Power Shot SX210 is one of the latest digicams from Canon.It has 14-megapixel camera with 14x zoom. It follows up 2009's SX200 IS, in both resolution and zoom range and slimming down the body to a more pocket-friendly size. And though it improves on some of the prior model's controls, it still has a few design quirks that made me want to throw it across the room on occasion. Its shooting speed performance is noticeably pokey, too. On the other hand, it takes very good photos and has a nice set of manual and semimanual shooting options.
The 14x zoom lens front and center is the only thing keeping this from being slipped easily into a tight pocket; there's no problem dropping it in a handbag or coat pocket, though. Still, you'll probably want to invest in a protective case or risk scratching the fine finish of the metal shell. Canon makes the flash pop up every time you start the camera. At least this time you can push it down and it'll stay down. With the flash up, the camera is very awkward to hold because you don't really have anywhere to put your fingers. The LCD is decently bright, but it's a lower resolution than can be found on other cameras in its price range.
The dial does make for fast navigation, though, and for quick changes to aperture and shutter speed in the manual and semimanual shooting modes. It moves freely, but you can feel individual stops when rotating it. In the center of the dial is Canon's standard Func. Set button for accessing shooting-mode-specific options and making selections. Under the dial are a Display button for changing the shooting or playback information that's shown on screen and a Menu button for basic operation settings. Should you want to connect to a computer, monitor, or HDTV, there are Mini-USB and Mini-HDMI ports on the body's right side. The battery and memory card compartment are on the bottom under a nonlocking door; however, the door closes firmly.
Shooting options on the SX210 IS run the gamut from simple point-and-shoot options to full manual controls. The manual shooting options are better than most compact megazooms.With the lens fully extended, you only get three of these, though: f5.9, f7.1, and f8. Shutter speeds can be set from 15 seconds to 1/3,200 second. There are options for setting color saturation, sharpness, and contrast, too, and the flash strength can be easily adjusted. A flash exposure lock, which adjusts flash output for what you're focused on, can quickly be activated as well; it functions well for keeping the flash from blowing out subjects.
An Easy mode works similarly, but heavily limits settings. Canon also put on the mode dial five popular scene selections--Portrait, Landscape, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, and Indoor--and a SCN choice for accessing lesser-used scene settings like Low Light, Indoor, Beach, Foliage, Snow, Fireworks, and Panorama Stitch Assist. Canon added a Smart Shutter option to the Scene mode, too; this includes a smile-activated shutter release as well as Wink and Face Detection Self-timers. Wink allows you to set off the shutter simply by winking at the camera and the Face Detection option will wait till the camera detects a new face in front of the camera before it fires off a shot. Both work well.
Shooting performance is generally slow, meaning it's not a good option for fast-moving subjects; this is the case for most compact cameras, however. Shutter lag--the time it takes to capture an image once the shutter release is pressed--is 0.6 second in good lighting and 0.8 second in low light. Shot-to-shot times are somewhat long, too, at 3.5 and 5.8 seconds, without and with flash, respectively. What's worse is that the camera actually feels slow. From off to first shot is 2 seconds (good for a compact megazoom camera) and its continuous shooting rate is a lowly 0.5 frames per second.
My Rating:3.5/5
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