Canon PowerShot SX230 HS: Conclusions

CONCLUSIONS
The SX230 HS is most notably a GPS-enabled device, however, this camera has a lot of other things going for it. Although location tagging is an increasingly fun area of photography, the real power of the SX230 HS is in the images it can create.

The image quality of the SX230 is very good, and by far one of its best selling points. Don't get me wrong, GPS is cool, but not enough to sway some buyers. The images are rich and natural. The SX230 does extraordinarily well in low-light scenarios and the smaller resolution size has proven to create a better image with less aberrations and better image quality overall than the SX210 IS.

There are some negatives to this camera as well though. The design is just a rehashing of the SX210 IS, it has a potentially annoying pop-up flash, a tendency to overexpose at telephoto lengths and speed-wise its performance is only middle of the road. Also, the GPS shouldn't be so buried into the menu system. I would have liked to have seen a dedicated GPS button instead of having to seek it out in the menu subfolders. I would also argue that there should be some sort of better integration or time stamp that can be place into the metadata so that you don't have to install the included software.

So is this camera worth the upgrade if you already have the SX210 IS? Maybe. If you want a camera and are stuck between the two, spend the extra fifty bucks more and get the SX230 HS, you get more bang for you buck and you won't be disappointed with the images you capture or video you record.

Pros:

• Excellent Image Quality
• GPS
• Works well in low light
• HD video is superb
• Fully manual control

Cons:

• GPS functionality could be better utilized
• Design is last year's
• Overexposure at telephoto focal range

Individual Ratings: *

Image/Video Quality 
Features 
Design/Ease of Use 
Performance 
* Ratings averaged to produce final score