Canon PowerShot SX210 IS Digital Camera – Purple (14.1 MP, 14x Optical Zoom) 3.0 Inch PureColor LCD
Posted by Notcot on Oct 14, 2010 in Photography |
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.
- Maximum resolution: 4320 x 3240 pixels
- Memory Stick Pro (MS Pro) support: N
- Compatible memory cards: MMC+ HC MMC+
- Centre-weighted: Y
- Compatible operating systems: Win 7/ Vista SP1-2
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Review by Mr. Martin Houlton for Canon PowerShot SX210 IS Digital Camera – Purple (14.1 MP, 14x Optical Zoom) 3.0 Inch PureColor LCD
(5 / 5)
Rating:
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!
Review by Lumpster for Canon PowerShot SX210 IS Digital Camera – Purple (14.1 MP, 14x Optical Zoom) 3.0 Inch PureColor LCD
(5 / 5)
Rating:
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.
Review by Davie 66 for Canon PowerShot SX210 IS Digital Camera – Purple (14.1 MP, 14x Optical Zoom) 3.0 Inch PureColor LCD
(2 / 5)
Rating:
Given the positive reviews so far for this camera – I am assuming mine was faulty as I had to send it back to Amazon. I’ve bought Canon products often and can’t really think of any previous instance of being disappointed with their products. I have an EOS 350 DSLR and it’s still my first choice when I want really excellent quality image results. However, our much-loved family Canon Powershot A95 point and shoot died recently so we chose the Powershot SX210 IS as our new family camera due to the positive reviews and impressive spec. On first inspection, it’s a nice looking camera. It feels robust, the design is attractive and the weight is comfortable in the hand. The only criticism I’ve read on Amazon is about the flash being poorly situated and popping up whenever you switch on. However, the positioning didn’t bother me and I found that if you rest your finger gently over the housing when you switch on, the flash gun stays in its recess.
Switching on, one is immediately impressed by the sizable screen space at the back. The controls feel sturdy and responsive and the new Canon software is very slick, intuitive and fun to use. The indicated battery life is poor compared to the A95 (which took 4 x AA batteries), but the camera is much lighter with its dedicated battery. So far, so good. But then I attempted to take photos and shoot video with it. My criteria here is fairly straightforward – with the DSLR, I’m prepared to spend a bit of time with the settings to compose the best shot for the conditions I’m shooting in – with a point and shoot camera, I expect it to do all the thinking so I just relax and catch those impromptu family moments. With the A95 this approach produced perfectly usable shots 9 out of 10 times. On the SX210, it was more like 2 out of 10 good shots.
In bright sunny weather, I found blue skies to appear very artificial as if overly processed in Photoshop, with severe purple fringing. I also found in practice that lovely screen very difficult to see in sunlight. Auto focus appeared to be quick and responsive – until I downloaded the images. Just about any slight movement in the shot caused some degree of blurring in the image – regardless of which settings I used. Colours frequently seemed unreal – not something I would normally associate with Canon – lovely warm colours on both my other Canon cameras. In particular, on still shots, the camera could not focus in macro mode – I tried 100 different positions around several objects and never achieved a sharp image.
On the video, the 720p resolution was one of the main reasons we chose this camera as our old Powershot only had 640. Unfortunately, the video was unusable in practice – the feature uses auto focus and auto white balance, and both were active constantly during shooting. Even without using the zoom, in a living room with controlled lighting and filming my daughter seated and playing, the camera continually refocused and changed the light balance. I contacted Canon to try and troubleshoot this problem but was advised just to return the camera. It appears you cannot disable these features.
I’m really hoping this was a faulty camera as the SX210 looks and feels like a quality point and shoot – but this experience has made we wary about replacing it for the same model. A few photography blogs that have reviewed the SX210 have alluded to the limitations of putting 14m megapixels on such a small chip and described the sorts of issues that I experienced in the stills I took with this camera.
Review by Bridge for Canon PowerShot SX210 IS Digital Camera – Purple (14.1 MP, 14x Optical Zoom) 3.0 Inch PureColor LCD
(5 / 5)
Rating:
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!
Review by Egg for Canon PowerShot SX210 IS Digital Camera – Purple (14.1 MP, 14x Optical Zoom) 3.0 Inch PureColor LCD
(5 / 5)
Rating:
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.