Canon PowerShot SX10 IS

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With manual controls and a wide-angle to telephoto-length lens, the SX10 IS falls into the category affectionately termed 'superzooms'. Somewhere between a more advanced point-and-shoot and a fully fledged dSLR, superzooms generally have a limited audience because of their fairly niche calling card.

Editors' note:

This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com.au. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia.

Design

For a megazoom camera, the SX10 sure does look sleek.
(click for larger image)

Sharing a similar body to its PowerShot S5 IS predecessor, the SX10 is a slick, sophisticated picture-taking machine. Taking it out of the box for the first time provides a much more tactile experience than a lot of other cameras. The gentle plastics sit softly against your skin, the silver tipped buttons exude an understated elegance, and the hot shoe is coated in a pleasing powder black finish.

The 2.5-inch LCD screen at the back can flip and rotate, much like a screen you would find on a camcorder. Clearly, Canon's designers have taken the time to get the aesthetics of this camera right. It's molded in such a way as to fit as snugly in one hand--excellent news for one-handed shooters. It's not as hefty as it looks, which is a nice surprise when you first pick it up and expect it to knock you backwards. Using AA cells rather than a rechargeable lithium-ion unit, the batteries' weight counteract the bulk of the lens nicely, providing a balanced feel.

Tags: Lithium-ion, Camera, plastics, camcorder, LCD

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