For users who gave got enough of point and shoot cameras that belong to the average range and any other digital camera that stands at a lower level, the Canon Power shot SX20IS can be a very promising replacement. This camera can be considered a bridge camera when one intends to go for SLRs but maybe in the future as it is good enough for a newbie in the professional like photo taking arena. It has features almost similar to any SLR with ease of use of different functions that makes it convenient for the user even if the features are totally new to him.

A very important feature of this camera is that it has an optical zoom of 20X. The feature set, optical stabilizer, conventional battery usage, ease of use and SLR like features are what makes the product really appealing. All these contribute to the perfect stills and action shots, using very able lighting, focus and color. All the options of the menu are well laid up, that don’t mess with each other. The viewfinder is adjustable so that video can be viewed and shot at the same time. The HD video thus taken also looks very good on the TV of the user with amazing clarity and sharpness. The use of AA batteries makes it even more convenient, though it increases the weight of the camera a bit as it takes four of them at a time.

Once the user gets to know about taking pictures in modes other than the automatic one, the camera can work wonders for him. The product has to be viewed like an SLR and maximum utilization of all the menus and settings has to be done to get amazing output. This should not be a big deal as the menus are very user friendly and access to settings that are used frequently is also easy. It has a swivel screen, a very quiet 20X optical zoom, an articulating display, variable ISO in the range of 100-3200, fast menu display, and gives amazing quality to both pictures and videos. The battery life too is very satisfactory when compared to other cameras of the same class. The optical zoom can be put to work in a combination with the digital zoom with different settings like portrait, macro and indoor shots to get high quality results.

Coming to the downsides of the camera, what most of the users find disappointing is the lens cap of the camera. It is not attached to the camera in any way and this makes it very easy to lose it. The problem arose by not giving threads to the lens filter, which would have made it an easier fit. Using the camera in low light has also proved to be disadvantageous as the picture becomes darker than the actual environment and very grainy. So it makes the use of a tripod mandatory in this case. If zoomed onto an object in low light, it may get even darker and hence is not recommended. There have been disappointments with the quality of the sensor and the lack of superfine JPEG compression too. Also, the camera does not offer remote shutter capabilities.

The product is a very reliable one and has many features to offer. Lot of experimentation can be done with the options to get wonderful pictures and is cheaper and less bulkier than an SLR. In short, it is highly recommended.

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