the instruction manual.

Canon Powershot
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I think this camera is awesome, the only reason I didn’t give it a 5/5 is because you have to manually lift the flash to use it…other then that I am very happy.

Canon SX101S Digital Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love this camera. My photos are definitely sharper than what I got with my previous camera. Plus, I love the larger zoom. Its easier to get macros. Overall, I love this camera!

Great but get a back up lens cap!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I received this camera on Thursday and three days later I have already lost the lens cap, which had no tether. I ordered a compatible 52mm cap with tether [...]. Other than that it takes awesome photos! I was concerned about the weight, but that is not a problem and I feel my shots are more stable due to the weight. Lots of nice features at a great price.

Good Camera – Made my trip everlasting!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am by no means a photographer! I picked this camera for the 20x zoom and optical image stabilizer. I have a Konica-Minolta with a 12x zoom and no stabilier and knew I wanted more for this year’s vacation. It was my 25th anniversary/second honeymoon. A trip to Africa. We went on several safari’s and this camera gave me the ability to point and shoot without a great deal of fiddling around. Although grainy at full zoom (without a tripod) I still took over 2500 pictures and at least 1500 or more turned out beautifully.

The basics were easy to pick up and made the camera easy to use right away. Low light and night shots were pretty much a bust but I have to contribute at least part of that to my lack of general knowledge of trying to take pictures in those conditions. And, of course, being a man I must also admit to not reading the directions! If any readers have tips, I would be interested – THANKS IN ADVANCE!

End result, I didn’t miss a lion, giraffe, cheetah or elephant because of the camera. The bad shots were often my inability to hold the subject in frame at a high zoom level and of course, there were many moving targets! All in all, this camera allowed me to have pictures that I will cherish the rest of my life! Who knows, before the next big adventure I might even get someone to show me how to use it properly!!

Great camera!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
LOVE THIS CAMERA! I don’t use any of the manual functions, but I love all the other options that this camera offers!

Very nice camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
You should read the more in-depth reviews first, but I just wanted to add my voice and say that this is a really nice camera.

If you are on the cusp of getting an SLR but not quite sure you want to delve into it (as I was), this is a good choice.

I really like most aspects of it and don’t have any major complaints. Getting it to focus properly in the environments I used it in (I was photographing performers at music events) was pretty frustrating at times, but once I got to know it well enough it was better. The built-in flash is fairly useless for low light settings where the subject is more than a few feet away. Also a problem with the built-in flash if you plan on using it: if you have the Lens Hood attached, there will be a shadow along the bottom of your photos because the built-in flash does not project far enough over it.

I also got this for the video capability but was very annoyed by the sound recording. In loud environments, even on the lowest input-volume setting, it will record with lots of distortion. I didn’t understand this because friends of mine have older and lower-model PowerShots and in the same environments they could record without distortion. You’d think this would be possible on the better model, but apparently not.

Other than that, a very solid product all around.

Great Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera just in time for our Disney vacation and the camera was wonderful. It takes amazing pictures! Night shots, action shots, aquarium shots, fireworks shots you name it, it took it and did a great job. This camera has so many features I’ll never be able to use them all! I am very happy with my purchase.

Point & Shoot great pics
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this for my wife who was frustrated with the quality of pictures of our old point and shoot camera. She wanted something that could take good pics of the kids for her scrap booking projects. Of course I’m thinking SLR, but she needs something that is simple to use. After reading all the reviews, this camera undoubtedly takes top honors.

The 20X tele-zoom and auto focus makes portrait pictures of the kids easy and they turn out awesome.

After using the camera for 2 weeks, I’ve noticed the tunneling on some modes. I’m not sure if this is caused by the lens shade, but its no big deal if you crop your pics. Also, my thumb always seems to hit the selection dial on the back. Finally, the lens cover should be attached to a lanyard on the camera. I’ve misplaced it twice, but luckily found it. I’m certain the third time, I won’t be so lucky.

Great camera for big hands, great pictures, great price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My wife wanted a new camera so we did some shopping and she liked this one at Best Buy. She has large hands and now-a-days everything is made so small and compact. She was happy to find this one and we have had Canon’s before. Did some research and it got good reviews so went online and saved like $75 buying it from Amazon. We love it. Takes great pictures, is fast, startup time is a little slow but not bad.

Excellent Camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This camera makes taking good pictures very easy! The zoom feature is one of the best features.

Great Camera, but disappointed by image quality
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera after a series of other Canon p&s camera (PowerShot series). I was very happy with Canon for the past 5+ years using either the powershot IS or the ELPH series cameras. Lately, I had a need for extra zoom for taking shots of kids at school stages, etc., so I reviewed several ’super zoom’ cameras.

Pros:

o Zoom is great, although some reviews do not like that the camera shutter speed slows down as you zoom further out (at 20x, the fastest you get is 1/500)

o LCD vari-screen is quite helpful (as opposed to the fixed LCDs in P&S), specially when taking low shots of kids or birds, etc.

o I didn’t miss many of the automatic scene options I got used to in prev Canon cameras

o I like the ’super macro’ feature a lot. I took some close up shots of a basket of oranges – great professional focus on the near orange surface, with short depth of field, and blurred background!

Cons:

o In automode, I’m just not seeing the image sharpness in the ‘normal’ zoom range. The camera takes great shots of close-up pictures. Great details can be found when viewing on screen. But try something 5-10 feet, and the AF just doesn’t lock sharply. Same in face-detection mode, even as the face is framed well. I compared very similar shots from powershot and this camera. It just doesn’t look consistently sharp. Ocassionally I’d get one or two sharp ones, but then I’ve had to work quite hard to do that – several adjustments of aperture, speed, etc. like some very old SLR shots without any auto features.

o Images are very grainy, specially on the black colors even at low ISOs

o The highest resolution is 10M, then next down is 6M, which leaves a big gap on resolution. I’d prefer 10M, 9M, 8M, etc.

o The flash doesn’t ‘auto pop’ in any mode. I’d have preferred that in ‘auto’ mode that it pops up (like one old SLR I had), to retain the feel of a P&S when needed

o I’d prefer a rechargeable battery. I take many pictures, so what is better to carry around, a large box of batteries or a charger?

o The sport mode is disappointing! I put it in sport mode and took several pictures of birds, some of my fish in the aquarium – not a single sharp shot! Yes, I have steady hands

I’m somewhat happy with the features and superzoom and Canon’s reputation. But, I’m not able to decide whether to try another camera before returning this. Some symptoms indicate I may need to learn a few techniques, but I think at least the automode and scene modes should do as expected from sub $200 cameras! I’ve had it for a week and taken shots in many situations, and I’m thinking of returning it.

SX10IS has it all in an aim and shoot
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Cannin Oiwershot SX10IS can do everything a high end professional camera can do with the ease of aim and shoot. How easy can it get?

A Comparative Review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I own two other Canon cameras, A Digital Rebel Xt DSLR with two zoom lenses and a Power Shot A720 IS. The DSLR is used for serious photography and the A720 for informal family pictures and things like fishing. As I am getting older I am finding that the DSLR outfit is getting harder to carry so I was looking for a lighter outfit when I did not want to carry it. At first I thought that getting auxiliary lenses for the A720 would do the job but found it too bulky and inconvenient. Then Canon came out with the SX 10 IS. I got the first one my local dealer got in. It is far more versatile than the A720 but only slightly larger. It covers the complete focal length range I need for almost all picture taking needs. The quality of the pictures is slightly better than the already very good A720 at most ranges. At the extreme telephoto end it loses some as expected. Of course it is not as good as the DSLR but how can one expect a camera that sells for under 400 dollars to be as good as one that was over 1000 dollars? I was able to get close to the DSLR quality with a little help from my Photoshop Elements.

The camera is light for what it does and very convenient. I like the variable angle viewing for odd angle shots as close to the ground and the electronic viewfinder for bright situations. The electronic viewfinder is best for telephoto use as you can hold the camera steadier. The image stabilizer works all the way out to the 560mm equivalent but I recommend taking several pictures just in case. I like the fact that I don’t have to carry extension tubes for close ups. The camera has too many other useful features to mention here. I have used it for over a month now and feel I got more than my moneys worth.

What a RIP OFF! Camera has NO DATE/TIME STAMP feature or capability! DO NOT BUY!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I purchased this camera to upgrade from my Cannon A560 because I needed more zoom and battery capacity.

The camera features are very good BUT the SX10 is DOES NOT have the capability to put a DATE/TIME STAMP on the pictures.

I just got off the phone with Cannon Tech Support at 1-800-385-2155 and the Tech Support person assured me there is NO WAY to make this camera mark a date/time stamp on the pictures. Not only this but the Cannon SX1 is does not have date/time stamp capability either! I hope the tech support person was wrong but it appears not.

I cannot believe cannon would produce a camera in this class without date/time stamp capability! The Date/Time stamp is a very common if not universal and standard feature on nearly ALL digital cameras.

This is tantamount to manufacturing automobiles with no seatbelts or windshield wipers!!!!!

I was better off with my Cannon A560. Cannon used to make the best line of camera’s on the market in my opinion…….. apparently Cannon is taking notes from American manufacturers and throwing quality and common sense out the window.

A camera with NO DATE/TIME stamp feature that is selectible is of NO USE to me. I am EXTREMELY disappointed in this camera.

Pleased
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Like that it still has some of the same options that my S2 had, wish that download was the same but it is not that much different. Haven’t used it much, but am impressed with it so far. I would recommend it for an advanced amature.

Forget it for shooting action
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I own the S3 and really wanted the 20x zoom. I so wanted to love this camera and the features are nice and the zoom is awesome. BUT, I shoot 90% of my pics as action such as swim meets, cross country, triathlons etc. I was soooo disappointed in the lag in the camera. I took it to my son’s swim meet and couldn’t even get a shot off before he entered the water. My S3 I can get about 2-3 pictures between the start and him entering the water. I tried sports mode, manual with high ISO and nothing made a difference. So it is going back to the store I am afraid.

Excellent for wannabes (like me)!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Like:

Quick startup/setup

Lots of customization/tweaking

“Flippy” LCD screen

Incredible zoom feature

Option for flash attachment

Solid construction

Don’t Like:

No ability to use filters (yet)

USB access has an awkward plastic cover

AC adapter not included

Impossible to clean dust off the sensor

———————————————————————-

I was considering a DSLR for a while, but I wasn’t really planning for the full commitment that DSLRs require. I wanted the convenience of a point-and-shoot, but the abilities of a “pro camera.”

I’ve used a Canon Powershot before (I can’t think of the model), and I’ve grown accustomed to the ease of use and quality of the photos, so I picked up the SX10IS because it had the features I was used to, and the features that I wanted.

I am not disappointed. After taking some trips to the baseball stadium (Go Giants!) and a couple hiking trips, I’ve been able to take — from my perspective — some really incredible shots; ones that I couldn’t have otherwise done with the Powershot I used to use.

My only complaint regards some mild, dark spots in my photos, especially in my zoom photos. I’ve cleaned the lens as much as I could, with no results. After doing some research on the internet, it appears that the sensor may have dust on it. Since this is a “closed system,” I have no way of getting to the sensor to dust it. It’s a mild annoyance — I can clean it up with a computer — but enough of one for me to bring it up.

I’m very satisfied with this camera. Once I bought a bag for it, I intend to take it everywhere and learn all its features.

not a good choice
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I have had this camera for a couple of weeks. I wish I could sent it back. I don’t like the swingout LCD. It is always in the way. (even on a tripod.) And you can’t see through the viewfinder very well. AND it eats batteries faster than anything. I had a Nikon D40, and have a Kodak Easy Share 712 and NEITHER ate so much power. I am taking pictures for a wedding and I don’t want to change batteries every 75 or so pictures. (these are rechargable).

This camera has more settings than even the Nikon D40.

Just not happy with it. That swinging LCD is trouble.

Review of Canon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is an excellent camera in my opinion. I owned an earlier version digital Canon which I liked also but its servo motor gave up the ghost after 3 years so I was in need of a camera. The features I really like are the 20x optical zoom (improved from 12x) and the 10 MP quality (improved from 5MP) and face detection ! I’m impressed. I just hope the motor holds out !

All I can say is WOW!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was able to run this camera through it’s paces at my son’s lacrosse tournament this weekend. I mostly used the sports mode to capture action shots of the games, and what shots they were. At the full 20X optical zoom the photos were clear with no motion blurr, many photos with the ball or player in mid air. The focus tracking mode is an excellent feature as it allowed me to select a player, follow them and automatically keep the frame in focus until I got the shot I was waiting for. I took 235 action photos and not one was out of focus.

I used a Fujica AX-3 35mm outfit for years but did not want the hastle of carrying around numerous lenses etc… This camera allows me to play in manual mode, and my wife to snap away in auto and both receive great results. My sunpack flash even works on the hot shoe if I need some extra umph in low light.

Canon Powershot SX 10IS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I got this camera for my wife for her birthday. She is always wanting to photograph things that are just too far away for her point and shoot camera. Our first adventure with the new camera was a whale watching tour in the San Juan Islands. I shot my 20D with Canon’s 100-400 IS and she used her new Powershot SX10IS. The images she got were great and perfect for travel snaps, but not of the same quality put out by the 20D outfit. The versatility of the Powershot’s wide angle to telephoto had me borrowing it once in a while then the shot called for a wider perspective and my other lenses were back in the car. All in all a great camera for someone that doesn’t want to pack around a big SLR but wants a long telephoto to record the moment. The SX 10IS will not replace a SLR with good lenses.

All controls are easy to find and use. Very little learning required. The movable video screen makes it easy to shoot and view photos. I found the eye piece video hard to use with glasses so never used it. It was like sitting too close to a TV screen, everything was fuzzy. The camera is perfect for smaller hands yet works well for those with bigger mitts as well. The lens comes with a shade but be careful that you don’t knock it out of position or it will show up in your wide angle shots. Threads are a little light and it does seem to move too easy. I’m tempted to glue it in place. So far we haven’t used to video record feature so I won’t comment on that. Didn’t buy it for doing video. Get a rechargeable battery kit if you buy this camera. Would like to have seen a better battery package like those used in other Canon cameras.

a lot of fun and quality
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m not an expert in photography and yet I’m impressed with my pics. Very good quality and still a lot cheaper than the SLR cameras.

Great camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had this camera for only 1 week and still trying to learn about it, but what I have done so far with it, I love! It’s my 4th digital camera in about 17 years, the last 3 were sony’s. I decided to try a different brand this time and was sold on the features and reliability of this particular canon model. The only little thing I don’t like is that the lens cap is not attached as is with the sony’s. I am experimenting with macro photography and this does a great job!

Horrible image quality, don’t buy!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This camera produces images with TOO MUCH NOISE!

Here is what you can expect from this camera:

[...]

The noise is abysmal!

Here is what an OLD Canon A620 7.1M camera produced:

[...]

Much better, from a 4 years old camera!

Don’t buy SX10IS!

If you can’t afford a true DSLR…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This class of camera came about in order to satisfy the dreams of those who would have a digital SLR… IF they could afford it and the lenses they’d like.

The image quality of the Canon SX10IS is pretty good but you always give up some image quality to gain such a large zoom range so there is a small bit of chromatic aberration, purple fringing, in the extreme zoom ranges.

The one thing that I do miss is a remote shutter release, I like to do night photography. The 2 second self-timer setting helps a bit to overcome this oversight. Also the operating temperature range is a bit limited, 32 degrees F. Anyone who likes to take winter photos may have to keep the camera under cover, against their bodies when not shooting. I haven’t tried it in below freezing temperatures yet so I don’t know the practical limitations as yet.

If even this price range is too much I’d strongly suggest the Fujifilm Finepix S1000fd at less then half the price. It has most of the features though less zoom and no external flash hotshoe. I bought the Fuji as an early Christmas present for my girlfriend and she’s quite enjoying it.

March 9, 2009 UPDATE:

This has been a very good “consumer” camera but there are two things that bug me about it so far.

The first is that the Command Dial (I think that’s what they call it) is not very responsive at all. You’ll see other people complain about it as well. If you are using the dial to make exposure adjustments or if you are selecting “Scene” settings then jerk the dial in 1/4 turn increments. Simply using a smooth dialing motion won’t work. Secondly, it really sucks for manually focusing! It is really hard to manually focus this camera. *so sad*

Secondly… because this is a consumer level camera the CCD sensor, the chip that senses the light in place of film, is a smaller sensor then pro or semi-pro cameras. This has the very sad side effect of creating “digital noise”. This is the equivalent of higher ASA/ISO film having more grain and in some ways is to be expected BUT if you can afford one of the higher priced DSLR cameras then I’d go for that as the larger sensors have less digital noise.

If you want to get a little better image out of this smaller sensor try using the “dust and scratch” removal settings in your photo editing software. Try a 2 pixel setting first.

Overall it is still a great camera. If you move up to a DSLR later then keep it as a backup.

Sharp Pictures
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was tired of getting soft edges on the details in my pictures, so I bought this camera.

I am more than pleased with the pictures I get. It’s easy for a camera dummy like me to use.

The camera is bulky; it’s too big for a pocket, but it comes with a neck strap. It fits in the glove compartment.

I am not a good photographer, but now I can take good pictures. I like that very much!

Good Camera , but has excessive nosie even in good lighting
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Pros.

Excellent zoom

Decent Low light performance

Cons.

Noise in pictures

You may need an external flash

I bought this camera to replace my 6+ year old canon S50.

I was expecting the out door 10MP picture would have been noise free. Unfortunately the AUTO mode picture created significant noise.

Surprisingly My old S50 5MP picture has less noise than the new SX10.

Other than that this camera is excellent

Update: 5/6/09

Had some research why this camera has more noise that my S50.

The pixel density SX10(35MP/CM2) vs S50 (13MP/CM2) – Means the sensor in SX10 is packed tightly than in S50

can’t use without memory card
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I can’t evaluate the product. I would expect that a memory card would be included in the pkg. The main reason for buying on line is not to have to hunt from store to store. However, the camera came without a memory card which means I still have to either wait for another order specific for memory card or go to a store. Since I am unable to drive, this is a difficult situation for me. Once I am able to get the memory card and can begin to use the camera, I would be happy to do a new evaluation.

Great Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I traded up from the S3 IS to this one because of the 20x zoom. Love it. The only thing I dislike is how the zoom works. There are two levels and you must select between the two in the menu area instead of it being automatic when you press the zoom button. But, othewise it is the same GREAT CANON Camera.

Not impressed with the image stabilization
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I am not impressed with the image stabilization on this camera. I had better results with my Canon A520 without image stabilization!. Alot of expense and hoopla for a camera that just doesn’t come close my expectations or what they say the camera will produce.

Try something else. Save your money!

avoid Powershot cameras
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought the Powershot S2 Is

S on amazon just over a year ago.. worked fine till just out of warranty, then all the pictures began to come our overexposed. I sent it into Canon and they want 157 dollars to repair it or replace with a refurbished model. It cost 259 new! I wrote them and told them that I expected a lightly used expensive digital camera to work more than one year, but no dice. I’ll never buy another Canon. Beware!

Great camera – a whole new level for me
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve been using the PowerShot A710IS for more than a year now and come to love this package for the workhorse service it has unfailingly provided. When I read about the SX10IS, I jumped at the chance to upgrade at an incredibly affordable price. I didn’t look around too much — I’m brand faithful and would go Canon anytime.

There are so many detailed reviews here that I would never hope to match them. As an “avid amateur” though, and after using the camera for about three weeks, I have only praise for it.

I’ve shot hundreds of pictures, indoors and outdoors. I experimented with shooting video. The results were always more than five-star in my book. The camera feels “positive” and “points naturally.” Yes, it is on the heavier side, but the strap does a good job of helping you carry it with no problems. Minor complaints are the absence of thread to allow using filters and the annoying little plasticky cover of the USB hookup. However, the filter problem should be solved soon: check out this site [...] And don’t underestimate the GREAT practicality of the SX10IS running on 4 AA batteries — no proprietary rechargeable, AC adapters, and all such to lug around. Just buy batteries at the drugstore or, better, get a couple of sets of AA rechargeables with your own little charger and you’re on, no sweat and tears.

This is a super package at an unbeatable price. And it carries Canon quality. Statistically, you can’t go wrong.

great picture quality, slow frames per second feature
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a great camera for taking high quality, better than your pocket digital camera pictures. Good value. My only complaint is that the frames per second feature is slow. I have kids in sports and would like to be able to shoot images more quickly.

ZOOM ZOOM BABY!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It is awesome!!! All I can say is zoom zoom baby. You can get any picture anywhere no matter how far. It is amazing. The zoom works really well and with the stability thing I think the pictures come out great for its class. This is no DSLR don’t think it is. But for its class this is worth it.

You also can get amazing close up group shots with the 28mm wide angle built in. All I can say is I will never ever buy a camera without that wide angle again. It is perfect.

It is a bit bulky but worth it for the crispy zoomed pictures you get. And you get use to the bulk and the grip and I have small hands so no problem. It is probably bigger than you are use to, this is not ELPH. But with the 20x…

It runs on double AA’s but if you get some nice rechargeable they should last you long while. I was on a recent trip in Peru and used some sanyo batteries and they lasted for 3 days of continuous picture taking.

the one annoying thing is no lens cap tether! but you can buy one for a buck and do that yourself.

one of the best things is the flip out LCD it helps you take really hard to angle shots.

I found the wheel a little annoying and I had to use the book a lot when I was trying to figure other controls in the beginning, but if you want to just up and go with the camera you use the auto functions and get great pictures.

So picture takers who want ZOOM take this camera and go!!!!!

Buy your own memory card!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love my new camera for all the same reasons other reviewers have mentioned. My one squabble is that it does not come with a memory card!! I was shocked! (Probably should’ve read the “what’s in the box” print more closely.) I simply assumed that for the price I’d also get at least a small card. I feel a bit nickled and dimed. So learn from my mistake…. buy a card along with your camera so you really can use it right out of the box. Oh, yes, get some rechargeable NiMH batteries, too. You’ll go broke buying alkalines. All things said, I still love my camera and would buy it again in a heartbeat.

Bryan Odie
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I got this camera for Christmas last year, so I have a year of experiences and thoughts to share… nonetheless, I’ll try to make it worth your time!

First off, I recently read another post that said “All choices of cameras and lenses are compromises, involving size, ease of use, cost, weight, lens quality, and more,” and I need to say I couldn’t agree more. If you’re looking for DSLR quality images (due to the larger sensor size) or super-fast burst rate for shooting sports, or even great low-light performance, this camera will provide you with basic functionality but leave you always looking up-market (and wishing you had the cash to satisfy your desire!). Alternatively, if you’re looking for a great little camera that takes terrific shots and which you will always have with you because it’s easy to carry around and fits in your back pocket, this camera will have you gazing admiringly at the never-ending onslaught of point-and-shoot ads coming your way. So, you need to recognize that whichever camera you buy, you’re making a compromise, because camera manufacturers have not yet figured out how to make a DSLR-quality camera that slips easily into your pocket or purse.

Why choose the SX10IS then? I’d say start with this premise: great photos are more a function of the photographer (and his/her use of composition, use of light, and editing software!) than the technology at his disposal. I’ve taken some great – really interesting – shots with my iPhone because the opportunities presented themselves and that was the only camera I had available. But having taken those shots and been encouraged by them, I wanted to explore what I might be able to do with a more powerful camera at my disposal. The SX10IS has been that camera.

As a novice, the most amazing features of the camera will be the 20X zoom and the image stabilization. I’ve taken photos of my wife and son at least 100 yards away at the top of a sled run, on full zoom, where their faces came out clear as a bell. I’m told this used to be absolutely unheard of without a tripod. Similarly, I’ve taken some beautiful panoramic pacific ocean sunsets and then zoomed in from a mile away on a fishing boat where I can see the fisherman working on pulling up his net in profile – all while sitting in the exact same spot! Absolutley amazing stuff… never discount the power of image stabilization for improving your pictures, especially if you’ve suffered from blurred photos in the past, as I have.

Some other thoughts: this camera has just about all of the manual settings you’ll get on a DSLR, so if you want the opportunity to grow and learn, this will allow you to do so, at a fraction of the cost. Also, the pre-set “scene” modes should not be overlooked. I was trying to take pictures of my son’s soccer games on Auto mode and not real happy with them, when I remembered the “Sports” mode on the dial. I switched the dial, and suddently I was able to catch the action with the players in mid-stride and the ball frozen mid-air, just like the pros (well, not “just like” but pretty good, given I didn’t have the super-fast burst mode they do).

I will say that the user manual is a pain to follow, which has slowed my progress in learning the manual features.

All in all, I have to give this camera two thumbs up: it met my needs for cost (got it for only $325, with free shipping and no sales tax!), while feeding my desire to learn more and improve my photographic skills. Do I still wish I could get Canon 40D-type quality and specs in the body of a Canon S90? The answer is a definitive Yes (the Canon G11 might be the another great compromise, like the SX10), but short of carrying around multiple cameras, the SX10 is definitely a camera that can be recommended.

Happy shopping and happy shooting!

Amazon’s Canon SX10
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Amazon needs to lower the price of this camera. Best Buy and Walmart have you beat. Their price is 20 to 30 dollars less than Amazon’s price, and you don’t have to pay shipping. And I am a regular Amazon shopper. Wake up amazon.

Perfect hand full
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera represented an upgrade from my old Canon S3 IS and, boy, am I pleased. Image sharpness is very important to me and the SX10 delivers. The faster shutter response and quick focus is wonderful. Low light level conditions result in far less noise and I find I’m using my flash less as a result. The camera fits my hand better than the old S3 but both were/are a bit slicker than I like. And yes, the lens cap sucks; it’s hard to remove quickly and I’ve already lost it once. Ah, but the camera itself is great!

Almost professional grade
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Firstly, I’m not a professional photographer by any means. However I do know several people who are, and having run it through their tests and mine, can say that this camera is great for the price point. I say almost professional because you won’t be getting photos in National Geographic with it (unless you’re really good). For a wedding photographer, “lesser journalist”, or professional “Ebay-er” it meets and exceeds what one requires. It’s also just fun to play with. Alright let’s talk features. The 20X optical zoom does not disappoint, with sharp focus corner to corner. Add in an additional 60x digital zoom for a whopping 80x that allows for stunning close-ups with suprisingly low distortion/color noise. With the very aggressive tremor reduction it’s possible to get clear pictures of the moon without a tripod! The ability to lock the focus by holding the shutter button halfway is another standout feature for un-cooperative subjects. Additionally the burst shooting mode works well, with low lag. It can get some immpressive action shots when combined with the 3200 ISO high shutter speed mode. Let’s not forget the plethora of packed in modes and tools. Photos can be resized, cropped, and colors tweaked directly from the camera without navigating 15 menus. The latter color editing is merely choosing from optimized presets, but works well enough for a pack in. Shooting modes range from fireworks to aquarium, are readily accessed by spinning a dial and are genuinely useful. Some of the more artistic and interesting ones are the color swap/color accent which swaps a color you pick from whatever’s in the viewfinder, and the more striking color accent which renders the whole image slightly greyscale except for a user selected color. It looks really cool when used to highlight trees/plants/flowers. Speaking of the viewfinder, it sports a mini LCD with crisp image and bright backlight. The main LCD is equally clear, if sometimes too bright to accurately judge whether you got the colors/lighting you wanted. My advice, use the big LCD to show off your pics or as a reference. When in doubt check the viewfinder and trust it over the exterior screen (lower res. but better contrast, besides real photographers use the viewfinder!). The external LCD has a neat feature of rotating the image as you rotate the camera to keep it upright. If you take a pic sideways the camera will automatically straighten it out while preserving the taller aspect ratio, a nice time saver. I could keep going for pages but these are just a few of the things that really sold me on it. To cover a few gripes for good measure, the manual is HUGE and some kind of awful confusing. Best bet is to skim it to find out what buttons do what and then put it away and experiment(You were gonna do that anyway right?). The included software is clunky and boring, but you probably knew that. The flash works well enough, but to Canon’s credit it features a hotshoe for remote flash which I recommend. The battery life is not terribly immpressive either, typically a fresh set seems to last 4-6 hours. Closer to 6 if you judiciously hide the big LCD. If you like to show off your work, get a battery pack and recharger and prepare to use it ALOT (That goes double if you use the flash often). All taken into account this camera is literally THE BEST you will find without taking the plunge into $700+ professional territory. A great investment, or a fun toy if you have disposable income.

great camera!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It arrived in good conditions. The camera is exellent! I still have to study all the functions it has.

Canon SX 10 IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is an outstanding camera, replaces my Canon S2. Takes great shots & the video is also very good quality

Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera takes awesome pictures but has many features to remember. Not a point and shoot camera. You will need to get farmiliar with the product before you are taking “Pro” shots.

adequate
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera 2 months ago, I had another point and shoot Canon, powershot sd 1000, which I still like, but I was interested by the powerful zoom.

Overall, the camera is a bit of a disappointment, and I think I take better pictures with better contrast with the sd 1000, especially in low light situations.

you really need a tripod with the zoom at maximum power or with low light, or most of your pictures will be blurred, I should have spent a little more and bought a digital slr, but I will keep this camera, it is versatile enough, has a lot of features and is easier to carry around than a SLR with its different lenses.

Thumbs up after 1000+ shots
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just got back from a weeklong vacation, with over 1000 photos on this camera (having just gotten the camera a few days before the vacation). I would not say that any of the bad photos were because of the camera. Quite the opposite, I think it rescued some that would not have been very good on my older camera.

The clarity and color on the photos is very, very good. In all kinds of lighting, from bright sunlight to normally lit rooms. Indoors I used the full manual mode a lot, with ISO 800 and 1600. I haven’t tried printing anything, but on a 1920×1600 screen things look great.

I also took about 12 minutes of video of my son’s middle school orchestra, needing to shoot at ISO 1600. The sound quality was more than adequate from the rear of the auditorium. Definitely good enough to show the relatives.

Overall, the camera has a lot of strong points – LCD is bright and the swivel helps get a lot of shots that would be impossible otherwise. Previewing manual mode shots is very good. The zoom is very quiet, and with all the sound muted (I’m not into having my camera make cute little noises) the camera is silent. Manual mode is easy to control with the scroll wheel. Super macro mode is great for flowers, etc.

Cons – the lens cap has no tether. The lens hood will obscure the corners of wide angle shots. It’s going to put a strain on my storage space, going from 1MB photos to 4MB photos (not really a con, but worth realizing). I’m not fully comfortable with the manual focus mode yet.

I had dithered a lot about whether to get this camera or a low-end DSLR. In the end, the lower price and the convenience of not having to mess with changing lenses won out. After seeing the first photos, I’m happy I went with this camera.

Terrific Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Although the flash did not work on the camera, I did return it and exchanged it for another – no problem! The camera has met and exceeded my expectations! On of my primary drivers in choosing this camera was the 20X zoom – it is absolutely wonderful. The photos are crisp and the settings are many – haven’t explored them all yet. The camera is somewhat heavier than I’m used to so I do have to steady my hand in taking shots. I would highly recommend it to others, especially those interested in the zoom feature.

Very pleased with this purchase
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am happy with my new camera and it takes very good pictures. I recommend it to anyone that wants something more than a shirt pocket camera and less than a SLR camera. Only 2 small criticisms, I wish it had a lens cap attached on a tether and threads on the lens so I could add filters.

Sticking with the S5… the SX10 Deal Killer
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Greetings everyone!

I waited so long to buy my canon s5 just waiting for the sx10…just in case I wanted to get the most recent model. So I wanted to love the sx10. I mean what would there be not to love with a 20x zoom.

Well alot and I am really disheartened after testing it out and I will be sending it back to amazon as soon as I receive one of the last s5’s sold by costco. I bought mine last night and today they had taken them down from their site. So I got lucky.

So I was willing to compromise on alot to keep the sx10 because I really do appreciate huge zooms especially one with a nice wide angle.

I was willing to live with the mov format over the avi because when I viewed it from my laptop the quality is not too much different than the avi though a little more complex to process for some people.

I was willing to live with the bulkier lens yet for incognito purposes like concerts the s5 without lens adapter can pass for a point in shoot while the sx10 really looks like a dslr almost the size of my Nikon d40.

Now since I have a dslr you might ask why I wanted the s5 when clearly the images can’t come close to the d40. Well, I really love the articulating screen for when I’m doing blogging or making some kind of how to video for youtube where I can watch what I’m filming while I’m basically filming myself.

I mostly want to keep the s5 for the video capabilities because it’s very good in low light even in an aquarium setting. Which brings me to the deal killer of the sx10 it is just terrible in low to medium lighting when using the zoom.

I was outside in fairly good light filming my airedale playing soccer and the lcd grew dark when I zoomed in. At first I thought, oh defective camera until I realized it was just the change in fstop.

If canon had been able to keep the same f stop range as the s5, I would have tolerated everything else for the nice wide angle and telephoto zoom which I do love and for the ability to use a higher iso with less noise. But high iso cannot compensate for it’s poor performance in anything but strong sun lighting. But with the change in control dial which is tedious and the inability to add filters and the terrible low light performance…I’m forced to pass on this upgrade.

I did discover in my testing if you put a 55mm polarizing filter over the lens it will stay put and if you carefully twist the polarizing ring you can can take pictures with it but you have to be very mindful and this would probably prove tedious in a real world photo session. And I for one really love using a polarizer.

So those are my frustrations and I am disillusioned after having such high hopes for this camera.

So what I’m left grateful of is that I have the s5 to fall back on for when I want to use an articulating screen for picture taking and a really high quality, low light ability of the video.

Warmly,

Laurie

Good camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is an all-around good camera. The one complaint I can think of is that when photographing birds in a blind near my feeder, I have trouble focusing on a little bird. I have to use manual focus, which necessitates knowing the lens to subject distance. I can get around this, but it takes a little doing. I am very pleased with the picture quality.

Canon Powershot SX10 IS Digital Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This difficult to find camera is the perfect digital high-end camera for both a beginner and camera professional. It is a point-and-shoot for the beginner but allows the user to learn by overriding any automatic function and practicing till the desired pictures can be captured. I do not yet have an external flash, but the built-in flash works well. The camera has a built-in viewfinder; however the digital mini-screen on this camera is unique and more usable than on other cameras I looked at. The unique swivel feature allows for use at any angle to capture the expected picture. I am still learning about the features of this camera including the excellent zoom capability but I am extremely please with the relatively compact size and features the camera possesses.

Weak replacement for the S1IS
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
My S1IS went back to the factory for a faulty image sensor on a recall a couple of years ago. A few months later, the lens retraction mechanism got stuck. Despire thousands of complaints about this problem, Canon never recalled the camera. After hours of trying to fix it myself (or pay 90% of the value of the camera for a repair?), I trashed it. Hesitated to try Canon again, but bought the SX10IS anyway.

It was a mistake. Image quality in Auto mode pales compared to the S1IS. Low light? Forget it. Without a flash, you get unacceptable grain in even decent light levels. I wanna cry when I look at my old S1 images compared to the 10. The S1 was an incredible camera. You would never know it was only 3.2MP by looking at images it produced.

The SX10IS is bulky and heavy for the feature set. The LCD is bigger, which is nice, but that’s not a good tradeoff for the weight. The USB port sits behind a plastic door that does not open all the way, making it awkward to connect a cable. Menu settings are inconveniently organized, making it difficult and time-consuming to try to adjust settings to compensate for the inadequate Auto mode.

It’s beyond me why Canon still has not provided a lens cap with a string to keep the thing attached when you’re shooting. Worse, the clip on the cap is poorly designed – it doesn’t stay on.

I have all sorts of Canon products in my home and office – scanners, printers, old SLR’s (my 1984 A-1 is still my favorite camera – a work horse). I have always recommended Canon products. That’s why I gave Canon the benefit of the doubt and replaced the S1 with the 10. Big mistake.

When a $400 digital camera won’t take a really good, quick snapshot on Auto under good light conditions, the camera design is poor. I gave this camera more than one star because it’s got some redeeming qualities, including a nice face-focus, but it’s not worth half the price I paid. Too bad. It has dimmed my opinion of Canon dramatically.

In closing, I’ll add that I’m not a pro, but I’m more than a novice. I read the manual cover to cover to find settings that helped the image quality of my photos. The results still don’t come close to my old S1. I can’t recommend this camera. Wish I had time to go research a good replacement…

Very pleased with this camera – outstanding in every way!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My dad has resisted updating his digital camera for several years. I finally convinced him this year and this was the camera I chose for his Christmas gift.

It is simply outstanding. The camera is full featured and offers all of the controls that the DSLR’s have when it comes to aperture and shutter speed settings and manual controls. But the real test is how it shoots in full auto, because that is when the camera has to make critical decisions.

This camera succeeds wildly. We were at a Christmas party and I had my Canon 30D DSLR in full manual mode with a 550EXII flash mounted and my dad had his new Canon Powershot SX10IS. When we got home we compared pictures and he fared very well against my shots.

The flash is surprisingly strong, but doesn’t wash out close shots. It can light up a big room from far away. The focus is good and fast. The colors are OUTSTANDING and the 20x zoom and 28mm wide angle are features that offer the best of both worlds when it comes to handling a variety of situations.

On top of that, the Image Stabilization works very well and makes the 20x zoom usable.

Plus, my dad has now retired his old video camera as well since you can get image stabilized, 20x zoomable, 640×480 stereo video at the press of a button. This camera is really the best featured and easy to use camera out there and at a price that is unbeatable. Add an inexpensive 8Gb memory card and a set of four rechargable AA batteries and you are in at under $400 for everything you need.

I highly recommend this camera as the best ALL-AROUND camera you can buy right now when you consider price, features, size and image quality.

For the $$$ — Wow!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I wasn’t expecting very much because of the price. But boy did I get a great surprise!

Especially after looking at all the new, and great, point and shoots out now by Canon, Leica and Panasonic. But I noticed that the newer models are leaving off the viewfinder! That was not acceptable to me.

I was missing my old SLR and was willing to carry a larger camera if I could get better shots.

So I ordered this camera, half expecting to send it back. But now I totally love it.

The viewfinder on this one is not perfect but it’s fantastic when I need it.

I took a trip right after I got it, so had to use it without reading the manual. And it did fine. It’s very intuitive, but reading the manual does help a lot.

Everything is better than I expected, even the battery life — I use rechargeable. The swivel LCD is fantastic! Now I can’t imagine having a camera without one.

Two things I don’t like are 1.- Using the flash. But then I never like to use it on any camera. And I do need to get better at shooting in low light without the flash. And 2. – Dealing with a loose lens cap. But am getting used to it.

There some minor technicalities that aren’t perfect, but they’re not important to me.

I’m very happy with this camera.

And Amazon as well — for allowing me to research my options on this site and sending it just in time for my trip!

You can see photos I take with this camera here (since August 15) — http://2bnmaine.com/blog/

Incredible Camera for the Price!!!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This Canon camera is awesome. I wanted to take a set up from the 5MP Sony Cybershot I used for years. Having 10 MP and 20X Optical with this Canon makes a world of difference. It’s great having the ability to tilt the viewing screen. I’ve recommended this camera to all my family and friends.

So far so good
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been watching this camera for a few weeks and finally decided to purchase it. I’m not a power user yet, although I plan on getting to learn on how to use all of its functionality. I have only had it for a few days but so far I’m very impressed.

Pros:

1. Fantastic zoom

2. Great image stabilization

3. Auto mode works well

4. Lots of scene features (fireworks, sunset, etc.)

5. Very impressed with the stereo sound when recording video.

6. I like that you can mute the camera..good for taking pictures of birds or other animals that may get scared by the camera’s “natural” noises.

Cons:

1. Although the video recording lets you zoom in and out, I found that once I uploaded it to my PC the outcome of the video was very “jumpy”. I will try again with less zooming.

2. The instructions, although clear, go on forever. Thus I purchased the “Canon Powershot SX10 IS CheatSheet” from Amazon. I’m happily waiting for it to help me start using the cool features faster than if I read through the entire manual.

I did do my research via Cameralabs.com where they have live video showing you how the camera works.

Overall…5 stars!! I’m excited to take it on a trip to the Grand Canyon in a few weeks.

Back into photography
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am pleased with my purchase. Still learning how to make the best, most effective use of the hardare and the software it contains, but have taken some very nice shots. I live in an area of spectacular natural beauty. I want to take advantage. This camera graduates me from film to digital. Yes, I know I’m a little late. In another, earlier life, I made a living with med/surg photography. This camera, features, lensing, help me get back into some semblence of what I once did. It works for what I want to do and is affordable.

Magnificent “almost SLR” camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Coming from an amateur who couldn’t imagine himself benefiting enough to justify a $4000 SLR, this camera gets you pretty substantial high end functionality for it’s price point, and fantastic pictures too. I’m able to create some of the same kind of light effects and adjustments that pros do with SLR’s for a fraction of the cost. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re looking for a professional camera, this is NOT professional grade, but if you are an amateur looking for high end features, great lens capability, and/or a stepping stone to learn how real photographers do what they do, this is a GREAT buy.

Great camera!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera to upgrade from a basic point and shoot without going to an SLR. It fulfilled my requirements and I have been quite pleased with it. The features are easy to use and the pictures are clear and bright. I can change all of the settings to my specifications, yet the auto feature works great and I can pass the camera off to someone with little experience and still get a good picture. I do wish that the lense cap was attached. I have almost lost it a couple of times! I use the camera mainly to take macro shots of jewelry (the supermacro setting on this camera is great!). [...]

Exceeded Expectations
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m beyond point and shoot, but didn’t want to go back to lugging a huge gadget bag with SLR and lenses. The SX10IS fills the gap — very nicely. I don’t think I’ll ever need another camera.

Poor “Ergonomics” …..and eratic “Wheel”…
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
After waiting over five months for what I thought was going to be a terrific camera to hit the shelfs, I simply had

to send it back after having it for only two days….

Now, I’ve had over eight (8( digital camera’s and I do love them so!…The reason I bought this camera was for its “Movie” capabilities. My hobby is creating “slideshows with music”, and I’ve done many of them. So, I had planned to use not only photos in the slideshow, but also some “video” also, just to have the slideshow flow with a bit more variety.

I’d also like to add that I”m stricly a Canon person. Yes, I’m sure there are other super cameras out there, but I know and understand Canon cameras,so, I”ll just stick with them.

What I find a bit strange here is that since I’m a Canon person, why did I rate it only One (1) star?…

Each Canon camera I’ve had in the past I’ve loved!. Here was the problem: The “Wheel” on this camera simply didn’t turn well at all. It would “hesitate” and move just when it felt like. And, the Movie mode ergonimics was

what I felt “Clumsy”…

Of all the eight (8( Canon Camera’s I’ve owned, I’ve never ever returned one!. And, the ergonomics on ALL of those cameras was superb!.. My very first Canon camera was the S330 Elph, some eight years ago, and right from the box, it took me no time to set it up!. And so were all the other Canons that easy also..

And, the Audio on this camera’s supposed to have great stereo audio? When I played back the movie that I had taken with it, the audio sounded pretty bad to my ear.

[...] I’ve purchased other cameras from them in the past, and have never returned anything to them, buy even though their delivery was super fast, I got the camera in 48 hours. But, you can be sure I’ll not be buying another camera from them simply because of their restocking charge.

To be fair, after I had rated this camera a One (1) star, I realized that I had rated it incorrectly. When I then went to rate it for Three (3) stars, the Amazon interface or whatever, would not allow me to change the one star to a three star.

I’m sure that this camera will be just right for many people and my dilemma with it will most probably not be similar to others who have this camera or are going to buy it.

Great Camera!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
As someone that takes pictures as a hobby, this is a wonderful camera. Still learning all of the functions. But compared to my Point and Shoot this is 100% better. What I noticed right away is the color is true, there is not alot of adjusting I have to do in my editing program. I also love that the screen flips out and turns around for self portraits so there is no guess work to where you are at in the frame. I used the movie mode a few weeks ago and the picture and sound were great. The Macro feature is great for flowers and close up shots, And the 20X Zoom for distance shots. Very happy with my purchase.

Wonderful – I’d never buy anything but Canon again
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am beyond pleased with my purchase. While I took a few Photography classes in college I’m by no means a professional and I feel as though this is the perfect camera for my needs (higher quality family snapshots, travel pictures, etc). I do recommend taking a half hour or so to read through the users manual for a complete understanding of all the settings, but the camera is far from complicated. I am in awe of the stunning crisp images and amazing zoom. However, what has impressed me most is Canon’s amazing technical and service support. My camera wasn’t 48 hours old when the shutter was scratched. I had the camera around my neck with the lens cap off when I noticed that an 11 month old relative had put a pebble from the driveway in her mouth. When I rushed to make sure she didn’t swallow it the camera grazed the ground, scratching it quite badly. Customer support was extremely helpful (and sympathetic). I sent the camera to their service center and within a few days they e-mailed me to say that they were fixing at no charge and would return by FedEx to me. It is so rare to call a large company and find a friendly and helpful person who speaks English on the other end of the line. I will never buy anything but Canon again.

Excellent Product
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I haven’t had a chance to put this camera to much use yet, but so far it seems to be exactly what I was expecting/hoping it was.

Some minor quibbles, overall a terrific camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have been looking forward to the “S6 IS” coming out this year (after skipping out on the S3 and S5), and now it’s out, with the name “SX10 IS”. I think Canon wanted to show that this camera is a huge leap forward from the S5 IS, and it certainly is given the new specs.

Compared to the S2 through S5, the zoom is now 20x optical starting at 28mm instead of 12x starting at 35mm (much wider shots), as well as a 10MP sensor, up from 5-8MP, and Digic IV (instead of Digic II and III) for improved shots.

I tried out the demo model in the store, and some differences I noticed were:

- The camera is much taller and deeper to accommodate the huge lens, and does not feel as good in my hands as even the S5

- The body of the camera is very smooth compared to previous models, but it feels bulky compared to the S5

- The button layout is COMPLETELY different, there are no buttons on the front of the camera, MF and macro buttons are located in the back, you now press a button to turn the camera on and off (instead of turning a jog dial), the 4-way directional pad has been replaced with a clickable scroll wheel, also to enter playback mode you must press a button instead. I do not like this layout, but it does offer the advantage of being able to enter macro and MF mode using your right hand only.

- After taking a shot, you can view very detailed information about the shot (ISO, aperture, histogram, etc) which is a nice add-on

- The lens is marked on the top with approximate zoom levels and focal lengths

- Unlike the S5, the battery compartment is again separated from the SD-card slot, which is good

- The picture quality is better, thanks to improved high-ISO quality, so the pictures come out less blurry than on the S5. The sharpness and auto-focus at 20x is very good, with no visible distortion at any zoom level

I did not see the intervalometer function in the menu, so I assume it is still gone as it was removed in the S5, also no RAW support, and there is no custom firmware available for the SX10 (since it is Digic IV), look for that in the future. Movies are in .MOV format instead of .AVI, still 480p, and still one of the best “camcorders” around.

The MSRP is also $100 lower than the S5 was at launch, making this a terrific bargain for a 20x superzoom with Canon’s great quality. My only concerns are with the size of the camera and the button layout. However, the huge zoom lens makes up for it, and the fact is it is still much smaller and lighter than a D-SLR plus wide-angle and telephoto lens. Overall, you can’t go wrong with this camera, the quality is superb.

GREAT point & shoot camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this camera to use on a visit to a game reserve in South Africa. This device is far more than a camera for “party pics”. A serious photographer would aim higher, though you can capture serious images with the SX10IS. Between those boundaries, I found the convenience, flexibility, and image quality of this camera to be a marvelous combination. At $400 US retail, what a value! I enjoyed the balance and feel of the camera in my hand. The zoom made full frame shots a breeze. The video feature is easy to use, and the image is of very good quality. I took two 8 gig cards. In four days, I almost filled one. I bought a brick of batteries, but changed batteries once. The image stabilization works very well. On the long zooms I used a monopod for additional stability. If you want to shoot five or ten frames per second, spend four times as much. If you’re happy to snap every 1.4 seconds, save your money. The microphones work well. They do pick up the sound of the zoom lens operation. I’m gifting one of these cameras to a friend. I find I’ve taken more pictures in the last month than I have the past year. This camera is great FUN.

dead eye
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Canon PowerShot SX10 IS – digital camera

I purchased this camera recently and found it to be a very good and user friendly. The 20x zoom works very well with sharp images at this level.

The 10MP is good for photo enlargement. I have been a photographer for 40 years.

Great starter camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
My son and i went on a 12 day hike in the northern New Mexico mountains and i wanted a good camera to take pictures. This model performed flawlessly. It’s a bit more in weight than an avid ultralight backpacker may want but the features you get make up for the additional weight. Also, if paired up with Eneloop rechargeable batteries, you can leave the extra batteries behind. I took >650 pics and some video and still had plenty of battery life. The zoom on the camera is exceptional and very easy to operate. This is basically a digital SLR without the detachable lens. All the features of an SLR (assuming you know how to use them) and the ease of use make this one great camera. Highly recommended.

Almost perfect
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera is almost perfect. I’m not going to be able to add much to what the other reviewers have stated: I agree with all the good points (type of batteries it uses, easy to hold, great lenses that adapt themselves to shooting almost anything, doesn’t weight too much but, at the same time, feels solid, easy to use, the rotating LCD display, etc.).

I cannot comment on the filming angle of the camera since I do not use it for films. I expect that, if I do use it to film something, it will be along the lines like the use of the camera that my cellular phone has: as an emergency measure only. If I need to film then I’ll get a film camera.

Getting back to the camera: I’ve had mine for a bit over a week by now and shot over 400 photographs.

I’m definitively NOT a power user, but I do know a bit or two regarding what constitutes a good photograph: if I like it then it’s a good one!

This machine makes almost all shots look like good ones. If you don’t want to bother about anything, just select the AUTO function and zoom to the point of getting in the picture what you want. Period.

If, like me, you like to tinker a little (or a lot!), it has almost all the functions that you might wish for (and, perhaps, some more that you didn’t know existed).

When I say that it’s close to perfect it is because:

a) The shutter cannot be programmed for a lapse greater than 15 seconds. If you want to shoot stars or some other night pictures, this might be a bit of a concern. I would have liked the shutter to be fully programmable up to infinity.

b) The low battery alarm only comes on when you’re dangerously low on power. By then it might be too late. I would have liked a battery level indicator that tells me at all times what the level of power is so that I can take precautionary measures (like buying some more batteries ahead of time).

c) The continuous shooting mode, when you have selected the 10 Mega pixel resolution, is slow. I was shooting a “corrida” here in México and action was a lot faster than what the machine was capable of capturing. Most certainly the 0.6 seconds that are specified need to be improved (perhaps up to 0.2 seconds or less). If someone tells me that I can get a faster response by lowering the resolution, my response would be: what’s the point of getting a lot of low resolution pictures? If I’m shooting something it’s because I’m interested in it in the first place!

If I had to resume this machine it would go along these lines: It has almost everything that you might want but doesn’t force you to use it: it leaves you the freedom to be the type of photographer that you are.

Not much else that I can add.

Canon PowerShot SX10IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I recently bought this Cannon digital camera and I love it.

I had planned on purchasing this, but Consumers Report convinced me because of their high recommendation.

I find it easy to use with fingertip controls. I’ve used the zoom alot and photos are really, really good.

I highly recommend this product.

Great camera for those with no patience for lenses and tripods
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was the proud owner of a Canon S1 IS very soon after it was released. I loved the compact size, additional lens attachment, and zoom capability. Its quality was nice for the time but soon the megapixel race was on and 3MB images were left in the dust. I opted next for a Canon Rebel XT and spent $$$$ on lenses, flashes, memory, bags, tripods, etc. Don’t get me wrong… I love my DSLR, but when I heard that the SX10 IS was available I did not hesitate to purchase it for my wife who was beginning to be a photo-junky like myself. The 20X zoom lens reaches from 28mm (wide angle)to 560mm (very long range) and is incredibly compact. The body is about the same size as my XT. It has the bells and whistles of a more sophisticated DSLR yet can operate as a point-and-shoot for those with less complicated needs. We love Yellowstone so this will be a magnificent addition to our arsenal of photo gear. Forget the time setting up a tripod since it has built-in image stability. Forget changing lenses for the scenery shot versus the distance shot. The image quality is very good, has more megapixels than my Rebel, and even fits in my wife’s purse (though bulky). I give this camera an A+ for what it was designed for. My wife’s only complaint is the need to keep up with a lens cap that was connected by a strap in earlier versions (S1-S5). Way to go, Canon! Buy it! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I would even recommend it for the novice to intermediate photographer who is traveling and does not have the space for all the extras that a DSLR requires.

CANON Powershot SX 10 IS – Exceeded My Expectations
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I absolutely love this camera. I have only had the SX 10 for a little over a month and i wanted to be fully familiar with it before i wrote a review on it. I decided to get the SX 10 for several reasons. Cost, Quality, Functionality, and Ease Of Use. I have been using Canon cameras for many years. I love Canon products, they have never let me down. To me this camera is the best of both worlds. I do a lot of landscape and nature photography and so i really need the wide angle and the telephoto reach. The macro and supermacro modes are outstanding. To me the 5.0-100.0mm (35mm equivalent: 28-560mm) Lens is the most amazing thing about this camera. The lens on this camera is truly amazing. You can really reach out and touch somebody with this bad boy.

The Canon SX 10 IS is a excellent choice if you don’t have the money for DSLR. I am still learning and this camera is certainly a great one to learn with because you have many of the functions of a good DSLR. The Auto mode works really well and you can get away with most shots by simply point and shoot. But for the shots that you cant pull of in Auto you have the ability to go full Manual Which i love. There are way too many great functions on this camera for me to list. I didn’t buy this camera for the video but the video is fantastic as well. I was actually shocked the first time i the recorded a practice session of my friends band, the audio and video quality are truly awesome. The SX 10 really is the one of the closest things you can get to DSLR without having to spend thousands of dollars.

A lot of people seem to think that you can’t use lens filters with the SX10, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Just google Lensmate SX 10. I got the Lensmate Adapter 58mm, Hoya UV filter 58mm, an extra Lens Cap 58mm to fit the UV filter, and a Hoya HMC Circular Polarizer 58 mm and a few other goodies. I leave the Lensmate Adapter and the UV filter on the SX10 at all times to protect the main lens. This is the perfect addition. You can have a lot of fun with a Cir Polarizer. They are very useful for Landscape Photography because they help make the skies blue and the clouds white as they should be. The Polarizer is also great for taking the reflections off of water or glass.

My only complaint with this camera is Canon or actually Myself. I bought this camera about a month ago and about two weeks later Canon sent me an email saying that the Canon Powershot SX 20 was about to be released. That really struck a nerve ha. I really don’t know how they could improve this model very much but i would have definitely loved to have had a heads up about the new SX 20 IS. Oh Well i guess that’s what i get for not doing more research. I am certainly very happy with the SX 10. And with this model i can use the Canon Powershot SX10 IS CHDK Hack to unlock many more functions and capabilities such as RAW Image Format, Time Lapse, Remote Shutter Release, Motion detection, Bracketing, DOF Calculator, ETC ETC.

This was my first purchase from Amazon.com and i am extremely satisfied with Amazon. I ordered this camera late in the afternoon around 3:00pm or 4:00pm on a Thursday and it was at my house by 4:00pm Friday, ready for the weekend abuse.

The Canon Powershot SX 10 IS is an excellent choice for beginner as well as advanced photographers. The Quality and Functionality of this camera greatly out weigh the cost. I would recommend the Canon SX 10 to anybody looking for an excellent all in one type of camera. Go ahead and pick one up you won’t be disappointed.

I think it is great
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I had the s3is and decided to up grade. The canon seems to be great and all I want in a camera. Like the canons point and shoot better than the SLRs because it is quite a chore to lugg all the lenses. If you do not take all of them the one you don’t take is the one you need. With the sx10is and the s3is everything is there. Might loose some image quality but not enough to to make up the inconvience of lugging the lenses. This is my fourth digital camera.

Wow. Just wow.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After being in the Sony camp with its DSC-F707 for almost seven years before it finally died, I was going to stick with the company, but when others came out with 20x zoom I gave in to diversity (since nature photography is a big thing for me the zoom is a godsend). I purchased a camera from another company only to send it back because it never seemed to focus when it said it was focused, so I wasn’t sure what Canon could do in its place.

Boy am I glad I gave them a try. I have yet to find anything wrong other than no lens cap tether (but it clips onto the strap so I’m not crying or anything yet). Even at the far end of the zoom (yea, even in the digital zoom) the pictures are great. It’s hard to keep a subject in frame in the high end of digital zoom unless you can keep the camera REALLY still- the image stabilization keeps adjusting for your slightest twitch, but that was expected. I stumbled on great subjects on my first trip out with it (heron chicks, kingfisher in midair) so that probably helped. I can even take better self-portraits since the rear screen revolves out and around so you can check your framing while being in front of the camera!

Something tells me I’ll have this one for as long as it’ll have me. Good job, Canon!

Notes for the aspiring photographer
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Flexibility is this cameras strong point. I bought this camera as my first foray beyond point-and-shoot, and have been using it to learn more serious photographic techniques. I am mainly interested in landscapes, but also do macros, wildlife, product photos, family and pets. You can do almost any type of photography with it with as much or as little automation as you need, and get very good results. It is hard to beat that zoom lens short of a DSLR, but there are limitations. If these issues are important to you, there are cameras by Cannon and others that may be a better match for your needs, but without the very handy zoom.

Camera Modes

I tried fully automatic, and though it was far and away the best full automatic I have ever tried, I never use it. I use manual mode almost exclusively because the results are far-far better still. I especially like the C mode, where it remembers the settings I like best.

Depth of Field

Shallow depth of field is not possible. As with all cameras in this class, the sensor is very small. If you check a hyperfocal chart, you will see that the range of focus is always very broad regardless of aperture. While you can focus on a flower within millimeters of the lens, you won’t get that nice out of focus background even at f2.8. Comparing test photos of landscapes with objects from 12″ to infinity, at every aperture between f2.8 and f8 (the full available range), everything was in focus almost equally. P&S people probably would consider this an advantage, but the aspiring photographer would not.

Speed vs. Resolution

If you want to photograph birds, animals and action, you need strong light. While the speed of this camera is excellent, short of a DSLR, balancing between low ISO for sharpness and fast shutter speed for eliminating blur can keep you turning dials instead of watching for that special moment. I haven’t gotten a good bird shot yet.

Light

Using a tripod I have gotten many beautiful shots between 80-400 ISO. Hand held shots up to 1/32 second are not a problem with the stabilizer. Indoor shots with ambient light are good as long as the subject is still and there is contrast to focus on. The live histogram can be way off under low light conditions, but the playback histogram is a good guide for proper exposure. The spot meter and +/-2 stop indicator works great for the Zone system. Detail falls off quickly at about +1-1/3 stops but holds down to about -3 stops, so erring on the under-exposure side works best. The aperture does not go down very small, so long exposures for blurring waves and waterfalls requires very low light or ND filters.

Other

This camera has no RAW format. You have to buy its stable mate at +$100 to get that. 52mm filters can be screwed in, though the lens isn’t actually threaded for them and it is fussy. A third party adaptor for 58mm filters is available, which makes filter changes much easier. Vignetting is the same either filter size and starts when 2 filters are stacked at full wide angle. Lens flare shows up in my photos frequently, so I bought an oversized aftermarket lens hood and screwed it to the 58mm filter adaptor.

Overall I would say the SX10is was a good choice, given that as a beginning photographer I had little real basis to make a decision. I needed a safe, jack-of-all-trades to gain some experience and learn with. Though I have found some limitations to the camera, I will be the greater limitation to its potential for quite some time. In 2-3 years, digital cameras will be even better, and the potential of a more expensive model will not have been wasted on my meager skills.

Probably best in class, worthy upgrade
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned each new version of this camera since the Powershot S2IS. For me this is a worthwhile upgrade over the prior version, the S5IS.

I’ll start by saying that I am not a digital camera “power user”. I just want good quality photos without a lot of hassle. This camera provides that, yet also provides a lot of room for growth with plenty of custom settings that I can use if I want to learn how to use them in the future (for example, aperture priority).

Pros:

- In initial testing, the face detection technology seems to work well. I can take a self portrait now and the lighting comes out very good. I think the technology has gone from buzzword marketing to true usefulness.

- One side benefit of the face detection technology is that it enables the camera to intelligently take red-eye out of pictures without using the red-eye reduction lamp.

- The flip-out and rotating viewfinder has always and continues to set this camera apart from its peers from other companies. It allows for less intrusive candid photos and has many other advantages.

- Thankfully, the SD card door is separate from the battery door as it was with the S3IS. Thank you Canon! There are times that I just want to take a few pictures, and now I don’t have to open the battery door to take the SD card out and put in my PC’s card reader.

- Low battery warning. I think this is the first version to have that and it’s very welcome.

- 28mm — I will never get another camera without wide angle built in. I have the Canon Elph 880IS too, which is a very powerful “pocketable” camera that complements this one well.

- Sharp 20x zoom. Pictures turn out very good even at high zooms. In an indoor-lit apartment, I can read fairly small print from a photo taken all the way across a room — it truly is amazing.

- The picture quality is better at higher ISO’s than previous models. Each model improves on this and this one definitely continues that. I haven’t tried out the “I-Contrast” setting (on vs. off) but I can say that in some outdoor pictures that I have taken detail is good in shadow areas.

- Finally, a standard lens-cap. It doesn’t have a tether, but you can buy a cap attachment from a camera store that sticks on the front of the cap. The one that I got has an elastic band that goes around the base of the lens. I also got a better lens cap which can now be done since it’s standard.

- Controls … I like the new placement of the controls such as dedicated on-off button and display button. I don’t think I will like the scroll wheel but time will tell. For those not familiar with this camera, there is a dedicated video button so that you can take video quickly without having to mess with the controls.

- Weight and shape. I liked the shape of the S5IS a little better. This one seems too “boxy” and the grip seems too abrupt. It’s bigger and heavier but not in a way that matters. It’s expected with the new lens.

The only thing I would have liked to see improved is the size of the rotating display. It’s usable, but the 3″ one on my pocket SD880IS is much better, and competing cameras offer a larger display. In order to get a larger display though the electronic viewfinder would probably have to be eliminated which is something that many wouldn’t like. I’d rather have a larger display.

I don’t know if the compressed movie mode results in less quality because I didn’t take movies with prior versions of this camera because the file size was larger. I like that videos take up less space now and I will use the video feature of this version.

Canon released a camera similar to this with HD video capabilities but it’s not available, as far as I know, in the U.S. Check the Canon website for more info. if you want to research that.

There is not a way to screw filters on this camera as there was with the optional lens adapters available for the S5IS. It seems that Canon could have easily done this by threading the end of the lens but maybe I am missing something. I anticipate that Canon or some other company will come out with an adapter that will allow filters. My main use of filters was simply to protect the lens.

I don’t know if the software is improved because I don’t use it. If you want date / time stamps on your photos, you need to do it via software.

If you like this camera and are interested in a great pocket-sized camera to complement this one, check out the SD880IS. It has many of the same features such as the Digic 4 chip, face detection, wide angle, I-contrast, and in addition it has a beautiful 3″ display.

Update 10-26-08

- I previously commented that I thought the shape was too boxy” and the grip “too abrupt”. After using the camera for a while I have grown to like the shape because it helps keep the camera more steady and helps prevent dropping it. There is a ridge below where the index finger is, and above the other 3 fingers holding the camera. That helps keep a good grip on the camera which makes it steadier while shooting and helps prevent dropping it while carrying it around.

Serious camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is much more a serious camera than we are accustomed too but it is turning out to be a great investment. There are so many options to learn about but it is easy to use. It is a little heavy around the neck for long periods of time. I would definitely share this purchase with family and friends.

Great camera!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera is a good jump for beginning photographers looking to step it up to the intermediate level. The camera has a magnificent zoom, and the quality of the picture is perfect even at full 20X zoom. There are multiple options for you to choose from with reference to how you want to shoot. The settings are not hard to learn if you take a few minutes to skim over the manual. Overall a nice camera for me, as I move out of the compact camera stage.

Camera is very good with a very good zoom
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Camera is very good, except for Lens cover which should not be kept as a loose piece

Cannon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
After having never owned anything other than a point and shoot digital, I decided to upgrade. I received my camera a few days after Thanksgiving and have really enjoyed its options and possibilities. Although I’ve had some foopaas, which was not the equipment, but the operator, I’ve gotten mostly positive results. Of course, I’m still learning and practicing.

The zoom power is what I was looking for – its great. I find the handling of the camera comfortable and easy. I have been using a tripod for some shots which gives it great stability for portraits and nature shots. I took it to a Hank Williams concert and only got blurs. I think I need a bit more practice and understanding of the operation of this camera. If you are just stepping up to a better quality camera with more possibilities than a point and shoot, I recommend this one.

Great camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this one soo that I cant buy an DSLR. Its very nice choice I made and I really like it.. I live 35 blocks south of sears tower,from my home i can get a very good pic of the top of sears with very good quality with the zoom and the quality of image I got was great whn i used in morning and night. If u take fireworks u can expect much frm it..

If u take landscape and wildlife pics also..its good for the moeny u pay.. u will not regret.. DSLR is great but u can use this if u dont have money to buy DSLR. I use this during my graduation and I liked all the pics I take. its great. I even took pics during Chicago air show and it came perfect… The video is also great and I took some great pics when I shot video using this…

I will recommend this to any 1 who want to buy this… very nice 1 to start b4 u move to DSLR.

May be the last camera you’ll ever buy
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The SX 10IS in not just your average camera, but a movie maker too. The lens on this camera is amazing. Equivalent to 300 mm in focal length, it’s not removable from the camera body. This is great because you’ll never contaminate the CCD in this gem. It has a well thought out selection of pre-sets, but still offers ease of manually configuring settings yourself. With the SD 16 gig Extreme III Card, (the only one you should buy for this camera) in good lighting, it can snap off 3.5 frames per second of action in continuous shoot mode. Canon’s Digic II processor and Face recognition auto focus, make this camera well worth more than you’ll ever pay for it. This camera is feature rich, well built, and has too many extras to mention here.

Altho the lens will not accommodate filters, I managed to fit one on and found the camera takes much better photos with out it.

I was recently surprised after taking hundreds of photos, and finding the next day had battery power for hundreds of more using standard AA batteries.

Just behind the flip-up flash, is a hot shoe for a more powerful flash, if you think you’ll need one. But I’ve found the flip-up flash adequate for anything within 40 feet in total darkness. The infra red focus assist in darkness is a priceless, well though of, feature. Normally the camera uses its brain to focus in light on the subject, But if it can’t see the subject or object in the dark, the infra red kicks in and gets the job done.

The software included with the camera is compatible with my Mac OS 10, and Canon customer care is the best in the USA. I really don’t think it’s possible to find a better camera for the price. As each day passes I keep falling in love with how well this camera helps me share what I see with others.

Canon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This is a wonderful camera, but it was delivered broken. It would not receive the memory card, so we had to return it.

Halfway there
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Even though is not a Reflex camera it behaves pretty well, if you like photography and want to take it to a new level, but you are not an expert or you are afraid to try a pro camera, this one is for you.

Behaving still like a compact camera it has some of the goodies you find on a “big guy”, the lenses let you even take super macro pictures (to put the camera as close as you can, even less than 10cm to obtain amazing results). You can attach an extra flash, even a remote controllable one, so that you can experiment with image results.

The only “drawbacks” are its weigth, and the use of batteries, but considering the size of the lenses weight is almost impossible to overcome.

first real camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This purchase was an impulse buy. I saw 20X zoom and decided I wanted it. I think I made a great choice.

I’ve had this camera for about 5-6 months now. I think I’ve learned a lot from this camera, and about photography in general.

The picture quality is great in good light, and having 20x zoom is very useful. I noticed noise at ISO 200 in decent light, although that was viewing at 100%

There are a lot of settings in the menus, but the nice thing is that you can make your own menu. I have only the functions that I use often, which is a great time saver.

The swivel LCD is awesome. I can take low and high shots w/out having to be at eye level w/ the camera.

I noticed that the lens cap tends to get “stuck.” This causes the cap to fall off easy. All you need to fiddle w/ the ring on the inside of the cap to make it circular (when it’s stuck, it would be oval).

I don’t like the wheel in the back that much. There’s no tactile feedback, and moving it too slowly sometimes doesn’t seem to register when using it in manual focus.

Also, be careful if you have the lens hood on backwards before turning off the camera. If you’re holding the camera like you would a DSLR, you may pinch your fingers, or prevent the lens from withdrawing all the way (which may ruin the lens motor).

Although this is a great camera, I’m considering getting a DSLR for a few reasons:

1) Low light performance is a lot better

2) Changing the aperture changes depth of field…doesn’t really work in this camera

3) Faster continuous burst (didn’t think it was important at first)

4) Faster more reliable autofocus

5) Better manual focus (100% zoom in live view and focus ring on lens is probably (hopefully) better than the wheel on the SX10 IS.

6) More durable build

I’m still planning on keeping this camera though, as it is a small, lightweight camera that I can carry around w/ me at all times that also has a great range lens.

The reviews say that this camera is one of the best super zooms out there, and although I don’t have any other camera to compare it to, I still have to agree.

Chris

Camera Review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Absolutely love this camera. Takes great pictures, AWESOME zoom. Havent had many digital cameras, but this one is the best by far. Great price. I was worried about being overwhelmed with too many features, but it is so easy to use. Takes great action shots, especially of kids on the move!

I have zero complaints about this camera. 100% satisfied.

Everything I expected
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I wanted a point and shoot with a 20 zoom and this camera is everything I expected. I researched this on [...] and like the ease of use and quality of the photos. I compared photos at a sporting event with a friend who is really into taking photos and cameras and he said he was thinking of picking one of these up to add to his collection.

Nice, but some drawbacks
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Nice colors. Great zoom. Quiet & smooth zoom operation. Decent view finder with diopter. Lots of functions. Decent low light performance. Improved video performance. Pictures are sharp and clear up to 400 iso. After that, typical noise visible. Stereo sound. Uses 4 AA batteries instead of 2 thank goodness. Too many buttons in places where accidentally pushed too often & too easy. Easy to block the auto focus beam with your finger. Autofocus has been inconsistant. Especially indoors, or in lower lighting situations. I’ve had blurry pictures where I didn’t have before or shouldn’t have. I’m no pro but, I do take a lot of pictures. Some were published by the College where I work. I like the camera but, I find the inconsistant autofocus cause for concern. My powershot A710is is more consistant in autofocus. Also experiencing inconsistancies loading pictures onto the computer using Canon software & attaching the camera/computer via the cable supplied. Sometimes pictures load ok, other times, the process stalls. I found that using a card reader works better for me. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the software, but no change. All in all it’s a nice camera. For me, focus lock & patience is a must. It just doesn’t focus quickly/easily everytime indoors or in lower light situations. (like i’m used to)

UPDATE 11/09

Had to return this camera to Canon for repairs. I started getting “lens error restart camera” message. Canon fixed it and returned it to me promptly as it was under warranty. So far, I am unimpressed. This camera gets glowing reviews everywhere I look. Guess I just got unlucky. I won’t buy another super zoom. I’ll go DSLR first. If i’m going to invest, then I just will invest more in the better camera.

It’s really a shame because when the camera is right, it’s awesome. I’m hoping that since Canon got it back on the repair bench, that just maybe they found some problems created at the factory, and now have this camera on the right road. I really like the features. What I also discovered was that the mov files are not compatible with windows vista. I had to buy a third party software to convert the mov files to either avi, mpeg or wmv should I want to make movies. Here’s hoping…..

UPDATE 12/7/2009

Just got back from Walt Disney world. I put this camera through a lot of use with stills & video. As long as light is plentiful, the stills & videos are very clear. The autofocus was very good. It’s under poor lighting where the autofocus really stumbled often. I get better results with my A710is in poor lighting. It’s just hasn’t been a good night camera for me. I tried the 1600 iso, but the noise was just awful. Forget 3200. I don’t know why Canon even bothered putting it there. In my stills, I used the “vivid color” setting outdoors. I loved it. The colors were vibrant as I like personally. I shot outdoor video in “vivid” also. Those too looked better for me. The colors were richer.

I still hold my opinion of this camera as 3 stars. For the money I paid for this, I expect better performance from the autofocus. I understand that this is a glorified point & shoot with a boat load of features, and those features are useful. I’m under the impression that the objective of a point and shoot is simplicity, not constantly fussing with manual settings with almost evey picture taken under lower lighting situations. Any camera can take decent day pictures (providing the user sets the camera to its best settings). The autofocus system on a camera of this price should hold up under tougher lighting conditions better than this. Just my opinion. I still like this camera because of the huge zoom but, I think a huge zoom on a point and shoot is a mistake now. I think (suspect) the huge zoom is the entire cause of all the autofocus issues I have with this camera. Too much glass for the image to pass through. The lens is a good lens for point and shoot but, it’s not an SLR lens……..

If most of your picture taking and or video shooting is done under decent lighting, then this is a great camera for people. Their pictures and videos will please them greatly. The pictures are clear and sharp. The videos are also quite good. The camera with the MOV format zooms cleany while shooting video. You can brighten the video if need be while shooting. Just expect issues under so-so lighting.

My next camera will be a dslr.

Very happy wife
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I got the SX10Is to replace an SX4IS my wife has been using for the last few years. She is very, very happy. She loves the greater zoom, the new features and the faster write times. Mostly though she loves the fact that it is essentially the same operationally as her old SX4 and it still has the flip out screen. A feature she uses regularly, but Canon is removing from more and more of their cameras. I had considered a G10, but it does not offer a flip screen. I still love my old G5, but it has a flip screen.

Almost 100% satisfied.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
So far I have taken around 600 pictures with the SX10 and have only one complaint. I am having trouble fine tuning the ’selecting ring’in SCN mode. I turn the dial and nothing moves and then all of a sudden it moves quickly to a selection I don’t want and I have to begin again. I’m just not in control. However, the 20x zoom exceeded my expectations. I had originally wanted an Canon SLR just to use my measly 200mm zoom from my 35mm film Rebel, but this is much better for me (560mm w stabilization works well). I was also waiting for Canon to up their ISO ratings and by using the 3200 setting I was able to get some nice photos of Hula dancers and hope to do as well with indoor sport pictures. The 28mm wide angle lens is a plus I didn’t know I needed until I began using the camera. I was able to properly frame many more single pictures than previously.

Canon Powershot SX10 IS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Great product! I did a lot of research and this seemed right for me. I didn’t want to step up to a DSLR yet, but didn’t want a limited point and shoot.

Pros: Zoom range, clear screens, image stabilization, two zoom speeds, tilt and swivel screen, manual controls, etc.

Cons: The eyepiece is a bit uncomfortable, it could use some extra padding.

Great camera for anyone who wants to learn photography with a lot of the controls of a DSLR, but the ease of use of a point and shoot.

Cannon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I spent a good deal of time looking at reviews on cameras, this Cannon camera seemed to have the best user reviews. I am very pleased with the camera. I have not had a chance to use it too much, but what I see I like. It has so many options that I will be finding new ways to take pictures for a long time. In the reviews many users had issue with the larger size of the camera and they are right. It is bigger than many of the cameras on the market, but it does many more things than those other cameras do. I will take the larger size to have the extra options. My previous camera had the same feature to focus the camera, which is hold the shutter button down half way to focus then all the way down to take picture. With this camera it is easy to find the half way making sure you have a good focus. My previos camera was very difficult to find half way which resulted in out of focus pictures. I would highly recommend this camera. I know I will enjoy exploring the many features it has.

Reality check
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
REALITY CHECK! I am a “camera freak,” I just love the things. I own the SX10 (and previously a stack of other digital cameras … starting with that SONY MAVICA with the 3.5″ diskettes a LONG time ago), and love it. I previously owned the S5, and it was also excellent. I bought the SX10 for the awesome LENS CAPABILITIES, and have not been disappointed whatsoever. It takes magnificent pics, has that enormous range, is COMPACT, and has that “heft” to it that gives it the feel of a “serious” camera. Now: for the REALITY CHECK: I just bumped into the Canon 40D and 50D models at a local store. You’ve seen them: big, hefty, big lcd (without the cover the SX10 has … can already visualize the SCRATCHES from shirt buttons, etc.), big lenses with those ridges on them that seem to beg you to pick it up and zoom in/out. Then I remembered: I bought the 30D some time ago. Bought all the lenses, external flash, cards, batteries, case, etc. Took it home and, after the battery pack was charged, went into the picture taking drill. I was shocked! A cheaper camera that I had took brighter/clearer pics than this EXPENSIVE get-up I just bought! I took a stack of pics with both: same result. I brought that set back to the place where purchased and that was that. There is no doubt that the 30D was worth the price, to demanding pros, but not to me. And this is the point I am trying to make: for the AVERAGE ‘JOE’ or ‘Jill’, you probably don’t need all the bells ‘n whistles these advanced DSLRs certainly deliver. If you are NOT a pro, NEEDING to manipulate a zillion settings manually and exchange lenses to match what you want to accomplish, this SX10 is probably gonna be PERFECT for you! You will not have to buy an array of EXPENSIVE add-on lenses (read the reviews for the 50D, for example, and you will see that super camera is, in the end, “lense dependent” … that is: the end results will depend on the quality of “the glass” you have attached. This can get to be a VERY expensive proposition for all but the very serious pros). If you, like me, just want GOOD PICTURES without all the fuss, then … in my very humble opinion … this SX10 is probably all you will need for the remainder of your time on the planet (I will admit, after putzing with both the 40D and 50D, I found it hard to walk away without buying one/the other. It’s almost impossible to not be overly impressed with their great appearance, obvious wealth of options, and “heft” value. But, remembering my experience with the 30D, and the fact I obviously was not ready for multiple lenses, and the complexities involved with high-end cameras, I walked away). You can read the attached excellent reviews on the SX10 to find all about batteries, external flashes, bags, etc.

Wishing to add a comment/two about certainly real concerns that run through these reviews: LOSING THE LENS CAP and DROPPING THE CAMERA. For the initial concern: go to RITZ CAMERA, for instance (AMAZON probably also sells this), and buy the QUANATRAY LENS CAP LEASH. It affixes to the lens cap and the camera body, problem solved for $1.99. As far as DROPPING the thing … DON’T!! I use the CANON WRIST STRAP (bought mine via EBAY) and really like it. A thin over-the-neck strap came with the unit (which I don’t particularly like), USE IT! But, do ensure the LCD SCREEN is COVERED when walking around with that neck strap to not scratch the lcd with shirt buttons, etc.

UPDATE: 2-17-09: I’M BACK … again. I could not resist the urge to get another SLR. I bought a real GOOD one, bought more lenses, flash, etc. AND, just like the one I brought back before, I BROUGHT THIS ONE BACK! The BOTTOM LINE is: THE PICTURE. This expensive array did NOT take better pics than the CANON SX10IS! I am sticking with this GREAT Canon FOREVER! It does EVERYTHING … and in a wonderful small package. No lenses to lug around and have to change as the scene demands … just zoom on from 28mm to 560mm(!) without missing a beat. Super camera!

Regards.

love it
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
My husband and I bought this camera when we had a new baby. I have been blown away by how great the pictures turn out and also all the features. I still have a ton to learn but I’m so pleased we went for this camera vs. one of the cheaper ones we were looking at.

Very close to perfect
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
When choosing a camera for my travel and scenic photography, I looked at reviews of many. This Canon won mainly for these reasons:

My style of shooting demands a 28 mm equiv. wide angle lens.

My style of shooting also demands use of a polarizer filter. This is possible with the excellent [...] adapter ring.

I prefer AA battery power. Lots of chargers and inexpensive backups are always available.

Upon close scrutiny of the many photo samples available thru online reviews, Canon’s seemed the sharpest to me. There is a little purple fringing on contrast edges, but same with most cameras.

Overall, the camera is quite a bargain for the solid build and features.

All that is good and would rate 5 stars, but this camera is a little frustrating in daily use. The exposure compensation is fussy to activate… the little selection wheel has no feedback feel and WILL cause you to use curse words more than once. Also, the controls that come up first in the function setting menus are organized badly. It isn’t hard to use this camera if you like Auto or Program modes, but the deeper settings for those who like to use them could be set up better. Also, I have no idea why Canon offers such a serious camera that doesn’t take filters without an extra adapter ring.

Canon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
What can you say about this camera other than spectacular value probably the best buy out there on the market today.I am convinced that you won’t find a camera out there with this impressive feature set with canon quality and world class imaging technology in such a compact package for this very reasonable price.When it comes to advanced point and shoot cameras the powershot line is the benchmark by which all others are measured.In fact it is a misnomer to classify this camera as just a point and shoot it is capable of producing excellent images with an astounding 20x zoom range and a feature set that is incredible period.However with that said entry level DSLR’s are closing the gap with aggressive pricing stratagies squarely aimed at this segment of the market.This might be something to consider if you have contemplated making the jump DSLR’s still produce the best quality images because of the sensor size and type(CMOS)very low noise levels even at high iso sensitivities.If your not ready to convert this camera would be the perfect bridge,solidly constructed with built in image stabilization for shooting long zoom shots and an array of settings that cover most any situation you will encounter.I highly endorse this product I think you will be delighted with it’s performance and amazed at it’s versatility.

Canon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Vary good camera for the average photo taker, the user guide is a little hard to follow but once through it you can create some great pictures, also the video mode works vary well.

Needs powerful computer
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I’ve been trying out this camera for a few days. I haven’t used it much, but I have already run across one major problem for me: Movie playback requires a computer with at least 1.66 GHz, and neither of mine is up to that level. I’m going to have to return this for a simpler one, with fewer features, but which will play back on my computer.

An Excellent Journeyman Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I originally bought this camera when it first came out. I was a strong Canon fan due to two other Canon digital point and shoot cameras in our household.

This time I was ready for a more DLSR camera and shooting experience. I was hesitant to invest thousands of dollars like I had with a film based DLSR years ago. One of the things that lead me to get this camera was that I remembered I did not often use my DLSR since it was a logistical hassle bringing all the lens, flashes, and equipment around. Once I realized this self truth, I looked to see what my options were. So when I saw the impressive specs on this camera, I had to try it out. Good choice on my part.

I could not believe how much of a powerful and clear zoom lens this camera has! This camera is pretty fast in terms of frames/second and startup time for such an “entry level” camera.

The macro capability was quite impressive, as was the depth of field capabilities. These were two features that I was missing in other point and shoots, and I could not be happier with the quality in this camera.

Dark environments are usually well captured, and I find that most pictures in the 400-800 ISO range to be quite usable as long as there is reasonable room lighting and no extremes of motion.

An added bonus was the video camera with stereo sound. I did not buy the camera for this feature, but I was delighted to find it so excellent. It easily equals my old Sony DV camera in all ways except night vision capability.

Unfortunately, my wife tended to use it so much that I felt she should have it. I bought a replacement camera that did not work out quite as well as this Canon PowerShot SX10 IS camera. Even though the replacement (Nikon Coolpix P90)was similar in feature sets and functionality. The Nikon P90 is a very nice camera, but having both in our household, I just like the Canon considerably better.

I ended up buying another PowerShot SX10 IS to replace my replacement Nikon P90. After using this Canon camera for awhile after using the Nikon, I will simply state that I am a full=fledged Canon enthusiast.

Reasons I like it (and why I think it is better than my Nikon Coolpix P90):

* Better (and more natural) clarity and color

* When using auto-focus, I find the pictures quite Good!

* The telephoto can be used in all lighting environments (even if it is grainy at high ISOs)

* The macro feature is really tremendous

* Stunned by how good the NTSC 640 x 480 video and sound is (just wish it was HD)

* Slightly more intuitive menus and functionality

* Better flexibility with LCD screen (though the Nikon is a nicer screen)

* Much fewer blurry pictures in various manual modes and/or auto modes

* Image stability function is better on this camera

This is one person’s impression. Is it a perfect camera? No, but I truly believe that the Canon PowerShot SX10IS is a truly GREAT camera for new or experienced photographers, who want good flexibility, convenience, and excellent image results.

When it gets RAW capability and true HD video (1080p) then it will be perfect (for me) and called the “Canon PowerShot SX30IS”, or the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS minus $100.

Finally in love with a camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I tried out way too many cameras before I finally found this one, and it is definitely The One. The picture quality is amazing, and crisp, the colors are very vivid. I love the display screen that I can turn around to keep closed when my camera is in my bag to avoid getting scratches on it, and the way the screen flips over has been really useful in taking pictures of yourself grouped up with friends when no one else is there to do so, instead of just guessing if your all in the frame you can actually see it.

The self timer and face self timer function lets you take up to 10 pictures and instantly recognizes your face and has let me take incredible pictures on top of mountains and in remote areas on my travels in Turkey and Europe. You can just set up the camera and when you get into range look straight at it and it begins taking pictures clicking away 10 times,or less depending on your setting. You can keep the volume up so you can hear when its taking a picture or keep it low if you are indoors and don’t want the sound to be heard. This is an incredibly useful function.

The panoramic assist function and the zoom browser stitch software have let me put together incredibly stunning views of entire cities on my journey that I have been able to take from high locations by hand without they use of a tripod.

The zoom on this thing is incredible. If you are thinking, do I really need 20x zoom? I was thinking the same thing, but traveling around when I am inside a building with huge domes and high ceilings the zoom lets me stand in one place and get close up to all the incredible details and capture them perfectly, the zoom is incredible, and allows you to shoot wide shots or get very close up to the tiny details you wouldn’t even be able to see otherwise. I was able to take pictures of the moon with the super zoom and without a tripod, and of sunrises and scenes as well as indoor shots of details inside of high domes and all have come out stunning with little effort from me.

The video function on this camera is also very good and has allowed me to get some great videos of interiors of buildings and outdoors too. The wide angle lens is incredible for capturing ALOT of detail a big scene or the large facade of a building. This camera has great features and great picture quality and is incredibly easy to use, even for the beginner and has enough flexibility that you can work with the manual controls if you want to be more creative.

criticisms:

The lowlight pictures could be better, they do tend to get grainy in extreme lowlight so you have to watch the iso, I guess this is what the manual settings are for so if you are good with that sort of thing you can probably change it around to get much better results. I haven’t been able to master the settings yet but I havent had to I have been getting great pics on the go throughout.

My other criticism would be that sometimes you have to watch what batteries you buy because even if your batteries are fully charged they wont be recognized by the camera. I had some trouble because the camera would not recognize my rechargeable energizer batteries which I bought with a charger for my travels so the whole thing went to waste and I had to keep buying duracell batteries wherever I went. It does recognize duracell and a few other types though, you can google it to see the best type. As long as you have the right kind of battery on had it lasts for awhile without giving you trouble but just beware of investing too much in a battery and charger that wont work for this camera.

neither of these are fatal flaws though. This camera fits great in my hands and the pictures are pure magic. Take a look at the ones I uploaded and judge for yourself. I would highly recommend this camera and completely love it, I’ve finally found what I’ve been looking for.

Totally AWESOME!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great shots, easy to use. Able to take dramatic, detailed photos. We have a close-up of a bumble bee gathering honey. You can see the lace of the wings, the fuzzy edges of the black & yellow stripes, and the fuzzle-stuff on the legs. Totally Awesome!

Best camera I have ever bought
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The only con to this camera is that the flash could pop up automatically but that really isnt that big of a deal. Easy to use and love the color changing features!! Try a black and white with bright blue or red they look incredible!! Amazon cheaper than anyone in town even the big box made in china superstores plus free shipping and no tax…ZOOM is amesome too..better than my Canon 20D SLR. Great pictures with no altering required.

Powered zoom system too fast
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’m an experienced photographer who grew up with SLR, medium format, and view cameras while working as a pro in the military and commercially afterward. Today, I shoot only for some business and recreational needs. This is a really good compromise camera for someone wishing to avoid the bottomless cost of and SLR, along with the additional weight. My one beef is the electrically powered zoom, which reacts way too quickly. My last camera was a Minolta Dimage, which is no longer made. It, too, was a super zoom, but the lens barrel had to be manually twisted to zoom in/out. This allowed much, much finer adjustment of the zoom at a speed of the users choosing. As an all around compromise camera, this is a good value. There is always some degradation of image quality that’s a given with a superzoom camera, and that is evident in this product.

Amazing Camera! Great Buy!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am so pleased with this purchase. I originally wanted the nikon p80 when i first started looking at megazoom point and shoots and when I finally played around with it, it just seemed dinky and the pictures weren’t great. I waited and came across the canon sx10 is, I am so glad I did some more research because it is a world of difference from the p80. I have taken a lot of pictures with this camera and the image quality may not be quite as sharp as a dSLR (just slightly lower) but the color is absolutely awesome. When I heard about the p90 (12.1mp 24x zoom) coming out I thought maybe it would have had the edge over the sx10, but after reading reviews comparing both of them, the sx10 still beats the p90 in image quality. I am thoroughly impressed with the canon sx10 is. I would highly recommend it. You cant beat a 560mm zoom lens for the price. If you are wavering between cameras, stop, this won’t disappoint.

GET THE EXTENDED WARRANTY
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This camera is the latest in the PowerShot “S” model line. As one of the first buyers of an S3 – I fell in love with my S3. BUT today my love has soured, after 2 1/2 years I got a lens error message and the lens keeps moving in and out until I shut it off. A quick internet search will show you that this is a common problem. My camera has never been abused, dropped, or used in sand. Since, my camera is out of warranty it will cost $150 to fix (provided it does not need additional parts) – roughly a 1/3 of the price of this camera. None of the suggested fixes from the various websites corrected the problem. I still like the camera but had to resort to my trusty AE-1 film camera for holiday photos! I’ll probably get it fixed but my word of warning is that since this camera is in the same “family” of Canon digitals – you might want to consider an extended warranty.

Canon SX10 IS Powershot Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am very pleased with this camera. The camera arrived in a very short time and the seller was very accurate in his description of the product.

A++ Compact DSLR
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The good:

Speedy performance with solid battery life; articulating LCD; comfortable shooting design; can zoom during movie capture.

The bad:

No HD movie capture or raw support; a few annoying design quirks; frustratingly narrow lens aperture at maximum zoom.

The bottom line:

A nice evolution of the megazoom, the Canon PowerShot SX10 IS delivers some improvements over its predecessor and provides an attractive option for megazoom shooters.

Though a 20x zoom lens may be yawn-inspiring in these days of 24x and 26x lenses, I think 20x is plenty, and perhaps even a bit too long given the difficulty of making a good lens that can cover so broad a focal range as the Canon SX10 IS’ 28-560mm equivalent. The SX10 offers some significant upgrades over its predecessor, the S5: in addition to a huge jump in lens range, from 12x to 20x, it also bumps up a couple megapixels to 10 from 8. The latest generation of Canon imaging processors, Digic 4, adds tweaks to face detection, Servo AF, Face Detection Self-Timer, and Intelligent Contrast Correction.

Keeping a mostly similar design to the S5, the SX10 follows in its footsteps as a very comfortable to hold and shoot camera, retaining perks like the articulated LCD and four AA-powered operation. It’s a little heavier, 1.5 pounds, which makes it feel like a dSLR, but the big grip gives you plenty of holding room. While it offers the same set of manual, semimanual, and automatic controls, they’re differently designed and laid out. Gone is the multifunction power switch, leaving a plain old button in its wake. Now you have a more traditional button to jump into review mode; it sits near the indented thumb rest on the back, joined by the exposure compensation and focus area selection buttons. Unfortunately, the labels, light blue on gray, are pretty difficult to see in dim light and can be obscured by the glare off the iridescent plastic in bright.

I Would not trade this camera for anthing else.

canon powershot sx 10 IS
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Excellent camera. Great telephoto pics. Can’t get better for the money.

Best price on the internet.

Speedy service.

Great Camera!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am very happy with this camera – I do not have a lot of uber camera knowledge and really just use a ‘point and shoot’ camera. But for the price this camera really does it all – the video is awesome and easy to use – clear, great picture and being able to use the 20X optical zoom (which you cannot hear at all when used!) is a huge plus. Also, for someone like me (not a camera expert) the macros are easy to use and the picture quality is great. For the price you can’t beat this camera.

Its a great little camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Canon Powershot SX10is is a great little camera. Its lens is amazing going from extreme wideangle to extreme telephoto (in 35mm equivalents 28mm to 560mm). The ten megapixels enables you to digitally zoom out even further to 80 power.

I am a birder, and I wanted a handy camera to take picture of birds that that will yield a picture good enough to “prove” that I saw a particular bird. It is so nice not to be chained to a heavy tripod and a heavy birding scope in order to photograph birds.

My pictures don’t match the best pictures made by serious bird photographers with expensive outfits with long telephoto lens and converters, but it gives me surprisingly sharp pictures.

The only criticism I have is one that I have read in other reviews. The camera has a “wheel” to select a feature that has to do with ISO or sensitivity to light, or in SCENE mode to pick what type of picture (fireworks, sunsets, etc) that you might want to use. It can be frustrating to get to the feature you want to use.

The second frustration is the way you call up a picture you’ve taken by pressing a button “way over in right field.” I do like the ease with which you can take movies.

John Lindfors

Canon Powershot SX10IS
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Have not had this camera very long but know that I will like it. Love the zoom lens. Photos with the tele-converter are clearer than with a digital zoom, so the actual length of lens available is more than 560mm. Clips in movie mode have been clear and of good quality (30fps). It more difficult to set the ’scene’ options than on other canon cameras, but think this will get easier with practice. At the widest angle of the lens (28mm) the lens hood gets into the picture so it has to be removed before shooting.

Best Camera I Have Ever Owned
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased the Canon Powershot SX10IS a few weeks ago. It’s a great camera and I highly recommend it. I’m a novice when it comes to photography. Despite my lack of experience in photography, I needed a new camera for a food blog that I was starting. Specifically, I needed a camera that could take decent up-close (macro) shots. As with most digital cameras in this price range, the SX10 shots are a bit noisy at ISO400 or greater. It’s really easy-to-use and there are a lot of great features for the price. If you want to see some actual images shot with the camera, do a google search for “Cooking Ventures”. All images were shot with the SX10.

Great camera but must read the user manual!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera and took it to Disney World where I had a chance to try out all the features in all kinds of conditions. This is one step down from the DSLR cameras where I don’t have to change lenses and it takes great pictures. Overall I am impressed with it and I feel it was worth every dollar I spent on it. However, this is a must: READ THE MANUAL AND LEARN THE FEATURES IF YOU WANT TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS CAMERA! Here are some pros & cons :

Pros:

1. Clear pictures at full zoom as well as super macro mode even when the camera lens is so close it touches the object.

2. Many features to adjust for different light conditions (learn the features and make adjustments)

3. Takes good pictures in low light or almost no light conditions even without the flash (again, learn the features & make adjustments for it) but at very low light conditions I recommend putting the camera on a tripod or have very steady hands.

4. Records clear movies with stereo sound & zoom. .mov format can be played with QuickTime Player on Windows XP with no problems.

5. Flash power can be adjusted to how far you want it to reach so the background doesn’t get washed out.

6. Swivel LCD for multi angle viewing.

7. The colors come out beautiful.

8. Wide angle lens. You can fit more in your pictures.

9. Batteries last a long time. I use rechargable Eneloop AA batteries.

Cons:

1. It’s a heavy camera with the 4 batteries in it, even when it’s hanging around my neck.

2. It’s a rather bulky camera for a woman. Women have smaller hands and sometimes it’s hard to get a good grip on it.

3. The lens cap. There is no string attachment for it! It has a piece of plastic on the back of the cap to attach it to the camera strap but it doesn’t work. It doesn’t clip on strong enough so the cap falls off anyway.

4. The Fireworks feature is useless especially when there is another lit object around the fireworks (expl: Magic Kingdom castle with fireworks around it). The camera asks me to make adjustments (which it shouldn’t since it’s a set feature), but no matter how I tried to adjust it, it didn’t work. Instead, I used the Sports feature and that worked just fine. All other features work well.

So overall I give it 5 stars for the money spent but I can’t stress enough that this camera will only do the tricks if the adjustments are made for it. It also takes great point-and-shoot pictures but if that’s what you are planning on using it for most of the time, I recommend buying a less expensive camera. This is my 4th Canon camera and I find them to be excellent and very durable.

All Auto Functions is excellent. All Manually Functions is not very bad.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is my 6th digital camera and 3rd from Canon.

This camera is not for everyday using (size and weight).

This is “weekend-camera”.

General characteristic is in the title.

Few rivals among digital cameras
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Canon SX10 IS is a very impressive superzoom camera.

The ergonomics of the SX10 are excellent. The camera feel substantial but not overly heavy in the hand, and the fingers wrap around the grip very naturally and securely, leaving thumb and fingers well position for the controls. The menus seem very intuitive to me – almost all the settings are where I expect to find them. (This may be partly because I have owned several A-series cameras and know the Canon menus system, but I recall thinking with my first A-series camera that the menu distribution made a lot of sense.) The menu settings include a customizable menu list that can be set to include the users most frequently accessed menu items, edited to the order of the owner’s choosing, and, if desired, set to be the default menu on initial access of the menu functions – overall a means of truly customizing the camera to one’s own particular needs and uses. Many users will join me in applauding the presence of focal-length markings on the lens barrel – a nice feature that means a lot to more experienced photographers but is notably lacking on the models of most other manufacturers.

The range of capabilities of this camera is remarkable. Begin with the lens: 28 to 560 mm equivalent in 35-mm terms. This means that, from about 12 feet away, I could on Christmas morning make one exposure that encompassed the room, all the decorations, and the day’s several celebrants, and without moving, fill the frame with a single ornament on the tree on the other side of the room. Both are remarkable in their own way. One of the things I have missed in moving to compact digital cameras from high-end 35mm cameras was a seriously wide angle lens. A 28 mm lens gets a lot of wear and tear in the kit of a serious 35mm shooter, begin used both indoors and out to capture wide expanses. Having a 28 mm short end of a zoom is vastly different than calling 35 mm “wide angle.” On the other end of the scale, 560 mm is a lot of lens, and one would seldom attempt to hand-hold that much lens with a conventional 35 mm system. Image stabilization, however, allows sharp shots hand-held with the long lens. Image stabilization is said to allow a gain of 2 stops in exposure latitude. The usual rule of thumb is to reach for a tripod whenever your shutter speed is slower than the inverse of your lens length (i.e., 1/30 sec for a 28 mm lens, 1/60 for a “normal” 50 to 55 mm lens, 1/250 for the long end of an ordinary zoom in the 210 to 270 mm range. With practice, photographers can often beat that rule by one stop, but with IS I have beaten the rule by 3 to 4 stops with tack-sharp results.

The reason that Canon digitals attract a lot of gray-haired photographers with extensive 35-mm experience is because most of their cameras have easy access to shutter- and aperture-priority modes and a fully manual mode in addition to the several programmed modes on the dial. There are times when us old geezers look at a prospective shot, identify potential exposure problems, and solve them by selecting a specific shutter speed or aperture value, or sometimes both. Such settings remain easy to access and manipulate with the SX10, and the other specialized program sets are well-conceived, if rather standard, and equally easy to access with the control dial. The control dial also has a setting that can be customized to give quick control-dial access to a set of features and settings that the owner anticipates using frequently – thank you, Canon, for recognizing that your customers have brains of their own.

The software has some pretty gee-whiz features. Face detection seems to work very well, and the camera can pick out all the faces in a frame and it allows you to select one to be highest priority in focus and exposure. Even more remarkable is a delayed exposure option that counts the faces in the frame when the shutter button is pressed, then recognizes when a new face (the photographer’s) shows up, and fires two seconds later. I am not sure how often it will be used, but the very capability is a remarkable bit of intelligence to be present in a camera. Focusing can be set to face-detection or a defined-zone system that starts with a central square and can be shifted by the photographer. Exposure options include evaluative, full-frame center-weighted, or spot metering, and the spot meter can be linked to the focus frame. The focus frame can be blown up either prior to shooting or in review to check focus. (I found this feature to be a bit distracting to composition, so I turned it off in the menus but I can imagine situations in which I might reactivate it.) Auto focus can be set to continuous or shutter-button activated; servo focus off or on. The flash is activated to raising or lower it; auto and forced flash is available; a red-eye lamp is pretty ineffective and can be turned off, as can the focus-assist beam; flash can be synced to first or second curtain. Stitch assist includes not only the usual left-to-right and right-to-left options, but also top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top, and a four-shot two-dimensional rectangle. I can go on about the settings, but the reader can access that information by reading the owner’s manual at the Canon website. The key point is versatility – you can set and override darn near everything on this camera.

Picture quality is quite good. Ten megapixels is a lot to cram onto a small sensor, and some folks have reported some chromic aberration, or purple fringing. Chromic aberration is worst at sharp edges of high contrast. I have made deliberate attempts to produce chromic aberrations, and have been inconsistently successful, having produced the dreaded purple fringe only on some shots, and visible only after extensive enlargement. I have not yet had a picture that I thought was significantly affected by chromic aberration when viewed at a reasonable magnification.

So is the SX10 a perfect camera? No, but it is awfully good; its capabilities rival the best 35 mm cameras in many ways, and its digital capabilities allow it to offer features impossible with 35 mm cameras, like stitch assist, creative color options, and contrast controls. I would love for it to have larger sensor, but we all know that the manufacturers are going to protect their D-SLR lines, and the technical aspects of designing lenses small enough for a compact camera that still serve larger sensors are said to be quite formidable. A wider range of aperture settings would be nice – I am sure that everyone would like a little more speed, and that would allow further narrowing of the depth of field for portraiture, but my appeal would be for another stop or two on the smaller side, so that the 28-mm setting can be used with knowledge of depth of field for foreground-to-infinity sharpness in landscape works. (Few people realize these days that Ansel Adams worked mostly with f-stops of 64!) But, all of you old 35 mm devotees out there please admit it – if you were ever crazy enough to dream of a 28-560 zoom with this good of an optical quality, you would have killed to own one, and you would have expected to mortgage your house to be able to afford it.

So overall – extreme versatility in hardware and software, very good image quality, and a highly user-friendly design make the SX10 difficult to exceed in a single-lens camera. Multiple lenses and a larger D-SLR body add some image quality and perhaps some additional capabilities, but the additional abilities will be quite esoteric for most users, and the difference in image quality will seldom be justified by the expense and, more important on most days, the extra bulk and weight of a multi-lens system. The SX10 should receive serious consideration from anyone desiring a high quality digital camera but reluctant invest in a D-SLR system.

Just what I wanted
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
After reading other reviews for tis and other cameras, I purchased this over a month ago. I have taken it on trips to Vermont and the coast of Maine and found it to be excellent for scenery. The zoom is great for birds which is one of the reasons I bought it. I am still learning the camera. The auto setting is about all I have used so far. I look forward to taking it to Florida in the fall to photograph the flora and wildlife!

It ia a bit complicated to use but doable.

Great Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great camera for anyone. Lots of features. Simple to use and at a great price.

Far exceeded my expectations!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I typically shoot a Nikon D50 SLR, but for my recent trip to Hawaii I bought this camera so I wouldn’t have to lug around any lenses. No camera bags or the like at Pearl Harbor so it’s a pain to lug around extra lenses for the SLR but you want to have a nice long lens at the same time since Pearl Harbor really is an all-day visit. This camera solves the problem and then some. This allows for manual settings, as well as aperature and shutter priority that are typically only on SLR’s. I was a bit skeptical if I would really like this camera since I’m used to SLR’s – I love it! Simply stated, my shots were fantastic! I couldn’t have done any better with my SLR (and this maybe did a better job than that – yikes). The resolution is astounding – I got such tight shots at the Pro Bowl with it too and I was no more than 10 rows from the top of Aloha Stadium. People can’t believe I actually got the shots I did with this camera – I almost can’t even believe it! My 52mm UV filter from my Nikon fit this nicely, but my 52mm circular polarizer (made by the same company as the UV filter) did not. It didn’t matter – I got such beautiful shades of blue in the sky and water without it, though sometimes it is nice to have the creative control that the filter offers. At the Pacific Aviation Museum I was able to shoot crisp, clear photos indoors without using the flash or a tripod when I put it on the Tungsten setting – outstanding results that exactly captured the Museum’s lighting.

I still prefer my SLR for more formal portraits and macro work, but for nearly every other type of photo the SX10 IS will likely be the one I reach for first. I’m recommending it to everyone I know who’s looking for a camera that’s more advanced than a typical point and shoot, but who doesn’t want to get into the SLR realm. An enthusiastic 5 stars and kudos to Canon! Well done!

My suggestions for making the most out of this camera:

- The rechargeable batteries promoted by the bunny with his drum work very well with this and last a good long time, even with moderate to heavy use. I have the 15 minute recharger that has a car adapter too, which is handy for people like me who travel a lot. Consider a second set of rechargeables to have ready at any time or at the very least keep 4 AA batteries on hand as a back up. Overall, don’t go on the budget plan for your rechargeable batteries for this great camera – you’ll get what you pay for.

- If you want to keep your charger with your camera then don’t buy a bag online – they probably won’t have the capacity to hold both the camera and the charger unit. Go to a local retailer and pick one up there.

- Get a 52mm UV filter, blower brush, lens cloth and cap keeper while you’re at it. They should total no more than $25 and are well worth the small investment.

- Consider picking up the laminated cheat sheet that an Amazon retailer offers. I found it by typing the camera’s name under the “books” menu. It’s about $15 with the shipping, but less cumbersome than the manual. If nothing else it helps you locate where in the manual to look for some of the more advanced settings.

Great Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera Feb 2009 takes the best pics seems like too you can get a lot in one pic which is great. I am glad I purchased this camera its really all you need and will last you for years its everything you need and taking moon pics is great. I would say go out and buy this camera also I have posted some of my pics on here check them out.. Rocking camera! Thanks Canon…

Great for historical/architectural work
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am a historian and my main use for the camera is taking photographs of documents (mostly medieval manuscripts on parchment in lousy lighting without a flash) and building interiors (mostly churches with abysmal lighting without a flash). This camera has worked wonderfully for both of those – and, naturally, exteriors in daylight look fabulous, too. The image stabilization and the articulated LCD were huge selling points for me, since the former allows me to photograph documents without dragging a camera stand or tripod along with me, while the latter simplifies taking pictures at strange angles (which happens often). The built-in flash is tremendously powerful, as is the zoom, and I could not be happier with this camera! (Also great is the fact that it takes AA batteries – my research is all in Europe and those are always available, whereas special batteries make me nervous…between losing them, having the right adapters to plug in the charger, and forgetting to bring a spare, AA’s are much simpler.)

More fun than my old Canon A1 film camera!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I haven’t had this much fun with a camera since my “ancient” Canon A1. I really like the ability to switch between aperture (Av) and shutter speed (Tv) priority. And I find it’s much easier to use the viewfinder than the LCD screen (so it was important to me for my digital camera to have a viewfinder). And until I looked at the differences (in the manual’s appendix) between Auto and Programmed modes, I wondered why have both … now I’m glad I looked.

One of the first things I did was to turn off most of the camera’s “helpful” settings. I am a big fan of fixing things like contrast or red eye AFTER downloading the photos to my computer … not having the camera pretending to know what I want better than I do. And I usually only want to target a portion of the image … not the entire image that these helpful settings attempt to fix.

Others have complained that the lens cap is easy to lose … but I got so used to putting my Canon A1’s lens cap in my pocket as soon as I took it off (it didn’t have a lens strap either) that I just kept following that practice with my new SX10IS.

One of the things I like the most is the fact that it uses standard AA batteries. My previous digital camera (a Nikon – because the lens is what matters when taking a photo) used a proprietary battery that was difficult to find at times (even the store where I usually bought the battery was occasionally out of stock).

The popup flash allows me to place a loose fabric over the flash to reduce the flash brightness (something next to impossible on the Nikon with its flash built into the housing). I haven’t yet upgraded to the Canon Speedlight flash … but it’s nice to know that I have that option.

For me, the biggest drawback is that the shutter release button is placed a bit too far forward for my tastes … but that’s a small problem. Not everyone has the same requirements for a digital camera as I do … but I’d say this is one of the best (unless you opt for the hugely expensive DSLRs). Read all of the reviews and see if what people say matches your requirements … but I can say that I’d recommend this camera for anyone who is even a little serious about their photography.

You can do a lot with this camera before you run into an option you wish the camera had.

Press button – vuala – picture
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera as an upgrade from my 3-1/2 year old Panasonic 5MP 12X zoom. The main reason I chose this cannon over the Panasonic FZ-28 is that it uses cheaper more widely available AA battery’s which I have a box full of rechargeables and also uses SD & SDHC memory cards. Battery life is not an issue I use 4 AA NiMH rechargeable battery’s and they last quite well. I have not yet reached the limit they have not gone dead while shooting yet, over 200 pix on several occasions and a lot of shorter uses where I shoot 20-30 pix throw it back in the case and get it out later for more shots. I’m not sure what the limit is but it has lasted all day with a lot of turned on time w/LCD on and over 200 pix.

Pro: Sunny outdoor shots are sharp and have great color, 20X zoom, image stabilization is adequate, battery life.

Con: The camera has a lot of settings and adjustments, in my opinion its more complicated than it needs to be. The preset dial has a lot of settings but does not have an indoor light setting, my Panasonic had setting for incandescent and florescent lighting which made it simple. I get a lot of blurred shots with the Cannon SX10 indoors or in low light conditions even with its night shot setting. Of course I have a more difficult learning curve with the SX-10 over the Panasonic and I hope that once I master the controls I’ll have better results.

Given the same situation/options I would buy the SX-10 camera again. However I see that Panasonic has just released new models and I would have to have a better look at their new FZ-35 offering.

My expertise level is about 7-8 out of ten, better than most but not professional.