Canon PowerShot SX230 HS (12.1 MP, 14x optical zoom) black

I bought this to use occassionally when carrying my DSLR was inconvenient, and for impromptu snapshots, but I've used it a lot more than that. I take it most places with me, the picture quality and versatility being way beyond what the phones that folks insist on using are capable of. The Zoom (eqv to ~400mm) is longer than my DSLR, and the camera cost less than a lense for ther DSLR would cost. The Image Stabilisation and Low Light performance is superb, and while i didn't buy it to take videos, of course I have done. A video I took of musicians playing in a local Pub has some peple thinking it's a Pro Video - 1080p video, clear sound and the ability to zoom and re-focus while recordiing. And of course the one-touch record, without the need to set it tio video mode first, is great. As with all Canion kit i've owned, it's well made, fits nicely in the hand and has an intuitive interface, i cant' recommend uit highly enough.

Nice compact camera with great picture quality. It was a present for my wife's birthday she finds it very easy to use just point and shoot and the video quality is good as well!.

This supposedly 'family friendly' point and shoot, "so easy to use you must get it for your grannie" camera produces images so grainy, smeared, toneless and colourless that you'll still be screaming at it long after your friends have snapped the shot on their Lumix and happily wandered away. Here's what Cannon had to say when I complained: "Mr Baxter, Thank you for your e-mail and for contacting Canon. My apologies for the delay in our response due to a temporary problem with our system. I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the results of the images from your PowerShot SX230 HS. I see that you have provided images taken in Program and AUTO mode as examples. In AUTO mode, the camera will attempt to secure an image using an exposure that will freeze any subject movement, and therefore a high ISO is sometimes the best way to achieve this. This produces grain, and when combined with the processing involved in auto mode, could have some effect on the quality of the image. A side effect of higher ISO's is a loss of colour saturation and lower contrast. As the amount of megapixels on a sensor increases, this also increases the visible noise at high ISO's. The size of the sensor in the SX230 HS is over eleven times smaller than that of an EOS 400D, hence why the clarity is greater on an EOS 400D. I appreciate that you may not want to set all of the settings manually when you use the camera, therefore as a compromise, I would recommend to use Program mode, but set the ISO manually where possible. Program mode can still of course set the exposure and white balance automatically for you. You will find that the image quality is superior in P mode as the camera does not have to perform as much processing. Please be advised that I have passed your feedback on to Canon Inc in Japan for their consideration to possibly improve the processing in AUTO mode. If you feel that the camera is unsuitable for you, I can only recommend to approach the retailer under the Sales of Goods Act 1979 for a refund or replacement camera. As the manufacturer, we can repair the product, however looking at the images, I do not feel that there is a fault as such with the camera. I hope this information is of some help to you, my apologies for the disappointment caused. Yours sincerely, Canon Services & Support" Bought when recently released (more fool me) and after checking many good reviews, I believe that's £300 flushed right down the toilet. One star only coz I can't award zero. Thanks if you managed to read this through to the end.

We bought this camera to replace a SX220 which was stolen. The camera takes very good pictures and video, and is hard to fault. The improvement in sensitivity over our A700 is shocking. We have found the manual control useful, and this was the feature that made us chose this camera over the Nikon. There are two faults with the camera: The first and most serious is that it does not charge off USB, meaning one more thing to pack/lose when you go on holiday. It would have been far more sensible to offer an external charger as an optional extra. Sony, Nikon, Samsung and all the phone manufacturers have moved into the 21st century and it is about time Canon joined them. It is fair enough on the IXUS where size is an issue, but they can find the space for gimmicks like GPS on the Powershot. The second fault is a minor one, but the pets and kids mode does not really work as well as I would hope, as it allows shutter speeds to drop too low. However by selecting a 1000th of a second in shutter speed priority mode you can catch them in action.

Navigating through options is not easy. For instance accidentally closing the flash does not automatically re-open when required even if in AUTO mode. This shows you the no-flash sign on screen and you have no way to change it. Only when you realize that you can manually re-open the flash you will get the options of flash re-enabled. Also there's a circular menu that comes and goes sometimes and no matter how many times I try in different ways, I never manage to get it showing on screen whenever I want it. Battery life wasn't impressive too. Approx 30 to 45 mins of use and the battery was depleted. Nothing to say about the quality of the photos and the features available..very good camera.

The quality of shots from this camera is outstanding, almost on a par with my (now rather old) Nikon DSLR and of course way more portable. The video quality is also good, possibly better than my Canon HD Video camera! Shots are occasionally a little over exposed so I now tend to run a third of a stop under in Programme mode. One or two shots have appeared over saturated. The GPS feature is a bit of a gimick in my opinion, especially if you switch on, take a shot and switch off again as it then doesn't have time to lock on and capture position data. For the shots that do record it, well I'm not entirely sure what to do with them. Displaying them on a map is not actually all that useful. Maybe there is a killer app on the way...? So, with hindsight I may well have gone for the cheaper non-GPS model.

Magnifica camara a un precio excepcional. Gran calidad de imagen. Multiples opciones de edicion de imagenes. posibilidad de manejo manual, tanto de exposicion como de enfoque

La mejor cámara compacta que he tenido. No tiene wifi pero muy buenas imágenes.

La macchina è arrivata senza problemi, nei tempi stabiliti, con un imballo adeguato. Ha uno zoom ottico davvero notevole, senza perdita di definizione e senza rumore, in condizioni di luce diurna. Anche l'entrata dello zoom digitale, che amplia con un interessante x4 il range d'ingrandimento già buono dello zoom ottico (che si avvicina a un 150 mm su una APS-C), sembra interferire pochissimo con la qualità delle immagini. La durata delle batterie è decisamente accorciata dall'uso del GPS, attivo anche quando la macchina è spenta; in pratica, se ci si dimentica di spegnere il ricevitore, come accade facilmente nei primi tempi quando ancora non si è abituati, la carica della batteria decade pesantemente (dura circa 48 ore; questo quando si è ancora al primo ciclo di ricarica della batteria, data la macchina nuova. Forse, dopo alcuni cicli di ricarica, la durata potrebbe allungarsi. Da verificare). La dimensione dei file, in formato 4000x3000, è di circa 2,5-3,5 MB. Peccato per la mancanza di possibilità di scattare in RAW. Il software allegato, utile per sfruttare i dati GPS, è funzionale e semplice. Le dimensioni della macchina sono molto contenute e la sua ergonomia, buona; resta solo da segnalare l'infelice posizione del flash che, per chi era abituato ad altre Canon compatte, crea problemi, soprattutto in fase di accensione, quando lo sportello viene alzato e abbassato automaticamente. Spesso, la procedura viene bloccata dal dito appoggiato sull'angolo, rendendo poco automatica l'uscita del flash in situazioni di scarsa illuminazione (la funzione flash resta bloccata su flash spento). In situazioni di scarsa illuminazione (interni di chiese, ad esempio), la macchina risponde meno bene, producendo immagini un po' rumorose e scarsamente definite; resta da valutare questo aspetto in un prossimo futuro, quando si sarà fatta più esperienza con i diversi parametri di scatto, decisamente più abbondanti e raffinati dei modelli più vecchi che avevo. In generale, un ottimo prodotto con un rapporto qualità/prezzo decisamente interessante e favorevole.

La qualité photo est vraiment très bonne, un niveau au-dessus de tout ce qui se fait en terme de compact dans cette échelle de prix. On notera les réglages manuels très complets. Cependant, les modes scènes sont légion, il y en a sûrement trop d'ailleurs. On peut s'y perdre, ou alors, ne jamais les utiliser. Ils ont certainement été implantés pour alonger la liste des fonctionnalités mais je pense qu'on ne peut pas vraiment le compter comme des avantages majeurs. Cela dit, la qualité en auto, et par extension encore plus en manuel sont vraiment excellentes. Le mode vidéo est quant à lui extrêmement performant, certainement l'un des meilleurs voire le meilleur parmis les compacts. Les spécialistes pourront être rebutés par le mode 24p en 1080p, considéré à raison comme moins fluide qu'un 60p, mais le piqué, les couleurs et la netteté sont quasi irréprochables; surtout quand on sait qu'il s'agit d'un appareil photo compact. Pour "compenser" l'absence de 60p, Canon a quand même judicieusement implémenté des modes vidéo haute vitesse (120fps en VGA/240 en QVGA) qui sont très sympa à utiliser. Le zoom est rapide en mode photo, un peu moins en mode vidéo mais il est incontestablement bon et précis. La stabilisation est suffisante et on peut faire de belles prises en télé; presque aussi bien qu'en grand angle. Enfin, le point noir de cet appareil est l'autonomie. Si vous utilisez un petit peu le mode vidéo ou si vous activez le gps, la batterie se vide très rapidement. Même en mode photo simple, cet appareil est en net recul par rapport à la concurrence sur cet aspect là. Pour conclure, je dirais que les points forts de ce Canon SX230 HS effacent presque complètement le point faible qu'est l'autonomie et je le recommande vivement à quiconque souhaitant un compact extrêmement polyvalent. J'en suis personnellement très satisfait.

La relación calidad precio aceptable el zoom y la versatilidad es buena teniendo en cuenta los años que tiene el modelo