The latest compact megazoom digicam from the PowerShot series, Canon's SX230 HS aims to be an improvement from its predecessor, the SX210 HS launched last year. Although not much has changed in terms of appearance, this loaded digicam has a set of new features like CMOS sensor, in-built GPS tracker and full HD video recording.

First glance

Unlike the cameras in the IXUS series, which are both compact and sophisticated in design, the PowerShot cams are bulky and rugged. The SX230 comes with a motley array of controls, likened to what you'd see on a semi-professional superzoom like the Nikon P500 we reviewed a couple of weeks ago. Although Canon has downsized on pixels; the SX210 was a 14-megger while the SX230 is only a 12; the sensor has been upgraded from CCD to CMOS. Basically, what this means is you get better shots in low light, and faster shooting. Don't judge the cam solely by its pixel count, because that's not the only indicator of good results.

The camera comes with a handy shooting mode dial, which gives you quick access to P, S, A and M modes, as well as to Scenes, Effects, and a couple of frequently used modes like Portrait, Landscape and Kids & Pets. The clickable control wheel near the screen is devoid of markings, but these appear on the screen, allowing you to change focus mode (Manual, Normal, Macro) as well as exposure. There's a handy recording button which lets you instantly turn on video mode. The camera has a pop-out flash on the top left hand side, which opens every time you start the camera. If you don't want to use flash, you can just snap it back into place. Cleverly concealed in the side is a lid which opens to reveal a mini USB and mini HDMI port.

One of the best features of this camera is the 14x zoom lens (5-70mm). You can increase zoom further up to 4x digital zoom (which translates into approximately 56x zoom overall).

User Interface

Usability wise, the SX230 seems easy enough to navigate around on the outset, but you do have to mess about with the controls a bit before you're able to manoeuvre through the menu. Apart from the scene modes on the dial, there are a couple of others embedded in the menu, which include Panorama Stitch Assist, Foliage, Beach, Snow, Lowlight and Handheld NightScene. The Underwater mode can be used if you've got a waterproof cover for the camera. There's a Smart Shutter mode which works for Smile Detection, and you can even adjust the mode to work as a self timer for Face Detection and Wink Detection.

Another turn of the dial will bring up the Effect mode, and we actually had a lot of fun using it. There's a Fisheye effect, which you can tweak to increase or reduce intensity. Miniature, Poster and Toy Camera were some of the other effects that we played around with. The best part is that any of these Effects - apart from Toy Camera and Fisheye - can be used for movies, so we ended up with some cool looking videos.

Full HD video recording has become something of a pre-requisite in higher-end digicams, and the SX230 actually produced decent videos. The only problem we had was a bit of shake when we tried panning, but otherwise, you can get some good home videos with it. You can even take a Super Slow Motion movie for 30 seconds, which you can use to create dramatic clips. An interesting feature is Movie Digest, which captures a few seconds of VGA quality video before you shoot each photo, and stitches them together to create a movie.

You get pretty much full manual control with this camera. You can easily adjust White Balance, Exposure, and ISO. Shutter speed can be changed from anywhere between 15 sec and 1/3200 sec. Aperture is f3.1 at the widest setting and can be brought down to f8. Flash output can also easily be changed.

Results

With a compact digicam, it's always easier to use the pre-installed modes that come with it, because it's never really as intuitive for manual controls, unlike a DSLR. In good lighting, we got sharp images and natural colour reproduction. In low light, the photos displayed noise above ISO 200. We found that in Macro mode, the camera sometimes had difficulty focussing where we wanted it to. Often, in bright sunlight, highlights appeared blown out and there was evidence of bleeding around the edges. At maximum zoom, there was exaggerated shake, although this is to be expected, but results also appeared washed out, and the images lacked detail and sharpness.

We got some really good results with the Colour Accent mode, which allows you to isolate a colour in a frame and portray the rest as black and white. The default setting is green, but you can change this in the options.

In Macro mode, you can focus up to 2cms away from your object. The camera is able to shoot at 8.1 shots/ sec, during high speed burst.

The in-built GPS functions to record your exact position via longitude or latitude. You can view these coordinates within the camera itself, or transfer them to your computer and use Canon's Map Utility software to see them on a map. The software even logs your photos, so you can view them like a route on a map.

Battery life is pretty good, requiring a charge only once every 3 days or so (in our case) with heavy usage.

Our Verdict

The SX230 is definitely one of the better megazoom compacts available in the market. With a variety of Scene and Effect modes to choose from, it's the perfect accessory to keep in your bag for anytime shooting.

Love: Interesting effects, flexible menu

Hate: Bad performance in bright sunlight, noisy after ISO 200

Rs 20,995

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