Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& URGENT UPDATE, September, 2013: If you prefer using 2-AA batteries in a digital camera - as I do very much - then you seriously need to consider buying a Canon SX160, now, while the supplies still last. The new model SX170 runs on a Canon NB-6LH proprietary battery which costs $38 on Amazon for each spare battery, and it will only take about half as many shots per charge. The Canon SX160 is now the last remaining 2-AA battery, full-featured, full-function, compact, travel & field camera left on the entire worldwide market. When the remaining ones are gone, they are gone forever. I have owned and used all of them from the SX100 to the SX160. I have long-considered the Canon SX100 line of cameras to be "The Best 2-AA-Battery All-Purpose Travel and Field Cameras Ever Made." I have posted 5-star reviews of both the SX150 and SX160 here on Amazon during the last two years, and I have made it abundantly clear why I feel so strongly favorable of them. Both cameras - the SX160 and SX170 - have exactly the same features, the same functions, and the same specs - except for the batteries. Functionally they both work exactly the same, and they both produce identical quality pictures. No changes were made to either the sensor or to the DIGIC 4 image processor to bring any improvement to the final images produced by the SX170. But it's your call. If you like using 2-AA batteries in a full-featured, compact, travel & field digital camera, then you need to act now. As for myself, I just bought two of them. The Canon SX160 is still my number one favorite camera I have ever owned in my life, and I still plan to keep right on using it for many pleasant years yet to come. Sincerely, and with best wishes to everyone, John AKA SLOphoto1 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tuesday, September 18, 2012 10 AM -- I bought the Canon SX160 IS today. (Early-Sale Source.) I've tested it out at home, and everything works great! Here are some observations and results. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Video Added, Friday, September 21, 2012 at 11 AM. Flyover of the Space Shuttle, almost over my house in Monterey, CA, shot with the Canon SX160 at 16X zoom using a tripod mount. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Oct. 17, 2012 Finally got my Red Canon SX160 locally from Green's Camera World here in the Del Monte Shopping Center in Monterey. Beautiful right out of the pristine box. I love it! &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Oct. 25, 2012 Posted three images I recently took to the users' image gallery here with this camera. They show what this camera can do with the right adjustments in Manual Mode. (I give the exact adjustments for each one.) A Monterey Sunrise, A Blue Jay on a Wire at 16X zoom, and a Balcony View of Monterey Bay. Enjoy! &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& The Canon SX160IS is - in my personal opinion - the best 2-AA battery, all-purpose travel and field camera ever made. It is the latest and the best of a long line of highly dependable point-and-shoot megazoom cameras - the Canon SX100 series - which began five years ago in September 2007. With its combined features, its reliability, its versatility, and it's very economical price there is absolutely nothing else like it available today. It is the only quality digital camera of its type left in the world that still runs on 2-AA batteries. In the world of digital cameras, it stands alone as completely unique. It is the last one its kind, and the very best one manufactured to date. And it's a Canon. A WORD OF CAUTION: This camera is not ideal for everyone. There is no point buying something that you are not going to like. If you don't like AA batteries, then you won't like this camera. Its features probably don't outweigh its faults unless you really want to use AA batteries. It does not have a viewfinder, none of this line of cameras ever has, so if you want a viewfinder then this camera simply will not work for you. Also, for the record, this camera is not a fast-action camera. It is not the best camera for taking pictures of fast-moving children or sports action shots. Photos taken with it at higher ISOs (film speed) are pretty grainy even in good light. And the flash-recovery time is notoriously - there is no other word for it - slow! If any of this won't work for you in your own individual situation, then you really need to look elsewhere, seriously, because this camera simply will not meet your needs and will only frustrate you when you try to use it. The SX160 has its own charm, but it's rather old-fashioned in style and a bit slow in operation. It's kind of like owning the latest version of a classic car. It feels like a classic, and after five years and six very successful models it is actually becoming a classic in its own right. If that idea appeals to you, then you will probably like the SX160 very much. For photographing things like landscapes, portraits, architecture, and pretty much anything without a lot of fast motion in it, it functions very well, and it has an excellent zoom. Realistically, you will need a tripod at times if you want to get the best quality shots with it, especially for lower-light shots, long-exposure night shots and for very precise full-telephoto shots. If that still appeals to you, then this review of the SX160 is addressed to you. I have owned and used all six of the cameras in this line over the years - SX100 (2007,) SX110 (2008,) SX120 (2009,) SX130 (2010,) SX150 (2011,) and now the SX160. I have also had an extra two of these cameras converted internally to shoot infrared photographs. Over the years I have used these cameras to photograph everything from brilliant outdoor landscapes to the wispy lights of the Aurora Borealis and out to some 12X images of the four moons of Jupiter (Now you can even do 16X images of them.) These cameras have shown themselves to be very versatile field cameras for me, very dependable, and have always worked out very well for me all the way around. After five years, I am very familiar with them, and I prefer them for general purpose, travel and field photography above all other cameras on the market today. I always carry my current model of this camera with me wherever I go, and if I am on a vacation or field trip, I also carry last year's model with me as a backup camera. They produce an excellent quality image (for a small sensor) and they have all the features I personally want to do a wide range of photography. And in countless situations - particularly while traveling - I have been very, very glad that I had with me a camera that still ran on AA batteries. I always carry at least one or two extra pairs of eneloop rechargeable AAs with me, and the few times when even those ran out on me I was always able to find a pack of standard AA alkaline batteries nearby - anywhere in the world - to keep on shooting. I shoot mostly in Manual mode, but Auto Mode also does an excellent job in selecting the proper settings for you. If I am unsure of the lighting in any one situation, I always make sure to take at least a few shots in Auto Mode myself, just in case. The SX160 is very much like the previous model, the SX150 (which I also reviewed here at 5-stars.) I'm not going to list all the basic features about the SX160, since they are easy to find in any professional review, or from Canon's own website. But I will point out in particular what is new with the SX160, and there are some nice new features. So moving right along then... PART 2 -- HERE'S WHAT IS NEW with the Canon SX160IS. 16 MEGAPIXEL IMAGE and 16X ZOOM: Last year's model SX150 had a 12X zoom and took a 14 megapixel image. This year's model SX160 has a 16X zoom and takes a 16 megapixel image. Most people will certainly like that better. LIVE PREVIEW: (This is not new, but it is an important reminder): Canon cameras have something called an a "Live Preview" on the LCD.* Other brands only have "Live View," but that's not the same thing. Other Cameras: "Live View" means you see on the LCD only what the camera sees - not what the final photo will look like. If you are in a dark room and you adjust the dial to try to brighten the image on the LCD, it won't work. The screen will remain dark. CANON Cameras: "Live Preview" means you see a simulated-preview on the LCD of what the final photo will look like BEFORE you actually take the shot. The LCD lightens and darkens as you adjust the exposure dial. If you are in that same dark room mentioned above, you can adjust the camera settings to where the room looks almost like daylight on the LCD. For more dramatic shoots, if you want high definition in the shadows you simply raise the exposure. If you want high definition in clouds, then you lower the exposure. Combine the two images in Photoshop and you can create your own HDR photo (High Dynamic Range) with well-defined clouds together with bright colors even in the shadows. The "Live Preview" feature on Canon LCDs make this judgement call completely intuitive. Example Q. - "How much exposure should I use?" A. - "You can see exactly how much exposure you should use, simply by looking at the image shown on the Canon LCD. It shows you EXACTLY what the final image will look like, before you take the actual shot." * Technically called "exposure simulation live preview" or "exposure priority display," it is most comely called "Live Preview." IT IS MUCH, MUCH EASIER to learn how to use the Advanced Manual Modes on a Canon camera than on any other camera, because you can see the effect of each one of the adjustments - Shutter Speed, Aperture Size and ISO (film speed) - right on the LCD as you make the changes. On all other cameras without this "Live Preview" feature on the LCD, all individual adjustments are done completely blind to the user. You just have to "know" from experience how to make those adjustments. That can be a long, slow, frustrating learning process for many people. With a Canon camera, it's quick and simple, because you can already see the answer right on the LCD before you take the shot. To the best of my knowledge ONLY CANON CAMERAS have this "Live Preview" feature on them, at least at present. (Present means "2012" - I believe this feature was first introduced in the year 2000, on the Canon PowerShot G1.) Nikon, Panasonic and Fujifilm, cameras do not have this feature, except perhaps for some of their high-end models. I'm not certain about that, but this has been true at least up until recently - even with higher-end DSLR cameras. Only Canon cameras offer this "Live Preview" feature. Think about the utility value of this "Live Preview" feature VERY carefully. It is one of the biggest differences in deciding whether to buy a Canon camera, or to buy any other brand of camera. SUPERFINE JPEG COMPRESSION Option: This outstanding feature was dropped after the SX110, but has now been restored on the new SX160. JPEG compression always results in some loss of data. The 16 megapixel image taken by the SX160 would normally compress down to about a 3.8MB JPEG file image using a "Fine" compression, as on previous models. The restored "Superfine" option on the SX160 will compress that same camera image down to about a 7MB JPEG file image instead, much larger and retaining much more of the original data in the final image. (These figures are approximate and I have found in practice they can vary considerably with image complexity.) This is an important feature for getting a good quality JPEG file, so please keep it in mind. LESS SHUTTER LAG: Shutter lag has always been a problem with this line of cameras. Canon says the shutter lag has been reduced by 46% on the new SX160, and, yes, it is noticeably faster. This is really appreciated after having lost quite a few good shots over the years to this shutter lag problem myself. I am glad they improved it, but just remember that this has been a long-standing problem with this line of cameras. IMPROVED PROCESSING SPEED. This has also been a traditional problem with this line of cameras, and given the structure of the internal electronics, it is likely to persist. They are slow to process the image and load it onto the memory card. (Use at least a Class 6 card with the SX160.) Canon claims to have improved on this by about 20% and any improvement certainly will help. But fast-processing is simply not this camera's strong point, so just remember that, too. LIVE VIEW CONTROL MODE: Canon has introduced a new and rather interesting type of mode on the main camera dial called "Live View Control." This mode is similar to Auto mode, but has three additional individual adjustments the user can control on variable slider bars using the right and left arrows or turning the control dial on the back of the camera. These control 1) Brightness as Dark --- Light, 2) Color as Neutral --- Vivid, and 3) Tone as Cool --- Warm. They are easy to use, and adjust in a series of distinct steps as you rotate the control dial. This is an excellent feature for the novice who wants to try some different adjustments without having to go to full Manual mode, and it makes these image adjustments right in the camera which would normally require a Photoshop-type program to adjust afterwards. Again this will be easy for the novice to use, because the Canon LCD display on the SX160 shows an image of the actual exposure adjustments being made before the shot is finally taken. DESIGNATED VIDEO BUTTON was moved: The model SX150 introduced a designated video button, but placed it so close to the spin control dial on the back that is was pretty easy to start a movie by accident. The button has now been moved further away, and has also been recessed with a small, raised, plastic lip around it making it much less accident prone. This was a very good idea. NO ISO LIMIT on the camera: Some of the lower-end Canon cameras have recently been subject to an unfortunate ISO 100 (film speed) limitation when shutter speeds drop below about 1 second in length, even in full Manual Mode. This can be a severe hinderance to doing things like long-exposure nighttime photography. Fortunately, Canon did not put that loathsome ISO limit on the new SX160. ....*** THANK YOU, CANON! *** Also, many of the professional reviews, and even some conflicting data on Canon's own website indicated that the ISO 1600 (very fast film speed for shooting things like fast-moving cars and also for doing long-exposure star shots) had been eliminated. This is false. The ISO 1600 is still there on the SX160, and though it is pretty grainy it does still work well when needed, and most of the excess noise can be cleared up in Photoshop. On the lower end, the ISO 80 was eliminated on the SX160, but is was close enough to the ISO 100 that it should not matter too much except maybe in photos taken in very bright sunlight. In closing, I hope that this review may have been helpful to you in gathering information to make your own decisions about which camera to buy for yourself. You should read as much as you can before you decide which one to buy. Whatever decision you make, it should be YOUR decision, not what I or anyone else tells you that you "ought" to prefer. Each of us has our own reasons for preferring one camera over another. May you choose the camera that best suits your own individual needs and preferences, and may you enjoy it to the fullest extent. Best Wishes, John AKA SLOphoto1