*** IMAGE QUALITY ***
** PHOTO **
The sensor has 16 effective megapixels, but even the setting with the highest quality, it looks a lot less of, because the images are extremely compressed, so be jpegs produced with 4 to 5 MB. You do not have much zoom in on a computer screen to see the fiber structure of the JPEG compression. What one has a sensor which can detect as many pixels, then when you throw this away by the compression? Perhaps that was a few years ago still understandable, as the price of memory cards was much higher, but nowadays it makes no sense in my opinion.
** VIDEO **
The image stabilization works well when you record video. Unfortunately, only videos are supported in 720p HD and not in 1080p Full HD.
The microphone also shows up instead of the front, so that it picks up sounds so good.
** ZOOM **
The 30x optical zoom is impressive. The 35mm equivalent to 24-720mm lens would be.
However, camera movements are a serious problem when using the 30x zoom. The image stabilizer works in bright light, in low light, you need a tripod if you want to take pictures with this zoom level. But around a tripod to wear contradicts somehow the purpose of such a small camera. Alternatively, you could leave the camera on something in order to gain more stability.
** Macro shooting ***
One can focus on objects that touch the lens when you zoom out as far as possible.
*** MANUAL AND AUTOMATIC MODES ***
There is the possibility to choose different modes (for shutter speed (Tv), for aperture values (AV) and Manual (M)), so a little flexibility of a DSLR is offered.
There are a couple of settings for specific scenes for those who like to take pictures in Auto mode, but only for portraits, shooting in low light conditions, shooting against snowy backgrounds as well as pictures of fireworks. Settings such as Sport, Landscape, Sunset are not available. The setting for low light conditions does not produce good results.
** CREATIVE FILTER ***
There are several creative filters - a fisheye effect, a miniature effect, a toy camera, a monochrome mode. Only some of these effects work when recording video - and then sometimes in unexpected ways.
Effects like these can also, etc. in the image or video editing on the computer or by utilizing Instagram be added, so that I look at the Canon PowerShot be of little use.
*** TO USE ***
The menus are badly organized, especially the video. There is a mode of video on mode dial, but you can record videos in all modes over the movie button. Using the video feature on the mode dial allows you to lock the exposure, to prevent it automatically adapts to the video recording. It would also when shooting via M mode (Manual) expected, but this is obscure enough, not so, but here the exposure automatically adjusts.
The Settings for creative filters, discrete mode and video should not be set by the mode dial in principle, because these are all things that might want to combine with other modes of users.
*** Battery life ***
Canon shows that one can make about 195 shots with a fully charged one. I can make one afternoon only 91 (mostly photos, but also a few short video clips). Charging takes about 2 hours. Replacement batteries, however, are cheap to buy, for example, Lookit brand Battery for Canon PowerShot SX240 HS / SX260 HS PowerShot / Canon PowerShot D20 / Canon PowerShot SX500 IS.
*** SUMMARY ***
The Canon PowerShot is due to the impressive zoom in my opinion only for animal or sports photography or for paparazzi with limited financial possibilities.
