Canon PowerShot SX10 IS review

Powerful 20x optical zoom bridges the gulf between amateur and professional photography

Those in the photographic know often find themselves in disputes with other experts when it comes to bridge cameras. Do they offer enough to both amateurs and professionals, or are the compensating factors lacking? It means that manufacturers are increasingly finding that they have to really dazzle with the cameras coming off the production line aimed at this tricky consumer middle ground, but it seems as though Canon has got it right with the PowerShot SX10 IS.

The next step up from digital compact cameras, this superzoom instantly looks and feels the part for the semi-professional photographer. Its build quality is strong and sturdy, while its smooth, carbon black body is aesthetically pleasing. With the four AA batteries that powers the SX10 IS inserted, there’s a significant weight when holding it, but not enough to prove awkward while out in the field.

We can’t go much further without mentioning the Canon’s big feature, and that is its huge 20x wide-angle optical zoom lens. Alongside the built-in optical image stabilisation, which really counteracts camera shake well, and the camera’s ten effective megapixels, these all combine to give the photographer a great chance at capturing memorable images with distance barely being an issue. The 20x optical zoom fares well against its competitors, matching the Olympus SP-570UZ’s 20x zoom (which claims to be ‘the world’s strongest zoom’) and surpassing the Fujifilm FinePix S2000HD’s 15x optical zoom. The 28-560mm focal length allows snappers to add wide vistas to their photographic portfolio, which just adds to the benefits of this bridge camera. What’s more, Canon has thought to include an area on the front of the lens where the user can add different filters to achieve dramatically different shots at minimal extra cost.

Back to the body, and all of the SX10 IS’s buttons are within easy reach without the need for any unnecessary finger gymnastics. The compartments for the USB, DC and AV ports, as well as the memory card (of which the SX10 IS takes a variety of SD, SDHC and MMC cards) are all subtle and unintrusive. Additionally, the area for the batteries is reassuringly safe, with an extra locking mechanism keeping them in place. There’s a multi-control dial on the back plate that is a little fiddly to operate, although the Mode dial requires a firm, assured push to click each option into place, similar to the flip-out LCD screen. This 2.5-inch vari-angle screen can be rotated and manoeuvred around for total clarification when attempting to capture those tricky shots that can’t be judged by looking through the viewfinder or at an LCD screen fixed to the camera’s body. As a family-friendly aside, this is also brilliantly utilised when used in conjunction with Canon’s Self-timer function. This feature waits until you have entered the frame before beginning its countdown, allowing for fantastic solo or group shots.

In terms of performance, focusing times are fairly slow when close to maximum zoom, averaging out at around five seconds to get the image in a decent enough focus. On a few occasions, the camera wasn’t able to bring out the full vibrancy of colours in some of the environment it was attempting to capture, which was slightly disappointing. To compensate for this, the SX10 IS does offer full manual control, although someone stepping up from compacts ought not dive straight in here as there is plenty enough to be trying out in the meantime, which will gradually build up their photographic experience with this feature-packed camera, learning a few lessons the hard way doubtlessly.

Available on the market for around £250, anyone looking to upgrade any time soon may want to stop their search, as this is a great learning aid for the semipro photographer, as well as an effort that Canon should be extremely proud of.