PowerShot SX30 IS
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
The PowerShot series usually combines ease of use with some sophisticated extras in a larger format, and that’s no exception with the SX30. (I’ve been playing with one for a few days.)
It also lets you view histograms and other geeky stuff in the viewfinder, which I like, during the picture preview period. Larger than a compact but nowhere near as heavy or imposing as a pro camera like a 5D MkII, the SX30 has the very handy swing-out and swivel 2.7-inch LCD of many of the Canon G series ‘pro-compact’ cameras. This means you can swing it out and use it as an ordinary back-facing LCD, or swivel it up or down for shots taken while holding the camera high (say, over the heads of a crowd) or low without needing to crouch.
It even swings completely over for self portraits (above), so you can view it from the front.
As you’d expect from a modern camera, everything falls easily to hand and it’s no real mission figuring out what’s what. Canon sticks to a fairly consistent interface and it’s easy to get used to.
And you can disregard the LCD entirely if you like and use the digital viewfinder – you can also swing the LCD over and fold it back to face out from the back of the camera like a normal, fixed LCD. So it's very handy all round.
As usual, it ships with a CD of software which I … disregard. I am a Mac user, after all.
That lens
The lens pops out a rather shocking long way from the body on full zoom. The zoom is spectacular, as you can see from the pictures I took at Motat. Usefully, the barrel of the zoom is marked off with 300mm, 200mm etc so you can see where your zoom is set at.
The lens pops out a rather shocking long way from the body on full zoom. The zoom is spectacular, as you can see from the pictures I took at Motat. Usefully, the barrel of the zoom is marked off with 300mm, 200mm etc so you can see where your zoom is set at.
24mm is pretty wide – but see the next image down for how far
in it can zoom (inside the central orange rectangle)
Generally, the quality the lens captures is OK, rather than brilliant. Actually, lets qualify that: the middle of the lens is excellent (as you can see from the second, zoomed in shot). But edges at the widest setting distort. To be fair to Canon, this is virtually inevitable on any 24mm lens, but you can see from the detail below what I mean. This is the area within the purple rectangle on the left of the zoomed-out shot, above.
You can also see how this is a small proportion of the overall shot, which is fine for most needs.
When you’re well zoomed in, holding the camera (any camera) steady is a mission, but luckily this has Optical Image Stabilizer to compensate for your tiny hand movements.
This reduces the effects of blur caused by camera shake and seems to work pretty well – especially where you don’t have loads of light.
A new PowerShot SX30 IS feature is ‘Zoom Framing Assist’, designed to help you easily locate your subject if you happen to lose them while on a telephoto setting. If this occurs, press the Zoom Framing assist button to automatically zoom out a little.
It falls handily to thumb, and zooms back to the previous telephoto setting when you release it, making it easier to get the shot you want. But most people are probably used to zooming out a bit the normal way and then zooming back in.
Stills
TruCapture combines three Canon proprietary technologies: Optical Image Stabilizer, the DiG!C 4 Image Processor and Intelligent Auto that makes taking photos easy.
Considering it has a 14.1 megapixel sensor, you’d expect images to be sharp and clear. You have Auto mode, of course, but also Program, Aperture or Shutter priority, Manual, C1 and C2 (you load your favourite modes into these for instant selection), plus Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Scene and Movie.
This reduces the effects of blur caused by camera shake and seems to work pretty well – especially where you don’t have loads of light.
A new PowerShot SX30 IS feature is ‘Zoom Framing Assist’, designed to help you easily locate your subject if you happen to lose them while on a telephoto setting. If this occurs, press the Zoom Framing assist button to automatically zoom out a little.
It falls handily to thumb, and zooms back to the previous telephoto setting when you release it, making it easier to get the shot you want. But most people are probably used to zooming out a bit the normal way and then zooming back in.
Stills
TruCapture combines three Canon proprietary technologies: Optical Image Stabilizer, the DiG!C 4 Image Processor and Intelligent Auto that makes taking photos easy.
Considering it has a 14.1 megapixel sensor, you’d expect images to be sharp and clear. You have Auto mode, of course, but also Program, Aperture or Shutter priority, Manual, C1 and C2 (you load your favourite modes into these for instant selection), plus Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Scene and Movie.
You really have your creativity catered too with this baby – you should be able to shoot anything.
You really should be able to shoot anything with this camera!
Video
The SX30 shoots High Definition video (in this case, that’s 1280x720 pixels). You can also choose 640x480 for smaller movies. It also has stereo sound, using two little microphones on the front of the viewfinder housing. They’re only about 1.5cm apart so don’t expect wide panning stereoscopic sound.
A Dynamic IS mode reduces camera shake while shooting movies, and Scene Detection automatically carries out image processing for that scene.
I quite like the round button with the red dot on it that also falls a slight thumb-stretch away – this lets you shoot immediate video footage no matter what mode you’re in (although Auto is recommended). It’s really handy. But if you spin the mode wheel on top to the Movie setting, you can access the specifically-movie features like the aforementioned with a press of the Func/Set button on the rear-mounted selector wheel.
This gives you Standard, Select Colour and Colour Replacement modes, plus the new ‘Miniature effect’ that imitates the visual qualities of a ‘Tilt Shift’ lens, applying blur to background and foreground to make subjects look like they are in miniature. The sharp band is nearer the bottom than the top; the top blur band is wider than the bottom one.
This kind of thing has been a fad for a while now … over to you, I guess, whether you want that. This effect came about with very short depth of field from wide apertures, but the SX30 actually progressively above and below a central band to achieve the same thing.
The movies I shot were good, with excellent detail and colour – and you can use that zoom while you shoot, although the two little mics mounted just above the lens may pick up a little motor noise.
Conclusion
A really handy camera that becomes extraordinary thanks to it's amazing zoom range. With 14.1 megapixels, you have a lot of power to capture great pictures. The speed of focus would make this the perfect companion to the doting parent at the sports field.
What's great — That zoom, and the many creative features.
What's not — Some refractory distortion at the edges of the widest angle setting. I don't like digital viewfinders very much.
Needs — An enthusiast who wants more from their images than just a point-and-shoot can give 'em.
4/5
What — Canon PowerShot SX30 IS, RRP$799.95
System — Mac OS 10.4-10.6, PowerPC or Intel processor 1.6GHz or faster, 1024x768 pixel display minimum. (Windows also supported.)
Contact — The PowerShot SX30 IS is available now through Canon New Zealand Authorised resellers. For more information customers can contact Canon on 0800 222 666, or visit the website.
Contact — The PowerShot SX30 IS is available now through Canon New Zealand Authorised resellers. For more information customers can contact Canon on 0800 222 666, or visit the website.
