Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
TheCanon PowerShot SX210 ISwas one of our highest - rated pocket megazoom cameras of last year . Its successor , the PowerShot SX230 HS ( $ 350 as of May 1 , 2011 ) , keep its core force while total a few far-famed features .
The sum of all those parts is a solid all - around pocket megazoom performer that offers manual controls , a selection of creative configurations , and very good simulacrum quality .
Hardware and design
The 12 - megapixel Canon PowerShot SX230 HS kicks things off with a 14X - optical - rapid growth electron lens ( 28 mm to 392 mm ; F3.1 to F5.9 ) that has excellent optical figure of speech stabilization . hand-held shots at full telephoto turn out weather sheet sharp , but macro public presentation is less than outstanding : you’re able to get a crisp shot of an object if it ’s about 2 inches aside from the electron lens in good light , but focus conflict at closer distance and in darker environments .
Traditional manual controls , such as aperture - priority modal value , shutter - priority mode , and independent manual control of each , are let in . The PowerShot SX230 HS also offers manual focus control , which you lock via the photographic camera ’s back - mounted scrollwheel .
The manual , aperture - anteriority , and shutter - precedency selections are among 13 present on the PowerShot SX230 HS ’s back - mount mode dial . The telephone dial itself is a piece cluttered with icons , but it does lock into place nicely with each pick , and it provides warm access to a number of frequently used shooting modes . Auto mode , Portrait way , Landscape mode , and a fast - shutter / high - ISO Kids & Pets mode are all directly accessible via selections on the mode dial .
Wide-angle /Miniature Mode
Other entries on the modal value telephone dial admit a stripped - down “ Easy fashion , ” access to the camera ’s full menu of scene mood , an upshot carte du jour that includes a handful of creative filters , and a Program modality that let you manually adjust ISO , white proportionality , and other setting . You get two motion picture selections on the modality telephone dial , as well : a dial pick for video mode , as well as a Movie Digest Mode that enamor light video clips every time you take a shot and then stitches them together . The tv camera also has a consecrate picture - track record push button for accessing moving picture mode more quickly .
All in all , the mode telephone dial is one of the right we ’ve understand in the pocket - megazoom class for easily accessing a wide array of preferences , and sometimes you get multiple options for accessing individual preferences . The in - camera carte du jour will be familiar to anyone who has used a Canon point - and - photograph — they’re clear , intuitive , and easy to navigate using the camera ’s combination scrollwheel and directional diggings .
Like last year ’s PowerShot SX210 IS , this camera has no raised handgrip . Instead , the peripheral border of the PowerShot SX230 HS is grooved ; you ’re meant to transfix it around the frame with your index finger rest in the groove . The design is unconventional but comfortable , though you ’ll want to prove it out if you ’re a frequent one - hand shooter . One nice touch is that the mode telephone dial acts as a sort of thumb respite when you ’re shooting one - handed , make up the tv camera feel more secure in the hired hand .
Wide-angle /Miniature Mode
The 3 - inch LCD on the back is your only viewfinder , but it ’s a good one . Visibility is honorable even in direct sun , and on - screen persona and textual matter take care shrill and colorful . The camera ’s pop up - up photoflash is made of charge plate and feels adequately sturdy ; you’re able to trigger off it via in - tv camera menu or simply flip it up and down with your fingerbreadth .
At 1.31 inch cryptic , 4.16 inch wide , and 2.42 inches improbable , the PowerShot SX230 HS is a fairly close fit for most pants pockets . slimly smaller than most compete air pocket megazooms , it ’s an gentle scene for a jacket pocket or pocketbook .
Shooting modes
The PowerShot SX230 HS feature some strange modes to go along with its more - traditional tantrum offerings and manual controls .
The most utile of the new mode for action shooters is the 3 - shot - per - second flare-up modality at full resolution ; also convenient is an even faster 8 - shot - per - second burst way at a reduced 3 - megapixel resolution .
Wide - angle /Miniature ModeFull Telephoto / 8fps Burst ModeColor Swap Effect
Full Telephoto / 8fps Burst Mode
Those high - speed antics produce enceinte termination , even when you zoom the camera in to the max and use it without a tripod ; the example shots at left ( click to soar upwards ) showcase the camera ’s impressive wide - angle - to - telephotograph range of a function . Both the wide - slant scene of the field and the sloshed shot of the batter were taken from the same location , a bottom in the second deck , about even with the right fielder .
I carry the action fritter using the SX230 HS ’s 8 - shot - per - second burst modality . In television modality , the tv camera also record 320 - by-240 standard - definition clip at 240 frames per mo , letting you register rapid natural action in superslow gesture .
Other merriment - to - use modes that have appeared in previous Canon cameras are also in the intermixture here , including Miniature Mode ( which mimics a list - sack lens ) , the Fish - Eye filter ( which creates a bellied gist ) , and Color Accent and Color Swap mode , which let you insulate a exclusive color in a black - and - white shot or switch colors in a photograph , severally .
Color Swap Effect
Another interesting lineament is the camera ’s Movie Digest Mode , which records quick video clips in the camera ’s buffer the right way before you take a exposure , and then sew together the short videos together to make a video montage of your shooting Clarence Day .
Performance, image quality, and video quality
In our lab ’s subjective tests for still - image and video tone , the PowerShot SX230 HS prove to be one of the better pocket megazoom camera we ’ve seen this year in overall picture timbre .
Looking at sample images from the SX230 HS , our control board of evaluator give away its exposure quality , colour accuracy , and raciness as Very just ; it fare even comfortably with the want of twisting in images , earning a score of Superior .
you may take in bombastic versions of the sampling images we used for our immanent tests by clicking these thumbnail :
In our video tests , 1080p .mov snip shot with the PowerShot SX230 HS at 24 Federal Protective Service also look good , but on - screen action was less tranquil than in footage from some competitors due to the 24 - Federal Protective Service shape rate . This camera is also not the dependable video - gaining control gimmick in low-spirited - luminance situations ; we found it hard to see what was move on in our gloomy - indoor - lighting tests .
Overall , the PowerShot SX230 HS attain a score of Good for TV tone and earned a grade of Superior for audio gaining control via its front - facing mono microphone .
you may view the sample videos we used for ourbright - lightandlow - lightsubjective tests below . Select1080pfrom the cliff - down menu in each participant to see each clip at its highest resolution .
Alas , battery life certainly is n’t the PowerShot SX230 HS ’s strong cause . The camera is rated for 210 shots per charge of its Li ion barrage fire , which devolve in the Fair range — and that ’s with the camera ’s GPS turned off . In my custody - on trial , the camera ’s battery drained somewhat quickly over the path of 4 or 5 hours when the tv camera ’s “ GPS logger ” functionality was turned on .
In-camera GPS
The in - television camera Global Positioning System characteristic of the PowerShot SX230 HS are about as basic as you’re able to get . When GPS is powered on , the camera adds location data point to each photograph ’s EXIF information . To avoid cause to establish a GPS link each fourth dimension you use the photographic camera , you could turn on the GPS logger setting so that it keeps tracking you while the camera is turned off .
You involve to unlade the image to a computer to see the geotagged images on a map ; unlike Casio ’s EX - Exilim H20G — which remains the dependable television camera in terminal figure of GPS feature we ’ve test — this model has no in - camera map interface . It also offer no plain - English emplacement video display for the sites you ’ve visit , just longitude and parallel coordinate .
Although the in - tv camera GPS feature in general works , it leaves a lot to be desired . A orbiter icon appear next to photos that are geotagged , and pressing up on the directional pad display longitude and latitude information . And that ’s about it .
What ’s more , despite having the GPS logger turned on , I took a few geotagged photos that were n’t locate in their proper location when I used Flickr ’s map port ; I had to manually drag and drop the images to their correct spot on a map . That could be due to the fact that the photographic camera was n’t able to achieve a satellite connection in certain spots , although it gave no indication that the photos were n’t being geotagged decent when I took them . The glitch was n’t a grown mess for my local hands - on test , but a similar hiccup might be a major bummer if you ’re trying to accurately pinpoint locations of vacation photo on a map of a faraway place .
All in all , while the GPS is a nice extra to have , it is n’t an overwhelming understanding to corrupt this camera . When geotagged correctly , the photo do work seamlessly with mapping services such as those of Flickr and Google Earth , but the in - camera Global Positioning System function is a bit half - hearted and drains the barrage quickly .
Macworld buying advice
canyon consistently create some of the best - performing point - and - shoot cameras in our tests , and the PowerShot SX230 HS is no elision . Its image character order it among the top tier of 2011 ’s pouch - megazoom class , and the tv camera can be as easy to habituate or as manual - orient as you desire it to be .
Its GPS functionality is fairly stripped - bones , but even without that , it ’s a standout camera for travelers and vacationer due to its in - camera configurations and its farseeing - zoom lens of the eye . It is n’t a radical loss from the PowerShot SX210 IS , but that ’s a good thing : The few enhancement that it does have ( high - stop number shot , 1080p video , and geotagging ) are self-coloured additions .
