Canon PowerShot SX210 IS Digital Camera – Black 3.0 Inch PureColor LCD
Posted by Notcot on Jun 3, 2010 in Photography |
Product Description
Stunning images at your fingertips
Offering a compelling blend of photographic features and effective technologies, the 14.1 Megapixel IXUS 210 combines an ultra wide-angle 24mm lens with 5x optical zoom, advanced touch screen and HD movies in a stylish metal body.
The massive 3.5 inch (8.8cm) PureColor II high resolution LCD full touchscreen ensures framing and playing back your images is both easy and enjoyable. Meanwhile the quality of those images is assured thanks to a host of new and improved intelligent Canon technologies.
- Stylish, 14.1 Megapixel metal body IXUS in four colour options
- Genuine Canon 24 mm ultra wide-angle 5x zoom lens with optical Image Stabilizer
- Wide 8.8 cm (3.5 Inch) PureColor II Touch LCD with touch control
- Touch autofocus, custom icon layout and tap control
- Easy to use, with Smart Auto, Face Detection and on-screen Hints and Tips
Canon PowerShot SX210 IS Digital Camera – Black 3.0 Inch PureColor LCD
I too have only had this camera for a few days, but I think it’s brilliant. Its main selling point is of course that 14x zoom lens, which starts at 28mm so at the long end you get 392mm! The Image Stabilization ensures sharp pictures even at that length. I haven’t tried any digital zoom. I find that setting image stabilization to “Shoot Only” works best.
The camera’s second selling point is the Aperture priority, Shutter priority and Manual modes. It is well designed in that it has a proper dial to select the aperture and shutter settings. Unfortunately it is a dual-purpose dial and pressing down on it often selects another function. I have sometimes done this accidentally while trying to select aperture or shutter speed. I expect I will get used to it. The dial can also be used when selecting menu items.
The camera has a Wide mode which records/plays back images in 16:9 format, great for people who like to show photos on their HD TVs. I have this option selected all the time. Please note that despite the heading it’s a 3.5 inch display on the back. I haven’t yet found it difficult to see the display, though we have had some sunny days.
I used up a fully charged battery pack in two days, but I was playing with the camera quite a lot! I think it would last for about a week in normal use. I have ordered a spare battery pack because it’s boring not to be able to get your photos for two hours while the battery charges.
I find that if I take a photo in low light, like indoors, the camera takes a couple of seconds to store an image, but generally it is fine. I have ordered a fast memory card to see if this helps because after all it’s got to store 14 megapixels.
About the problem with the flash popping up, I find that when I pick the camera up, my left index finger usually rests on top of the flash cover, so when I turn the camera on, the flash can’t pop up.
I have added some pictures to the customer images which give a better idea of what the camera is like because they weren’t taken in the dark!
Rating: 5 / 5
Only had this camera for a few days but initial reactions are that it is great! The quality of the pictures are amazing, so clear even on full zoom, and the HD video is brilliant – the fact that you can zoom while you are shooting a video is something I have never seen before on a camera. There are some really funky modes that take great fun photos like fisheye effect, and I love the colour accent which keeps one colour and makes everything else black and white.
There are also loads of manual modes for the more serious photographer – I don’t know how to use these yet, but hopefully with a bit of practice I will improve my photography skills!
The flash does pop up when the camera is turned on but unlike one of the other reviewers I don’t find it an issue. You can push the flash down if you don’t want to use it, but you can still hold the camera quite comfortably if it is up.
I’m going on safari later this year and can’t wait to use the 14x zoom to get really up close and personal with the animals.
I’d definitely recommend it.
Rating: 5 / 5
The first thing that strikes one about this camera is the 14X optical zoom. I love zooms for it is one of the best ways to compose a shot. That said, it is notoriously difficult to keep a camera or binoculars steady at more than 7X zoom.Above that a tripod is useful. That would negate one of the best characteristics of this camera its small size. An optical viewfinder with the camera held close to the face would have helped but was probably excluded by the small size. It slips easily into a pocket or handbag.
That said excellent clear pictures can be taken at full zoom though the image on the screen bounces a lot.The battery is re-chargeable (two hours) and low battery is clearly signalled.The mode dial gives the usual choices. The choice is then flagged up clearly on the screen. This will encourage people to experiment and not just leave it on Auto. For absolute beginners there is an Easy Mode; just point and shoot..
The menu system, for time and date stamping is easy to follow. Transfer to a computer either by card reader or USB cable provided. Playback can be done without switching on the whole camera. The printed manual is fairly basic but there are full instructions on a CD
Rating: 4 / 5
I have used a 7.1mp Olympus Mju compact digital camera for the past 2-3 years as a compact alternative to my main camera, Canon digital SLR. Results were fairly patchy and so I have been looking around for an upgrade for a few months. I was on the point of buying the Powershot SX200 but then saw that the SX210 was imminent, so held off until the camera was launched and the price came down from its fairly toppy launch level of £300+. As expected, as stocks improved, the price has fallen sharply plus Canon has now introduced its cashback offer, bringing the price of the camera down materially.
I went for the Powershot over an Ixus equivalent as a) its hugely powerful 14x optical zoom appealed, b) I am more concerned with picture quality than size and c) the Powershot isn’t actually that big anyway. So far, I have probably taken around 200 photos using the camera in a variety of conditions and am really pleased with the results. Build quality is top-notch, the zoom lens produces fantastic results and battery life doesn’t seem to be an issue (although I have bought a spare Canon battery from Amazon just in case). The menus are intuitive and very much in line with other cameras produced by Canon. As for the flash popping up automatically, I haven’t found this to be an issue (in fact, I think handling is very good) but you can keep your finger on the flash and it stays down. There are different auto settings (e.g. ‘portrait’, ‘landscape’, ‘indoors’ etc.), all of which seem to work well plus movie mode (which I haven’t tried) along with manual settings. I even used the digital zoom (which goes to 56x) with fairly decent results due to the image stabilsation.
I am using a standard 4GB SD Sandisk Ultra card and a Lowepro Apex 30 AW case, which fits well and leaves space for extra memory cards, batteries etc. If you can afford the extra for a really high speed SD card, I’d say it’s probably worth it as with 14.1mp, files are pretty big and there can be some lag evident between shots.
I’m a big fan of Canon photography gear and the Powershot SX210is doesn’t disappoint – you can safely buy this knowing that you are getting a great camera for your money.
Rating: 5 / 5
Had this camera a couple of weeks now and pretty impressed. Great zoom for the money and being a compact. Really good selection of programme functions for getting more creative (fish eye, ‘model/miniature’, and ‘foliage’ – increases vibrancy of plant shots). I’ve taken some good panoramic shots with the stitch assist function, and the stitch software it comes with is very easy to use. Also, the wide format option gives a different perspective and more scope for taking landscape shots.
Really happy with this purchase – as an SLR user myself, I’ve found you can do a lot with this camera without all the SLR paraphernalia. Also – really good macro shots, fully tested at Kew Gardens!
Rating: 5 / 5