Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
 I will keep it BUT has some definite flaws to keep in mind.... November 20, 2009
mom2sarah... (Windy City)
I have owned my share of digital cameras including a 3 MP Nikon Coolpix that I bought back in 2001 for way too much money. I also own a Pentax dSLR but everyone needs a "compact" camera. I am a big fan of Canon Powershots but after my recent trip to the US OPEN, was craving a slighly larger camera with much larger Zoom capability. I was debating between this one and the New Fuji 72EXR. One of my travel mates owns the SX110IS and raved about it and I loved the photo quality of her pictures so I was leaning towards the Canon. Plus, there's something about to be said about Canon "color"...Fuji color (I owned the Fuji F30), in general, is definitely "cooler". And I personally found the dials and menus on the New Fuji a tad too complicated. So on my recent trip to Best Buy, I picked up the Canon SX120IS after much deliberation. I can't say that I regret my purchase as the photo quality is amazing but there are definitely some drawbacks you need to be aware of.
First, I found out during my daughter's Girls Scout ceremony, which was held in the gymnasium of her school, that the FLASH RECYCLE TIME can be very long...it took about 4-6 seconds between photos. Granted, it was in the gymnasium but I wasn't expect it to take THAT long between Flash pictures. After all, it is a 2009 model right? I will post a picture later that is supposed to show them holding up signs to spell D-A-I-S-Y but instead shows them putting down the cards as I missed the shot. I read somewhere that the use of 2 "AA"s (vs lithium batteries) is what causes the longer flash recycle times. I do wish that it came with Lithium batteries which leads me to next criticism. Second, the batteries do not last nearly long enough. I got the camera on Wednesday and by Friday, it was flashing the Low battery sign. Granted, I had several events in between but my old Canon Powershot would have easily lasted another couple of weeks. Third, the battery case feels flimsy and unfortunately, the SD card slot is located next to the battery so I end up opening it more than I would like. I would plug it to my PC using an USB plug but again, it would drain the battery. Fourth, the strap it comes with is way too flimsy for the camera. It looks like the same strap they use on their tiny SD30 cameras. I ended up ordering a sturdier leather strap from Gordy's camera straps. So far, these are my four drawbacks with #1 and #2 being the major ones. I can live with complaints # 3 and #4.
If you have read up to this point you might ask "Why are you keeping the camera then?" I am not 100% sure that I am. If I get too frustrated by the flash recycle times and poor battery life, I might just have to return it. But for now, I want to try to work within its limiations for two reasons: Great Image Quality and 10x Zoom. I don't need HD video (it doesn't have it) or super-slim factor but I do require Great Image Quality and wanted the extra Zoom. As for the flash recycle times, in most cases, it's much faster than it was in the gymnasium. And I do have a battery charger + rechargeables I will dust off and try. I will update this review if I decide to either return it or have learned to LOVE IT despite its limitations. If you do buy this camera, definitely invest in a screen protector.
 Great! November 20, 2009
I Believe
This is a great camera. The picture quality is so much better than our last camera. We are really happy with it.
Canon PowerShot SX120IS 10MP Digital Camera November 17, 2009
Tom DTee (New Mexico, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this camera because of the optical 10x zoom and image stabilization. My previous experience with Canon PowerShot cameras has been very good. The picture environment selections (Auto, night, portrait, and so on) are excellent, especially the indoor lighting modes. The video mode is especially good, and much improved over my previous PowerShot.
I've noticed that I do a little less photo fixing in Adobe Photoshop Elements as the images are clearer and the color seems to be better.
I was a little concerned about the lack of an optical viewfinder, but the LCD screen has so far been very good, even in bright daylight.
Perfect for daily use November 13, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Took 40-50 pictures with different options(auto manual easy use etc)
I especially loved quality of manual mode...If u r looking for something pro, it is not your camera guys...
Great camera for the advanced photographer that's all about control November 10, 2009
RLSd (Minnesota USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Canon Sx120 is for the advanced photographer who wants more control than the typical digital camera, but without the extra bulk or price. I got this camera after having used the previous SX100 and Sx110 and some DSLRs. The main upgrade from the past is the DIGIC IV processor and the noise reduction at ISO 800 and 1600. In the previous SX models the noise was pretty bad, specks of odd color pixels were very obvious at high ISO, but with the SX120's new NR processing, it's a noticeable improvement. Granted it's not DSLR level, but very usable for a compact digital camera. All the other features are just minor tweaks from the previous models.
This is a great camera for the money. It allows manual operation of aperture, shutter speed, even flash intensity (which comes in useful for optically triggering off-camera flashes). I wish more compact cameras allowed this kind of control for creative shooting. The aperture operation isn't like some other manufacturers that only have 2 settings, wide and small. It actually has increments in 1/3 stop steps which gives great control. One other feature you can't find in any other value compact digital camera is how fast the lens is. I mean how much light it lets in even when zoomed in (f2.8-f4.3). This allows faster shutter speeds to freeze the action in dimly lit areas. Most cameras have tiny lenses that lets even less light through when zoomed in, this makes the camera turn up the ISO (more noise), or slows the shutter speed (more blur). The Canon SX120 has a big enough lens to counter these effects. Even the new Canon SX200 has compromised in this area of the lens.
Other nice features of this camera I like are being able to adjust contrast, saturation, and sharpness of images. I prefer to turn these down as much as possible to capture the most data at first, I can post-process the pictures later on a computer if I wanted (alternative when RAW isn't availble).
This camera has so many great little things about it. I'll just list them here for completeness sake. It has great image quality, a lot of control for the user, intuitive interface, adequate performance speed for the category, uses convenient & greener AA batteries. I just have a few minor gripes that would make this an even better camera:
1) Super-fine JPG mode is not available anymore, I wish the JPG compression was more adjustable.
2) The Zoom level is not precisely displayed. I prefer an equivalent focal length display instead of an ambiguous zoom bar that only appears for a second or two when the zoom is activated.
3) Flash recharge is slow, but it's to be expected since it uses AA batteries. This really isn't so bad since I don't use flash very much because the camera is able to take good photos in low-light with the big lens and good high ISO performance along with the optical image stabilizer. I get good performance out of the camera using slow-discharge NiMH batteries (don't get the high mAH rating ones, they have a high self-discharge rate).
4) There's no way to turn off the auto-lens retraction when playing back images, which resets the settings when I turn the camera back on to shoot again (I have to readjust my zoom level and exposure compensation settings for example.)
5) Wide-angle isn't very wide at 36mm EFL, I prefer a bit wider and give up some in the telephoto end, while keeping the same lens performance.
6) Video recording is ok (640x480 in mJPEG), optical zoom disabled while recording. I dont' take a lot of videos and figured this camera is really for taking creative still photos. So it's an ok compromise for me.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
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