Review on 📷 Canon SX30IS 14.1MP Digital Camera with 35x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 Inch Wide LCD (Previous Version) by John Martin

I got this camera to replace my Panasonic FZ-35. After taking a few hundred shots, including a few side-by-side comparisons with the FZ-35, here's my impression. Canon's image processor is far better than the FZ35 at color balance and overall image capture - images are brighter and therefore capture more detail that's otherwise lost in shadows, or the FZ35 simply tends to process greyscale to achieve the excellent sharpness that the FZ35 is known for. However, I would not recommend using the "Auto" setting on Canon. His choice of focal point in an image tends to result in images where the background is in focus rather than the subject. Normally the camera tries to focus on the edge of the subject, not the subject itself. Sometimes this can help improve sharpness by slightly increasing the depth of field, sometimes it creates an image that is out of focus, and sometimes nothing is in focus it forces the camera to focus on "sharp" objects that may not be an object at all - such as a lamppost on a background, tree trunks in the background, etc. In playback mode, you can select a display that shows the camera's focus point, which may help explain why some of your images look the way they do in auto mode. Auto mode also adjusts the color of the entire image when faces are detected to improve skin tones, but honestly Canon's color balance is so good it's almost unnecessary anyway, and tends to overcompensate at times, so your whole picture takes on a painful aspect . green/brown tint. However, switching from auto to P - or any of the other SCN or mode selections on the watch face - disables those pesky auto features and you can get some really great photos. At this point the camera will use a single central focus frame (which can easily be manually resized and positioned to fit your subject if you wish) and you'll start getting images that better match your expectations. In addition, Canon's customization options such as zoom, color options and easy adjustment of almost all shooting functions combined with an excellent zoom range continue to make this a top-notch camera. My only complaint about the SCN settings is that I wish they had a 'sunset', but that's easy to create via the color menu, where you can emphasize the red. Canon typically produces very sharp images, however, Canon typically processes to maintain color balance rather than distinguishing edges at higher ISO speeds, so images sometimes end up being a bit blurrier than those of us who use the FZ35 might like - on the other side red stays red instead of turning black. The user-friendly ISO button allows you to manually limit the ISO value to any maximum value. If you want to add a lens protector, polarizer, etc., you need to purchase a 67mm adapter (Canon FA-DC67A). - and good luck with your search! This camera, like everyone else in this class, struggles with low light conditions due to its small sensor. Unlike the competition, however, Canon allows you to mount an external flash and that pretty much solves that problem if you're willing to pay for it. In my opinion, this is a cheaper option than a $1000-$3000 DSLR that can hit ISO 6000 in low light. Overall, the Canon is definitely an improvement over everything that came before it, but it does have its own quirks. You must know and deal with. The possibilities for creativity with a single camera/lens are truly unprecedented. The ability to switch from 1cm macro to 35x superzoom with a switch is not found on any other camera, combined with scene options such as fisheye, not common on other similar cameras, and a wide range of colours. With options unmatched by Canon's competitors in this class, you've got a great tool for creative photography. While the SX30 certainly isn't perfect, and image quality is sometimes lower than your $3,000+ lens DSLR (although you'll need a lot of zoom/zoom for some images to notice the difference), it's overall worth it, to reconcile this. Restrictions on Other Factors. A word of caution: if you're looking for an easy-to-use point-and-shoot, this might not be the best choice due to the often poor intelligence in the automatic setup. If it wasn't for that, it would have gotten 5 stars.