Canon PowerShot SX20 IS Review

The Canon PowerShot SX20 IS particularly impressive with its 20x optical zoom. The focal length range extends from wide-angle 28 to 560 mm with a speed of F2.8 to F5.7. Following the current trend, Canon integrates an HD video function with stereo sound. In addition, the 12-megapixel camera offers a foldable and tiltable display. As with all cameras in this class, there are many special functions, such as “Face Detection” in conjunction with the self-timer. The Canon PowerShot SX20 IS was tested here by us through standard practice and software testing.

Pros And Cons Of The Canon PowerShot SX20 IS

Pros

• Good adaptation possibilities
• System hot shoe
• HD video function with good picture and sound quality
• Bright, rotatable and tiltable display
• Large zoom range

Cons

• Relatively strong artifacts on fine structures
• No RAW/CR2 mode
• Very highly compressed files

 

Ergonomics and Workmanship

The Canon PowerShot SX20 IS immediately comfortable in the hand. The housing made of high-quality plastic makes a solid impression and is well manufactured. The flaps, behind which the connectors and batteries are located, are not too smooth and snap in clearly when closed; this makes the camera suitable for everyday use.

The zoom rocker is easy to reach and works evenly over the entire zoom range. When the zoom rocker is operated, the display shows the minimum object distance that the camera needs to focus.

The selector wheel combined with the 4-way rocker switch with the important functions such as ISO setting, self-timer or macro and super macro is mounted on the back of the camera next to the display and is easy to operate with the thumb.

The back of the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS also features a recording button for the HD video function, which can be used at any time and which can be activated without complicated adjustments from normal camera operation. On the top of the camera, to the right of the flash is the program dial with all the scene mode programs.

The button to the left of the flash, which must be folded out manually, can be used to adjust settings such as sync when using the flash.

The display is not too large at 2.5 inches (6.4 cm). However, when working it proves to be good. It was particularly convincing for outdoor shots. Compared to many other cameras in this price segment, it is 0.5 inches smaller, but this has a positive effect on power consumption; however, the resolution of 230,000 pixels is just as high as with many 3″ displays.

The automatic recognition of the camera position is a pleasant feature. When viewing, all images (whether portrait or landscape) are automatically adjusted to the camera position. The display can be rotated 180° both horizontally and vertically. For very bright environments, there is also an electronic viewfinder with dioptre compensation. Here the images appear very rich in contrast.

On the right side of the camera, all necessary connections as well as the slot for the SD(HC) card are located in the handle. The connections are all easily accessible. The USB connection complies with the 2.0 standard and enables fast data exchange when no card reader is used.

The HDMI connection is particularly noteworthy, which allows you to watch HD videos in digital quality. For the power supply, Canon has chosen standard AA batteries or rechargeable batteries for the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. An optional power supply is available from Canon. On the lower side there is a tripod thread made of metal. Including batteries and memory card, the camera weighs 645 g.

 

 

Equipment And Features

Outstanding from the wide range of technical equipment is the large zoom range. With 28 to 560 mm a 20x zoom is available. With the zoom rocker the focal length can be changed in two speeds. This makes it possible to react quickly as well as to define the image section exactly. The ultrasonic motor ensures a pleasantly quiet zoom. In addition, the reliable optical image stabilizer ensures a steady image and less camera shake, which is especially important for telephoto shots.

 

In addition to the standard functions such as aperture and shutter priority, program mode, and manual mode, the program dial also features various subject programs. For beginners, the Auto Scene Detection is valuable, which automatically adjusts the complete settings to the environmental conditions.

A stitching assistant makes panorama shots easier, but you have to stitch them together afterwards on the computer with the included software. The video mode is also available on the program dial but can be started at any time by pressing the record button.

For the macro enthusiast, the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS offers a Super Macro function that sets the closest focusing distance to 0 cm. The camera determines the focal length itself. However, the illumination of the subject is difficult – some insects flee because of the approaching lens. In the continuous shooting mode, the camera delivered a rate of approx. 1 image/s in the test as well as in the information from Canon and this over a long period of time until the memory card is full.

 

 

In the test for this review, the video function, which allows optical zooming during recording, was very convincing – even the autofocus remains active. The HD quality shots were quite good even in low light. The maximum recording time is 29 minutes unless the maximum memory size of 4 GBytes per movie is reached before. A pleasant detail: the sensitivity of the stereo microphones can even be adjusted, including the windscreen. The quality of the audio recordings was a positive surprise. The video files are saved as MOV files and can be played back with Apple Quicktime, among others. Because the videos are stored in H.264 format, the memory requirement is less than that of Motion-JPEG without any loss of quality.

The flash offers not only the usual settings such as red-eye reduction but also flash exposure correction by +/-2 f-stops in 1/3 steps. The synchronization can also be set to the 2nd shutter speed to achieve rewind effects. The hot shoe offers the possibility of using an external flash unit. However, external system flashes cannot be triggered via the internal wireless with TTL metering. In return, the performance of the internal flash is convincing, which enables good results even in problematic lighting situations.

 

 

For “self-portraits” or selfies, the PowerShot Canon PowerShot SX20 IS offers the smart combination of self-timer and face detection. It is relatively easy to use and automatically creates as many images as you have previously set in the settings when a face appears.

The MyColors function allows you to change the colors of your images into different styles, such as vibrant blue, sepia, or black and white, just to name a few. The modified images can then be saved as additional files.

The measuring field for the autofocus can be moved almost freely on the image using the selection wheel in the programs provided for this purpose and can be resized. The autofocus speed of 0.5-0.7 s is in the average range for this camera class.

 

Image quality For The Canon PowerShot SX20 IS

Overall, the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS delivered good results in the test. With a lot of light, especially outdoors, it convinced with natural colors. Indoors, the automatic white balance ensures a relatively neutral display – even when using the flash.

The resolution is good both up and down but also shows a slight edge drop, which is completely okay for such an enormous zoom range.

Remarkable is the very high resolution in the center of the image with open aperture at wide-angle so that the relative edge drop is more prominent here. Faded down, the resolution is a little bit lower overall, which is due to diffraction effects and clearly shows that at a 12-megapixel resolution on the small 1/2.3″ CCD sensor the limit of what is physically reasonable is reached.

The image noise is very low up to ISO 200. At ISO 400 and above, the noise is well smoothed out, but the loss of detail increases with sensitivity. Remarkable is the occurring artifacts like aliasing and moiré effects on fine structures due to the aggressive detail processing.

Here the camera is somewhat behind the competitors. Sharpness, on the other hand, is well balanced and does not show any significant negative effects.

 

The darkening of the edges is surprisingly low. With a lens of this type, this can only be achieved by software-based correction. The lens shows barrel distortion in the wide-angle range, which is slightly annoying especially when photographing landscapes or buildings. At medium and long focal length, on the other hand, the distortion is very low.

The PowerShot handles high subject contrasts quite well, with a dynamic range of around 8.8 f-stops at ISO 80 and 100, and even 8 f-stops at ISO 800. Added to this is the amazingly neutral tonal value reproduction.

Mid-tones are only slightly raised in contrast, only the brightest highlights and deepest shadows are slightly softer to create a pleasant image reproduction. The shadow value is minimally increased, but this can be corrected in case of doubt in image editing.

By inserting the memory card, one immediately recognizes that there are a lot of pictures that fit on it. This is due to the strong compression. For example, a 12-megapixel image has a data volume of around 2.5 MBytes. It would be desirable to compress the images less to get a little more quality out of the recordings because slight compression artifacts will show up. The stronger compression should be avoided at all costs, it means a significant loss of quality. Unfortunately, the possibility to save images in RAW format is completely missing.

Conclusion: Is The Canon PowerShot SX20 IS Worth It?

The Canon PowerShot SX20 IS convinced in the test as a complete package and with its wide range of features. Highlights are above all the 20x zoom with a good quality result over the entire focal length range and a well-functioning HD video function.

The Super Macro function offers the possibility of taking very interesting detail shots with a 0 cm close-up limit.

The good image quality is only slightly behind the competition (Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35-FZ38). However, due to the complete equipment with HD video, connection possibility for external flash devices, and last but not least the enormous zoom range, the camera is absolutely recommendable.

Canon PowerShot SX20 IS Datasheet