Canon PowerShot SX200 IS Review

This camera is simply amazing. With the 12x zoom you can literally zoom in on a pimple and see all the gory details. The features on this camera are simply too numerous to list so if you want to read about this camera you can go to Powershot.com and not only the specs and features but the entire line of these, the best, point and shoot cameras out there arguably. The Easy shooting feature is perfect for beginners who don’t have a clue how shutter speed, ISO settings etcetera affects the pictures. Simply a no brainer mode to shoot in. The Auto mode is great for all around shooting. Most of the menu systems are intuitive and easy to figure out simply by playing around with the camera. I have yet to crack the manual but then again I have owned Canon point and shoots for over 7 years now. They simply take the best pictures. For more advanced users you have full control over either or both the shutter speed and the aperture (3 different modes.) And the LCD is huge at 3 inches! The camera itself is pretty darn small for the insane zoom that you get. When you do use the zoom to the full 12x you will be surprised at how much it really does extend. Simply great engineering on Canon’s part. The only thing that seems to drive people nuts about this camera is the flash that pops up every time you turn it on. It is located right where you would put your left hand to support the camera. Thing is that you can still push the flash pop up down while holding the camera as it won’t damage the camera though you won’t get the flash of course. So only if you need the flash then you need to move your left hand out of the way. It isn’t a deal breaker as far as I am concerned because most of the time I shoot with my right hand only anyway. The strap attaches to the right side and I always keep that strap on in case the camera slip out of my hand so it won’t crash and die. I am currently using a 16MB SD memory card which at the maximum resolution and finest picture setting gives me well over 4000 pictures. Nice if you are like me and don’t download your pictures right away. The video is amazing in HD. You won’t get incredible quality like you do from a dedicated camera but it is huge! 1280 pixels x 720 pixels (as in 720p which nearly all flatscreens display at these days.) On my flatscreen it is incredible (you can connect your camera directly to your flatscreen TV with the included RCA connectors) and on my computer too, it is just awesome. The movie format is MOV. For those of you who have used Apple computers or Quicktime you will be fully familiar with the format. The best part is that you can easily import this format into any video editing program without modification. Way less hassle then the current AVCHD formats you find on current dedicated video cameras. Of course when you do start editing these larger formats you will need a computer with some ooomph to handle the mixdowns and editing as it will require some serious processor power. For me I use an i7 3.2Ghz Intel Extreme processor in my Dell 435 Studio XPS. So with regards to great pictures (which Canon is noted for in it’s point and shoots) and being able to shoot HD video and standard size video if I want to, it is like having the video camera and the digital camera all in one with some very good quality. Some people complain about the quality of the pictures on the Powershot.com website but that is because they simply don’t know what mode to use in their particular circumstances. Also they expect SLR (Single Lens Reflex) results from a point and shoot camera. Come on let’s get real! This is easily the best camera I have ever used as it’s features exceed my first Canon G2 (which was a very well respected camera in it’s time and was the beginning of the G series of Canon point and shoots) as this SX200 has more features than my G2 (which I still possess) yet is much, much smaller than the huge (relatively speaking of course) G2.

So if you want simply the best (In My Humble Opinion IMHO) then you want this camera. The 12 megapixels gives you the ability to crop the crap out of your pictures. No more blurry crops with this baby. Of course I still recommend to all of you out there using digital cameras to REVIEW every picture you take right after you take it by zooming into your pictures when reviewing it and checking to make sure you have a razor sharp picture. On the LCD in just review mode it might look good but when you get home and download it to your computer and then when viewing it you might find it’s not as sharp as the 3 inch screen makes it out to be. This has always been an issue for digital cameras no matter what brand, up to and including Canons. Sometimes the cameras Auto Focus doesn’t get it right so always, always review your pictures by zooming in on the picture you just took. Good luck and I hope this review helped. Bye for now!

Rating: 10 :: 3 out of 3 people found this user review helpful.