Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I upgraded about one month ago from a Canon SX40 to the SX60. Overall I am happy with my purchase which suits my primary interests of bird and landscape photography. Here are my positives and negatives: 1) Incredible zoom at 65x optical. Purchasing a DSLR lens with this kind of reach would costs thousands of dollars. I always use a monopod or tripod when fully zoomed in. One needs to stabilize the photo opp. 2) The camera takes very quick bursts. I am amazed at how I never miss anything with the continuous mode. When a duck dives I get pictures documented the entire process! 3) RAW format. I use this for landscapes and it really helps me bring out the zing in photos. 4) The LCD panel has a much greater resolution than my SX40. Now I know before taking a photo if the subject is in focus. 5) Really like the ability to limit what menu items display when I press the Function button. I only display ISO, White Balance, Bracketing, Timer and Format (jpg or raw) Negatives: 1) Canon ... remove the artificial 100 ISO limit for exposures greater than one second. I use CHDK with my SX40, but given the new software on the SX60 it will be some time before that hack is available for the SX60 2) Wish the Aperture on the SX60 opened to 2.7 like my SX40. Max on the SX60 is 3.4. 3) Given #2, low light performance has taken a hit. As stated earlier, I really like this camera, but it is not perfect. Incredible reach, but good light is necessary for best results. I am happy with the few movies I have taken, but I do not consider myself real knowledgeable in this area. The use of a monopod to stabilize the camera when fully zoomed really helps one achieve better results. I also tend to limit my ISO to 400. Update to Review on December 10, 2014: After even more time spent with the SX60, I have become even happier with my purchase. Please remember that the primary photos I take with this camera are of birds and landscapes. One thing I found that made a huge difference in my end result photos was using Photoshop Express. My first action is always to open the jpg file in camera raw and increase the clarity by 40. After that action I review whether small tweaks in the shadow or highlights help the image. The end results are now fantastic. I do not take raw format images. Turning on raw slows down the number of frames per second one may take, which is not desirable when photographing quick moving birds. If you would like to see these final photos, Google my last name, "Hoeg" and the word "Birds". Look at the photos from about Thanksgiving 2014 to present.