Canon PowerShot SX30 IS Review

The new PowerShot SX30 IS, which replaces last year's very popular SX20 IS as the top dog in Canon's super-zoom digicam market niche is aimed squarely at this very broad demographic. The SX30 IS seeks to be to be the ultimate bridge camera - an all-in-one photographic tool that can do almost anything, nearly anytime, virtually anyplace, for just about anyone.

While the SX30 IS and SX20 IS share many features, they don't look much alike. Similar to the SX20 IS, the SX30 IS features full manual exposure capabilities, a tilt-swivel LCD (and an electronic viewfinder), a 720p HD video capture mode, a Mini-HDMI output and a hot shoe. So what's new? The SX30 IS gets a boost in resolution to 14 megapixels (the SX20 IS was a 12 megapixel digicam), but what really sets this chunky ultrazoom apart from every other digital camera out there is its new lens - a whopping 35x (24-840mm equivalent) super-stabilized optic that is currently the longest zoom lens available on any camera. Here's what that range looks like:

24mm	100mm
300mm	500mm
840mm

Other features include Canon's Quick-bright mode which makes it easier to frame and compose images in bright outdoor light, Servo AF/AE (which constantly adjusts focus and exposure with moving subjects), and a new Zoom Framing Assist button to aid in tracking and capturing sometimes small subjects in the midst of vast environments at very shaky super-telephoto distances.

Does the SX30 IS hit the mark? Is this the new "super camera" we've all been waiting for? Read on.