Canon PowerShot SX1 IS

Viewfinder (5.00)

The electronic viewfinder is better than no viewfinder at all, particularly when shooting on a sunny day, but it’s small and fairly low-res (148,000 dots), and its difficult to make out details (including the facial expression of someone in your sights). What’s more, the settings displays are lined up on the left and right sides of the screen, and are tough to see without moving the camera around (particularly when wearing glasses). Finally, at least for this admittedly large-honkered reviewer, the left side of the camera butts up pretty aggressively against the right side of the nose when shooting through the viewfinder. One positive note here: the displays in the viewfinder are identical to the view on the LCD (see below), so you don’t have to relearn a new interface or controls when switching back and forth.

Display (6.65)

The LCD display is acceptable but unexpectional, a 2.8-inch screen with 230,000-dot resolution. There are only two brightness settings, but it does hold up reasonably well in daylight. The noteworthy plus here is the articulated screen, hinged on the left side, that allows the LCD to swing out up to 180 degrees from the body and rotate up to 270 degrees. This is useful in many shooting situations, including grabbing shots from odd angles, shooting self-portraits with the camera mounted on a tripod and holding the camera steady when shooting video. The screen can also be turned and folded with the active side facing the camera back for protection while traveling.

On-screen information display for both the viewfinder and the LCD are highly customizable. The DISP button toggles between only two variations, but through the set-up menu you can choose to include shooting information, grid lines, a 3:2 print area guide and a live histogram, in any combination you choose. Unfortunately there’s no way to flip directly between the viewfinder and the LCD. Instead, you press the button twice to choose between displays on one screen, then cycle through two displays on the next screen, and so on.

When shooting in dark situations, the LCD and electronic viewfinder gain is automatically bumped up. While the screen turns a bit grainy and the screen update while moving isn’t as silky smooth as it is under better lighting, we found this night view mode very helpful, particularly when lining up flash shots in the dark.

Flash (7.25)

The flash must be raised manually, which is fine with us — it prevents the camera’s automatic exposure system from firing the flash in inappropriate settings. Flash output can be adjusted using exposure compensation in a ±2 EV range, in 1/3 stop increments, when the flash mode is set to Auto, or in three steps when shooting with flash mode set to Manual. In addition to the standard first curtain flash sync, second curtain sync (which fires just before the shutter closes, creating a trailing effect when shooting moving lights) is also available. Slow sync combines flash with a slower shutter speed to capture a foreground subject and a darker background. Red-eye correction automatically employs a digital fix, while the red-eye lamp can be set to light before shooting to shrink the subject’s retina and reduce red eye in the captured image. Finally, Safety FE lets the camera adjusts shutter speed or aperture to avoid blowing out highlights, even if this overrides the user settings.

Maximum flash sync speed when using an external flash is 1/500 second.

Lens (13.25)

The SX1 sports a 20x zoom, equivalent to a 28-560mm on a 35mm camera. Maximum aperture at the widest setting is a decent f/2.8, while at full telephoto it’s f/5.7. The lens can be a bit noisy while working the zoom, but it moves quickly and stops accurately, so we’ll forgive a little audible feedback.

In addition to the optical zoom, digital zoom with a multiplier up to 4x is available (taking the maximum telephoto equivalent when shooting in 4:3 aspect ratio to 2240mm). Of course, digital zoom causes image quality deterioration, but if you’re shooting at less than full resolution, there is an on-screen ‘safety zoom’ indicator to show how much digital zoom can be applied without affecting image quality. There is also a fixed 2.3x magnification option, which limits digital zoom to the level where it doesn’t affect image quality when shooting movies.

Extremely close macro photography is available, with minimum lens-to-subject distances of 3.9 inches (10cm) in standard mode and a super macro mode that lets you touch the subject with the lens (good luck with lighting, but still….).

The photos below demonstrate the snooping range of the 20x zoom lens, from the widest 5mm setting (equivalent to 28mm on a 35mm camera) to 100mm (560mm equivalent).

Zoom Ratio Examples
5.0 mm	41.0 mm	100.0 mm

Battery (3.00)

The SX1 is powered by four AA batteries (a set of alkalines is supplied with the camera). Canon estimates that with alkalines you’ll get approximately 160 shots using the LCD, or 180 using the viewfinder — not a whole lot for your investment. Switch over to rechargeable NiMH batteries, though, and the picture is much rosier: approximately 420 shots per charge with the LCD, 430 with the viewfinder. Your wallet and your local landfill will both benefit when you make the modest investment in a set of rechargeables.

Memory (3.00)

The camera takes SD and SDHC memory cards.

Jacks, Ports & Plugs (5.50)

The availalble ports are all on the right side of the camera. At the top is a door protecting the stereo AV output (cable supplied) and a terminal for connecting an optional AC adapter. to the left of this is a separate compartment for an industry-standard mini USB connection (also supplied) and a mini HDMI port for directly connecting to a high-def TV (cable not included).

Other Hardware (2.00)

Wireless Remote Control

The SX1 ships with a wireless remote control. In record mode, the remote can be used to zoom in or out, change the display between LCD and viewfinder, and trip the shutter, either immediately or after a preset delay. During playback (including when the camera is connected to a TV), the remote lets you switch between thumbnail and single-image views, zoom in or out and change the on-screen information display, and also operates all of the four-way controller buttons. This is a valuable piece of gear, and much appreciated.