Canon PowerShot SX30 IS

Canon SX30- Very good camera purchased from www.gizmo.bz

After several weeks of use I am pleased with performance of this camera. The image quality is what you would expect from Canon. Even at full optical zoom the quality of the images is very good and better than I thought it would be.

The basic operation is exceptionally easy and most of the advanced features are relatively simple to access and use. The button for the "zoom framing assist" is placed where it is too easy to bump while holding the camera with a normal grip which causes the lens to zoom in and out. Other than being annoying it already has cost me a few shots by the time the camera was ready to shoot again.

The main reason I decided on this camera was the 35X zoom to use on wildlife. The pictures I have taken this far have actually came out better than I had hoped for. I have been able to use the zoom to its full advantage and most of the time the image quality did not drop off as the zoom increased.

My number one complaint would be the you cannot attach filters without a special adapter which is not cheap for a simple piece of plastic. The adapter uses 67mm filters which makes a big bulky ring on the end of the lens. It is so big that it blocks some of the flash with wide angle shots, the ones you are most likely to use the flash with, leaving a wide shadow arc across the bottom of the image. It is just a poor design.

The full auto and program modes almost always give bright sharp images. The auto focus will not focus if the subject is little and too far away or there is not a sharp object to focus on such as the surfaces of water and snow or clouds and other objects in the sky.

The ability to rotate and tilt the display has proven to be more of a plus than I realized it would be. It is a nice feature. The battery life is fine. It focuses faster than other brands I have seen. Displaying the images could not be easier. Overall it is intuitive to use.

To sum it up - I would definitely recommend this camera especially for those looking for one with a large zoom and for a very reasonable price. There are more features than most people will ever use. The manual modes are quick and easy to access meaning you will use them more often. It is not perfect but there probably is no such thing.

I cannot believe canon would bring out this camera with such an average photo quality!! I bought this for the incredible 35x zoom which I still think is the only thing that makes this camera stand out from the crowd. I was in Capri with this camera and could zoom in from one end of the island to the other with ease while filming. It was amazing!! but up on returning from the holiday I watched the photos taken with this camera and they were a disgrace! we also had a Nikon D7000 with us and the difference in quality is just depressing. Everything we took with the canon sx30 had to be dumped!! The only things I kept were the video clips. It is such a shame they could not improve on the photo quality. The video during evening is also pretty bad quality...