Canon PowerShot SX10 IS

With the PowerShot SX10 IS, Canon has produced a great zoom (20x) bridge quite similar to SX1 IS: 10 megapixel sensor, 20x zoom, LCD screen on a rotating joint, battery powered. The only thing missing? HD video and the necessary connectivity. Is this really a problem?,
Handling

The PowerShot SX10 IS is a relatively large bridge. The large handle is comfortable and makes the camera easy to get a grip on. This PowerShot is powered by 4 AA batteries. A choice that has its partisans, but also its detractors. I am certainly in the first group. Rechargeables, usually heavier, give stability to the camera as a whole and the standard AA format means you can use classic alcaline or lithium batteries or longer-lasting rechargeables. What’s more you’re not prisoner to a specific battery charger. You do obviously have to consider that the purchase of a set of rechargeables and a charger IN ADDITION to the camera is strongly recommended and does therefore increase the overall cost a bit. Canon only delivers its camera with 4 alcaline batteries. With 2500 mAH rechargeables it has similar autonomy to the competition.

The overall ergonomics of the camera is well thought out. We liked the buttons that allow you direct access to exposure, the area of focus or video record functions. The colour wheel allows you to easily adjust the most important modes (speed / aperture), but could be improved by making it bigger and with more traction. The graphics interface and menus of the Canon PowerShot SX10 IS are as intuitive and efficient as ever: you don’t change a winning team! Some online help would also be a bonus however. The zoom has two speeds (always a good thing), but it is quite noisy. It can’t be heard too much on the video recordings however: obviously a good thing too.

And another good thing: the rotating LCD screen. It allows you to frame original shots more discretely. Unfortunately it only displays 230,000 pixels, so why did Canon limit it’s size to 2.5 inches when the SX1 1S has a larger screen (2.8 inches). The angles of vision are pretty good and the colour quality not too far out. This is all the more appreciated as the electronic viewfinder isn’t that comfortable to use and fairly imprecise. You get more out of the viewfinder on the Panasonic GI.
The PowerShot SX10 IS is rather sensitive: it takes a little instant to turn on and the autofocus is at least responsive in bright conditions. In darker light, it loses something in responsiveness, at the same time remaining satisfactory. Only the burst is a little on the weak side at 1.5 i/s.



Image quality

In contrast to the SX1 IS which was the first bridge with a CMOS sensor, this model is more conservative with a classic CCD. Both cameras do however use the DIGIC 4 processor.
In spite of this difference that seems quite significant, the results are relatively similar with rich detail up to 400 ISO and even 800 ISO under some conditions. A4 size prints are very much do-able at these levels. Images that are comparable to all the current top-ranking models such as the Panasonic FZ28 and better than the Sony Cyber-shot H50 or the Olympus SP-570 UZ.