Canon Powershot SX200IS Review
Canon parades a dual lineup in compact digicams; there’s the IXUS lineup and the appropriately named PowerShot range.
PowerShots are indeed ‘power cameras’ and the Canon Powershot SX200IS is a fine example of this. There are 12.1 million pixels on the CCD, captured by an optically-stabilised 12x zoom lens and viewed via a 7.6 cm LCD screen. Easily slipped into a pocket or bag, it weighs only 250 grams with battery and card loaded.
Maximum image size is 4000×3000 pixels or you can choose a widescreen 16:9 version at 4000×2248 pixels, written to a wide range of cards (SD/SDHC, MMC/MMCplus/HC MMCplus), but only as JPEGs.
Movie shooting is a little above the ordinary by video shooting with a High Definition (but not ‘Full HD’) resolution of 1280×720 pixels at 30 fps. One attraction is an HDMI output on the camera, feeding your wide screen TV via an optional cable.
Two ‘un-attractions’ are that optical zoom and auto focus are locked once you start rolling a movie.
Ultra Zoom
You may have noticed that zoom power is on the rise from many makers, hitting the 20x plus level and more, from Olympus, Nikon and even Canon itself stretching itself. Tele lovers, you are in heaven.
There is a factor which fights against this long zoom power: once the zoom passes a 35 SLR equivalent focal length of 400mm you begin to encounter atmospheric haze. This phenomenon takes the fun out of ultra tele shooting but possibly countered by a camera haze filter (remember them?) or with some deft dosing in Aperture or Lightroom.
A camera such as the SX200IS constitutes a workable model with a practical zoom range: at the wide end you get a 28mm SLR equivalent, zooming to about 336mm at the long end. You can embrace a picture of an average room without difficulty and, from a four metre distance, take a full head shot.
Helping this 12x optical zoom setup is the optical stabiliser, built into the lens itself, which works effortlessly to ensure steady image capture when the camera is handheld. It has four setting options: operating continuously; only when shooting; when panning — and off, for when you steady the camera on a tripod.
The camera possesses a very useful shutter speed range, with a useful top end; it runs from 15 seconds to 1/3200 second.
Features
Making the camera a potential partner to a DSLR is its ability to assess exposure in Program AE mode as well as shutter and aperture priority plus manual. A handful of scene modes are directly accessible on the mode dial plus another eight via the SCN setting.
The camera carries a bundle of scene detection aids: face detection cleverly pins down the main face in the picture then indicates another nine of lesser importance; a new Scene Detection helper determines the subject before the lens, then carries out the optimum image processing for that scene. And then there’s blink detection …
In the continuous shooting department, the SX200IS is far from being a winner, with a choice of shooting speeds only between 0.5 and 0.8 second per image.
The ISO sensitivity is useful, reaching to 1600 — and 3200 at a reduced size (1200×1600).
Distortion
High powered zooms often carry the baggage of distortion at the zoom extremes. The SX200IS has little barrel distortion at the wide end, with absolutely no problems at the tele end.
The camera is an appealing long zoomer, but lacking in a few areas: there’s no RAW capture and it has poor continuous shooting performance.
However, the camera did deliver quality images.
Canon Powershot SX200IS Specifications
- Image Sensor: 10.9mm. 11 million effective pixels.
- Lens: f3.3-5.3/5-60mm. 28-336mm (35mm equiv). 4x digital zoom.
- Focus Range: Wide/tele 50cm/200cm-infinity.
- Metering: Evaluative; centre-weighted; spot.
- Image stabilization: Optical (lens shift).
- Image Sizes (pixels): 4000×3000, 3264×2448, 2592×1944, 1600×120, 640×480. 16:9 aspect ratio: 4000×2248.
- Movie Clips: 1280×720, 640×480, 320×240 at 30 fps.
- File Formats: JPEG, Linear PCM, MOV.
- ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 80 to 3200.
- Shutter Speed: 15-1/3200 second.
- Flash: Auto, slow-synchro, red-eye reduction, forced on and forced off.
- Flash Range: Wide/tele 50cm/1.0m to 3.0/2.0m.
- Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery.
- Weight: 220 g.
- Dimensions: 103×60.5×37.6 WHDmm.
- Price: Amazon currently has the Canon Powershot SX200IS for $329.95 USD.
Do you have a Canon Powershot SX200IS? Leave your review of it in comments below.
10 Responses to “Canon Powershot SX200IS Review” - Add Yours
August 3rd, 2009 at 8:35 am
Looking for a pocketable camera to with the 5D mark II and the 50D, I decided on one of these. I had been looking for a compact camera that supported RAW, but nothing that did was attractive. Either the physical form of the camera was too big (and I had to keep reminding myself that I wanted a camera that would go in my pocket), or the pictures produced were less than acceptable.
Finally, I abandoned the RAW requirement and ended up with this. Images are clean and crisp, though perhaps sometimes a bit to “vibrant” for my liking. The optical zoom range is acceptable (I leave the digital zoom off all the time) and the ISO range and response is pretty good. Dynamic range is also very good for a compact. And camera image processing is not too intrusive.
Pet annoyances are:
The camera likes the flash, and seems to want to use it in situations where I would not, so I spend time turning the flash on and off more than I do with other cameras. However, the flash is reasonably powerful and give good fill.
As an extension to the above, the flash pops up and stays up all the time, regardless of the setting, or if the camera is actually going to fire it or not. Not a big deal, but different to other compacts I’ve used.
I can’t really comment on video shooting as I have yet to use it as such. I must admit I’ve always thought that you should use a video camera for video, and a still camera for stills (though the 5D has started to change my mind about that).
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:30 am
I bought this camera for a 10-year anniversary trip for my wife and I, since I didn’t want to lug my DSLR across Canada and New England. It’s a great point and shoot. I played with enough of the manual settings to get a feel for the features, and I found that I spent most of the time shooting in P and Av modes, with the synchro flash on. I did find that this tended to slow the continuous shooting, but as stated in the review, this camera is not known for the continuous shooting speed. FYI: I took over 700 pictures with it, and several movies.
The face detection was hit or miss much of the time, but a good feature. The zoom is huge plus, and the 12x optical zoom is a home run. I found little to no distortion.
One major highlight of this camera was the outdoor, daytime, walk-around shooting. It takes incredible images, with fantastic detail. However, even with adjusting the ISO, the low light shooting was a step above horrible! Our old Powershot A510 takes better indoor photos (I’m a Canon fan). This is unfortunate because I found that everything else about this camera was worth the money. The HD movie recording is also effected by low light pretty badly, but outdoor recording is brilliant and a huge selling point for this camera.
Overall, I am pleased with this purchase, although for the price I’m wondering why this camera seems like a step down in the low-light department? Even with that, though, I recommend it – esp. for those who will be taking a lot of outdoor shots on the go, and want to have a camera to partner with their DSLR.
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I know that essentially it’s just cropping… but 12x optical zoom has me sold!
August 4th, 2009 at 7:23 am
This camera sounds almost identical to my Canon SX5 IS, with a few new features and a more compact body. Almost makes me wish i could trade up, but i like the fuller body in hand.
August 7th, 2009 at 12:03 am
I have the Canon S2 IS and have been wanting to upgrade to the SX10 IS (which has the 20x zoom). But this article has me rethinking that. Although I’ve gotten used to the larger body size, the “pocketability” of this SX200 is calling to me. The price points are similar so it’s going to be a tough choice!
August 7th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Hello everyone,
I purchased a Canon SX100IS (36-360mm equivalent) in February 2009, similar to but lower down in the series than the sx200IS. I’ve been fairly happy with the sx100; I do also own a Nikon D70 with 35-105 lense (56 to 168 equivalent) so I can see the pros and cons.
While the above article is about the sx200IS, i think the foll. info might be useful to exisiting or potential users of a Sx200IS:
There is a 3rd party and free software called “CHDK”, which is usable on many/most PowerShot series cameras, which appears to be safer than firmware hacks; it is NOT a permanent firmware hack, but software only. Don’t take my word for it; I disclaim all responsibility! All I am doing here is reporting on my personal experience of using it, and hoping it will help some of you to get more out of ANY PowerShot camera: I was very happy with the camera especially once i started using CHDK, and was glad I didn’t spend on purchasing a DSLR instead. (The 2nd-hand D70 was later gifted to me.) Especially because, i DID want to have some RAW support.
There is NOT YET a version of CHDK for the SX200IS, and even the SX110IS version is only a “beta”; but the sx100IS version that i have been using for the past 6 months (updated version a few weeks ago) has given me great results; my only complaint is that seems to use up more power; and also that the proprietary .CRW format has to be converted into DNG format before Adobe software can use it; however I recently found that the camera seems to be able to directly save in DNG format too – I’m pretty sure this provide all the RAW-related needs for my needs.
Details:
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK
Basically this software seems to make use of features that ARE present on the chipset but are simply not used on the PowerShot series. As I understand it, thisis because the chipset that is used is the same as that of the DSLRs; e.g., my SX100 using “Digic II” chipset (I think), which is also used on some DSLRs. the CHDK software simply harnesses the features that are already present on the chipset. (E.g., saving RAW image data; or bracketing; and even a clumsy on-camera “RAW-average” feature to get some kind of HDR-like effects! live histogram; zebra stripes; “scripting” support; etc.)
oh one more thing… the RAW saving takes time; if i switch off the RAW mode, then the camera takes continuous shots at highest JPG size and quality fairly fast; but if RAW mode is switched on, this slows down badly, to about 1 in 2 seconds or 1 in 3 seconds. (Whereas the real DSLR like my D70 – can take RAW images much faster. As I said, there are pros and cons: I’m still happy with my PowerShot with the chdk software.)
I am not involved with CHDK or Canon in any way! I’m just reporting on my experience! hopefully CHDK website will have a version for the SX200IS soon, for those of you who want the features like RAW, zooming during video shooting (but it adds the audio noise of the mechanism), bracketing – see the website for the dozens of features and the pros and cons.
And please read the FAQ on the CHDK site, for full details, and keep yourself informed and warned about whether or not this voids the warranty (my understanding is that it does NOT), whether it can damage the camera (my understanding is that for all practical purposes one is safe in assuming that it cannot damage), etc. Several online photo magazines have also reviewed CHDK, positively; just google it.
Good luck
October 28th, 2009 at 4:49 am
For Canon Powershot SX200 IS:
CHDK works, but you can’t do anything with the CRW files.
UFRAW won’t open them.
dng4ps2 doesn’t even recognise them.
Hopefully this will be fixed soon.
October 28th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Hello Matt
summary:
- Look for DNG options in CHDK RAW settings. that might help your problem.
- my experience: the sx100is/110/200/similar seem to all have a 1/2.5″ sensor, which is around 10mm (I think), which is SMAll and hence poor in low light and high ISO.
details:
In the latest CHDK version and perhaps earlier (well, latest as of a couple of months ago) of CHDK for my SX100IS, I discovered that there is a seting to create DNG files, for RAW, instead of CRW. Those open natively in Photoshop and the open source RAW thing that plugs into gimp, etc, if i remember correctly. Without any need for dng4ps.
So, DNG seems the best approach for us to take, if we’re using ChDK.
it’s under the chdk menu’s “RAW” menu option, somewhere near the botttom of those RAW settings.
I don’t know about the CHDk version for other models, such as the sx200Is – but hopefully this same option might be there for Matt’s camera too. I hope my guess is correct and that you are thus able to enable DNG
:-) If not, i too hope CHDK developers correct the problem soon.
**On a separate note (relevant to the main article)**
semi-amateur that I am, it is only recenttly that I have truly started to apprecaite the importance of SENSOR size. my sx100IS has a ‘1/2.5 inch’ sensor, which i assume means 10milimetres diagonal. I have real;zied that 1/2, or 1/1.6 or 1/1.3 etc., are much better (bigger) sensors, and so for the same number of megapixels the larger sensor size is more likely to be less prone to noise – espeically at higher ISOs and low light. It seems the sx200IS also has such a small sensor. whereas, many other compacts often have 1/2 or 1/1.6 – e.g. I was looking at the fuji’s 200exr and 70exr fro my brother and they both ahve larger sensors than the sx200is/similar.
Nevertheless I am very happy with my sx100IS :-) I just need to remind myself of its limitations. even without chDK, it’s pretty great. If the 200Is comes out on clearance sale — as happened with my 100IS (early this year i got my 100IS for less than AU$250 !) — then i might serioussly consider buying it for my brother (or upgrade and give him my 100IS).
good luck
Sohan
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:37 am
I’m currently using the Canon SD700IS and debating on whether to buy the Canon S90 or Canon SX200.
I’m trying to pry myself away from the Auto setting into the Manual or Scene selections. Can anyone comment on the differences on these or recommend one or the other. Other than the zoom factor and HD recording, is there anything noticeable different that makes one more attractive to a buyer.
February 7th, 2010 at 2:00 am
The S90 is more expensive. I bought an SX200 recently, because it offers the most features of interest to me at a price level I can handle. But if I had the extra cash, I certainly would have gone for the S90. Why? Simple, it has a larger sensor than the SX200. Larger sensor means better pictures, all things considered. It also has a faster lens. Other than that, the SX200 is excellent value, and if you disregard insignificant differences that reviews on the internet make a big deal about, it beats all of its competitors hands-down because it offers full manual and semi-automatic operation in addition to the usual idiot modes. So, at that price point, for an enthusiast, an SX200 is the obvious choice.
As far as I’m concerned, you can tell when a review is nitpicking when the best pro and con disadvantage it can come up with is the lack of optical zooming when recording video. I don’t care whether a camera has it or not, and even if it did, it would be the first thing I would disable, along with digital zooming. Zooming during a video is just plain silly and amateurish. I’m much more concerned with the quality of the video and audio on the recording. Many compact digital cameras suffer from background hiss or hum that significantly detracts from any video they produce, irrespective of whether they zoom optically or not. I tried several cameras before I settled on the SX200 for that reason. It had the least amount of background audio noise.
So, what are you willing to pay? That’s what the choice comes down to. Digital cameras get outdated pretty quickly. For me, that definitely puts a limit on what I’m prepared to pay for one.
And by the way, CHDK works on the SX200, and it allows you to easily produce RAW files whenever you like. The easiest way to work with them is to set the RAW functions in CHDK to save as DNG files. It works great, for when you want to really work with raw output. It easily toggles on and off when running CHDK, and when on, it gives you both the raw file and the jpeg. DNG files are easily opened by UFRAW either as standalone or within GIMP. CHDK also has an option to display the focal length of the zoom (in 35 mm equivalent if you want). I love this, and this alone makes it worth using CHDK. You will need an inexpensive USB card reader to use it, though.
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