Canon 12.1 Megapixels PowerShot SX260 HS 20x Zoom Review by StevesDigicam

On February 7 2012, Canon announced the addition of 4 PowerShot cameras: the ELPH 530 HS, ELPH 320 HS, SX260 HS, and D20. The SX260 HS camera features a 20x Optical Zoom and 25mm Wide-Angle lens with Optical Image Stabilization. It comes with a 12.1 Megapixels high-sensitivity CMOS sensor, DIGIC 5 image processor, and supports 1080p Full HD video.

The camera also includes Intelligent IS and GPS photo tagging with location and elevation information, as well as Smart AUTO scene selection with 58 scenes and Face ID functions. It supports a High-Speed Burst HQ allowing for about 10 high-resolution shots at a continuous rate at 10.3fps. The camera is available in black, green and red for $349.99. It's currently selling at around $290. Here's the summary of review by Steve's Digicam:

"One area where this PowerShot camera seems to perform pretty well is when you bump up the ISO setting to deal with shooting in low light. There isn't an overly high amount of noise in high ISO photos, and the images tend to be of a decent sharpness. The ability to create usable images at high ISO settings tends to be an area where point and shoot cameras struggle, so the SX260 HS definitely performs better than most of its peers in this area. This camera's ISO can only reach a maximum of 3200, however. Outdoor photos are well exposed and colored properly in almost all shooting situations. You may notice a bit of softness in outdoor photos from time to time, but only if you're going to create really large prints. You can choose from a variety of resolutions with the PowerShot SX260, so be sure you're recording at the size you want to match the print sizes you'll want to make later. You can shoot at four aspect ratios (16:9, 4:3, 3:2, and 1:1) with this camera, and you can shoot at four different resolutions within each aspect ratio, between 12 megapixels and 0.3 megapixels. This variety is very nice to have to help you meet your shooting needs. Response times are a bit of a disappointment for a camera in this price range. The autofocus is a little slow, which can lead to some problems capturing images of fast-moving subjects. The shot-to-shot delays with the PowerShot SX260 HS are longer than I expected to see in a camera that has so many other great features, and when you're using the flash, these delays are tough to take. There is a high-speed burst mode with this model, but the LCD screen goes blank in this mode, which can make it tough to frame images. Start-up time is pretty good with the SX260, but it can be better if you take the time to turn off the start-up image through the on-screen menus.

Movie quality is really good with the PowerShot SX260 HS, especially compared to other point and shoot still image cameras. You can shoot video at 1080p HD, 720p HD, or standard definition resolution. The camera's videos are sharply focused and the colors are very realistic. You can use the optical zoom lens with movies, and the images remain pretty sharp. However, it can be a little tough to hand hold the camera steadily on the video scene when you start using the zoom, so take extra care when trying to shoot video with a zoom; this is where a tripod or monopod would also come in handy. The audio quality with the SX260's video isn't great, but that's common with point and shoot cameras. Unless you're pretty close to the audio source, you may pick up quite a bit of background noise. In some of our test videos, you could even hear the zoom mechanism as it moved back and forth. 

Bottom Line - I really liked the PowerShot SX260 HS, as it has quite a large number of nice features, while remaining pretty easy to use. It also has enough manual control features that you can use it both as a beginning photographer and, as your skills increase, as an intermediate photographer. The 20x optical zoom lens in a camera is great, and the large, bright, and sharp LCD screen is another nice feature. This camera's biggest drawback is the speed at which it operates, as its autofocus can be a little slow at times the delay between shots may frustrate you from time to time. If you want to make really large prints, you may be a bit disappointed with some of your low-light images due to their softness. However, when the SX260 HS gets everything just right, its image quality is outstanding. The price point or $299 - $349 USD for this camera will drive it out of the budget of quite a few beginners, but, if you can afford this model, you're going to be pretty pleased with the overall results; especially if you need a big zoom lens in a camera that can fit in a pocket ... as long as it's a big pocket, that is."