Thank you Canon! Really good even for non-professionals!

I am absolutely not a photo expert, but I take every opportunity "shoot" pictures. Whether on holiday, at leisure, at the weekend, at home or at parties; the camera is always there.
For this reason, I have been looking for something, which I as a layman can make high-quality images.
I bought the multi outmoded predecessors Canon PowerShot SX200 IS about 2 years ago. My absolute favorite camera in this format. Unfortunately she fell during a vacation due to a gust of wind, together with the Gorillapod tripod in the sand. The fine grains of sand were a death sentence for my beloved camera.

Back to PowerShot SX230 HS:

What is striking?
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- The processing seems to be quite a good level.
I assume that this is metal in the casing. Looks nice and feels wonderful. The whole in "Bicolor" (frame in silver / aluminum and otherwise black)

-The Screen is huge (3 inches) and in the 16: 9 format. Videos can be recorded in this format.
For pictures are different formats (1: 1, 4: 3 Standart {}, 16: 9, 3: 2) ready

- Buttons are pleasing few available. This makes it easier for the layman a little understanding.

- GPS is new (good thing because I played a long time with the idea to buy an Eye-Fi SD card with additional GPS and Wi-Fi, which is now unnecessary)

- The camera is in contrast to the SX200 become significantly narrower. I also have a feeling that the SX200 better adapting the hand shape. The SX230 is much more rigid and is not as intuitive in his hand. This especially is meant a point at which the fingers of the right hand can hold. This has been solved, for example TZ10 very nice at the Panasonic. Nevertheless, the SX230 is not in your hand, that they would slip at any moment from the hand.

- The camera has "only" 12.1 megapixels. The trend is always yes to more pixels. That does not necessarily mean that the cameras are better! So any "window dressing" with this camera!

- The battery cover closes tightly and the SD card is immediately place. However, I missed the mark / delineation as the battery is to be placed. Although it is an arrow on the battery, but I wanted to insert very carefully, without anything to destroy the camera or to cancel the battery, of course. Only after I have the battery repeatedly rotated and turned and then pressed into a little stronger in the tray, "swallowed" the SX230 small energy Klotz.

Service
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- I did not read the manual first. For my needs, can this Canon model set playing. The first recordings can be made after about 2 minutes of configuration.

- The rotary wheel can be perfectly engage with your right thumb to the appropriate setting (Auto, Portrait, Video etc.).

- The camera is ready to shoot within 1 second and can be within 1 second again off

- The battery can be charged via fortunately an external charger. I think that's excellent because I am putting mostly 2 or 3 batteries as a reserve and find it more comfortable if I can load them independently from the camera.

Images / quality
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- It's amazing "conjures up" what excellent images of this little gadget. I use mostly the P, Auto or Portrait setting and am extremely satisfied.
Since I am not an expert, I can not throw technical terms and figures to me, but I can say that this camera far better pictures than my Canon SX30 (ii without external Speedlite 430EX flash). In direct comparison to the Panasonic TZ10 I now may not necessarily say that the SX230's much better. For me personally, the Canon has the edge.

- The videos are also in surprisingly good quality. I was stunned when I put the SD card in my Panasonic plasma. For occasional filming are image quality and recording more than adequate. I believe that I will use this feature in the future more often. Because the video camera can soon stay at home.

- We tried the GPS feature. Outdoors, the SX230 is a signal very quickly. However, this function uses logically battery life. Since I have 2 batteries in reserve here, that's fine. Perhaps it would be in 10,20 years on the pictures when the memory wears off and you can see, thanks to the GPS coordinates where these photos were taken.

Conclusion
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I am thrilled. Canon has released a worthy successor, which is equipped with numerous extras. For the uninitiated (like me) is perhaps much on board, which is not necessarily required to learn (video diary, diff. Effects etc), but can be a lot of functions and settings in a short time. The camera takes excellent shots, and is precisely for this reason suitable for non-professionals, as they can shoot high-quality images, without having to be great with the technique need. For the technician it may be a nightmare, but I'm sure there are many like-minded people who maybe do not have as much knowledge and still want to make high-quality recordings. Just this I can recommend the SX230 highly.

Hint
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As a camera bag I can recommend Crumpler Messenger Boy 90. This has a removable strap on the back of a loop / holder that can be used to backpack / bag or belt attachment. For this purpose the camera from the inside is nice padded soft and dense packed, so it is safe from the rain. Additionally, there is a small compartment for spare battery or SD card. Bought here at Amazon.