Canon Point and Shoot Question

[NicoleScraps]

Target has this camera on sale as a door buster on Black Friday. Yes, I am one of the crazy people who leave the house at 3am to stand in line for the good deals. I always hit Target first since they usually have the best stuff for the kids and the least amount of crazieness (at least at my local one).
Anyways, this is the camera, regular price $299
Canon SX120 Digital Camera with 10X Optical Zoom, 10 Megapixels and 3"LDC Screen - $129.00 *

I have been wanting a little P&S to keep in my handbag and this one sounds good. Does anybody have this one? What do you think of it?

[RichardTaylor]

My wife has the previous model SX110, and my oldest son has the SX120
They are good P&S cameras especially if you don't need to shoot RAW and you want a camera with a long lens.

[NicoleScraps]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

My wife has the previous model SX110, and my oldest son has the SX120
They are good P&S cameras especially if you don't need to shoot RAW and you want a camera with a long lens.

Yeah, I just want something for quick snapshots of the family when we are out. No need for RAW. I just can't take the big dSLR with me everywhere like I could a little camera like this.

[OsmosisStudios]

The SX120 is not SMALL. It's smallER, but not SMALL.

[oldguyrich]

I bought one at walmart a month ago. I gave it to my sister. It is pretty useless. Especially if you used to a DSLR. Really nothing I can say good about- pictures lack sharpness and focus.., continuous shooting is slooow.. finding the focus is even slower...there are lots of point and shoots out there for that money that are way better... best thing about it is the LCD screen pivots... target also charges ya 15% restocking fee if you don't like it.. walmart doesn't.. just my view.

[RichardTaylor]

@oldguyrich
When did the SX120 get a pivoting LCD screen?

Are you sure you are talking about the SX120 IS?

[elle s'ennuie]

How big or tiny is your handbag? I have the SX120 and it's not as small and thin as most modern compacts - not one to fit into a jean pocket. On the other hand, it fits into my smallish bag just fine, and into coat pockets too.

I've had the SX120 for about a month now and I'm very happy with it. It's light and comfortable enough to carry around with me all the time, has lots of manual controls, and the zoom is nice as well. It eats up regular alkaline batteries really fast, but I use two pairs of Panasonic rechargeables with it and have no complaints about battery life at all.

Edit: Oh and there is a way to get RAW on it with CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit). Haven't tried it myself though.

[oldguyrich]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

@oldguyrich
When did the SX120 get a pivoting LCD screen?

Are you sure you are talking about the SX120 IS?

oops.. wrong camera with a screen.. my s3is has one... i have some shots I took with the 120 though, and will post one later today. Sorry for the confusion on my part.. not confused however on the 120 performance.

[jml79]

I have the bigger superzoom brother, the SX20is. Same sensor size and software. I love it for carrying around compared to my DSLR. I was also going to mention the CHDK as well. It gives you raw plus some other cool features.

Drawbacks are speed and DOF. You can get a better camera for a little more like the G11 or G12. They also don't need a hack for raw. Raw plus Rawtherapee opened a whole new world for me with the P&S. I could now shoot fast and not worry as much about WB & slight mis exposures. It also improved the IQ as well. No more compression artifacts and easier PP.

[inkista]

I think it's a good capable small-sensor camera (one generation back) and a killer price. But because I am spendthrift when it comes to camera gear , if I wanted something small for $200, I'd probably head for a refurbed SD4000IS instead. Same lens as the S90/S95. Because I like my P&S to be small, and having f/2 makes me happy.

The SX120IS is more feature laden and a better outdoors camera with more of a zoom range. But the SD4000IS has a hair larger sensor, and more low-light stuff inherited from the S90.