Canon PowerShot SX130IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom with 3.0-Inch LCD (OLD MODEL)

The Canon PowerShot SX130IS was my first camera, and it still one of my favorites. It has the power and features available in larger, pricier cameras but the portability to go anywhere, and it's quite resilient to damage. So, then -- list time: PROS: -Compact and portable, will easily fit into a pocket. -Excellent Zoom, puts my Eos Rebel T3i to shame. Doubles for a pair of binoculars now and then. -A Macro function, which is a special point of interest for some. It won't match dedicated macro lenses or cameras, but having it certainly makes a difference in your photos. -Around 9000 other features. Not literally, but this camera can handle a good variety of challenges and be set to perform quite a lot of functions, from portrait to landscape shots. -For its price point, it takes good photos and video. Pricier cameras would take better photos and video... but you would have to go more than double on the expense for that to happen. -There aren't any weird tints to your photos with this camera. -Runs on two AA batteries, which is great when you're traveling. -Having a wrist strap, while common to many cameras, is still a pro when the camera is small enough to fit in one hand. -You can control the entire camera with your right hand. CONS: -You better have a lot of AA batteries. Battery life, depending on use, can range from 3-7 hours... unless you are taking photos very quickly or taking video, in which case two hours would be impressive. -Ten minute video length, max -- you can take as many videos as your memory card allows, but none of them will be longer than ten minutes. -If dust gets into the (irremovable) lens (it will,) you will know. And may the force be with you in trying to remove it on your own. -Some people won't find the video or sound quality up to snuff. Additionally, trying to play a video on some computers will often necessitate a download of the Combined Community Codec Pack. Windows doesn't like MP4s, for some reason. -It's a little slow, especially under low-light conditions. -The LCD screen is built-in to the camera -- it doesn't flip out. -It's also your viewfinder. This particular Powershot is my favorite of the series. It's never let me down, it can go anywhere with me, and it lets me photograph moths and landscapes with equal success. It has a myriad of features, and most of them aren't novelty gimmicks. Especially for it's relatively low price, this is both a great travel-camera and an excellent beginner camera. It won't disappoint you.

First, I do like this camera. The quality of the high res photos is excellent. As a longtime photo buff that used a Canon A1 for 25 years, this camera will do almost everything that SLR would do and a bunch of stuff it did not do. It is easy to use and combines the ability to use automatic features as well as a complete manual mode. Now for the stuff that keeps it from being 5 stars. It eats batteries. Forget about using alkaline batteries and go with rechargeables. The mfg estimates of number of pictures or amount of video is pretty meaningless. You will get about an hour of shooting time, depending on how much you use the zoom and flash. I did some testing and with continuous recording I got about 55 minutes of video...no zooming and very little review. I was able to shoot about 30 minutes of video and 400 pictures using some zoom and flash but it was all done in less than an hour of shoot time. When I say shoot time, I mean the actual time the camera is on. Not elapsed time, but, constantly turning on and off the camera does cost battery life as well. Next, manual focus does not work all that well. Using the little wheel is tedious. As for video...the limit of 10 minutes of video at a time is pretty stupid. I could see it if it was to accommodate the 4gb file size of fat 32 but 10 minutes of video at the highest resolution possible results in a file of less than 2gb. They could easily have gone with a 20 minute limit. The other thing about the video is the .mov (Adobe Flash) format of the video files. Just about the only thing that will play them is a computer with Flash installed. None of my standalone players will play them. You have to spend the time to convert them (and btw...the software that comes with the camera does not export any readable formats so you will have to use some other software to do that.) That all assumes that you just try to load the memory card via USB and not use the camera to play the files. Last...use fast, high quality memory cards (I am using Class 10 PNY cards and they seem to work well.) Again, I like the camera and all of these negatives only cost it 1 star!

I hemmed and hawed for months about getting this or a higher end camera and for the price I ended up with this one. I am so glad I made the purchase I did. I love to think I'm going to use all of the settings and options to make artistic photographs but it rarely happens. However the options are there for when I do have the patience and the time to think about what it is I'm going to do. The on screen directions help tremendously for those occasions since I can easily forget what the different settings are designed for. The quality of the pictures are fantastic and the handling of the camera feels natural. This was a camera purchased to take pictures and video of our new baby. We knew we needed something that would preserve good quality pictures and take video when we needed it. Both have been excellent. The video is very clear, movement is smooth and the audio is great. There are no tinny sounds or problems with the mike in any way. The options for various settings allows us to put it in "squirmy kid" mode and leave it there for when we need it. I hesitated for a long time because of all the negative reviews on the battery life. I wanted a camera that took standard batteries but, obviously, didn't want to change those batteries every time I used it. I have to say I have not had an issue with the battery life being short, and we take waaaaaayyyyy to many pictures. That being said I do use rechargeable batteries and that might make a difference. But, if I remember correctly the cheapo batteries the camera came with didn't do so bad either, they went fairly quickly but it wasn't the same day or anything. Bottom line I'm glad I saved the money and got this camera, it's got everything I need, extremely user friendly, high quality and is fairly durable.

watch and read the reviews on the 130, and then the 140, 150, 160, and you'll note: they are not as glowing as the 130... the 130 has a tremendous lens, with supreme color for the price, and has the best stabilized low-light setting of any point and shoot I've found. This low-light setting allows you to capture natural-light photos indoors and out with fair to excellent clarity, in situations where you don't want to use the flash, or can't. Fantastic camera - there's a reason that this camera still retails for nearly the original retail price, while the newer models are $20-50 cheaper. I had to order this camera THREE TIMES, because the first two orders, they shipped me the newer model, even though they said on order they had the 130 in stock. I sent them back - they are NOT equivalent. No one can believe the great quality shots I get with this. NOTE: I recommend doing test shots with the "portrait" ("head" icon), landscape, and auto settings, as i find the Portrait setting is often the best speed and clarity for most shots, better than the Auto setting in many cases, and the Landscape ("mountain" icon) setting is great not only for actual landscapes, but when you are capturing pictures out of a moving train/plane/car to get a clear distance shot and avoid having only the window in focus! The "parrot" icon - color saturation - often gives a more realistic sunset color rendering than other settings, and the low-light setting ("candle" icon) not only does a good job in low light, it's also perfect for shots where you want a quick shutter speed but don't want to go manual, even in good light. Finally, manual controls are there for when you want to really get creative, and there are fun settings like "posterize", "miniaturize", and others. Please Canon - bring back the 130 tech specs in the newer versions... I've had 2 of them, and they're simply the best.

I have been a big fan of the Canon powershot cameras, going back to the A20. I still have my A20 and now use it for underwater shots, inside the very sturdy Canon waterproof case. I have owned the A20, the SX110IS, and the SX10IS. Many of our family members have powershots, including the SX20IS and the older A40. We have all been very pleased with our Canon cameras. One of my favorite features of the powershots I've bought has been the fact that they use AA batteries. Yes, it means shorter battery life, but it also means never being unable to use the camera on a trip away from home -- all you have to do is buy AA batteries at a gas station and you're good to go. Well worth it to me to give up some battery life for that convenience. I have been very happy with my SX110IS - beautiful still shots, good movies, travels well. It has some annoying features like very slow flash cycling, but overall it's been a great camera. Well, I gave my SX110IS to a family member as a gift, planning to buy myself this SX130IS as a replacement. I assumed I'd get the same great camera, but now with HD video and a few extra megapixels as a bonus. I am **VERY** disappointed in the SX130IS. There's something not quite as good about the still shots, but that's not my primary complaint. My main complaint is the video mode. It is absolutely awful. Constantly goes in and out of focus while filming. I noticed this immediately on using the camera, so I returned it to Amazon as an exchange for the exact same model, figuring it was just a flaw with that one camera. Not so. The replacement has the exact same problem. I've gone through all the possible settings, and the problem persists. The only thing that helps is to use manual focus, but then you have to, well, focus manually, which isn't always an option for real-world filming, and is not easy to do with this camera. I even shot the same scene with this camera and then with my SX10IS for comparison, and the older SX10IS shot perfect video, while this new camera blurred in and out of focus the whole time. I've sent back the second camera, this time for a refund. I have no intention of trying again with this model, especially now that I've noted several other reviewers here and on other sites complaining about the same problem. I hope this isn't the last Canon powershot I ever get to own -- as noted above, I've been a very big fan for many years. But this model is garbage. Buyer beware. I'm now trying to decide whether to buy one of the few remaining new SX120IS models, or just get a used or refurbished SX110IS to replace the one I gave away. Very disappointed in Canon. This may be the last they see of this once-loyal customer. ------------------------------------ Update: I decided to get one of the SX120IS models. Works just fine. Looks like I will continue to be a Canon customer, but I am still convinced there is something wrong with the SX130IS as I described above.

I have the SX110is and love it for the same reasons that I love this one, the SX130is. My father is a professional photographer, so I know a thing or two about cameras. Actually, of course, every year they make the cameras better and entice buyers like me. This one has the HD video, and the 12x zoom, and 12.1 megapixels. Both features sold me. The SX110is now goes to my wife who has a fine collection of fairly new electronics that I discard annually. The quality of photos is spectacular. The color is far superior to any camera in a comparable price range, especially a simple point and shoot. My 3 week old daughters skin tones show up amazingly realistic. HD video is a plus. I am not sure how much I will use since I have an HD camcorder, but still, in a pinch it is nice. My only issue with the camera is the placement of the 'video' mode, so far from the 'auto' mode on the dial selector. This makes it inconvenient to switch back and forth, which is the main reason why I will probably not use the video mode as much, and the reason why I proclaim that this camera is 'very close to perfect', and not just perfct. Canon has never let me down. The AA batteries make me happy. I hate running out of power on a camping trip with no options. The screen size is magnificent and bright. This is a great purchase, until next year when they add a feature that I MUST HAVE!!

I have had this camera for 18 months. I used it occasionally. It replaced an older SLR camera. I am an experienced photographer. The camera takes excellent quality pictures, or at least it did until recently. I noticed that the pics I took in August seemed slightly out of focus and I thought I must have done something wrong on the day I used it. However I just got out the camera again to take to a lacrosse tournament where my grandson was an outstanding player, and I wanted to get some good photos of him and his team, both still shots and during the action. I was horribly disappointed to find that the pictures were in sharp focus on the right side of the picture and fuzzy or blurry on the left side. My grandson played in the championship game in the Yale Stadium last Saturday and the pics were useless--and there is no way obviously to replace the situation. I contacted Canon, they pointed out what I already knew, that the camera was out of warranty (even though it was shortly after the warranty expired that the problem showed up) and that it would cost $139 to have it repaired plus parts if needed, when I paid $169 for it new. I was shocked at Canon's attitude and extremely disappointed that this camera failed after so short a time. So I have learned a valuable lesson. Canon is not what it used to be and the quality is just not there any more now that these cameras are made in China and their service is just not up to their reputation any longer. Updated November 24, 2013. After reading a lot of reviews about this camera I thought I should comment on some issues. First, battery life. I did not experience the poor battery life that some have reported, and I always used standard batteries. Second,I never had any problem with the zoom. Third, I spent a lot of time yesterday attempting various solutions to the image focus problem, using various settings (with autofocus, and manually) to see if I could find any combination of settings that would make any difference, and regrettably, nothing would make any difference--the left side of photos (when in horizontal position) were just slightly out of focus, just enough so that I can see it looking closely. I have never experienced this sort of problem and I have no idea whether it is a software problem or whether the lens itself is the issue.

Background - After my 35+ years old Olympus 35-SP (compact 35mm viewfinder camera) auto exposure control went bad a few years ago, finally decided that a new digital camera was in order. Wanted something similar to Canon A590IS I got as a spouse present in Dec 2008, but that camera is no longer on the market except from places like eBay, as used (two purchased tries resulted in fatally defective items received each time) or as new (much more expensive than original pricing or for present similar new cameras). The A590 is a nice camera with a good features/price ratio, a viewfinder that was becoming a rare feature even in 2008, but a less-than-stellar AA battery life that was finally resolved by using more appropriate battery types than Canon recommended (see remarks at end of this review). There are not many digital cameras with viewfinders on the market these days for less than a quite a few hundred dollars, so the closest that I thought might have the photo quality/features similar to the A590 was the Canon SX130IS. For a side-by-side comparison any current two cameras, see the camera-catalog.com to set up your desired comparisons. As a side note, my understanding is that the later Canon SX150IS follow-up model now on the market is a relatively minor upgrade of the SX130. The SX130 has many the positive features of the A590 (but enhanced), and some of the negatives (e.g. long flash cycle times, need for better AA batteries), with a few minor feature (for my uses) differences. The most obvious differences I see are that the SX130 is slightly larger/heavier, has more megapixels per photo, a larger optical zoom (12X vs. 4X), but lacks a viewfinder and an auto flash. The flash must be flipped up manually when indicated while in Auto mode, but the camera will operated whether the flash is up or not (sometimes photo looks fine without flash). Since I'm use to mounting a separate flash unit as needed for my old 35mm camera, the manual feature doesn't bother me, as I thought it an advantage if I want to easily NOT allow the flash while in Auto mode for lower light distance photos. The lack of a viewfinder is a real disadvantage, as it's much easier than a LCD screen for photo composition, and especially in bright sunlight it become very difficult too see the LCD screen unless one turns up the screen brightness to max (just about see scene sometimes). Some items to note: - A paper user guide is not provided, you have to use the digital PDF copy off the included CD or downloaded it from the Canon website. A major inconvenience in my view, now one needs a computer system just to read something to learn or look up something about the various features/settings. - There is no SD card included with the SX130, not even a pathetically small 32MB card like with the A590, so one can not immediately test the SX130 right out of the box unless a spare SD card is available. - As with other digital cameras, the included Canon bloated software takes up umpteen megabytes of computer hard-disk. I did not use that software as there is better free Internet downloadable free stuff available for photos downloading/organization/editing. Also, it easier for me just to take the SD card out and put into a cheap USB reader (available for a few dollars from eBay, Meritline, Amazon, etc.) and transfer the photos to a computer just like with any other flash drive. Once we got my spouse's A590 model's perennial Canon short AA battery life issues (see other Amazon and other forums' reviews) resolved by using either Energizer Ultimate lithium (4X or 8X) or Sanyo Eneloop (slow discharge rate when not being used) rechargables, that camera has provided fine service. Using regular alkaline or regular rechargeable NiMH AA batteries can be a waste of money/time as too many folks may never get any more than a very small fraction of the number of the shots exaggeratedly claimed in the Canon camera specifications for a set of these battery types. If the camera design and/or normal manufacturing variations are such that some non-trivial number of units (judging from the reviews) really need some specific types of AAs for better/acceptable performance, then Canon would better serve itself and its customers by not put ting possibly misleading shot numbers for using alkalines or your average store-bought rechargables. See my Amazon 1/31/09 A590 review and later 6/25/12 Comments note about the Canon A590 and batteries at http://www.amazon.com/review/R3TZKZJ5U6K19V/ref=cm_cd_notf_message/176-3175168-1504157?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx63B1EKY0E2BL&cdPage=1&cdThread=Tx1I9RO32Y8R49X#MxYYFXHZN76US6 Since my Sept 2011 SX130 purchase, the camera has operated well for me using the Energizer Ultimate lithium or Sanyo Eneloop batteries. I get several hundred photos per pair from the lithiums, and as of 8/28/12 I've shot more than 120 photos so far with a pair of Eneloops straight out of the blister pack (not been in a charger) and no sign of a battery low indication yet even though the Eneloops were originally purchased near the end of June 2012. 12/31/12 Batteries Update: I used the above mentioned pair of AA Sanyo Eneloop (newer 1500X charges model) 2000 mAH low self-discharge NiMH batteries (right out of the blister pack) for the past 6 months and got 160 shots before the low battery indication came on. When the Eneloops start off fully charged instead of just out of the product packaging, I'm expecting they may give me closer to 300 shots or more. See my more detailed Eneloops review at: http://www.amazon.com/review/R15BOEYASLAUTN