Canon PowerShot SX210 IS Digital Camera - Purple (14.1 MP, 14x Optical Zoom) 3.0 Inch PureColor LCD

We bought this camera to replace our Nikon Coolpix S550, a great little camera itself, when it developed a problem with its light sensor (blue line down photos in certain light conditions). The idea was to buy a high end compact digital that would complement my wife's Canon Rebel XTi digital SLR.Quite simply this camera is awesome. It has so much functionality yet retains all the easy to use, point and snap features that you buy a compact digital camera for. The mode select wheel is very similar to that on the Rebel XTi and with many of the same selections (auto, Tv, Av, Manual, Landscape etc). Using Tv, for example, gives you the option of setting shutter speed and has produced some fantastic shots for us. The various modes have their own settings and sub-menus that are easy to access and adjust. Shutter speeds and aparture settings are adjusted on a thumb wheel which means rapid changes and a half depress of the shutter release allows you to see the effect before taking the picture ensuring you get things just right before you take the shot.The 14x optical zoom is astonishing, the clarity of some of the wildlife pictures we have taken at full optical zoom is superb. The digital zoom (up to 56x) is also better than I would have expected.The video mode is very good, at least as good as my digital video camera, I don't know how good the HD is yet as, disappointingly, a mini-HDMI cable is not supplied.The camera itself is surprisingly heavy and has a very solid and robust feel to it; it oozes quality. The battery life is very good. I have taken perhaps 500+ pics and have only charged the battery twice.My only criticism is the flash, which is postioned right where you have your left index finger when holding the camera and means you have to remember to have your finger out of the way when you switch the camera on so as to allow the flash to raise up out of the casing.We love this camera - definitely a good decision and well worth the price.

When I purchased my SX210 IS, I was looking for a compact camera with a large zoom lens which would allow me to "point and click" but give me great pictures without the need to fiddle with dials and switches. In fact the only adjustment I wanted to make is to set the "zoom" and do it quickly. With an incredible 14X zoom and 14.1MP sensor - I hoped that this PowerShot would be the camera for me.On receiving the camera, I found the packaging a little on the cheap side, but adequate and manuals typically full of information. The camera was unpacked, put together and running in minutes. There is an SD slot for memory - which you will need to buy separately. There is no on-board memory - so the camera is near to useless if you don't buy the memory with the camera or have a spare card lying around.In natural day light I found that the camera took great pictures, the zoom responded quickly, the image stabilisation has given me sharp images even at full zoom. The screen on the back is large and clear. Features such as face detection and focusing are great.However, the camera does suffer from some annoying features.....In low light - i.e. indoors in the evening with normal "lighting" on - I found that the colours of pictures were tinted. This was easily resolved if you made the right "scene" selection - but I would have expected the camera to work this out for me.Each time you switch the camera on the flash pops up - and seems to flash almost all of the time - this can result in some pictures looking rather harsh. You can push the flash back down to stop it going off.Compared with my previous compact camera (a rather old canon IXUS 5 MP) I found that the images became grainy if the ambient lighting wasn't very bright. There is probably a setting to improve this, but again I would expect the camera to do this for you.Summing up, this is a good camera and for the £170 I paid (from Amazon with Canon rebate) I think it's really good value. I do not recommend it for the absolute beginner, but rather someone how is prepared to learn how to tweak the camera to give good pictures for each type of shoot. However, the zoom is incredible for a compact camera of this size. For me, I would give the camera 3 stars - its good but not excellent. However, I've given four stars to recognise that if you invest time and effort in learning how to use the more advanced features you'll probably end up loving this camera.