Canon PowerShot SX120IS 10MP Digital Camera with 10x

Battery Life!!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
It has been about 30 days since i bought it..

Pros:

Picture quality is real good for point and shoot camera

Zoom is pretty useful

Negatives:

Battery life is real short, if u r making alot of adjustments, it is even more short( like 70-80 photos)

Makes some noise( doesnt matter for me)

And i got this strange error the other day—-Lens error please restart!!!!—-And the thing is u cant restart because lens is not being closed properly

That just happened 1 time

I would recommend it honestly

Great Point and Shoot with a few caveats
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve done a fair amount of researching to buy a point and shoot to complement my DSLR that I already use.

Keep in mind a few things with point and shoots… they are NOT DSLR’s and will not have the same quality of picture, regardless of megapixels. Good pics are lens and lighting moreso than megapixel count.

I’ve seen a lot of negatives with “low light” and it’s fair to complain, but a good picture requires the right lighting. I’ve found that the SX120 takes good low-light pictures where there is enough light for part of your subject. I took a picture of several people doing Rock Band in a room with lots of track lighting and a mirrored ceiling. The focal point looks great but the lesser lit guitarist was a bit blurred. I took a second shot with flash and it’s much sharper, but the flash changes the look with background glare from the mirrored ceiling. Lighting matters!

I had originally bought a Samsung TL220, falling for the glam of touchscreen, dual screens (front and back) and all that stuff. I took it back because the picture quality (low light or not) simply was substandard for a $280 camera. I found the SX120 by chance at Target on sale for $199.

The SX120 takes great pictures for a point and shoot (keep that in mind!). It also has all the important features of the more expensive point and shoots (I like that it has 16:9 wide angle). But for the shutterbug that wants more, you can control shutter and aperture like a DSLR. You also control the flash, since you have to manually flip it up. Believe it or not, that’s a great feature because I don’t always remember to menu around to turn off the flash.

It is not as slim as the newest models but it is small enough for a shirt/coat pocket (albeit bulky looking in the pocket).

Keeping this from 5 stars is battery life and flash recycle. The two AA batteries that came with the camera lasted long enough for test shots and one Christmas party with sparse use. You will always need batteries on hand for this camera. The flash also takes a painful 4 to 5 seconds to regenerate… that is unacceptably slow when you need it under most circumstances.

Great camera for the advanced photographer that’s all about control
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Canon Sx120 is for the advanced photographer who wants more control than the typical digital camera, but without the extra bulk or price. I got this camera after having used the previous SX100 and Sx110 and some DSLRs. The main upgrade from the past is the DIGIC IV processor and the noise reduction at ISO 800 and 1600. In the previous SX models the noise was pretty bad, specks of odd color pixels were very obvious at high ISO, but with the SX120′s new NR processing, it’s a noticeable improvement. Granted it’s not DSLR level, but very usable for a compact digital camera. All the other features are just minor tweaks from the previous models.

This is a great camera for the money. It allows manual operation of aperture, shutter speed, even flash intensity (which comes in useful for optically triggering off-camera flashes). I wish more compact cameras allowed this kind of control for creative shooting. The aperture operation isn’t like some other manufacturers that only have 2 settings, wide and small. It actually has increments in 1/3 stop steps which gives great control. One other feature you can’t find in any other value compact digital camera is how fast the lens is. I mean how much light it lets in even when zoomed in (f2.8-f4.3). This allows faster shutter speeds to freeze the action in dimly lit areas. Most cameras have tiny lenses that lets even less light through when zoomed in, this makes the camera turn up the ISO (more noise), or slows the shutter speed (more blur). The Canon SX120 has a big enough lens to counter these effects. Even the new Canon SX200 has compromised in this area of the lens.

Other nice features of this camera I like are being able to adjust contrast, saturation, and sharpness of images. I prefer to turn these down as much as possible to capture the most data at first, I can post-process the pictures later on a computer if I wanted (alternative when RAW isn’t availble).

This camera has so many great little things about it. I’ll just list them here for completeness sake. It has great image quality, a lot of control for the user, intuitive interface, adequate performance speed for the category, uses convenient & greener AA batteries. I just have a few minor gripes that would make this an even better camera:

1) Super-fine JPG mode is not available anymore, I wish the JPG compression was more adjustable.

2) The Zoom level is not precisely displayed. I prefer an equivalent focal length display instead of an ambiguous zoom bar that only appears for a second or two when the zoom is activated.

3) Flash recharge is slow, but it’s to be expected since it uses AA batteries. This really isn’t so bad since I don’t use flash very much because the camera is able to take good photos in low-light with the big lens and good high ISO performance along with the optical image stabilizer. I get good performance out of the camera using slow-discharge NiMH batteries (don’t get the high mAH rating ones, they have a high self-discharge rate).

4) There’s no way to turn off the auto-lens retraction when playing back images, which resets the settings when I turn the camera back on to shoot again (I have to readjust my zoom level and exposure compensation settings for example.)

5) Wide-angle isn’t very wide at 36mm EFL, I prefer a bit wider and give up some in the telephoto end, while keeping the same lens performance.

6) Video recording is ok (640×480 in mJPEG), optical zoom disabled while recording. I dont’ take a lot of videos and figured this camera is really for taking creative still photos. So it’s an ok compromise for me.

Good if your target isn’t moving
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
A little history about me: I am by no means a professional, but I do know a little bit about cameras. I am used to 35mm cameras (you know, where you buy the camera body and lens seperate hehe) I have owned a Honeywell Pentax screwmount and an Asai Pentax bayonette mount.

I have owned a few other $600 digital cameras, all Kodaks, and even though they took some getting used to, I liked them and they did what I needed them to do.

I owned the Cannon Powershot SX120 camera for one day and then returned it and got my money back. I gave it quite a workout, enough to wear out the batteries that came with it. I didn’t own it long enough to test out Lithium batteries or rechargeable batteries. It just wasn’t what I needed or wanted in a camera.

PROS:

– Decent picture quality

– Decent pictures even on ISO 3200

– Great macro features, even in dim light

– Good Auto / Easy Mode

– Lens cap built in

– Light and portable (although that didn’t matter to me, I’m used to having a heavy camera hanging from my neck by a strap. I know it matters to some)

CONS:

– DOES NOT take good ACTION PICTURES IN ANY LIGHT! (I tried it with indoor light and then gave it the benefit of doubt by trying it in daylight… tried it on several different settings: Auto, Easy, Kids&Pets, Manual… nada, nothing…. it doesn’t take good action pictures FULL STOP)

– Manual control wheel felt flimsy

This camera is great for the casual picutre taker who doesn’t need special features.

I have children and I love taking action shots, sports events, kids in mid motion etc, and this camera was definitely not what I needed in this departement. Granted, I also love taking macro shots, which this camera IS good for.

In short, I decided to wait until I could save up enough money to get a better camera for what I needed instead of settling for this one.

Hope this helps… and if I think of anything else I will definitely post an update.

Cindy, Macon GA

Great!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great camera. The picture quality is so much better than our last camera. We are really happy with it.

Great indoor pictures!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this after my son broke my Pentax Optio S60, which I’d been disappointed with but kept using for five years due to sentimental reasons. (I bought the Pentax in Japan and got great pictures of my trip, but when I had a baby and took pictures mostly in low-light indoor settings, I realized I needed to upgrade.)

Anyway, there are already enough technical reviews. Let me just simply state that if you’re like me and just want high-quality captures of your memories (especially of your growing child) without spending a ton of money, you will not be disappointed with this camera.

My main problems with my Pentax camera (still on the market at $329!) were with the lighting and stability. I had to use the flash in every setting except bright daylight or I got nothing but a blur. I adjusted the flash settings time and again, but faces still got bleached out if I shot closer than four feet away, and at more than about ten feet, objects became fuzzy. The picture was fine, but the colors were nowhere near as true as with this Canon. The video was pretty bad–very grainy, a puff of wind sounded like a tornado, and the lighting had to be perfect if you didn’t want everything to be shaded out.

With this camera, I can even get decent photos indoors without the flash, though at best they’re pretty soft. With the Indoor scene setting, I was amazed at the lack of noise and how even the lighting was. The colors were true all over; background and subject looked vivid and sharp.

The video is much better than what I got with my Pentax. My son’s face is clear even when the light is behind him.

My complaints aren’t big. I do wish they’d included a more detailed instruction book. It tells you how to manage basic functions, but some of the features aren’t mentioned at all, and you’d have to dig around a lot in the menus to know they’re there. After checking the Canon official website, I still couldn’t find the complete instructions.

I also wish there were more scene options. The Canon website claims there are eight. On the button on the top of the camera there are five and an option that just says SCN, but if this is supposed to lead to some menu with further options, I haven’t yet found a button that opens it.

Finally, there’s a bit of an annoying delay sometimes when you use the flash. It can take a couple of seconds to shoot, even if you use the Kids & Pets scene setting, which does minimize blur in the shot but isn’t much good for catching a snapshot moment.

Final thought: you’ll be very pleased with the quality you get for the price of this camera. I only wish I’d bought it before I had my son; I wish all of his early pictures could look as good as the ones I take now!

A very impressive camera for the price with some really stupid software…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was looking for the best zoom with image-stabilization in the under-$200 category and I’m pretty sure I’ve found it. In addition, I got what seems to be the smartest camera in its class. Unfortunately, the people who designed it were thinking more about getting the images onto the camera than getting the images off. It doesn’t mount as a USB mass-storage device and the bundled software is total “poo.” It’s a good camera, but save yourself a headache and get a card reader if you don’t have one already.

I paid about $20 less than Amazon’s price for this camera, which put it in the same price range as a typical 3x-zoom pocket Panasonic, Pentax or Kodak camera, but IMHO it’s better than any of those and way better than the Olympus cameras I’ve tried that cost more. Some of those other cameras will be 12-megapixels while this one’s a “mere” 10MP, but don’t buy into the megapixel myth.

*_Pros:

10x optical zoom for the price of a 3x zoom camera. The image-stabilization makes it a snap to get great pics while zoomed to the max.

Picture quality is very nice. With decent lighting there’s little noise, banding or color-shifting, even at the edges of the images where other cameras tend to sneak it in. Indoors, in Auto mode there’s some fine noise in the red and green channels that’s easily detectable, but about on-par with cameras in this price-range.

The Auto setting gets you shooting high quality pictures in a hurry. About 2 seconds from power-on to the first shot.

If, like me, you love to fiddle, this thing offers lots of manual settings. ISO, WB, manual focus, aperture control, custom exposure time up to 15 seconds… The Manual settings are especially useful for indoor and macro shots.

People complain about the camera eating batteries. The cheap batteries that it came with were depleted before I’d finished reviewing the controls, but with Energizer Titaniums I easily got at least 250 shots — some with flash — before the batteries ran down. I haven’t tried Lithium yet.

The little battery used just for keeping time. Sometimes I leave my camera shelved for a month or two and with previous cameras I’d have to set the time and date and other presets all over again. This camera: No pain.

Duplicating images and some tweaking including red-eye correction can done be while browsing images in Playback mode instead of at the time of the shot.

The camera can be set to display detailed image data including a histogram when a picture is displayed at the time that it’s shot and also later in the Preview mode.

Pop-up flash with fine flash controls.

Uses standard AA batteries. No proprietary charger to deal with.

I honestly don’t know that the auto face recognition does anything to improve my picture-taking, but it’s fun to play with when you’ve got lots of people in a shot and the time to fuss around.

…

*_Cons:

While the manual says that the camera’s memory card will mount on a Mac or PC using the supplied USB cable, I’ve found that it simply doesn’t work and a little Googling confirmed that this is an epic fail for almost all Canon cameras. The camera is detected on the USB bus, but it’s never mounted as a mass-storage device. I’ve got a card reader so it isn’t a big deal, but it’s annoying. Notably, if you lack a card-reader and if you’ve got a Mac, Apple’s Image Capture software — bundled with the OS — detects the camera and lets you copy the images anywhere on your drive quite efficiently. This is in contrast to…

The “Camera Window” software that Canon wants you to use to get images and movies off of the memory card is one of the most stupid inefficient pieces of crud ever to pollute my computer. It has almost no configurable options, shows thumbnails but doesn’t allow a user to simply drag and drop images to the Desktop or to a convenient folder and forces the user to import the images into an awful awful awful proprietary image-catalog application. Whoever decided to push this lousy software on us deserves to be tarred and feathered and publicly flogged. I just want the memory card on my camera to mount on my computer so that I can copy my pictures to wherever the heck I want and decide for myself how I want my images cataloged. Almost every digital camera did that 10 years ago. Why is it so hard for modern camera-makers to do this?!!

WB suffers a lot indoors when using the Auto mode without the flash.

The camera’s display tends to make images look brighter and more saturated than they actually are. Plan accordingly.

Continuous shooting has a delay of about a second between shots. It should be faster.

When shooting video, the WB and ISO seem to be stuck at whatever setting they are at when the camera starts recording so moving from a bright room to a darker room makes for color-shifts and noise.

Also when shooting video, the optical zoom is stuck at whatever setting you had when you started recording. You can’t zoom out from there and zooming in from that point is digital-only and adds noise.

…

*_Nit-Picking:

The plastic case makes it seem like this camera is low-end when it just ain’t.

The battery compartment can be hard to open. There should be some grooves in the battery-door to help you get the traction to slide the door out to the position where it swings open. I’ve found a trick to doing it with minimal effort: Move the little button with your fingernail, then keep your fingernail in the slot and push with the edge of your nail towards the side of the camera to slide the battery-door out to the point where it can swing open.

Movies are shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio (640×480, AVI, MJPEG compression with raw 8-bit/11KHz mono audio). They are generally of excellent quality — good enough to stand in for a camcorder in a pinch — but modern devices should shoot in 16:9 instead of 4:3. Oddly, VLC reports encoding errors in the movie files, but QuickTime 7 has no problem with them.

It’s not really big or heavy, but this is not a camera that can easily fit in a pants-pocket. It does fit in the inside pocket on some of my coats. I actually went out and got a little camera case with a belt-loop and shoulder-strap for mine so I don’t have to worry about it dangling from my wrist when I’m not using it.

The big white wrist strap that mine came with is ugly. I replaced it with a svelte gray strap from another camera.

The PhotoStitch software that it comes with crashes instantly under Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6. I didn’t buy it for the cheezy software, but if you want to make panaramas be warned.

The images are saved at 180dpi. I’ve noticed this with other Canon cameras. I can see a rationale for 72 dpi. I can see 96 or 244 or 300dpi. Why 180dpi? I know that it’s arbitrary and largely meaningless, but that number is just weird.

I wish this camera would save pictures in LZW TIFF or RAW format. I hate JPEG.

…

Okay, so you’ve read this far and you see lots of criticisms. I still recommend this camera. It takes good pictures, it’s got a great zoom with some of the best image-stabilization I’ve seen and the interface is suitable for both the neophyte and the advanced amateur user. It’s a sweet camera and the price is fantastic for what you get. If you want better, you’re going to end up paying a lot more.

Disappointed with Cannon
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I am a real estate appraiser and wanted a compact wide angle camera. This camera is not really that. Also, many times I must change flash from Auto to Forced on. This is almost impossible with this camera. I use the sports mode in my other Cannon, this camera does not have it. Camera does not come with an instruction manual which I read, you must download it. That is really tacky. All in all, I am very disappointed with this Cannon camera and I would not recommend it.

Great Image Quality but Poor Battery Life was a Deal Killer
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
UPDATE: After owning this camera for over a month, I ended up returning it to my local electronics store. I tried using high-quality rechargeable batteries but it was still only giving me maybe 50 shots per charge which to me, is unacceptable. I do like to REVIEW my pictures after I take them but that shouldn’t drain the battery THAT much. The final straw was yesterday when I tried to take pictures of my children opening their presents at our cousin’s house. The battery was completely DEAD and it wouldn’t even shut off properly- the lens was protruding. Luckily, the store let me exchange it without a restock fee. I traded it in for the SONY H20 which sports a 10x Optical Zoom, HD movie mode, and a lithium battery…watch for my review in the upcoming weeks. I will admit that it did have “great” image quality but what is the point of owning a portable digital camera if you have to constantly worry about the battery life? I didn’t want to spend the next 2-5 yrs always having to carry 2x AAs with me wherever I went. Below is my original review:

I have owned my share of digital cameras including a 3 MP Nikon Coolpix that I bought back in 2001 for way too much money. I also own a Pentax dSLR but everyone needs a “compact” camera. I am a big fan of Canon Powershots but after my recent trip to the US OPEN, was craving a slighly larger camera with much larger Zoom capability. I was debating between this one and the New Fuji 72EXR. One of my travel mates owns the SX110IS and raved about it and I loved the photo quality of her pictures so I was leaning towards the Canon. Plus, there’s something about to be said about Canon “color”…Fuji color (I owned the Fuji F30), in general, is definitely “cooler”. And I personally found the dials and menus on the New Fuji a tad too complicated. So on my recent trip to Best Buy, I picked up the Canon SX120IS after much deliberation. I can’t say that I regret my purchase as the photo quality is amazing but there are definitely some drawbacks you need to be aware of.

First, I found out during my daughter’s Girls Scout ceremony, which was held in the gymnasium of her school, that the FLASH RECYCLE TIME can be very long…it took about 4-6 seconds between photos. Granted, it was in the gymnasium but I wasn’t expect it to take THAT long between Flash pictures. After all, it is a 2009 model right? I will post a picture later that is supposed to show them holding up signs to spell D-A-I-S-Y but instead shows them putting down the cards as I missed the shot. I read somewhere that the use of 2 “AA”s (vs lithium batteries) is what causes the longer flash recycle times. I do wish that it came with Lithium batteries which leads me to next criticism. Second, the batteries do not last nearly long enough. I got the camera on Wednesday and by Friday, it was flashing the Low battery sign. Granted, I had several events in between but my old Canon Powershot would have easily lasted another couple of weeks. Third, the battery case feels flimsy and unfortunately, the SD card slot is located next to the battery so I end up opening it more than I would like. I would plug it to my PC using an USB plug but again, it would drain the battery. Fourth, the strap it comes with is way too flimsy for the camera. It looks like the same strap they use on their tiny SD30 cameras. I ended up ordering a sturdier leather strap from Gordy’s camera straps. So far, these are my four drawbacks with #1 and #2 being the major ones. I can live with complaints # 3 and #4.

If you have read up to this point you might ask “Why are you keeping the camera then?” I am not 100% sure that I am. If I get too frustrated by the flash recycle times and poor battery life, I might just have to return it. But for now, I want to try to work within its limitations for two reasons: Great Image Quality and 10x Zoom. I don’t “need” HD video (it would have been a nice bonus) or super-slim factor but I do require Great Image Quality and wanted the extra Zoom. As for the flash recycle times, in most cases, it’s much faster than it was in the gymnasium. And I do have a battery charger + rechargeables I will dust off and try. I will update this review if I decide to either return it or have learned to LOVE IT despite its limitations. If you do buy this camera, definitely invest in a screen protector.

So far so good
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am still learning how to operate my camera. I would have preferred a written manual to the CD simply because with my lifestyle I am not always near a computer to access the manual. I like to read at night and I can study the written manual and re-read functions that I intend to use. I almost returned the camera because I could not find any written reference to delayed shots. This feature is very important to my lifestyle and after several days of frustration I popped in the CD and there it was. The CD may work for some lifestyle but is a huge hassel for me. I want a written manual with all the details. V.Thomas KC,MO

This one’s just right
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Canon PowerShot SX120IS could be the right choice if you are looking for a quality “point and shoot” camera that also has full manual control available. It has the “Auto” mode right there in green on the “Mode dial” on top of the camera, set that and you’ll be taking great pictures immediately. All the standard picture-optimizing software that Canon uses in nearly all their low and mid priced models is on board, including image stabilization, red eye control and multiple face recognition. The autofocus technology is quite advanced. There are modes to lock in shutter speed or aperture as well the manual mode for exploring more advanced photography, and presets for many different shooting situations. The Video is not HD but it lookes great on my 42″ flat screen TV straight from the camera using the AV cable, as do the pictures.

A similar Canon would have cost at least another hundred dollars two years ago, from what I’ve seen.

The “getting started” section of the manual is a printed booklet; the complete book, over one hundred pages worth, is on the accompanying disc.

Buy this model for its 40x total optical and digital combined zoom, the nice sized bright three inch screen, and the neat self-closing lens cover. The flip-up flash is definitively off until you raise it.

I like the solid heavy feel and sleek black styling that make it look and feel like the quality camera it is. Frankly, it resembles strongly its more pricey high-end Canon cousins.

I muted the sound effects, I don’t need a little fanfare every time I turn the camera on, a cheesy fake mechanical shutter noise, or the other assorted boops and beeps.

The AA batteries that come with the camera died quickly. New alkalines were better but really, the thing to do is buy a charger with four rechargeable NiMH batteries, they last three times as long and you’ll always have a fresh pair ready. A 20 dollar or so investment will pay for itself in a few charges.

Be sure to buy a case that fits well and keep the camera in it. I bought a soft-sided zip-up from caseLOGIC to keep dust out and scratches off the body and screen since I am really happy with this cool little camera and I want to keep it like new.

Great value
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am thoroughly enjoying this camera. I’m just back from a trip out west and am very pleased with the quality of photos I came home with. I haven’t yet mastered all the special settings, but when I did use them, they performed beautifully. I had wanted a better camera than the several year old digital that I had, but didn’t want to get into the world of SLR’s and this camera is a terrific compromise between size and quality.