Product ReviewsCanon PowerShot SX120 IS - digital camera

Great Pictures, Great Price, and SO easy to use, couldnt ask for more!

I love this camera!! It is easy to use, has great features and takes outstanding pictures. I purchased this camera to take pictures for my business and I couldn't ask for anything more. It is not as compact as some of the other point and shoot cameras on the market today but in my opinion that doesn't take away from the appeal of this camera at all. This is a camera that is within most everyone's budget and you don't have to be a professional to take great pictures. I have always used Kodak cameras before this but this Cannon Powershot SX120 IS is so far above any Kodak I have had I don't feel like they are even in the same league. I would buy this one again and recommend it to anyone looking for a great easy to use camera on a budget!Read full review...

Upgrade from the Canon SX110is

Add 1MB to the CCD, make the program easier to use but don't change the layout of any buttons or switches and you have the Canon SX120is.
One of the best small format cameras that has the programming and capabilities of most Digital SLR's for 1/3rd the price. The shutter program is from the Canon Rebel series and rivals that of my Nikon D80, the lens is as sharp adn the 2.8 maximum aperture combined with 10MB CCD and an Aperture Priority shutter setting means you can actually take a low light photo that looks fantastic. I print 8x10 enlargements on my Epson 7800 that awe my clients and have had several of my site photos used on websites and brochures to sell the high rise buildings that my Structural Engineering firm designs.
It runs on 2 AA batteries, so you in a pinch you can rob your Maglite if they run down. Only objection is the built in flip up flash is too close to the top of the body to properly light Macro shots and the ability to 1/2 or 1/4 the flash power would be appreciated but for $199.00 I'm happy.
I recommend that you install a screen protector on the 3" screen as a year of life in my side pouch resulted in s serious number of scratches to my SX110is.
The chassis is glass reinforced plastic and will take a moderate amount of abuse but the design of the zoom motor and lower body rign around the lens is reason to set the power saving program to lens retract 1 min after shooting. A good whack on the lens ring at the body and you are into a repair that cost as much as a new camera.Read full review...

A Brief Review by an Advanced Amateur SLR Guy

I clung onto my Canon SLR film camera far longer than most. With some guidance from my son who has the Canon digital SLR camera, I chose the PowerShot SX120 IS as my first digital camera. Having now taken over 150 images, I am very pleased with the camera's performance. I find the compact PowerShot SX120 IS with its versatile 10X optical lens can replace a bulky SLR system. One has to adapt to the digital photography practice of composing and editing their images on the computer after the shot rather than through the lens of the camera beforehand. While the camera allows for the manual selection of scene type, I am pleased with the performance of the camera to automatically select scene type in 'Easy' mode. The addition of Image Stabilization results in sharp clear images. I have three gripes concerning this camera: rapid consumption of batteries, lack of a second strap mount, and the lack of filter mount (as I would like to use a polarizing filter from time to time). All in all, the camera is a great value, and I do not know of an alternative that I would have preferred.Read full review...

Canon PowerShot SX120 IS Review

Due to be released in September of 2009, the Canon PowerShot SX120 IS is one of the more affordable of the "SX" series cameras. The "SX" series is part of Canon's "High-End" PowerShot models. This compact digicam features a 10-Megapixel imaging sensor, 10x optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization (IS), Digic 4 image processor, 3.0-inch LCD screen and Smart Auto shooting mode. There are also several other shooting modes including easy, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual and a slew of scene modes.

One of the main features of this camera is the very powerful 10x optical zoom lens. Its 35mm equivalent of 36-360mm means that you will be able to get incredibley close to distant objects that most other digicams can't come close to. Helping you to keep the camera steady when using this large lens is the built-in optical image stabilization. In addition to steadying the lens, it also allows you to shoot handheld without a flash at slower shutter speeds than a camera without.Read full review...

Canon PowerShot SX120 IS 10.0 Megapixel

Can't give it an excellent rating yet as I'm still learning about the camera; this is considering that my previous camera used 35mm film. However, it appears to have a lot of good features. I used to own an SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera where I could control the ASA, aperature, background settings, etc. This camera appears to have them all. I like the lens cover as you shut off power and the manual flash attachment. The only disadvantage there is if you're not paying attention to the screen queues, you could forget to pop open the flash. Otherwise, for the money, this is a great camera...so far.Read full review...

Good Luck and I hope this review helps you to decide on this camera, again

Pros: This camera is great : ))) It has an excellent zoom and can pick up even the smallest of details. It has many different modes to take pictures in and my favorite thing about this camera is that you can turn it onto manuel and use it like the old 35mm.

Cons: I personally have gotten use to using kodak products and even though I know Canon is a great name you really have to be careful when taking pics, if you are not paying attention you can very easily end up with blurry pictures. The trick is to push slowly on the shoot button and watch as it becomes clear and then finish pushing the button the rest of the way down.

Before buying this camera I reccomend that you do as I did and read lots of reviews and decide if this is the right camera for you. It has many great reviews and was just what I was looking for.Read full review...

A Reliable, Functional Point and Shoot.

This is a very good point and shoot digital camera. Though it's sort of 'no-frills', it's reliable and has as many features as most users will ever need. It takes good quality photos and has a decent zoom.

It seems most manufactures keep pushing the megapixel level ever higher, but this one still seems to work fine with 10.00. While the zoom generally works well, it does get a bit blurry on max digital zoom (to be expected).

Overall this is a great value, and a very good camera overall.Read full review...

Excessive AA battery use. That can get expensive.

The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS 10.0 MP Digital Camera - Black was recomende for it's quality pictures and is a fairly decent Digital camera, takes good to great pictures and easy to use. My BIGGEST DISLIKE with this camera is: I can't get more than 10 digital pics before the batteries are dead and if I use the Flash, maybe 7 pics. It seems to draw from the batteries even when it's cut off. I've put fresh batteries in, checked to see that they are full energy and cut it off and the next time I turn it on they are dead again, this is also with the re-chargeable ones. My Nikon COOLPIX S220 3X Zoom serves as a better overall quality & has a single rechargeable battery that only takes a few minutes to recharge and I've been using the same battery for 3+ yrs. now. ALL in ALL, I like the picture quality of the Canon but would not buy this particular camera again because of the excessive AA battery use. That can get expensive.Read full review...

Very nice camera

I own a Canon EOS 40D digital SLR camera, but there are places where I do not want to carry a large, expensive camera & lenses (such as work; I drive a truck for a living). I was looking for something smaller, less costly to replace (in case it gets broken or stolen), yet that still had full manual program functions. The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS meets these criteria.

When I first started using this camera, I thought it was a bit "laggy" and tended to blur objects unintentionally and wouldn't focus if I was shooting from a moving vehicle in full auto and program modes. When I switched to shutter priority (TV) mode, performance was excellent & I got the shots I was looking for.

I like the aperture on this camera--at 2.8 maximum aperture, it opens wide enough to take nice photos in darkened areas without using a flash at all, if desired. The aperture is one of the reasons I selected this model over the newer SX130.

I LOVE the macro feature on this camera. It does a wonderful job of focusing up close & personal. I recently took a photo of a small lizard (gekko?) and the scales on its skin looked lifelike and natural. In macro focus mode, I have photographed several items so close that the lens was almost touching. That's close!

This camera is does not have a traditional optical viewfinder (the kind you put your eyeball up to), which seems to be typical of most of the smaller digital cameras manufactured these days. I find this problematic when composing a shot in bright sunlight. I simply cannot see my subject & surrounding area in the LCD. For static subjects or ones moving at a slow to moderate speed, this is not too bad; however, I often photograph rapidly moving items such as model aircraft in flight (up to 100 mph), and I found it impossible to frame a shot--I simply could not locate the subject in the LCD before the opportunity was GONE. For those type of applications, I will stick to my EOS 40D.

This camera is powered using 2 AA batteries. I tend to take a lot of photos consecutively and change settings a lot. This seems to use up batteries rather quickly. I bought 2 sets of rechargeable AA batteries & a 15-minute quick charger. I am considering buying one more set of batteries.

Overall, I am very pleased with this camera and its performance. It suits the purpose for which I purchased it very well. If I had the decision to make again (and had the same budget), I would likely still select this model. If I had a larger budget, I would consider the Canon PowerShot S95 instead, but for the money, the SX120 is a great buy!Read full review...

EXTRA CAMERA FOR HOLIDAYS

This camera has the right features for simple photos around the house or outside projects. I like it becauses its very easy to use and doesn't waste my time changing the settings. Good camera for very close pictures.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: usawoodbridge2010