Canon PowerShot SX20 IS

Opinion: Really good camera for starters who have dilemma to go for DSLR or P&S...High zoom with image stablization works out well....buttons and the menus are really useful..HD recording is another plus...LCDs are crisp and clear but too small...but it rotates 270 degrees which i find extremely useful to shoot especially in a wildlife parks and sanctuaries....

Opinion: I moved up to this camera from an S3 IS and was very impressed. I took it to an evening military tattoo where it had to cope with fading light, long zoom shots, back lighting and just about everything else that can degrade a picture and even in Auto mode it delivered beautiful photos. Yes it is a bit heavy but I find it very easy to use and full-featured. The 20x zoom is a real treat!

Opinion: I've had this for about eight months now. I wasn't deeply impressed with the full auto mode, as it didn't deliver sharp colors, or always do what I wanted it to do. Once I learned the camera, and went to program or Aperture mode I was much happier. It has options galore. The grid is one thing I didn't think I would use, but it certainly is helpful to level a shot. I do fing I need to hold the camera in different angles at times to get it to focus properly, or it searches forever, but tilt it and it does well. If using a super zoom youmust be motionless or the blur is ever present. Stabilize on something solid, or a tripod for zooms or you will be disappointed. Thisis the same for any camera. The stability program works well, but it is not magic. I have found it to be friendly with my aux flash unit a Sunpak rd2000, and both have adjustments if you want more or less exposure, along with the camera adjustment, so the range is wide. Very nice unit, well woth the price, but it does take some practice to get the most out of it, but any camera I have ever had took some bonding time. The videos are nice, but I seldom use them, and probably won't so I won't elaborate on them, except it works, and fairly well.

Opinion: I own this camera about 2 weeks. I shot around 600 pics and I must say am disappointed with the quality of images. just not sharp enough. outdoor IQ is the same as with the old S1.
The build quality of the camera is average. although it gives the impression of robust, but it is not. too heavy, too big and too plastic even though someone can be an advantage to me is not exactly. sometimes I feel discomfort when I shot because I'm afraid that it will fall and break into million pieces, but maybe I have not become habituated to it.
Everything else on this camera is very good or excellent, for now.
Very good lens, although a bit slow. some problems with the AF in low light and at full zoom.
Excellent manual mode with tons of options, you can really do a photography. automatic mode do average job only at ISO 200 or below, while above ISO 200 gives blured and useless pictures. ISO 800 is common in automatic mode, expecially on indoor shooting and I still have not figured why.
I bought this camera mostly because of AA batteries and a swivel LCD screen and did not let me down. 4 AA batteries of 3500 mAh been going on for 400 pictures, several HD video and countless browsing and still going. unbelievable. swivel LCD is awesome and large enough.
With a price of 400 euros it is expensive for me, but a tax refund of 60 euros and a gift superb sandisk extreme III card worth the extra 40 euros I think the canon sx20 is the best buy, at least where I live

Opinion: I have owned many film cameras including 2 SLR's. I have also done a huge amount of photography in the past. though I still prefer film over digital, I knew I had to get something digital to "keep up with the times". This is now my 2nd digital camera (though I have used many more from other people) and let me say, that I really like this camera. I have had it about 2 weeks and have been thrilled with the results right out of the box. The pictures are crisp, clear and the camera is fairly fast. No, it isn't SLR speed, but then it was also only $379.00 not $2,000. While I would have loved to have bought a DSLR, my finances just didn't allow it and this is a great hybrid camera for the money. It is also much less bulky to carry around on vacations, etc. than a DSLR.

I have taken this camera in multiple settings. low light, sunshine, up close, far away, etc and have been really pleased with the results. The focusing is pretty fast (needed when I try to take pictures of the dogs). I love the stitch assist for panoramic pictures though I need to figure out how to manually put them together, and the sports mode is pretty nice too.

Some of my reasons for buying this camera over any others that I researched:

1. I know most people want rechargeable batteries. I am not one of them. I LOVE the fact that it is AA batteries. I can find them anywhere. I don't have to worry about making sure my camera is charged or worry about adapters in foreign countries. AA batteries are everywhere. So far I have taken well over 300 pictures with the batteries that came with the camera and they are still working great.

2. The screen: While it is smaller than the Nikon P100 screen, it is more versatile. It can flip in most any direction including all the way around for a self-portrait. Also, it can flip in to the camera body to protect it when not in use. Yes, it is a bit smaller, but I will take that for the versatility any day. After all, it is just a camera screen and since it is a digital camera, if you are worried about focus, take another shot.

3. External flash: I love the fact that I can purchase an external flash for this camera. Those built in flashes are worthless except for up-close.

4. I like the variety of settings that you can use. Though I love being able to do stuff manually, many times, I can just use the settings and they do a great job. Maybe as I play with the camera more, I will get more into the manual part of things.

5. The long zoom lense. I own a couple of tripods and have a very steady hand so I love to be able to zoom in on things. Though with any zoom there is going to be a slight reduction in print quality due to shake if you don't use a tripod. Also, there is going to be some fuzziness with auto-focus if you are trying to catch a moving target with a zoom. You are far better off using less zoom, and zooming in in Photoshop.

6. I love the balance and feel of this camera. Though it is heavier than the P100, it is well balanced. I also looked at the Luminex and that felt very small in my hands and not very steady. This has a great hand grip in the front so it feels like my SLR cameras and I can hold it very steady. It is also great for my husband, who is a big buy and has a hard time with the smaller cameras.

7. I love having an "eye-piece" viewfinder as well as a screen. I don't expect great optics from this viewfinder, just let me see. First it gives me the ability to stabalize the camera against my body if I don't have my tripod with me. Second, it is great for those bright sunny days that the screen is hard to see, and third it saves on camera batteries

8. The buttons and menus on the camera are easy to navigate. Yes, it took a little to figure out the wheel, but once I figured it out, it is great. Remember, I didn't even look at the manual, so I simply played with it to figure it out. I love the picture reveiw button. I allows me to look at and delete photos without turning the camera on.

One of the reviews mentioned about the lense cap not being attached. First there is a clip on the cap that allows you to hook it to the strap. Second, for 1.99 you can buy a "cap keeper" which is an elastic band that goes around the lense and hooks to the cap to keep it attached to the camera.

I cannot attest to the movie quality because I haven't used it. It is not something that I really care to use, so if the need arises I will check it out, but it is not what I bought the camera for.

I took this camera out of the box and started playing with it. I thought that it was really easy to use. Have not even looked at the manual at this time and have figured out most of the menus. Some of the more interesting things like "color swap" haven't been used and I will probably look into that, but again, you can do that in editing programs like Photoshop.

Opinion: Purchased this camera based on the recommendation of a friend and am not disappointed.
Wide variety of settings and at times one needs to experiment and adjust settings to capture the best.
The video component is quality and second to none.
A major reason I purchased this camera was for the zoom lens feature. Did not want to carry a suitcase of lenses! The 5 pix setting gives a 31 optical zoom which is a feature everyone likes. A tripod is a must.
Battery life is acceptable when using re-chargeable ones.

Opinion: I bought this camera as a lightweight every-day knock-around camera for hiking etc. when my EOS+lenses backpack is too much to haul. I was very pleasantly surprised by the 20x lens and general results. I have not done extensive testing but so far I can't see any obvious image defects at any zoom level.

My movies and stills are displayed on a 42" HD TV through the optional HDMI cable. Images are sharp and crisp all the way out to the edges. The only adjustment I made on the default settings was to use the Custom Color option to lower the Saturation one notch. I prefer images that are more natural looking in color. I found the AWB and exposure control to work very well under almost all conditions except indoors.

Indoor shots require a little fiddling to get natural colors and in some cases require the use of the custom white balance feature. If you are just shooting casual party shots you can use the presets and still get good results. Having used a Canon G3 many years ago I found this camera a big improvement over the G3 in every regard. Having 720p HD movies is a real plus for certain situations. Shooting stills in the "Wide" format fills the HD TV screen perfectly.

The programmable short-cut button is a nice touch. Super macro mode lets you get right on top of anything for amazing close-ups. The separate Movie button lets you start a movie any time without having to fiddle with the mode dial. Being a big user of AA NiMH batteries I really appreciate the use of AA batteries even if it adds a little bulk over Li-Ion packs. You can always find AA batteries if you get stuck somewhere.

Negatives? No remote control. No thread-on adapters or filters but lensmate.com makes an adapter that uses the lens hood bayonet, so you're not totally out of luck.

For the money, this camera is an excellent bargain. I would recommend it to anyone. The 20x lens is sweet. Nice job Canon!

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After reading several of the reviews here suggesting the images are extremely noisy or poor in other regards: you may not know how to use the camera properly or it is defective. Go to a camera store where a knowledgeable person can see your problems and suggest changes. For example, leaving the ISO at 1600 will give you noisy images on any camera below $2k. Don't be so quick to condemn the camera and write a bad review!

Opinion: I bought this camera 6 months ago for my wife's birthday, because her old Kodak Dx6640 was "on the brink"*. I was dead set on getting a Lumix TZ7 (ZS3) because of HD video with zooming capabilities and Leica optics, but I'm glad that I got the SX20. It has everything the Lumix has and more. Better optics, better placed stereo microphones (front towards the action, not on top towards your apnea breathing), a swivel display and an eyepiece viewer. Not to mention full manual controls.

*The Kodak was fixed by a firmware update, so we keep it in the car for accidents/emergencies.

Opinion: After my 1st review I thought of adding a final verdict after experimenting a bit in low light situations and taking some pictures at a party where outside light source was scarce. It was quite dark outside and I noticed that the auto focus illuminator (green Lamp) will many times really hunt for focus; this happens quite often if people are to far away also, lets say 3 or more meters.

The only solution is to use an external flash and set it up to use a pre flash and also use the auto focus assist lamp on the camera.

I use a Canon 430ex and these 2 settings are Custom function 4 and 5 on the flash. That helps allot in low light situations, where focusing is then so much faster, more accurate and constant. To me it seems the green auto focus illuminator is only good for short distances really.

I have played around with menu options from full auto to manual and believe the best option is either
Aperture priority or custom, not even Program mode.
I leave it on Custom, the camera still chooses the shutter speed but you
can alter the Iso and F-stops, mine is fixed on F4 day and night.

I don't like auto mode for 1 reason only, you cannot adjust any flash settings like whether to have the flash fire automatically or not. Many other cameras give you this option in auto, example my wife’s Sony Cybershot W130.
I want to be able to control when the flash fires and when not and other settings also and still have a auto everything else combined.

Therefore I use Custom mode, it really is another type of Aperture priority mode if you look at the screen, below the big C you will see a small Av.

I also use the following settings when you press the menu button below the scroll wheel.

Af Frame = Face Detect. It can be slow if it’s very dark, then switch to FlexiZone
AF-Assist Beam = On Flash Control = Auto Flash Exp. Comp = 0 Red Eye Correction = On i-Contrast = Auto Blink Detection = On

I would not suggest using it above ISO 200, otherwise the noise are quite visible on photos, even when flash was used without zooming in at all, just normal pc viewing.
Here and there a Iso 400 photo comes out acceptable, but it depends if the general surfaces of the photo are lighter or darker. But I think up to Iso 200 is really the limit day and night

But Iso 200 in the evening in complete darkness still gives a fairly well exposed flash photo all round.

With this camera you need to experiment to get the best out of it. But once you know what you like you can leave it on that mode and just change things like ISO and all else should be fine.

This still remains a good all round camera with good quality images, video and sound.

I played with a Canon 400d at the party also and could not believe how much heavier the Canon sx20 is then the 400d. Tested both without any external flashes attached.
I plan to also purchase a small Canon 1000d just for the faster frame rates and also the better low light ISO performance.

I think the Sx20is coupled with a budget SLR will make a nice all round package.