Superb pictures automatically Canon S5is (Canon Powershot SX1 IS)

Member Name: RobFromNorfolk

Product:	Canon Powershot SX1 IS
Date:	24/07/09 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Everything in a single package

Disadvantages: The flash / nightime performance isn't great

Possibly replaced now by newer models this really will make a superb second hand bargain if picked up for the right price.

Canon are a camera company and the optics on this prosumer / bridge camera reflect that.

It will never deliver the sheer quality of a dedicated DSLR with a bag full of lenses. It will never be as handy to carry around as a lot of the smaller cameras now available. What it does give you, in one neat package is the ability to produce superb pictures under most conditions, either fully automatically, or by using the wealth of controls available to exercise your own photographic skills.

It's best in daylight and has a large optical zoom range making it capable of delivering landscapes, portraits and ultra, ultra close ups. Its worst at night or in dark interiors, and like most digitals with a brief but annoying hesitation between pressing the button and taking the picture it can struggle with action shots (But for this there is a very handy 'single-button' video mode)

Using 4 x AA batteries is a boon. I run it from Aldi's £1.99 rechargeables which seem to last in excess of 200 shots (I have never actually exhauseted them in a single day. But if I had I can pick up a set of disposables in almost any shop.

And you'll love the large, flexible LCD screen which can be twisted around through almost any angle, enabling accurate self portraits and superb low-angle shots without scrabbling around on the ground.

Niggles? The door to the battery/SD Card compartment is fiddly and appeared when I bought it to be flimsy. However two years fairly intensive use sees it still hanging in there with no sign of giving up.

Summary: A secondhand bargain if you can find a good one

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