Canon Powershot SX1 IS Review
Posted on 04/29/2009
The Canon SX1 Is impresses with its full 1080p video mode, putting it head and shoulders above similar "bridge" cameras. Consumers, however, should carefully consider whether that's enough to make them pick the SX1 over the similar SX10 IS. By Joseph Ben Keough
Canon SX1 IS Pros
- Good low-ISO shooting
- Nice 1080p video, good sound
- Excellent ergonomic design
- Dedicated video record button
Canon SX1 IS Cons
- Poor shots over ISO 800
- Overagressive noise reduction
Click the image to see in high-resolution.
Canon's latest and theoretically greatest entry into the increasingly competitive and increasingly narrow superzoom or "bridge" camera class, the SX1 IS is a 10-megapixel, 20x zoom, 1080p HD video-capable beast that shoots for the stars. Since its first S-series cameras, Canon has had a solid place in the class, with great image quality and expansive feature sets. However, Panasonic's FZ and Olympus's UZ entries have given the company a run for its money, and recently Olympus jumped far ahead in the zoom stakes. The SX1 IS is Canon's attempt to take the lead once again. Can it take the title of world's greatest bridge camera? Let's find out.
Design
Like all of the super-zoom cameras in Canon's PowerShot line, the SX1 IS has an extremely intuitive design that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has used a similar product or even a dSLR. In fact, the SX1 IS wants nothing more than to be seen as a mini-dSLR for those who don't want to muck about with interchangeable lenses and so on. Reinforcing this image is an included lens hood and a very solid SLR-style neck strap.
The camera is centered around a massive zoom lens and a huge articulating LCD screen. In this case, it's a 20x (28-560mm) lens and a 2.8" widescreen LCD of 230,000 pixels. The matte black plastic body has a solid build and a significant heft enhanced by four AA batteries in the grip. The ergonomics are good—the grip is well-shaped and an array of necessary controls is planted directly under the user's thumb.
The front of the camera is entirely free of buttons, though it does sport stereo mics on either side of the lens below the flash housing. On top, moving from left to right, you'll find the flash setting button, a popup flash and external flash hot shoe, the mode control dial, the on/off button, and the shutter, surrounded by the point and shoot-style zoom ring. The back of the camera features the aforementioned articulating LCD (tilts, swivels, slices and dices) surrounded by a bevy of buttons including: widescreen/4:3 toggle, dedicated video recording, recording/playback toggle, EV compensation, and focus point selection. Below these, to the right of the screen, a combination scroll wheel and four-way control offers options for manual focusing, ISO, and continuous shooting, macro, and self-timer modes, surrounding a central Function/Set button. Finally, display and menu buttons round things out.
Like other bridge cameras, the SX1 IS lacks an optical viewfinder. Instead, it offers a 0.4" electronic viewfinder with 148,000 pixels of resolution. While generally decent, it's nowhere near the best on the market (as seen in cameras like the Panasonic G1) and is even inferior to the one found in its own little brother, the SX10 IS.
The compartments for the SDHC card and batteries are well-designed. Their spring-loaded covers fit flush to the body and snap smartly into place. The covers for the AV outputs and power jacks, on the other hand, are unimpressive, being made of rubber and simply pressed into place. Other minor design quibbles include a video recording button that is perhaps too far to the left to be easily reached with the right thumb, a flimsy and hard to put on lens hood, and a lens barrel with an odd glossy finish that seems to be a lightning rod for dust, smudges, and general gunk.
Handling
The camera is, generally speaking, very quick and responsive. From pressing the power button it takes less than a second before it's ready to shoot, including the time taken to extend the lens. Focusing is pretty speedy as well, except in certain low light circumstances, where the lens has a tendency to hunt for focus. In these conditions it sometimes gives up entirely, and more often oscilates back and forth for quite a while before finding lock. This is not uncommon for digital cameras of any stripe, but still worth noting for one this expensive. Zoom controls are smooth and intuitive, though for my taste the zoom ring is perhaps a bit too easy to turn (leading to accidental zooming in or out). I have to say I wish Canon had included on-lens focus and zoom rings, for more precise control over each and for a more SLR-like feel.
The SX1 IS has Canon's standard menu system, which has been largely unchanged for several years. It's easy to navigate and doesn't abbreviate menu items in the way that some brands do, making it easy to tell exactly what setting you're changing.
On-screen display icons are generally easy to understand as well. The number of them varies depending on which Display setting you choose (using the DISP button toggle)--in Program and Manual modes, for instance, you'll get a histogram overlay that's quite useful for properly exposing your images and a nice addition by Canon. The camera offers Tv (shutter priority), Av (aperture priority), and C (custom user setting) modes as well as program and full Manual, taking it one step closer to dSLR territory.
Playback is also fluid, with a smooth zoom function for all you pixel peepers. Photos can be selected by date, category, folder, and other options via the unique "Jump" menu. A built-in accelerometer determines the camera's orientation and rotates the image for the best possible view (this works pretty well, with a few infrequent glitches). Paging between photos includes a pleasant fade-in/fade-out effect. Video playback looks fantastic on the LCD screen.
Image Quality
I'm sorry to report that the image quality from the SX1 IS is something of a mixed bag. When shooting in JPEG at ISO 80 and 100 it is very good, with well controlled image noise and noise reduction that isn't too overbearing. In bright sunlight and at a narrower aperture (f/3.2 and above) the images are sharp, contrasty, and have a nice depth of color. But go far above ISO 200-400 or shoot in dimmer conditions and things start to look a bit more grim. Canon's image processing algorithm applies a hefty dose of noise reduction at these higher ISO settings, more or less wantonly destroying fine detail. Moreover, the camera's dynamic range seems to be somewhat weak. This is compounded by the fact that rather than underexposing to preserve detail it has a tendency to overexpose, leading to blown-out areas of pure white in bright scenes with a lot of contrast.
This is disappointing for a camera with so much going for it on the design front, and for a camera that costs as much as this one does. With a MSRP of around $600, it is more expensive than some dSLRs. Given that price level, I'd expect it to produce images that are at least comparable to those produced by the cheapest dSLR/kit lens combo. But alas, that's not the case.
That said, there are bright spots to be found. For one thing, the lens is really quite nice. While at a wide open aperture of f/2.8 it displays some chromatic aberrations (purple fringing), stopped down a bit it's surprisingly sharp and has better bokeh (smoothness in out of focus areas) than most cameras in its class. As stated above, in bright light it's an able performer, cranking out well-exposed, contrasty shots with vivid colors ideal for the consumer market. Visible distortion is low, with the expected barrel distortion at the wide end and slight pincushion at telephoto, but surprisingly well controlled throughout.
It also boasts, among its impressive array of shooting modes, an excellent "Super Macro" mode, a staple of the S and SX superzoom lines, which allows the lens focus on objects that are touching the lens glass (don't do this with anything sticky!). The effect can be quite stunning, and it's a mode that will get a lot of use from flower lovers and those fascinated by creepy crawlies.
RAW shooting is a great addition to a bridge camera like this, giving the user a much greater range of control over post-shooting "developing" than they would have with plain JPEG shooting. This feature alone brings the camera much closer to dSLR territory, and will undoubtedly help to save some of the lesser shots it will put out—that is, if any users choose to use it.
The SX1 IS uses a CMOS sensor, the same sort of sensor (albeit physically smaller) used in Canon's dSLR line. The "little brother" SX10 IS uses a more traditional CCD sensor. Presumably the switch to the CMOS sensor is to better facilitate the camera's HD video recording and to enable a quicker continuous shooting rate. Interestingly, the image quality from the SX1's CMOS sensor is reportedly somewhat lower than that of the SX10's older CCD technology. Our editor Mike Brady was quite high on the SX10's image quality in his review, but I can't claim the same enthusiasm for the SX1.
1080p HD video on the SX1 IS is quite good in general, though at times in high speed panning motions it does display a certain kind of distortion that I've seen before (namely in the Kodak Zi6). Essentially, when panning quickly, the image seems to tear, or slant to one side in the direction of the panning motion—in essence, it makes the image look like Jell-O until the panning slows again. Aside from this issue (and it's far less pronounced than on the Zi6), the HD video is bright, crisp, and has relatively low noise, at least in good light. In addition, the camera is equipped with two high-quality mics for excellent stereo sound in video playback.
Conclusion
Despite my many gripes, the SX1 IS is still quite an impressive feat of engineering, and will be an attractive camera to many consumers. With a 10-megapixel CMOS sensor, a fast 4fps continuous shooting mode, crisp 1080p HD video, an articulating 2.8" widescreen LCD, full manual controls, RAW shooting, and an incredible 20x zoom lens, it's one of the most attractive packages on the market. And while the image quality could certainly be better, and the electronic viewfinder could be larger, it's an extremely fun and intuitive camera to use.
The real problem with the SX1 IS is how it fares against the far less expensive SX10 IS. At roughly 60% the cost of the SX1, the SX10 offers slightly better image quality with the same number of megapixels. It also has a slightly better viewfinder, and possibly better battery life as well. On the other hand, it lacks HD video recording, lacks RAW recording, and has a slower continuous shooting mode. Aside from these differences, the cameras are nearly identical. It's up to the consumer to decide whether the difference is worth an additional $200.
Canon Powershot SX1 IS Comments & Questions (write your own!)
The release date is somewhere near the second week of October 2008
Steve McDonald
there are high capacity re chargable batteries (nimh) which will give you about 300 shots per charge
I have been several times in Africa with my OLYMPUS 550UZ witch has also rechargable AA batteries.
I had always some spare Duracell AA batteries in case of.. Even without the possibility of charging them I could buy everywhere AA batteries even by the primitive people in the south of Ethiopia.
I used the 2700Mah fast charging with possibility of charging them on the sigaretlighter of the Toyota.
And one more thing they are much cheaper than those special LI-on batteries of other cameras
That's why my next choise will be the new Canon Powershot SX1 IS.
I have about 10 sets (4 cells each set) of rechargeable AA/AAA (4 brands). Now, they are gradually replaced by Eneloops (already have 6 sets and increasing).
1. Digital camera must using rechargeable (hi-output will kill the alkaline batteries in a short time, but they can be re-used next day) .
2. Eneloop holds the charges by time. Its internal leakage by time is almost zero. It can hold 85% for a year or two. It means you don't need to charge them every time before using them. Keep a spare set, it is always fully charged. You can use the set in the camera until it all drained. Each set of the battery life is much longer.
3. AA rechargeable is much cheaper than Li-Ion battery. You can buy them from Costco at $29 for 8 AA, 2 AAA, 4 C adaptors, 4 D adaptors and a very nice charger (Delta V type, never over charge) . What a deal.
was in Africa in october 08 and had to loose shots trying to conserve my batteries. If i had the AA adapter or, the sx1/sx10 is, i would have been fine.
Could you elaborate more in the CMOS sensor in this case?
The sensor is smaller than in my Powershot Pro1... but ofcourse it is CMOS.... whould this camera take better pics than Pro1?
Especially in low light? Pro1 produces lots of noise above 100 ISO.
Cheers
"Thank you for your inquiry. We value you as a Canon customer and
appreciate the opportunity to assist you. We are happy to hear that you
are so interested in some of the great new PowerShot cameras that Canon
has recently released.
Canon made the corporate decision not to release this model here in the
United States. Also at this time there are no documented to plans to
release this model in the future. We apologize for any inconvenience
this may cause you at this time.
The PowerShot SX10 IS is virtually the same camera as the PowerShot SX1
IS model. The SX10 IS shares many of the same great features and we
hope that you will find it a suitable alternative to the SX1 IS model.
Please visit us on the web at: www.powershot.com for more information
regarding our cameras."
I photograph wildlife, especially birds, and, the S-series of cameras allow me to capture high quality images almost everywhere without having to haul around heavy telephoto zoom lenses.
There is incredible market potential here in the US with the increasingly larger number of older individuals who spend lots and lots of time outdoors with camera sin hand and who need something that can help them capture wildlife in wonderful detail at reasonable cost and in a product that is relatively light weight and portable. The video features make this camera especially valuable to an older person for capturing important moments with friends and family without having to lug around a separate video camera. In these less than great economic times, a camera that serves double duty for still and video photography is an invaluable tool for people like me.
Many thanks for your website reference. Extremely helpful.
I know that the S10 is now available in the US. Dp you happen to know the timing for the S1?
I contacted Canon USA headquarters snd found out that unfortunately the SX1 IS will not made be available in the US in the forseable future. Because of production limitations this camera will not be sold here until later in 2009 if at all!
RAW files are circa 20-30 Mb, ie. resolution varies.
is the sensor and pixel size similar to the powershot g series? (just without hot shoe is main difference? or other differences as well)
what average file size are these raw files?
Here is the link, if you can read Chinese.
canon.com.cn/products/camer...
Canon doesn't want to risk its name in the US market.
This is Canon's first time put CMOS in the small camera or non EOS camera.
They like to work the bugs out in China, not in the US.
Look like it passed the test.
Step two is UK, I guess step three is the US, a few months from now. I can't wait.
www.canon.com.cn/ (translate the page by google facility)
Price 5800RMB - $853
but I heard that in hebie province it is bieng sold at 4900 RMB
digitalcamera-hq.com/digita...
As it's very similar and available in the US.
" - Sorry, but the SX10 IS is a paperweight, and is in no way comparable to the SX1 IS. There are some rumors circulating that the SX1 IS will make it to the US in the early 2nd. quarter of 2009, but no actual announcement from Canon yet. The SX1 IS is worth waiting for (I've seriously considering wiring some cash to a family member that lives where the SX1 is available, and having them ship it to me :( )
You can email them in English...may or may not get a reply depending upon who reads the mail. The dollar is pretty weak right now, so you're looking at better than $700, plus overseas shipping. An eBay gray-market purchase (from a reputable seller) may be more cost effective. The camera menus on the Japanese version can be set to work in English, but the manuals are in Japanese. Be aware that a Japanese Canon MUST be serviced in Japan (although I would consider that a benefit with Canon).
cameralabs.com/forum/viewto...
So with it on SX1 IS, you can shoot HD Movies with SX! IS, while the SX10 IS can not shoot HD Movies. As well there will be some improvement in JPEG shots, with SX1 IS. Yet don't expect, to see this unless you are a professional photographer. That is for amatures and biginners, it will be hard to discern this added Quality Improvement in Normal shoots.
Plus you will need to consider, whether or not you have make certain, you have facility to view HD Moives, on TV, Laptop or PC.
As well the Price difference between the two. SX10 IS can runs on web around $ 330.00 whereas, SX1 IS is listed on UK site for, Euro 679. This will dicate into approximately $ 700.00 + depending on exhange rate, unless Canon markets in USA. In this case there will be a little better price.
Hope this will help.
SX1 IS € 479,--
SX10 IS € 326,--
You will need minimum following System Configuration & Hardware....
1. CPU .... Moive:
Core2 Duo 2.6 GHz or Higher
Still Images:
Windows Vista: Pentium 1.3 GHz or Higher
Window XP : Pentium 500 MHz or Higher
2. RAM .... Movie:
2 GB or More
Still Images:
Windows Vista : 512 Mb or More
Windows XP : 256 Mb or More
As you will note, the Moive viewing on your System you need much faster processor. RAM these days most every one have the Minimum 2 GB so you are okay here.
Should you care for more detailed Specifications, please go to CANON.COM.CO.UK Navigate to Digital Camera and then to Powershot. Click on CANON POWERSHOT SX1 IS and you will have all the specs before you, including System requirements for MAC...
The above info, comes from there.
Also, Canon USA site has Reviews on Canon SX10 IS ( nor SX1 IS ) and you will note there too that many of them say, Except for the ADDED Zoom, that is 20x vs 12x for S5 IS, they would go with S5 IS.
So if you are going to get SX1 IS, you should make certain you have minimum System Configuration & Hardware Required.
I feel this should compete all the necessary details on choice between SX10 IS & SX1 IS.
Hope this will help you further.
All info and software is available at Canon UK web site. I was able to dowload everything I wanted way before I bought the camera. I would recommended it.
I also bought a 16 Gb Class 6 SDHC card. It would allow you 4 hr of video of no more than 1 hr each or 4000+ photos of the highest quality. You can also buy a 32 Gb card depending how much money you are willing to spend. For now the pricing of the 16 Gb is more attractive. You really need the high speed card. Otherwise, you will not be able to get a movie longer than just a few seconds.
I would also recommend the CBK4-300 Four AA NiMH batteries. It works very well.
I was sold on this cannon but now will do more shopping.
Thanks
Using Sanyo Eneloop AA rechargeable, last much longer
New batteries didn't last any longer at all. And I still haven't filmed nything. G'damn. Not at all satisfied with this- Was hoping to film in the slopes during Easter. And now I have to turn it in for them to try and fix it.. Yey.
why not have rechargable batteries with this as with eos cameras?
I'm beginning to think Canon cannot. Grr.
I miss my 350d.
But in the end, shooting in HD will burn the battery life faster than stills or regular video would.
SX1 has a smaller sensor than Pro1, although it is type of CMOS and not CCD.
Would SX1 still generate better pictures (especially night pictures or indoor, with the tripod)? I checked SX110 and the night pictures are really poor quality comparing to Pro1.
I would really appreciate the answer as I currently have Pro1 and want to 'upgrade' to SX1 .... or Nikon D90 (which also can record HD movie clips)
I do realise that megapixels are not the true representation of picture quality.
But you didn't really answer my question... so I will try to answer your question.
My Powershot Pro1 is a great camera. Having it for almost five years I start to look for 'more' in the compact camera.
Right know the main reason for wanting a new camera is that Pro1 produced high noise in higher ISO settings... yes I know it is only a compact camera, but I hope that with the new technology this can be better (maybe in SX1)....
In addition, I do love taking short movie clips. Pro1 is very limited in clips time (30sec in higher quality), lacks ability to zoom while filming and.... (the biggest) lacks ability to adjust light when panning from well lighted are to dark area.
So can I ask again to let me understand the new sensor? Would SX1 give me what I miss in Pro1??
Cheers
Along with the SX1, two cameras that do this are the Canon G9 and G10. Both have larger chips than the standard fair, and IIRC, the G10 has the new DIGIC IV. Both help to accommodate the 14MP that's crammed onto it. The irony is, you don't really see a difference over the G9 (at 12MP) in sizes up to about 11x14. After that, you start to see the difference. And since 99.9% of pictures won't even come near that, one has to wonder why the P&S world is so obsessed with the "more mp is better myth."
So I think that, yes, the SX1 would be a good camera for your needs. Especially with video, where recording time on the SX1 is only limited by the available size of your flash memory card.
Did you realized the difference between Intel 286 processor and 486?
Pro 1 is 7X and SX1 is 20X. I paid about $300 for the Pro1 1.5X zoom extender to make it X10.5. Now, it is free and better.
Pro 1 is CCD and SX1 is CMOS.
SX1 can do HD, Pro 1's video? I even don't want to talk about it.
Watch 5D II's sample HD video on dpreview.com, they are as good as my Canon HF10 HD.
It beats Dishnetwork HD (compressed). Only, out of air (OOA) HD can beat Canon HF10.
Thanks!
translate.google.es/transla...
The best explanation I have run across for this is that they do not have the capacity to produce enough of the CMOS sensors to meet the demand. Some say it should arrive next spring after they have caught up, but officially there's no word.
lens or substitute for a polarizing filter to reduce glare off a water surface. I continue to ask whether a filter is available for Canon SX1 IS or SX 10 IS.
digitalcamera-hq.com/digita...
Thanks!
Also, I agree with James. A four did me fine until I got more into video, and would do me fine. The only time where I ever needed anything more was my first wedding, I had over 1,000 pictures on it and some video.
Also, is Kingston any good ? I have always had sandisk in the past for my previous cameras and had no problems so I'm a bit concerned about changing.
That makes sense, but I have not been able to open the Canon Raw (.CR2) files in Photoshop (CS2) or iPhoto '09 (ver8.0.2), my main photo browser... Could the Raw files from the SX1 be a new format?
As a note, I am using a class 6 SDHC, so I dont think that the memory card speed would be the cause of the issue.
Is the Automatic-setting good enough or maybe the Sports-setting?