Canon PowerShot SX1 IS Reviews Analysis

Digital camera - compact - 10.0 Mpix - optical zoom: 20 x - supported memory: MMC, SD, SDHC, MMCplus More product details

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297 reviews

November, 2009

78 / 100

75 Experts

Product Age

old

new

80 / 100

222 Users

What people think about the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS: (BETA!)

We compute this summary by analyzing 297 reviews from across the web.

image quality

some image artifacts
some image artefacts
Inconsistent still image quality
image quality not great
image quality not great, pretty useless viewfinder, can be overly complicated to setup, CD manual

Great image quality
Good movie quality with high quality stereo sound
Accurate image colors with custom WB
high quality
Picture Quality

I would like to have a 720 option since that is still pretty decent quality

Ever reliable Canon picture quality
Fantastic image quality even at full zoom
and evening photo quality
Great video quality, great morning, day, and evening photo quality

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price

0.5

Expensive
• Rather expensive at $599
DSLR price
DSLR price, no DSLR response
Pricey

Just look at the price

very expensive
very expensive, might be stolen
Too Pricey
Quality could be better in low light situations but it is still perfect for the price

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performance

speedy performance
Fast continuous shooting mode (with AF off)
Fast and responsive
Relatively fast
Speed: super quick

SLR like performance
Fast & Responsive
Fast response time

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focus

Focus hunts in low light situations and at the longer end of the zoom range
The SX1 still suffers to focus in low light
The SX1 still suffers to focus in low light, it's no better than the S3 in this respect
When it is hunting it passes through what looks like an in focus image
When it is hunting it passes through what looks like an in focus image, but then just continues hunting and stops on a blur

Generally accurate focus gives a high 'hit rate' even in auto mode
Good resolution, Good color, Generally accurate focus gives a high 'hit rate' even in auto mode, Huge photographic versatility with 28-560mm lens and super macro mode, Image stabilization works very well (and can be used in movie mode), Fast continuous shooting mode (with AF off), 1080p (1920x1080
Reliable focus system
Accurate image colors with custom WB, Low optical distortion except at wide-angle, Reliable focus system, Excellent 0cm macro mode, Very fast continuous drive for an ultra-zoom, Quite responsive, Good LCD visibility, Solid build quality, Good battery life

There appears to be more shutter lag than the S3 (after pre-focus
Don't expect to get a good focus off of this camera

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color

0.5

Some chromatic aberration issues
Poor automatic white-balance
High chromatic aberrations
Loss of details even at low ISO, Nearly useless ISO 800 and 1600, Limited dynamic range, Poor automatic white-balance, High chromatic aberrations, 1s Shutter-speed limit in manual mode, Slow flash recharge cycle time, Poor resolution EVF, Pricey

Good color
Great color in bright clean light

lens

Lens is prone to chromatic aberration and purple fringing
• Long zoom lens range
lens lid has no string to hang on
Lens cap
Lens cap, as per previous models

wide-angle lens
Huge photographic versatility with 28-560mm lens and super macro mode
Impressively low distortion for such a large lens
Low optical distortion except at wide-angle
a point and shoot 20x lens

the message is: "Objective lens error
Sometimes a error message appear when I´m using the zoom, the message is: "Objective lens error, restart the camera", but it´s rare

Whisper quiet USM lens + antishake

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zoom

• Wide zoom setting is not particularly wide
Sometimes a error message appear when I´m using the zoom

Huge 20x zoom
20x optical zoom
20x wide-angle zoom
Very fast continuous drive for an ultra-zoom
20x optical zoom, swivel LCD and OIS are big bonuses

user friendly and auto zoom
ability to shoot at any condition, user friendly and auto zoom
good zoom
high quality,good zoom
Great optical qulaity even a t full zoom
Great pic quality as usual, zoom if fantastic and smooth, great rotatable screen
Zoom: You can film the moon
Amazing zoom capability
HUGE zoom + wide angle in one neat package
Nice zoom
Favorite feature is the zoom: I can read tail numbers off airplanes and almost read my neighbor's mail from inside their mailbox

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memory

SDHC storage up to 32gb

LCD

disappointing LCD screen

rotating screen
Photo quality - HD movies - flip out and twist LCD screen - high speed shooting at 4 frames per second - optical zoom available for movies
Good screen
Good LCD visibility
swivel LCD and OIS are big bonuses

reasonably good LCD screen
a point and shoot 20x lens, reasonably good LCD screen
Large swivel LCD
and I like the fold out LCD screen
It's light weight, and I like the fold out LCD screen
The flip and tilt screen is perfect for high
The flip and tilt screen is perfect for high, low, angled, or self-portrait shots

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video

Terrible HD video low light performance
No 720p video support
Should have had a 720p video mode as well
H264 HD video is beautiful but you can only do 1080 not 720
1080 video plays choppy even on a respectable PC

1080p video recording
Huge 20x zoom, 1080p video recording, excellent pictures, incredible burst mode, speedy performance, rotating screen, wide-angle lens
Full HD video recording
Great image quality, Full HD video recording, 20x optical zoom, dSLR feature set
HD video recording at 30 fps

Some jelly effect on video but only if wobbling it around in an abnormal way
When shooting video the zoom makes too much noise and can be heard on the video
Video records in .MOV format which is unfriendly to Windows users

good 1080P video at 30 fps
good HD video
good hi-def video
Great HD video quality in bright light
HD video
True HDD video at this price bracket is always going to be a winner in my bks
Great HD video quality
High Def Video is beautiful
video is fine and looks good i suggest NOT to use quicktime to play it back or will be choppy
Great video quality
The option for the HD video is why I went with this one instead of the SX10 IS
the Full HD video is awsome

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usability

4.5

CD manual
F5.7 to F8.0 at full tele is not much use
F5.7 to F8.0 at full tele is not much use, though probably to be expected
Command dial at the back difficult to use

Enjoyable and easy to use
Lots of shooting scenes to choose from without having to play with manual settings
I use cccp codecs zoom player but you can also use nero showtime - one of these should give better performance

interface

0.5

quirky interface

Great design and interface

flash

0.5

Shutter lag time with flash
no auto pop-up flash
Slow flash recharge cycle time
The flash
takes a long time to recharge after lots of shots using the flash (especially at F8

Ext Flash horsehoe- no more worries abt low light situations

The flash, as with the S3, takes a long time to recharge after lots of shots using the flash (especially at F8
Adding an external flash with a more powerful AF assist lamp fixed that
adding the external flash made it irrelevant for me
Can't really fix that but, adding the external flash made it irrelevant for me

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viewfinder

0.5

Electronic viewfinder may be improved
pretty useless viewfinder
viewfinder screen not much use
Pricey, viewfinder screen not much use, slight clicking noise at end of zooming in whilst doing HD movie recording
Disappointing Digital viewfinder is poor

Disappointing Digital viewfinder is poor, but usable, barely

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contrast

0.5

Fringing in corners with high contrast subjects., Battery life shorter than SX10 IS., Small viewfinder image, especially at 4:3., Slightly noisier than the SX10 IS., Fringing in corners with high contrast subjects., Battery life shorter than SX10 IS., Small viewfinder image, especially at 4:3., Slightly noisier than the SX10 IS
Sometimes I feel like contrast is a little high

sensor

1.5

Sensor is really small
A 2/3" sensor would have boost the dynamic range

CMOS sensor

resolution

0.5

• Records video at a higher resolution than the Sony HX1
Poor resolution EVF

Good resolution

battery

4.5

No rechargeable batteries supplied in the box
But again one cannot get everything in one pack

Good battery life
4AA batteries mean no longer worrying if your proprietary battery will ever be discontinued (for those sentimentalists who hang onto their cameras for a long time
Lots of shots with rechargeables AA batteries

0.5

Little glitch on the menu that causes to repeatly

shutter

0.5

1s Shutter-speed limit in manual mode
No shutter speed past one second unless you use a Scene mode

build quality

Build quality

Solid construction and good handling
Solid build quality
Very good build quality

screen

Massive 20x range with 28mm wide angle., Full HD video in 1080p with stereo sound., Fast continuous shooting at 4fps., Fully articulated 2.8in screen., Massive 20x range with 28mm wide angle., Full HD video in 1080p with stereo sound., Fast continuous shooting at 4fps., Fully articulated 2.8in screen
I ran a system monitor when i played them and using quicktime and quicktime loader was in the red
if you like to make nice photos but you are not a pofessional this is the device
And there are a lot of cool functions, if you like to make nice photos but you are not a pofessional this is the device

remote control

2.5