Canon SX30IS 14.1MP Digital Camera with 35x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 Inch Wide LCD (OLD MODEL)

Alright, so I purchased the Canon SX30 IS and was expecting nothing more than an advanced Point and Shoot digital camera with a well known name. I've shot with Point and shoot camera's since they first hit the shelves. My last Point and shoot was a FujiFilm S1800 (great camera by the way, had it for about 3 years or more). I own a Nikon D7000 DSLR and love it (or used to). I've actually considered selling it now! I got this camera on the 13th of Oct. 2011 for a good stack of money. Talk on the net was that it was a bridge camera DSLR/Point and Shoot. I had to see this thing in real life action, so, I bought it. Reviews on the web i.e. youtube.com and other sites alike, made me almost not want to buy it. But, I did anyway. Here's what I've got to say about it. I "am" going to be replacing my D7000 with this Canon SX30 IS. Why? This camera is capable of shooting the same if not beyond the D7000 capability's without a doubt. I paid more than 1200.00 for my 300mm max zoom lens for my D7000 and am getting 500+ more power from a 350.00 point and shoot for 1. The clarity is amazing if you use the manual focus for all of your photographs and it's pretty simple to figure out. The best part about this camera is that you don't remove the lens and have to worry about dust or anything getting into the components and having to clean the camera about every time you turn around. The camera has full manual mode which allows you to set your ISO, Exposure, f/stop, and focus manually to your specs. Some reviews said it did poorly in low light, ha, okay, sure it did. I took a 30sec. Night shot of a water fall and believe me or not, It's beautiful, sharp, and very well lit with detail. Having the hot shoe is a major plus for me. Without it, I'd be lost with all of the portraits I take (which by the way, are amazing.) I've been a professional photographer for 6years young and having this camera saves me so much time and effort with the same and even higher quality photographs as the D7000. It does have it's flaws just like any other camera out there. But, does anyone complain when it's a DSLR that has flaws? No! So why complain about a bridge camera with the same types of flaws? I have a friend on a forum who shoots with a Canon Mark 5, he's been complaining about it since he got it about the same issue. (the manual focus don't work like the other's he's used to). It's an electronic what do you expect? Superb quality? Not me, I know the rules of electronics and that is that of each and every one on the shelf of the same exact product will be different in one way or the other, no electronic is made exactly the same. It's impossible. On with the camera! I have used every single setting on the camera just since I got it. I went to the local lake to shoot some wild life, portraits, and water sports along with waters capes and landscapes down to macro and back up to high above the atmosphere (moon). I didn't come up short in any hand with any of my photographs. Each and every one of them was sharp and in focus with the right exposure each and every time. 840mm is a distance and shooting completely hand held, with this quality, this camera should have been put in the market as a DSLR fixed lens. The biggest mistake most people make is (they don't read the manual). This is the most important thing to do before you even turn any new camera on. The manual will teach you how to take some really good photographs to start off and once you've got them down pat, then you can start advancing to more of your style photographs. I won't even get started on the software enhancements area it's just to much to deal with. Bottom line! It's affordable for almost anyone, It sits in your hand just right, it's also light compared to a DSLR, it takes crisp shots from the start, but most of all, it's a CANON. I used to be a Nikon fan, not anymore! This camera is amazing in all aspects. TIP: the camera is 14MP and has a sensor that isn't set for that high of a resolution. Go into the menu and down the resolution to med. This is where your crisp shots will come from. Med. is 7MP but well worth it. Besides, why take photographs so huge you can make a good sized billboard out of them? I normally don't shoot past 5MP do to the size and all of the re-sizing for prints I'd have to do, just saves more time and gets your work done that much faster. Good luck and happy shopping, oh, and if you do get this camera, happy shooting!

The camera is excellent and has a large number of resources to take good pictures. But we strongly recommend reading the manual, because even in AUTO mode, the photographer must press the shutter button halfway to focus, and then tightening them to shoot (even in automatic modes, the user must have a minimum of knowledge of the camera). I think that many complain about the image quality by not knowing how to use the various features of the camera (not knowing how to use the automatic features and the various resource manuals) or wait for the quality of a DSLR. If all machine resources are used, the photographer can get close to this quality of DSLR, but SX30IS is not a DSLR! See the pictures I posted in the gallery that show the strength and quality of the maximum zoom (840 mm - 35X) and image stabilizer. All photos taken by hand, without tripod! Pros: - The 35X zoom is really impressive and the image stabilization is spectacular. In the requirement zoom and image stabilization, there are no competitors that come near the SX30IS. You can get excellent pictures by hand using the 35X zoom. But in low light conditions the user must know how to use the resources and / or tripod to get sharp photos. (When using a tripod, the image stabilization must be switched off) - The menu is easy to use and intuitive. The LCD Flip-out screen is the best among the competitors, being very clear. - There are several features to take great photos. I'm still reading the manual and I can not use all resources, but the pictures and movies are improving as I know the camera better. - The movies are good quality Cons: - The greatest shortcoming of the camera is to have low FPS, because the camera does not take many pictures per second. In this variable the superzoom competitors are way better. - Do not shoot in full HD, though HD movies are already very good. It could have 3-inch screen instead of 2.7. - No High-speed frame rate (slow motion) in the movies. This feature is present in the competitors. But you can see the movies in slow motion in the camera (not the same thing already burn in slow motion). Thus, I considered this an excellent camera, especially because I'm still learning to use the various features, and photos are improving. I bought a tripod, a Canon 270EX flash, Canon filter adapter and Tiffen filter polarizer, which are greatly improving my photos. I'm still waiting for my Canon 270EX flash, which I believe will greatly improve my indoor photos, completion, macro and portraits (bounce flash) The tripod has greatly improved the pictures in low light. And now that I'm using Canon 270EX external flash indoor pictures and portraits have improved a lot! Great combination: SX30IS and 270EX! And I have much still to learn with this camera and flash! Highly recommended! Every day I learn to use resources better camera, I am more convinced of the five stars that dot the SX30IS. The full manual mode, knowing how to use, delivers excellent photos. And the automatic mode or semi-automatic'm also learning what the correct situation in which it must be utilized. The effect of leaving only one color appearing in the picture and the remaining P&B found it very interesting.

I've had a number of Canon digital point & shoots over the last 7 or 8 years. We've had compact ones that my wife likes and I've several of the 'S' and 'SX' models. We did our dream vacation this summer - Alaska cruise and land tour. Purchased an SX20IS and got some great pics. Part way through the vacation I broke the latch on the battery door and finished the trip with it taped closed. When I saw that Canon had a new model with a 35X zoom I decided to sell the broken one and buy the SX30. Glad I did. This is by far the best of the Canon's I have owned. Things I like - 1. I wear glasses & always dial in the focus on the viewfinder. On all of the old models I would have to re-adjust after the camera was handled. Canon added a ratchet 'clicker' on this model to lock in the adjustment. Small improvement, but handy. 2. The button to zoom out when trying to follow a subject at extreme magnification is a wonderful feature. Have only had the camera for a couple weeks but I think it will be great. Example - On the Alaska vacation it was a big challenge to try and follow moving wildlife like killer whales with the SX20. Wish I had this camera on the trip. 3. One of the SX30 reviewers commented about poor resolution with this model compared with the SX20. I did not find that to be the case. All of the pics I saw from this other person were taken past the optical zoom and at the extreme digital zoom. Personally, I never use digital zoom because I know the images lose quality. The chickadee I posted for this camera was taken about 75 feet from our deck & was hand-held. I cropped the image slightly. Think it looks good. Nature photography has been one of the greatest thrills of the extreme zooms on these cameras. 4. Location of controls. Quite a few years ago I lost the tip on my right index finger in an industrial mishap. My grip on the camera is a little different because of this. On the SX20 I found myself bumping the manual focus control frequently. The SX30 moved this control to a different `clock position' on the rear control. Have not had any problems bumping the manual focus at all. 5. Battery stuff. I had several sets of Rayovac Hybrid AA batteries for the SX20 & loved them. Great shelf life and lots of power. Was not sure how I would like going to a proprietary battery on the SX30. The battery on the SX30 appears to be a monster. The battery life indicator in the viewfinder is a terrific feature too. I shot 45 minutes of HD video at a grandkids Christmas show and played it back into the PC to burn a DVD. The battery indicator never moved off full. When I first got the SX30 I thought about buying a spare battery. Now I'm not sure if I will ever need it. I mentioned that I broke the battery door on the SX20. The SX20 door seemed kind of flimsy, which is unusual for Canon products. I think the battery door on the SX30 is more `robust' & doubt I will ever have a problem. 5. The control wheel on the top of the SX30 has more heavy duty grooves than on previous models. Would be nice if shooting in the cold with gloves on. All in all, I think Canon really has a winner in this new model. I'm an active amateur, not a pro. I'm not sure what benefits RAW format has. It is missing on this model too. I'll let some other reviewer comment on RAW format images. I may add comments as I use the camera more. Notes added 12/29/10 - I still think this is an awesome camera. I've seen comments comparing this camera to Nikon DSLR's and the fact that it doesn't have the features or accessories that a Nikon D50 has. Duh, this isn't an $1800 DSLR, it's a $369 (as of 12/2010) high end point and shoot. You cannot compare this camera with a DSLR. It you want all of those other features and accessories, go out and spend another $1500. For what this camera is and what it costs, it does a tremendous job. It gives you awesome zoom capabilities, a nice size screen, wonderful results when used on auto and programming features that allows you to customize your shooting session if you like to do that. All this is in a compact size with a lot of easy to access controls. I have found from owning several of these type Canons (SX20IS, S2IS and S5IS), I often leave the camera on 'P' as I like to set 'film' speed lower to get better images. One thing I changed on the camera was the strap. Although the factory strap is decent, it is shorter than I like. I spent $20 of a Tamrak N45 strap. It is longer than the factory unit, looks tough as nails and is comfortable and non-slip on your shoulder. One thing I noticed taking flash pics during the holidays - I got better results using the 'P' mode with the flash turned on and ISO set to 200. This forced the shutter speed to 1/60 where the auto mode may have used a slower shutter. **************

Having owned a Canon SX5 and SX10, I am very familiar with this family. My big decision was whether to jump to a DSLR: Rebel T2i or 60D. I finally decided to stick with the group and go up to the SX30. I realize the sensor is smaller and there is no RAW feature, but I don't have a lot of time to sit with images and tweak them in Photoshop. Living on the beach, I wanted something that would pick out wildlife well, do a good job on the zoom and give me HD video if I wanted it. The SX30 is a good choice for those and I'm glad I made the decision. PROS: 1. They got rid of the four AA batteries and went to a proprietary lithium ion. Great choice; it really makes this camera lighter than its previous models. Get a second one on E-bay and use as a back up. 2. The grip is a bit larger. Makes it feel more sturdy in your hands. 3. The zoom is just amazing. Disengage the digital zoom (don't we all?) and use the 35X optical. It's just great, though at the extremes, you need a good, solid tripod especially if you are using video. 4. The 720 HD video works very well and you can zoom optically up to 35X. Again, use a tripod or at least a monopod. CONS: 1. No RAW mode. If that's a deal breaker, move up to the Rebel category, but you'll spend four times as much money to get a zoom length of this size. 2. No printed manual. I always found useful the little 3x5 bound complete guide in previous models as it was was handy in the field. No such luck here. You have to print out your own from a supplied CD that has it as a .pdf file. I was able to find a third party that sells something similar to what they used to provide, but when spending this kind of money, Canon should throw in a printed manual. All in all, this camera is a good investment and I highly recommend it. As always, Amazon sent this quickly and in good shape. RECENT UPDATE: After some hands-on experience, my only additional comment would be "get two more batteries." The video mode eats battery life voraciously, so you need to have a few charged extras on hand. They're cheap enough through Amazon.com. Don't get caught with your power down. Otherwise, this remains a great camera.

This camera is capable of capturing high-quality photos, but only when you have good light, a subject which fills most of the frame, and you set the ISO to to 80 or 100 (as is normally done in good light). I've had mine over 1 year and used it for several purposes, including family vacation photos and also for documentation purposes at work. It's held together just fine. Because it's your typical slow, clunky, point-and-shoot, I don't use it for sports or action photos at all. For those things, I use a DSLR. In most photos from this camera, I notice both graininess and softness when viewed at full size. The zoom 35x is a good feature to have, but it don't count on having quality images when you max out the zoom. If you want high quality shots from this camera, you should use it a close range and in good light. Besides not needing to change lenses, the only advantage I can see for this camera vs. a DSLR is the fact that it does shoot fairly good video. However, it's not ergonomically good to hold it and shoot video for a long perid of time. You'll get tired and you might even drop it. But, if you have the need for occasional, short video clips, it's great. Also, it's worth noting that the price has actually risen on this camera since I purchased it. When I bought it last year, it was $400 plus shipping. At the time of this review, it's gone up to $450. Given my experience with it this camera, one of it's predecessors, and several DSLR's, I would not pay $450 for it. Knowing what I know now, I'd give no more than $350 for this camera.

I purchased this camera as a replacement for my Panasonic FZ-35. After having taken a few hundred pictures - including some side-by-side comparisons with the FZ35, here is my impression. The canon image processor is much better at color balance and overall image capture than the FZ35 - images are brighter and so capture more details otherwise lost in shadow or just a tendency the FZ35 has towards gray-scale processing in order to get the excellent sharpness the FZ35 is known for. Having said that - I would not recommend using the Auto setting on the Canon. Its choice of focal point within an image tends towards creating images where the background is just as likely to be more in focus than the subject. Typically the camera tries to focus around the edge of the subject rather than the subject itself. Sometimes this can work to improve clarity by improving depth of focus a bit, sometimes it creates an image where nothing is in focus and sometimes it causes the camera to focus on "edgy" subjects that may not really be the subject at all - like a lamp post in the background, tree trunks in the background, etc. In the playback mode you can select a display which shows you the cameras focal point - which can help explain why some of your images look they way they do in Auto. Auto mode will also adjust the color of an entire image when it senses facial recognition to improve skin tones, but honestly the color balance of the Canon is so good anyway this is almost unnecessary and sometimes tends towards overcompensation so your entire image takes on a sickly green/brown hue. However, if you switch from auto to P - or in fact any other of the SCN or mode selections on the dial, these annoying Auto features are disabled and you can get some really great photos. At this point the camera uses a single center focus frame (the size and position of which can easily be manually adjusted to fit your subject if you like) and you start getting pictures more like you expect. In addition, the customization options of the Canon such as magnifying the focal frame, color options, easy adjustment of just about any shooting function, combined with the superb zoom range still make this camera best in class. My only complaint for SCN settings is I wish they had a "sunset" but that is easily created in the color menu where you can select to emphasize reds. The canon normally produces very clear images, however Canon generally processes to keep color balance as opposed to edge distinction at higher ISO speeds so sometimes the images become a bit more fuzzy than what those of us used the the FZ35 might like - on the other hand red stays red rather than turning black. You can manually limit the ISO to whatever maximum you prefer with the easy to use ISO button. If you want to add a lens filter protector, polarizer, etc. you will need to purchase the 67MM adapter to do so (Canon FA-DC67A) - and good luck finding one! This camera, like all of the others in this class, struggle with poor light conditions due to their small sensor. However unlike the competition, canon allows you to mount an external flash and that pretty much clears up this issue if you're willing to pay the expense. The way I look at it its a cheaper option than a $1,000-$3,000 DSLR which can go up to ISO 6,000 for low light conditions. Overall the Canon is definitely a step up from anything else that was out there - but it does have its quirks you need to be aware of and work around. The opportunity for creativity on one camera/lens is really unrivaled by anything else out there. The ability to go from 1 cm away macro to 35x superzoom at the pull of a switch just can't be found on any other camera, combined with the scene options such as fisheye not normally found on other such cameras, and wide range of color options also not found on the Canon competitors in this class, you have a great tool for creative photography. So while the SX30 is certainly not perfect and image quality will sometimes be less than your $3,000 DSLR+lens (although for some pictures you'd need large magnification/blow-up to tell the difference) - on the whole it's worth putting up with the limitations for the other factors. One caution - if you're looking for a simple to use point-and-shoot this may not be your best choice due to the often poor intelligence in Auto setting. If not for this it would have gotten 5 stars.

I'm a just a fellow who wants to take nature photos, and my kid at soccer and stuff for eBay and such. I owned a Canon EOS 7D with fancy lenses, the whole works--about $3000 worth of Canon stuff. all I needed was this camera. The EOS DSLR is heavy, "fixy", and not good for nature walks and plenty of mobility at sporting events. Rarely would I use the 8 frames per second shooting rates. I watched the DVDs on EOS 7D, and played with it and took some pretty artsy photos that I blew up and put in my office. It's a great camera, the pricey EOS DSRL. But it had plenty of drawbacks: price, size, bulk, complex attachments, battery life, compact flash rather than SDR cards, and on and on. But for what I need, this Canon here is stellar, and I sold all my EOS stuff, and extra lenses on eBay!! I'm totally thrilled with the size, build, and photo quality of this camera. Frankly, it's one of those situation where, to get the highest level of quality you have to pay exponentially more (the EOS 7D), with plenty of limitations (bulk, attachments, multiple lenses, etc.), when for most of us who just want to take quality photos, this is plenty enough. I pop this into a Lowepro camera fannypack and I'm good to shoot and walk and hike all afternoon. I adore the zoom, and as the reviewer below me states, when I zoom, of course there's less light entry into the camera and the images will be "hazy". So, you must select a very bright subject at top zoom. I can easily take my son on the bench across the entire field in soccer, and it's amazing. I wish the lens wouldn't move in and out whenever you turn the camera on, but rather just when you need zoom. With every "on" cycle, the lens does it's silent grinding in and out like it's adjusting itself, even if I want to just taken a normal photo. Battery drain, unnecessary mechanical movement, in my opinion. I wish it'd do it only when I want zoom. Other than that, for me, the guy who might submit a photo to my local newspaper photo contest once in a blue moon, but mostly want to take excellent photos at the family barbecue, this camera is the best I have every owned. And I've owned a lot (including SONY HRs, and Fuji hand helds, and on and on). The movie capability, the size, the zoom, the battery life (very good), and the price (I paid more than this for one Sigma lens) makes this camera a winner. I will mention that this particular camera is hard to find: I think Canon may know that it'll hurt the sales of some of the more pricey, entry level interchangeable lens DSLRs they sell because, spec for spec, they are very similar. Have a wonderful day

I have one these hanging on a peg board right by my doorway. It has an extra long 3/4 inch nylon strap with a small accessory bag containing lens cleaners, a plastic bag and an extra SDHC 32G memory card. I always add one of the OptechUSA neoprene bags and the whole systems hangs there begging for me to take it with me where ever I go. The camera is so light that I found it's a waste of time and energy to carry the monopod around any more. I just put the thing in the palm of my hand and I can hold it there for an hour easily. I love taking HD video with this baby. The controls on these camera's have been basically the same for the last five years. The video is great and the audio performance is magnificent. With a 32G SDHC I think I get about 7.5 minutes per Gig so I have about 4 hours of video if my batteries last that long. It does have and adapter for an external flash that I never use but whose to say what will happen tomorrow. The flash is pretty strong and I use it often. The video performance is incredible. It has a little control for adjusting the brightness of the video while it's running and I have found that to be extremely useful in low light conditions. I often take video in doors during church and you can get pretty reasonable images off of the video at 150 to 300 dpi. The cool thing about shooting the video is that you don't have to keep the camera still all of the time and when you review the video your getting 30 frames per second so your almost always going have some images that are worth keeping if your relatively careful and steady with the camera. I purchased an extra charger and battery and I always grab a new battery on my way out. I've shot up to 12 Gigs of video with one battery. The battery and memory are in the same compartment which is a slight nuisance since you will have to remove any quick disconnect adapters in order to open the compartment. The good news is that 32G cards are readily available and the batteries last a long time so you never really have to get into that compartment very often in normal use. The zoom lens is quiet and smooth. It's not completely linear but it is repeatable and easy to get use to. My only real gripe is that it's not easy to use manual focus. If you want to focus on an animal that's behind some brush the only sensible thing to do is to focus on something else about that distance away and hold the button in it's first position and move the camera over to take the picture. Having said that I've had one of these since the days of the S2IS and as long as they keep improving them and selling them for about $300 to $400 I'll probably keep buying them.