Are you having problems with poor quality w SX10?

Has anyone had any issues with picture quality with their SX10, like poor sharpness, graininess & ISO inconsistencies? I helped several friends & family members order SX10’s, & they are really struggling with these issues. We are finding that they are getting poorer results from the 10MP camera than with the old 3.2MP Olympus’s & 5MP Canons we've been shooting with. That doesn't seem right, but when we compare original files, I have to agree, most shots are really disappointing in comparison to results from older cameras.

I've helped these friends get prints as large as 16x20 from those older cameras, and the results were downright amazing. Now, when they try even for 8x10's, the results are sorely lacking, and poor in comparison. We’ve all owned Canon S2's, and before that Olympus's C-series, i.e. C-720-740 cameras. We were all very satisfied with the Canon S2 picture quality. But, it was actually the photos taken with the 3.2MP Olympus's that blew us away, with their amazingly sharp lenses that produced some really sharp photos and prints. We’ve been comparing the results of our photographic labors, and all feel that our SX10 pictures just aren’t measuring up to the results of our older cameras.
Based on our results so far, it seems like the quality of the frames taken on our older cameras have spoiled us when we compare them to the results from the SX10's. I guess we just expected more sharpness and better resolution when we moved UP from 3.2MP & 5MP to a camera bragging 10MP. Maybe it's true what they keep saying that "megapixels aren't everything"??
I took pictures for a living for 12 years, and used Canons in 35mm & Hasselblads in large format. So, of course I wonder if I’m being just too picky, but man, these SX10 shots just don’t seem sharp to any of us??

We continue to test & tweak to see if we are doing something wrong, and can "fix" how we are shooting. But, so far, no matter what setting we change or mode we select it hasn't improved the results. None of us feel like the new Canon's are living up to the high quality expectations that we had when we "stepped up" to a "better" Canon. It seems like a no-brainer that a 10MP camera should be able to out-shoot a 7 yr old 3.2MP?

We wonder if anyone has had similar issues or heard same reports? Any experiences with your own results, or thoughts and suggestions would be interesting and appreciated by all.

Thanks, DAD

I seem to be having the identical problem, so wanted to follow up with you to hear if you had managed to solve your issues.
Last month I bought a Canon Powershot SX10 IS. This is not my first digital camera: I previously had an Olympus C-740 and more recently a Canon Ixus 40. Both of these have given me thousands of excellent pictures (and prints in large sizes) without any special photographic experience on my side.
However the Powershot SX10 IS is giving me nothing but poor pictures, no exceptions. They are in general fuzzy and out of focus. I have so far taken about 3-400 photos, and not a single one is been crisp. I have tried the AUTO function, as well as the different Scene variations. I have tried in bright sunlight, in the forest, indoors at night, etc etc, but the pictures are all quite clearly worse than with my Olympus and Ixus, that both have smaller lenses and less Megapixels. I have not changed any of the factory pre-settings on my Powershot.
It's quite frustrating and I assume that I must be overseeing some obvious detail that will solve my problem.

David - How are you doing by now. Getting better pictures?

Soren,

As I mentioned in my original post, we've gone through 5 Canon SX10's and even swapped the first poor-performing camera for another unit. Yet everyone is still getting what I think anyone would accurately describe as lousy picture quality.

In the first reply to my post, Katsesama commented that more megapixels don't mean more sharpness. And, as I admitted originally, that seems to be an accepted caution understood by experienced digital camera owners and critical camera shoppers. However, that shouldn't mean that we should expect that as a rule when you are seriously trying to compare apples to apples.

We have all tried to take shots with similar if not duplicate conditions when comparing photos taken with our older cameras. We've attempted to control elements like lighting, camera settings, camera stability, (tripods, etc.), print size and even shooting the exact same subjects. And, under THOSE controlled conditions I think it is reasonable for consumer to expect better quality results and overall quality with a new SX10, especially when when all of the variables are reasonably controlled.

Like you Soren, we have tried changing every setting and variable we could think of to try to give these SX10's a chance to impress us. And, so far NOTHING we do have given us any real improvement in picture quality and sharpness to compare, or come even come close, to the quality of our earlier cameras. We have shots of the exact same photo taken with both my old Canon S2 AND the SX10 of the same subject. They are taken on the same day, same time, and with pretty much carbon copy settings and conditions. The visual comparison both on screen and in prints makes the SX10 look downright terrible when seen side-by-side.

I've been toying with the idea of both posting these compare shots for others to evaluate, AND considering even submitting them to Canon themselves. But, I'm not sure where that might the most effective and whether Canon would be interested in such feedback?

I think the thing that makes us wonder the most, and gets us doubting our own eyes too, is when we ready a lot of these glowing SX10 reviews. There are a lot of people out there singing the praises of the SX10 as if it were this super-star camera capable of leaping tall buildings. I am the first to admit I love the FEATURES that Canon continues to incorporate in their ultra-zoom cameras. The SX10 has a new longer zoom, plus now the wide-angle, the flip out LCD, macro, manual settings, and a batch of other exclusives that other makers don't include. And, I think these super/ultra zooms are the way to go for a whole lot of people who can't afford or even if they can, don't really need to move into the digital SLR category for the kind of photography they do.

It's just frustrating to find a new, upgraded, supposedly better version of a camera taking pictures of such low quality. Two of us have actually gone back to shooting with our S2's and aren't even willing to waste our time trying anymore with the SX10's. One friend has actually gone back to shooting with her Olympus C-740 camera, circa 2003. Man, that's a 6+ yr old camera, with only 3.2 MP. It just does NOT seem right that a camera that old should produce better, sharper pictures than these SX10's do.

Like you we are really frustrated with the results we are getting from our new Canons. And, like you we were constantly assuming that WE must be overlooking some obvious detail that will solve our problems. But, if that is so, the five of us can't for the life of us figure out what that might be, or what solution we haven't tried. All we want to do is match the quality we got before and were expecting when we bought these cameras.

So, that's my very long way of answering your question, and saying NO, we are still NOT getting better pictures? And, as I mentioned three of us have nearly abandoned our SX10's in favor our older cameras. And, all of us planning to just replace the SX10's with SOMETHING that does a better job. We're now checking out cameras from Olympus, Panasonic and even wondering about the SX10's big brother the SX1? But, even with all of our searching, the question is, what brand and which model of camera will replace our disappointing SX10's and get us back to the level of picture quality we enjoyed in the past.

If anyone is experiencing some of these same poor results from their SX10, or, if they ARE getting great and sharp results, we would sure like to hear comments or suggestions from either group. There is nothing better than a shared experience & shared information to help people identify a problem and then find common solutions.

I just purchased the SX10 and have taken about 100 photos with it. I've not had any trouble with poor picture quality that was not due to user error. Make sure to check that you've got the quality set to super fine. If you're using a tripod remember to shut the IS off. I've not printed any photos yet but most of them look awesome on the computer unless of course I didn't have something adjusted correctly. With respect to the flash, it pretty much sucks in my opinion so I will be purchasing an external very soon. I wish luck to you and hope you get it figured out.

Thanks David and thanks AF for your replies. I have in the meantime, since my initial comment, continued taking pictures with the SX10. Still I have not managed to get a single crisp picture from this camera. I have tried all settings, Super Fine and everything, but no luck. Even in broad daylight, the pictures turn out shaky and blurred. I have been taking pictures for about 20 years, and using digital cameras a lot over the last 6 years. I am no expert at all, but I have taken a lot of super pictures with the Olympus C740 and Canon IXUS 40. The SX10 has yet to deliver one single picture that is at the same level of the other older cameras, and basically my patience has run out. I am quite confident that I know what I am doing, but the SX10 results speak for themselves, and I have decided to change to another camera. I just came back from the store where I handed the camera back and got a credit note in return (had to do some negotiation to convince them).
I will probably go for the Panasonic FZ28 instead. Based on the reviews (although I now of course have my doubts on this) this should be a very decent superzoom camera. I have also considered the Olympus SP565 UZ or the Casio Exilim EX-FH20. Do you guys have any experience with any of these cameras? Any input is very welcome.

David - you asked whether Canon would be interested in the feedback. I am certain they would. Getting the feedback from your end customers is priceless to any manufacturer. It of course doesn't solve the problem for the likes of you and I, here and now, but it seems like the right thing to do anyway.

I just want to say that I had the same problems with the SX10 at first, but I realise now that the problems were purely down to incorrect use. In the beginning I would get bad images and not know why. But whenever I restored factory defaults the pictures were fine. It took me about a month of test shots and learning how to control the exposure properly to actually gain proper control of this camera and start getting great results. I've used standard compact digital cameras over the years too (including other Canon Powershots), but this is not a simple 'point and shoot' camera. it's aimed at people like myself who aren't quite confident enough yet to buy an SLR camera but want more control and better features. It's designed for more creative photography, so of course it will take longer to know inside-out. There are many controls and it's easy to adjust them incorrectly without realizing it. The best way to learn these things is to have a look at the EXIF info to see what ISO/F Stop/Shutter speed you were using when you took that terrible shot, and then compare against an image that's good. On this point, I would strongly recommend installing the 'ZoomBrowser' software that comes with the SX10 because it will show you all this info next to each image. (I didn't install it until a few days ago, and wish I had done, would have saved me some time!). Microsoft Office Picture Viewer can also display EXIF data next to pictures, but it doesn't seem to show the ISO (which is important).
I love this camera and I would advise other newbie owners to give it a chance for a few weeks, it will really be worth it. My own personal recommendation is to restore the factory settings, change the mode dial to Tv, set image stabilization on 'Continuous', change shooting mode to 'continuous', make image quality either L or W, and have ISO set at 100. Turning the control dial clockwise increases the shutter speed and darkens the photo. You can press the shutter halfway to preview the results along the way until the image starts to look too dark, at which point you can say the shutter has reached its limit in terms of quality. I personally would use a tripod if the shutter speed goes beyond 1/500. If you use these settings in normal daylight you should be able to take great photos.

I recently purchased a SX10 and was shocked at the poor quality of pictures I got because everything I had read about the camera had been wonderful. I took pictures at a children's play, a park, around the house, and close-ups of flowers in various lights. The playback pictures did not look great but I thought it was just due to the small screen. I took all of the pictues on auto setting which I have always done with excellent results with other cameras. When I finally got to put the pictures on my computer to check them, I was shocked at the poor quality of pictures. I returned the camera to a camera shop along with pictures I had taken with other cameras and they could see that there was a problem but did not quite know how to resolve it. They are ordering me another camera to try but I am a little leery of this camera now.

Thanks Joanna and jac for your feedback. You are right, Joanna, that it is not simply a point and shoot camera, you do have to choose the right settings. But that is also fairly straight forward since the menus are so intuitive and the manual is helpful. I however was not succesful. I just changed to the FZ28, and the outcome is remarkably better, using the factory presets and then of course the different shot modes (portrait, close-up, indoor, outdoor, etc). The SX10 was equally intuitive to use, but the result was simply poor.
Given that all the reviews have been so good, then following statistical logic there is a good chance that I am the exception that confirms the rule. I cannot say what the reason is, but I know that when using the same methods, then the results from the FZ28 are better.
Happy shooting!!

I purchased the SX10 right before Christmas. The only good shots I get are in lots of light situations. I had an S2 which I gave to my wife, it still takes clearer pictures in all settings. I have shot over 5000 pictures with the SX10 and have about 20 great shots, may 50 good shots, and lots grainy fuzzy hazy pixels. I have searched the net for tips or helps but most find only frustrated users.
I tried many different settings but still have no confidence I can get shot when required or wanted. One very unhappy owner.

This is Dave, the guy who first posted this question back in January. I gotta tell you that ever since I posted that, I have received tons of reports and emails saying the same darn thing about the bad & disappointing results people are getting from their SX10's. And the latest from Steve mirrors out situation exactly. At first our old S2 was set aside in semi-retirement mode. But, after the results from the SX1o continued to come back terrible, we went back to using the old S2. And, no matter how you slice it, that old S2 just plain kicks butt on the SX10. Now, one of my friends was so bummed & disappointed with her SX10, that she actually went out and bought another new camera, her old love, an Olympus. I read lots of good things about the Oly SP-565, so suggested if she really wanted to take another plunge into another Super-Zoom, that was the one I thought was worth a shot. It does now have a 20X zoom and wide-angle, but it is definitely missing some of the great features that only Canon seems to include.

She's had the 565 for a couple weeks now, and she is VERY happy with the results. IMHO the picture quality isn't really way better than the S2, but it absolutely puts the SX10 to shame. Of course she is missing some of Canon's cool and useful features. We especially miss the tilt and swivel screen and the much better video quality of the SX10. Not to mention the ability to take stills and zoom while taking videos, and off course the SD card over that dang dinky small xD card!! It is hard to give up such useful features, but when the quality of your stills are so bad, the choice becomes a no-brainer. If you you can't even enlarge to 5x7 without seeing grain/noise, and won't even consider 8x10's or larger, the better quality camera just had to win out, features or no features !

On a technical note, we have noticed and wondered about something about the SX10. After scrutinizing our settings, and checking out all of the EXIF info, we've not been able to make any adjustments, as some have suggested, that had any effect on quality. However, we do see that when you shoot at 80 ISO, you do get a much more acceptable & sharper frame. The thing is, as soon as you go up to even ISO 120, it takes a drastic dive into the dumpster, and goes back to the land of unsharp fuzziness.

The other thing I've noticed and wondered about is how the SX10 works in AUTO mode. It is my understanding that the more light the camera detects in AUTO mode, the LOWER it can set the ISO for you, and the better the quality of that shot. But, it doesn't seem to work that way with our SX10's. You can be shooting in full bright sun on one shot, and it sets ISO at 80, then in the very next shot, same time, same light conditions, it will jump the ISO up to 160 or 200?? As I said, usually the shots at ISO 80 are good or decent, but as soon as the AUTO sensor changes ISO to above 100, everything turns to junk. I don't know if others have noticed this or not, but we've been shooting with these cameras since November '08, and it's proving to be very consistent every time we shoot with the SX10. I even wonder if there isn't something wrong in the programing of the AUTO mode, it seems like it just shouldn't work like that? It should be more light higher ISO, less light higher ISO, right?

The final thing I will offer is an apology for my own procrastination. I've been talking about contacting Canon directly about what we've experienced, here in Duluth, and all of you who have been writing similar tales of woe about your disappointment in your SX10's. I don't know how hard it would be for me to "just do it", but I'm promising you and myself, that at the very least I am going to copy some of our comments and complaints from this forum, and beam them on to Canon. If any of you have already done what I should have done months ago, I would be interested to hear where you made contact with them, and what response you may have received.

Clearly you are a better man or woman than I, and a lot less of a procrastinator too. I suppose it doesn't have to be said, but unless we do get this word to Canon, they are never going to know about these problems. I know, quit typing and go talk to Canon, right?

Thanks, & good shooting, Dave D in Balmy Duluth

I just read the review on the SX1, the twin to this camera. The difference is the CMOS sensor, faster frames per second, and HD video.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsx1is/

Even with the CMOS sensor, the picture quality in the SX1 suffers because of the size. I have an S5, an 8 mp precursor to this camera. I wish I could get the lens from that camera onto mine. I almost always shoot mine on manual, Tv when I put a flash on it. When necessary indoors I'll go up to 200 and do noise reduction in Lightroom.

I think Canon has gotten the most pixels they could get out of a camera of this type. It needs a bigger sensor.

I got this camera 3 weeks ago and I soooooooo disappointed and sad about it!!!!! I KNOW it is NOT a point and shoot camera...but MAN the pics does suck!!!!!! I tried everything...TV mode...changing the ISO... everything you can imagine and NOTHING to take a pic outside I'd take minutes trying to figure out a way to make the pic look good! And that got my sooo frustrated and mad!!!! I am not a camera professional but I am NOT dumb about it either!!! My Canon sd850 was taking way better pics than this one! I took days trying to decide if I should get the Canon sx10 or nikon p90 (my friend has one and her pics are AMAZING) after reading reviews after reviews I decided on my Canon, man I wish I had read this review here first! So after trying to fix the old film grain, bad quality pic no matter where I am, outside, inside.. or if u zoom in doing a macro pic the focus sucks.... after putting up with all that for 3 weeks non stop I decided to return it! I dont know which camera I should buy now! Since i need a semi professional camera! Maybe I'll try the Nikon!!!
If anyone knows a better camera please help us!
Thanks,
LIA

I own a Canon 40D and wanted to get my wife more interested in photography. I bought a brand new $400 SX10. Biggest piece of crap I've ever purchased. Like previous writers, I agree, at a setting of about 80 on the ISO and PLENTY of light, the photos are at least decent. I've double checked her settings each time she got it out to use it. Setting are almost a moot point as she only shoots on Auto Mode. Photo quality is set on Large and so forth.

I did fire off a comment to Canon this evening. I've owned the 20D, 30D and now the 40D. I will not be upgrading to the 50D after this experience of "upgrading to one of the best point and shoot cameras on the market".

I am going to post it on eBay tomorrow as a used camera and hope to get maybe 70% of my money back. A guy at the camera repair place I patronize said it is not the megapixles that make the difference, it is the size of the censor, and the SX10 has a small one.

What a rotten blow to my wife on her first real experience with what was touted as a "great camera". I keep telling her, she is not screwing up, it is the camera. BOO! Canon!
JOE

Joe, what a poor decision to get such a sophisticated camera to get your wife interested in photography. If you own a DSLR, you should have known better than to do something like this then blame the camera for operator inefficiency.
I've updated from a canon S3 to this SX10 3 weeks ago. I took about 100 lousy pictures until I started to get the right settings and now I'm starting to get great shots. This camera has the ability to produce picture quality almost to an entry level DSLR in the hands of someone who has the knowledge, ability and determination to learn how to master it.
Google for pictures taken with the SX10 and you will be blown away at the masterpieces which can be achieved. Some are compared to DSLR side by side and you cannot tell the difference.
Any serious photography enthusiast should be able to do some PP to correct imperfections, remove graininess and shadows, cropping etc...even the pro's have to do it.
If you get 33% of your photos that are great, you are doing well with any camera. You just have to shoot a lot of pictures, keep it on continuous shooting mode and don't be afraid to shoot, shoot, shoot! The Sx10 is a learning tool for those who want to move up to a DSLR in the future or who are downgrading from a DSLR.
If you get less than 33% success rate, get a more simple camera, this one is too much for you to handle.

I have also had problems with graininess in the photos, but shrinking the photo down a little bit gets rid of a lot of the noise. I definitely think the best feature of this camera is the 20x optical zoom. the first photos I took looked really good, even on my computer, just after I took them. It has only been more recently in the last couple of weeks that I have really noticed a lot of noise. I thought it could have been something to do with the optics, but then I looked at the first photos, and they are grainy too, even though I didn't notice it to start with. still a good camera though. the only feature I wish it had was a RAW format.

You can get RAW with the CHDK hack. It also has other features such as:
* Save images in RAW format
* Ability to run "Scripts" to automate the camera
* Live histogram (RGB, blended, luminance and for each RGB channel)
* Zebra mode (blinking highlights and shadows to show over/under exposed areas)
* An "always on" full range Battery indicator
* Ability to turn off automatic dark-frame subtraction
* a higher compression movie mode, and double the maximum video file size
* exposure times as long as 65 seconds
* exposure times as little as 1/10,000 of a second
* ability to use the USB port for a remote trigger input and more

Just Google CHDK hack. It does no damage to the camera as it is only a software upgrade on your memory card.

I have too just bought a canon sx10 and my first impressions of it are very poor. I just recently completed a short photography course with the sx110 and I have to say that this little beauty far exceded the Sx10. My sx110 was stolen so I thought I would upgrade tot he sx10 but whatever settings I have used ,it just doesn't come out as sharp and i have noticed a lot of grain unless used in a lot of light. I want a camera that I can operate with some ease not have to wait a few months before i can get one or two decent shots form, and I just don't see how the issues with focus and grain are going to go away- I've tried pretty much everhting- if it's only going to work in certain lighting conditions and im going to have to alter practically every shot in photoshop then it's no good to me at all. Im going to get myself another sx110!

I upgraded from an IS 3 and couldn't but notice that many images are noticabley poorer with the SX10.
I've had it a few months and when this issue stated to penetrate my resistance to accepting its truth I put a note on the Desktop to get some pics up and ask other users.
I have taken some good shots - I only have rudimenatry understanding of manual settings but am not technically orientated in my approach - usually using P mode as I did with the IS 3. I do keep ISO as low as possible and have IS on (without tripod).
I would not buy it again and I would not recommend it.
Perhaps I will get around to trying experiments to see if anything helps - like lowering the pixel size.
But its a sour note in what I thought to be an upgrade.
I don't know what my warranty rights are now - it has been used a fair bit.
I will try feeding back to Canon - in case there is a known bad batch of chips and they do not try and protect their short term profit at the expense of customer base.

OK, I have read all the things written above. Firstly, I tell you I have recently bought SX10 after reading so many expert reviews and users opinion. And come to know it is the best camera in its category. I also considered Nikon P90 and Lumix FZ28. But finally I made my mind to purchase SX10.

In two days I took about 400 photos and they were looking average on the LCD. Most of the photos were taken in auto or P mode. I was slightly disappointed to noke that snaps are not as good as I wished to get. I contacted the dealer. He said snaps will be different on computer. So after downloading the photos on PC, I was bit happy that snaps are not as bad as I though. Then I went to print about 100 selected photos. Against after getting the printed photos, I was disappointed to know that 50% snaps were granny, not sharp, color was uneven. And remaining 50% snaps were OK.. though not too good.. Only a few.. about 10-12 snaps were looking good.

I again contact the canon customer care.. They said there is nothing wrong with snaps.. Read the manual thoroughly and try to shoot in different mode and keep the ISO at 80 as much as possible.

After that I have taken about 2500 photos in 10 days in different conditions, daylight, indoor, night, moon light.. and now I am getting slightly better results. But still its far away from that what I have read on reviews. But now I am confident that soon I will get the desired results after playing with it more and more.

Few things I have noted and like to share with others :

1. Only at ISO 80 the pictures are sharp, details and well balanced irrespective of sunlight or using flash. But just after going beyong ISO 100 pictures are going granny and loosing sharpness.

2. At indoor shooting.. its too difficult to shoot without flash.. because shutter sheed is too low about 1. So without tripod not possible. Becase I dont think there is any person who can take snaps at shutter speed of 1 with bare hands.

3. There is too much difference viewing the pictures on LCD screen and after downloading to computer. So dont disappoint if LCD shows dark skin color etc.

4. White balance is very important for true skin color. So choose appropriate white balance looking the light conditions.

5. At TV move and AV move .. I am still learning .. I found no difference in changing the shutter speed becasue aperature value automatically varies according to the speed.. so you can set any shutter speed .. you will get the same results.. I dont kow why.

6. Its easy to take indoor snaps using the flash, instead of taking pictures in full sunlight. In full sunlight the pictures are over exposed or darkened because of shadow. So sun should be at the correct place and there should not be any shadow on the face or any object.

7. The most difficult thing is to take a photo including sky .. because whenever you includ sky in your frame the other things becomes dark.. and when you focus at the other things .. the sky becomes dark.. so its a learning thing.. I dont know about this.

8. Manual focus.. Still hard to understand what is it.. camera focus when half shutter is down.. i have learn about this. ..

9. Manual setting : The best option to shoot any image... keep on working on it and finally you will get the results better and better.. Keep ISO locked at 80 and change the shutter speed and aperature value to get the best results.. I think its too good that auto mode.

10. Never use the auto mode.. After taking few shots on auto.. I stopped using auto mode.. becasue its not giving good results only becasue it raise the ISO to 200-250 every time irrespective of light conditions and making the image granny or dard..

11. So instead of auto mode P mode is far better.. just lock the ISO at 80 and use differnet settings.. you will get the good results.

Conclusion : I am still thinking that I have got a defective camera becasue I am not getting the desired results. But now after 10 days after working on this, I have learned few things to get indoor photos using flash and results are satisfactory.. but at outdooor snaps, it really sucks.. But I am sure soon I will get the solution using the right settings.

Warning : Sorry, its not an ordinary point and shoot camera like pocket size and other tini-mini camera.. Its only for the serious amature photographers.. who really want to get more than average snap. Becasue in wrong hand its nothing else than a old time roll loaded auto camera of yashika or kodak..

I bought mine to replace an S3 after reviews and many positive comments and shots at the Canon S5 User forum, from S2 to S5 users who moved up. I'm always in P, Tv, Av or M and can't speak to the preset modes. However, on first uses, I find it works great. Low light results are better, ISO 400 is usable. The zoom range is fantastic. I've ordered a Lensmate lens adapter that mounts instead of the hood to permit using 58mm filters and a better cap.

My one serious gripe is the control wheel - I miss the old Omni lever from the predecessor cameras. The wheel seems to make adjusting settings, manual focus and exposure compensation time consuming and aggravating, and I can't find any online "tip" for improving its sloppy response. I've installed the CHDK hack, which is still in "beta" for this model, but unfortunately it does not provide the feature to permit using the zoom rocker instead of the wheel for MF adjustment, which is available for the predecessor series. I hope the CHDK developers will look into moving control wheel to rocker for as many functions as possible.