Canon SX20 IS - Brief Review With Sample Pictures & HD Videos

[Paul79UF]

I stopped at Best Buy today to check out the SX20 IS. I captured 24 pictures and 4 720P HD video clips on my memory card.

I really liked the feel of the camera, the 20x 28mm-560mm lens, and the new location of some of the buttons as compared to my S5 IS.

I uploaded 800x600 versions and originals of the pictures in this gallery -
Canon SX20 IS Pictures & Videos

The original HD videos can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.

I'm still concerned about the lens being a bit slow (f5.7) when zoomed in and some of the pictures seemed soft. I'd only use the zoom in well lit conditions like at the zoo and I guess the pictures could be sharpened in or out of the camera.

[Tremendo]

After looking at different cameras for a month, I bought the SX20 today. I already have a few (but older) small point and shoot Canons (2x SD750, etc). I wanted something with better quality pics and better zoom, even though a bit bigger. Today I've taken indoor, outdoor, and 16 second shutter pics with the camera, as well as the 720 video. So far, I am very happy. I looked at similar Sony & Nikon and stuck with Canon. Killer zoom, great close ups from a distance and the flash seems to control itself very well, using as much power as needed. Looking at the pics on my computer, I'm happy.

[Turn]

ISO shots looking good!

[Grateful11]

I hear there's no Super Fine settings on the new SX20. I was ready sell my SX10 and
get the SX20 until I realized this. The SX20 compresses images more, you get around
900 images on a 4gb card with the SX10 and about 1200 images on a 4gb with the
SX20. I'm glad I kept my SX10, I was thinking it would probably be the same
camera with HD recording.

[Tremendo]

[QUOTE=Grateful11;389739]I hear there's no Super Fine settings on the new SX20. I was ready sell my SX10 and get the SX20 until I realized this. /QUOTE]

Good point, I didn't notice that. Weird, maybe they figure the software does a better job at rendering and compressing the picture. Anyway, the flash on my SX20 rocks, and I did see that they upgraded it quite a bit as well. I'm still happy with my SX20 so far!

[Anthony]

I was considering the SX20 as well but will look for something else now. Whats the point of not having a superfine mode especialy when memory cards are so cheap ?

[DonC]

I've looked at Canon SX10 superfine and SX20 fine image examples using JPEGsnoop, a useful utility for peeking into JPEG images.

Based on the approximate quality levels that JPEGsnoop calculates from the quantization tables in the images, I doubt that there are many (if any) real-world images where the a difference in visual quality will be detectable even under pixel level scrutiny. I think it is a non-issue with respect to quality in spite of the differences seen in the file sizes. It is certainly a non-issue if you are printing the images or viewing them at a normal size on a screen.

[Tremendo]

I did my son's varsity football game last night at a big Texas stadium, and from a distance in the bleechers, the 20x zoom shots looked better than I thought. And after the reviews, I thought above 400 ISO would be no good, but the 800 ISO shots actually impressed me quite a bit and that's how I will take future games under the lights. The 720 video also worked very well and held focus. Interesting, in the camera view finder, I thought the pics were OK. But on the home computer, they were much clearer, less grainy and in more focus than I thought. Again, I'm happy with my purchase.

[mariajones]

Hi
This is a different and such a good camera. Canon is back with a successor, the PowerShot SX20 IS. The new camera gets a higher 12.1 megapixel resolution on the same physical-sized sensor, a 720p HD video capability and an HDMI connection to facilitate playback of images on an HDTV. I have used this camera. Very good picture Quality,


Thank You...

[Jack]

I purchased a SX20 IS about a month ago. This replaces my S2 IS that I have had for several years.

What a leap forward for me. I love the HD 720 video capability.

The movies play very nicely into my Samsung 40" HD using a mini HDMI cable.
The stereo sound capture is outstanding.
The stills in HD are sharp and clear.

I took a number of Fall color pictures in :W: format. These look exceptional on the 40".
Also took some movies in 640x480 resolution. These also came out very well and show real good on pre-HD TVs.

I only have minor complaints about the 'doors' for attachments. Kind of flimsy, and kind of difficult to insert the mini-HDMI cable.

- Jack