Review on Enhanced Connectivity with Canon PowerShot SX600 HS 16MP Wi-Fi Enabled Digital Camera (Red) by David Dortch

I have a few other Canon digital cameras and I'm gradually throwing out the old ones for new ones while I still have three or keep four of them. active. I like Canon's UI consistency so let's be honest. Many digital cameras have user interfaces that you will forget to use unless you have the manual handy. both small and light, and it takes good pictures. But it doesn't want to focus properly in many situations and is happy to take photos that look normal on the LCD but are actually a little blurry in focus. Focus or exposure are also not adjusted during video recording. So not bad, but still lacking in some respects. Then I have a large S3IS which I like but is a bit dated in terms of the small LCD screen size and relatively low resolution. However, it excels at being able to take both photos and videos, which I find very useful, and its ability to freeze action during sports or other "active" scenes surpasses any other camera I currently own. Then there is a PowerShot which I bought a year ago because its battery uses two AA cells and not a Canon brand battery, but I see that Canon has discontinued this range of cameras. So I looked for a replacement for the ELPH in my lineup. Basic compact camera with good performance, compact size, powerful optical zoom and the ability to record camcorder-quality video, including automatic adjustment of focus and exposure when the video subject changes. The choice fell on the PowerShot SX600 HS and its analogue SX700 HS, the price difference is around 100 euros. The main differences are that the SX700 has a better image processor and a much more powerful optical zoom (30x instead of 18x). After discussing my needs with a Canon product specialist (and Canon still excels at how easy it is for them to get in touch with real people for questions, and those people aren't in a foreign call center reading in script), I chose SX600 . .After taking a few photos around the house to make sure it worked, I took it with me on a recent holiday trip as a backup to my S3IS camera. Now that I'm back from my trip, I have to confess that I never took the S3IS out of my pocket, instead taking all the photos and videos with the SX600. The SX600 is a typical size for its class: 4 inches wide, 2.4 inches high and 1 inch deep front to back (not counting the zoom lens, which protrudes heavily when the camera is on). It's pocket-sized, but the weight of about 6 ounces is noticeable, and I wouldn't exactly call it light. The camera feels solid and solid. While the SX600 uses a typical Canon proprietary button cell battery, the camera body has a slight bulge on the front so you can hold it with one hand while taking pictures. I found this camber useful, but still too small to allow for a secure one-handed grip. However, I applaud Canon for making everything available in this regard. The camera body is all plastic, black finish and simple matte plastic texture. Other color options are possible to provide other textures but I cannot comment further on this. The front of the SX600 is dominated by a large lens array e; It's a very large optical device for a small point-and-shoot, and that's one of the camera's main advantages. In order to "unwrap" the lens for use, the internal motorized mechanism must perform a series of maneuvers, but it does so automatically and quickly, so you hardly notice it. The same applies to storing the lens when the device is switched off. The automatic lens cap works very well. On the back of the SX600 is a large 3 inch wide viewing angle color LCD display with a selection of buttons and options. I won't go into the details of the user interface as the SX600 shares Canon's traditional and well-established philosophy and control layout. The only part I found different from my other Canons is the additional three-position slide switch that allows you to do this can do Switch from the normal AUTO recording mode to one of the two special modes. The most notable of these modes is the so-called Creative Shot mode, in which, immediately after the intended shot, the camera automatically takes several more shots of the same subject in quick succession, each with a different "special". I found this a completely useless feature for normal camera use. I don't know who will appreciate this feature. sh won't work regardless of the settings, and if you think you need the flash to work, press the button that makes it pop up and it will fire automatically when needed. I prefer that to having to go into some sort of menu to turn the flash on and off. The image sensor has 16 megapixels, which is very good for this price range. You won't even notice it in most normal photos, but if you zoom in to the optical zoom limit and then zoom in further, the extra resolution helps avoid image graininess. Although the SX600 is in some ways both a camcorder and a still camera, it does have some limitations, which are detailed below. MORE: - You cannot take photos while the camera is recording a video. However, pressing the shutter button (like taking a photo) will stop the video immediately, and pressing the shutter button again will take a photo. Then press the red VIDEO button again to immediately resume filming and hopefully you only wasted a few seconds. Compared to my other Canon cameras, there aren't many ways to tweak the resolution and JPEG compression settings for photos. .this camera always takes larger image files than I need for normal photography. otherwise the camera can auto-adjust.) - The SX600 has effective image stabilization for stills when zooming in, but I found the image stabilization didn't work very well when shooting video (and maybe the camera doesn't even have it). Function. This wasn't too clear in the manual.) - Full zoom is possible during the video. - Unlike photos, there doesn't seem to be a setting for how videos are captured. The aspect ratio and resolution appear to be fixed: 1080p (1920 x 1280), Full HD widescreen. Unlike photo mode, where I never had trouble focusing, I've had it many times (but still with a small video component, on vacation) that the camera just wouldn't focus after pressing the red VIDEO button. I had to pause the video, press the shutter button to "wake up" the autofocus system, and then press the red VIDEO button again to restart the video. I can't think of a good reason for that. Unlike a real camcorder, the SX600 automatically creates new video files every few minutes instead of creating one giant video file when you're recording non-stop. When you cut individual files together on a DVD or something, nothing seems to be lost. But it can be annoying to look at the status of the video on the display when recording a video, maybe 12 minutes and the counter only shows 2 minutes and 5 seconds for example (because it has already closed the first 10 minutes as a separate video file). As with all Canon cameras, you cannot charge the battery while it is in the camera. You have to take it out and put it in the included charger. I've been running out of battery for a very long time, I've been working for a long time with the display on, zooming, etc.; However, I recommend buying a second battery in case the first one runs out in the middle of something important. Each battery takes a few hours to charge, but I've found that one charger can easily charge two batteries overnight (if I set my alarm to wake up at 2am and replace the battery). In my experience, don't waste your time with regular or third-party batteries. Just save your money for a genuine Canon battery if you want the same battery life as the battery that came with it. The SX600 has Wi-Fi. Fi, and you can use it to send photos and videos to your smartphone or to Wi-Fi equipped printers, computers, etc. However, I didn't use the WiFi function and can't comment on that. A nice aspect of Wi-Fi is that you can use your smartphone to remotely trigger the camera to snap a picture; useful for group shots and so on. The SX600 is pretty basic in terms of features and ability to shoot in unusual situations. This is the basic "aim and shoot" first. However, you can access the basic manual controls if you want to use them. Based on my previous experience of filling six 8GB SD cards on vacation (much more than video) I have a few real complaints about the SX600 and it has become my go-to camera for casual and vacation photography and videography .