I got a really great opportunity and privilege to use and test Canon SX60 HS during my upcoming Africa adventure. Thanks again Mrs Teija from Canon Finland for making this possible! I have so many years used only (d)SRL’s that I am very curious to see how modern point-and-shoot cameras do today. My current body is Canon 7D mark2, which is a, say modern DSRL, and I am using Canon L-lenses, so to be honest I am used to achieve pretty good image quality what comes to equipment. Of course image quality is a matter of comparison (and taste). Nothing is good or poor if you dont compare it to something. What I am trying to say is that my opinions of this powerful camera need to be seen against my own experience and equipment.
Canon SX60 HS is a light weight and pretty compact camera. It fits nicely on the palm of your hand and if you have used any Canon (d)SRL-body you get very quickly familiar with this one, too. What makes it outstanding is the superzoom lens it has. Its optical zoom reaches from 21mm to 1365mm (!) Build in image stabilizer helps you to get sharp images. For so far I was able to take the zoom in short and quick test ( because I needed to charge the battery 😉 ! ) and all I can say is amazing! Electronic zoom and view finder were a bit odd for me at first, but after a few shots i got more used to those. Zoom and focus are quite fast and accurate. Focus followed our Giusto ( the dog) nicely, even if it wasnt a broad daylight anymore out in the garden.
About the zoom capabilities: I think that the following 2 images tell more than a chapter in this case.
View over the river @21mm
And a detail underneath the brigde @1365mm from the same position as the pic above.
These images are straight out from the camera in jpeg’s. I was very pleased with the sharpness of the zoomed-in image, shutter speed was 1/200 without a support. (f6.5 ISO 3200) No adjustments done in Lightroom
So my very first impression of the camera is literally wow! No, I wont yet leave my 7dii on the shelf, but this little beauty certainly has potential! Image quality will not be as good as with “real camera” and L-lenses, but will it be good enough? Especially if thinking that my loaded equipment back bag weights around 13 kg’s and this Canon SX60 HS powershot some 650 g… 🙂 ! That’s something to think about when travelling … 🙂
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