Canon SX1 IS

	Sample Photos
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Sample Photos

In the following sample images, clicking on the larger image will download the full resolution original. Each photo is accompanied by three actual-size crops.

Landscape Sample
			Focal length: 5mm ISO: 100 Aperture: f/4 Shutter speed: 1/250 second Welcome to beautiful Davis Square, a short stroll from our offices in Somerville, MA. This was shot in program mode with the lens at its widest setting: notice the pair of bowed flagpoles in the middle of the image, demonstrating the barrel distortion revealed in our lab tests.
			There's good detail across most of the image, though the edges give way to softness and chromatic aberration.

Low Light Sample
			Focal length: 10mm ISO: 1600 Aperture: f/3.5 Shutter speed: 1/6 second These artificial flowers were dimly lit with only 40 lux of illumination and shot with the camera mounted on a tripod, with the ISO at the maximum standard settting, to check the effect of image noise on detail reproduction. The camera had some trouble coming up with a balanced exposure in evaluative mode, blowing out the white flowers, though a little exposure compensation would have ironed this out.
			All is not lost at ISO 1600, at least for modest-size reproductions, but pushing past ISO 800 with this camera should really be considered a last resort.

Macro Sample
			Focal length: 5mm ISO: 400 Aperture: f/2.8 Shutter speed: 1/40 second The SX1 macro capabilities are strikingly good, allowing exceptional close-up opportunities (in super macro mode, you can focus as close as you can physically get to the subject). In this case we taped a $20 bill to the wall, mounted the camera on a tripod about 2 inches from the currency and snapped away with a 2-second self-timer delay to prevent shaking.
			Yes, there are sharpness and color fringing problems at the extreme edges, but that's why cropping was invented. Nearly the entire image is strikingly sharp.

Color Sample
			Focal length: 12mm ISO: 100 Aperture: f/4 Shutter speed: 1/15 You might not know what the patches on a color chart actually look like, but we suspect you've seen the McDonalds, Starbucks and US Postal Service logos more than once. Hence this compilation of images that use familiar hues, shot under rather difficult mixed fluorescent and incandescent illumination with automatic white balance, with the default color setting.
			We're pleased with the color accuracy in this shot, and just a little bit hungry and thirsty after viewing it close up.

Still Life Examples

The images in the chart below were taken with each comparison camera, using automatic white balance and program mode, at all available ISOs. Clicking on an image will download the full-resolution version, though this will take some time if your Internet coneciton is slow.

	Still Life Comparisons
	Canon SX1	Nikon P90	Olympus SP-590UZ	Sony HX1
ISO 80 (64 for Nikon and Olympus)
ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 400
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
ISO 6400

NOTE: The images above are not used in our testing or scoring, but are included here to show real-world examples of the differences between cameras at the various ISO settings.

Nikon P90	Olympus SP-590UZ	Sony HX1
See how the competition stacked up against the Canon SX1