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"Excellent tourist camera - purchased for trip to Italy." on by HoldemRFoldem
Pros: I was looking for one camera that would do it all and the Canon SX230 has come a lot closer than I thought possible to doing it all. Video and audio were extraordinary for this size and type of camera. The audio response was outstanding. 24 fps video i
Cons: 1. Dust. Dust accumulated on the internal lens elements. It appeared first as a fine dust on the extension tubes of the zoom lens. I don't think it was from my pocket or camera pouch because the dust didn't appear anywhere else on the camera. In hind
Summary: 1. This camera surpassed my expectations as a traveling camera. I saw many people struggling with their giant SLRs and lens cases and was quite happy and content to be carrying this camera (I've been there with SLRs and I don't intend to ever carry one again.)
Dust. Dust accumulated on the internal lens elements. It appeared first as a fine dust on the extension tubes of the zoom lens. I don't think it was from my pocket or camera pouch because the dust didn't appear anywhere else on the camera. In hindsight, I think it might be aluminum filings. It is my opinion that the operation of the zoom lens generates dust internally and on the extension tubes. It may be just something that only happens during a break-in period, but the dust remains in the internal lens structure and the quality of pictures is affected . I am sending the camera back to Canon to have the internal lens components cleaned. Hopefully, this is only a break-in period problem as the dust seems to have stopped accumulating. I suggest that owners of this camera be careful to wipe-off or blow-off any dust accumulation on the lens tubes when the camera first being used.
2. All the talk about short battery life is apparently due to the GPS feature. If I were roving about a National Park or sailing the deep blue seas, I would turn the GPS on and use it. Otherwise, it is just a gadget to be left off. I took well over 1000 pictures in 10 days, including video, and never used even half the battery life in a day.
3. All the talk about the flash being troublesome is nonsense. It took about 10 pictures to get comfortable with holding the camera so the flash doesn't pop-up. If it does pop-up, the lightest touch closes it. It is actually a kind of clever implementation of the flash feature - and I didn't find myself "flashing" in a single cathedral or chapel.
Updated on Oct 14, 2011
Updated on Oct 22, 2011My faith in Canon is restored! I called Canon. They provided me with a pre-paid UPS shipping form and the camera was returned on the third day following. No charge for shipping or repairs. It appears that the entire lens was replaced, so my camera may have just been a manufacturing exception.
After dealing with other retailers and manufacturers in the US, I gotta say that I am amazed at the prompt and effective response by Canon. Even with the problem, I would buy this camera again, especially because I know that the manufacturer backs it up.
There has been no dust accumulation on the repaired camera. -
"One awesome all purpose camera" on by Pigwifi
Pros: Extremely good in low light condition (photos)
Video recording in HD
Easy to use interface
14X optical zoom
It comes in pink:)Cons: 1080P video isn't at 30fps
A bit bigger than compact point and shoot
Flash popup location is akwardSummary: I'm not sure what the editor was talking about. I bought an extra battery just in case. I didn't really need it. The battery life was perfectly fine for every eventual day on my vacation. I did tons of stuff with the camera in those 7 days and I didn't even cover a fraction of the camera's capability.
Let's start with the image from the cmos sensor (if you discriminate against cmos sensor, there is no need to read further, but you are missing out) produces extremely sharp photos. Unless you are a top professional protographer, you aren't gonna do better with a DSLR. The camera handles low light condition extremely well. I can take a picture in candle light condition and it'd look like day light. Why was this good for me? Well, if I turn on the flash, I will get a good focus on the subject, but the background will be dark. Without the flash, I will get a full picture of the subject and the background as if it was under day light!
I have seen some complaints about 1080P not doing 30 fps. That included me. Frankly, it really didn't matter much. It could be that I wasn't taking any action videos (tennis games maybe?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST1rB1-pNJE There....check that out yourself. If that doesn't look good to you, get a real video camera:)
(make sure you view it in 1080p instead of the youtube default of 360p, and make sure you have the bandwidth) -
"Perfect for travelling" on by GeithElliot
Pros: wide angle screen, great lcd resolution with 460k pixels and 14 x zoom makes it all the easier for taking photos
Cons: the video recording is limited to 24fps, could be improved
Summary: This one was a gift from my best friend, so its all the more special to me. With a 12.1 MP and 14 x zoom it is perfect for vacations. A very interesting feature of this camera is the movie digest mode which easily combines all the photos of a day into a video. Apart from this their is a pretty cool option of this GPS tracker thing that tells the place date and time when the picture was taken. This camera has definitely made travelling more fun. so instead of my huge dslr I just have to make space in my pockets for this compact cam.
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"Huge positive surprise! Perfect Pocket Camera!" on by cdmikelis_2
Pros: - Excelent in low-light: Camera avoids flash until it can
- Tons of effects, like HANHELD NIGHTSCENE, "tiltshift" effect, color effects
- Most of effect can be used with EXCELENT video. Rrealy great HD resolution (I have XHA1 and I'm saying that)
- QualitCons: - Zoom is jumpy, not so fast as I would like and it "ponders" for a second to start zooming
- DUST is enemy of this camera: I have it for a week and already have few dust particles INSIDE of lens! Lens rings are from harsh aluminium, and they collecting dSummary: This little Canon SX220HS (SX230HS with GPS) is neat little camera to have always in pocket. But be awarem that fron panel of lens can be bent realy easy, and than shutter win not open. I just pulled plate out with nail (so thin aluminum). Perfect pisture in literally every situation you could imagine. For fist time with compact camera I did shots (almost) without flash in any situation. If my eyes saw it, camera capture it (resonably well). Night scenes, portraits, full 14x tooms; all without tripod and flash. There is for shure adequate mode for scene you want to capture. I bought non-gps model, investing in another battery. GPS is (probably) waste of effort for most of people. Reviewing and editing images in the camera is realy easy with a LOT of option, even for video. Video is something better I saw from any small cameras (even big ones like Fuji HS20EXR). It have absolutely NO visible jello effect even in full zoom handheld. Fucus stays firm even in lov light. Lowlight video is usable better than any action camera I tried (particularly from the most well know one!!). Zoom is rather bulky and jumpy, but in video is smooth like silk, not interfering focus. Image stabilisation is as great (or greater considering size), than my Canon XHA1 I have. I'm impressed. For PAL users 24p is almost good enough, but having 24p instead of 30p ensures no visible compression artefacts. Video resolution of full HD is (I dare to say) better than my HDV camcorder. VGA size 120fps video is still better than most of older cameras vhic VGA mode vas only video mode. It's usable. HIGH SPEED BURST is realy great. Most of people (like me) will actualy never need more than 3M pixel image. For printing it's optimum size. For large wall plots this is not camera to go with, for crooping - well It have moore than needed zoom, level marks (rulers) - for picture correcting - it's my first compact camera I do not need to correct pictures that I would be happy with them. They are just great like they are. I lived with Canon A400 for a long time, than with several FUJI cameras. This is far better. I need moore qulity and information at every pixel, not more pixels. So in next ten years I hope zoom and pixel count will not increase, but sensors and lens.
sorry for tons of misstyped letters and not perfect English.
Great camera recommended to all.
Updated on Jul 2, 2011 -
"Great features in a small size, exceeds my expectations" on by PhantomTeg
Pros: Small size for such a large zoom
Sharper image quality when compared to rivals
lots of features
GPS data logging
Great backup for the SLR loverCons: Where flash pops up gets in the way, need to adjust the way you would typically hold a point and shoot.
Littler thicker than most other point and shootsSummary: Has tons of features, takes great daylight and very good lower light shots, been the camera I've been waiting for to backup my SLR on trips has a large zoom as well.
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