Review: Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

Introduction and features

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Bridge cameras make for excellent travelling companions, offering the flexibility of a zoom range far larger than any D-SLR's lens but in a relatively small body.

This segment of the market seems to be defying the general downturn in compact camera sales, probably because of the extended flexibility that they offer, especially when compared to a smartphone.

While in terms of physical size, the SX60 isn't far off that of an entry-level DSLR, it features a much smaller sensor. It houses a 16.1 million-pixel 1/2.3 inch CMOS sensor (the same physical size as most compact cameras on the market). It does at least bring a jump in four million pixels from its predecessor the SX50HS.

Canon PowerShot SX cameras

At the moment, the SX60 represents the market leading position in terms of the zoom range, offering a huge 65x optical zoom. It provides a 21mm equivalent focal length at the wide angle end of the range and 1365mm equivalent at the telephoto end. At its widest point, the maximum aperture available is f/3.4, falling to f/6.5 at the zoom end.

Canon also has ZoomPlus technology, a type of digital zoom that boosts that range to 130x, or an incredible equivalent of 2730mm. ZoomPlus retains the resolution of an image shot using the optical zoom by interpolating pixels. A standard digital zoom is available to push that even further to 5460mm, but there will be a loss in image quality.

Canon PowerShot SX60 IS

Full manual control is available, and like the SX50 before it, so is the ability to shoot in raw format - a clear indication that the company expects the SX60 to be used by advanced enthusiasts. There's also a range of automatic modes, semi-automatic and scene modes.

For those who like to get creative, there are a couple of options with the SX60. First of all there's the Creative Shot mode – this will take one shot, plus 5 more with different random effects and crops applied. There's a variety of different subsets you can choose from, but you don't get absolute control over the digital filters which are applied. Secondly, there is a dedicated filters mode which allows you to choose a specific filter.

Canon PowerShot SX60 IS

It's starting to become more common now, but the SX60 is equipped with inbuilt Wi-Fi and NFC. This allows you to use your smartphone or tablet to remotely control the camera, as well as giving you the option of transferring images taken on it quickly to your device for sharing online, via email and so on.

On the back of the camera is fully-articulated, 922,000-dot, 3-inch screen. It's not touch-sensitive though. It is joined by a 922,000-dot, 0.17-inch electronic viewfinder on the top of the camera.

Canon PowerShot SX60 IS

The SX60 is a replacement for the SX50 which has been on the market for some time now. The SX50 boasted a 50x optical zoom, but it also had the ZoomPlus technology to boost that up to 100x. It also didn't have inbuilt Wi-Fi and NFC, so there's been quite a few improvements made to the camera.

In terms of competition, the SX60 goes up against the previous market leaders (in terms of zoom range at least), the Sony H400 and the Panasonic FZ72, which offer a 63x and 60x optical zoom, respectively.

Build Quality and Handling

The SX60 is one of the largest bridge cameras on the market, and you'd be forgiven for thinking at first glance that it was in fact a DSLR, especially one of the smaller entry-level models.

There's a deep grip which makes the SX60 sit very comfortably in the hand, while it is also textured to give it that extra feel of quality. The grip has a slight contour for your middle finger which makes it feel even more secure in the hand.

Canon PowerShot SX60 IS

Enthusiasts are likely to appreciate the number of direct buttons and dials which are found on the body of the camera. On top of the camera, there's a mode dial which allows you to switch between different exposure modes – there are automatic and scene modes to choose from, as well as semi-automatic and manual modes (M/Av/Tv/P). There's also a video mode accessible directly from this dial, although you can also use a dedicated video button on the back of the camera too when using different modes.

Canon PowerShot SX60 IS

Also on top of the camera is a zoom switch for extending the SX60's 65x optical zoom lens. You'll find this just around the shutter release button, and it's fairly smooth and fluid to use, enabling you to quickly reach the far end of the zoom quickly. When you have digital zoom switched on (and you're not shooting in raw), keep the zoom switch held down to enter the digital territory – it will pause slightly before entering first the Zoom Plus and then again before entering the standard zoom.

Just in front of the mode dial is a scrolling dial which is easily reached by the forefinger and serves a number of different functions depending on the shooting mode you're in. For instance, if you're in aperture priority mode, it will alter aperture, while in shutter priority it will alter shutter speed.

Finally, on the top of the camera is a dedicated "shortcut" button which can be customised to one of 18 different functions, including switching raw and jpeg on and off, directly accessing white balance and timer mode.

Head to the back of the camera and you'll find a familiar layout if you've used any Canon cameras before. There's a standard four way navigational pad, with each of the directional keys serving a specific function – press left, for example, to access focusing mode (macro, infinity and manual are available), while pressing right accesses flash options. It would be nice if you could have customised these keys in the main menu.

Canon PowerShot SX60 IS

In the centre of the navigation pad is a function button which gives you access to a sort of quick menu for the most commonly used settings available, such as ISO (sensitivity), white balance, aspect ratio and so on.

Just above the navigation pad is a dedicated button for altering exposure compensation. When in manual mode, you can press this button to switch between aperture and shutter speed. You can only access exposure compensation when shooting in aperture priority or shutter priority.

Also useful is a button on the back of the camera for changing the autofocus point. It has the same icon as the buttons you find on Canon DSLRs for the same purpose – simply press it and then use the navigational keys to scroll around to the point you wish to focus on.

The Zoom Frame Assist button is extremely handy when photographing at the far end of the zoom range. This button can be found on the side of the lens barrel. If you lose track of a subject, simply hold it down and the lens will zoom back out again allowing you to find the subject again – release the button and the lens will zoom to that point.

Raw format shooting can be activated from within the quick menu, which places some restrictions on what you can and can't shoot . For instance, you'll no longer be able to alter the colours using MyColors, or use digital zoom, which seems a bit of a shame.

Canon PowerShot SX60 IS

The screen is a fully articulating device which is very handy when photographing something from an awkward angle, and is much more useful than merely a tilting screen. In order to activate the electronic viewfinder, you need to press the down key (display) on the navigational pad – and you'll need to press it twice when you want to switch back to the screen. This is a fairly frustrating way to work, and it would have been fantastic to see an eye sensor on the SX60 to make it a more seamless transition between using the two.

Performance

The SX50 was an excellent performer, so with an all round upgrade in specs I expected the SX60 to also be good.

Happily, I have not been disappointed by the camera for the most part. Images straight from the camera are beautifully bright and punchy, displaying a typical level of Canon saturation that I've come to expect.

The camera works especially well in good light, putting in a performance that is comparable to a DSLR. At lower sensitivities, the amount of detail resolved is fantastic when examining at 100%, which gives you excellent scope should you wish to crop an image down the line.

As you move up the sensitivity scale however, the performance dips a little. Examining images taken at ISO 1600 reveals noise at 100% magnification, although overall a decent impression of detail is kept when viewing at normal printing and web sizes. In dark conditions, a fair amount of image smudging can be seen – and not just when viewing images at 100%. Trying to use the extensive zoom range in dark conditions is also difficult as the camera will often struggle to focus.

The camera's general purpose metering system does a good job of producing accurate exposures even in tricky/mixed lighting conditions. I found I hardly ever needed to add or subtract exposure compensation, though it would be handy to be able to do that in the automatic modes if you needed to. Itseems strange that it's only possible in aperture priority or shutter priority.

Automatic white balance does a decent job when faced with different kinds of light, but it does err slightly towards warm or yellowish tones under artificial lighting. Switching to a more appropriate white balance setting fixes this problem though.

For the moment, the raw format the SX60 offers is not compatible with Adobe Camera Raw, but you can download the latest Digital Photo Professional software from the Canon website to process and work with your raw format files using this. By examining the raw files we can see how much processing the camera applies to JPEG images. If you're interested in retaining more detail at the expense of noise, it's good to work with the raw format files.

It's important that the zoom be up to scratch with a camera like this, and being a market leader at 65x optical it really needs to deliver. Images taken at the far end of the optical zoom (1560mm equivalent) show a great level of detail and certainly make the camera very flexible to use. If the 65mm isn't enough – which seems unlikely in most scenarios – you also have the option to use ZoomPlus. This also puts in a reasonably good performance, and is certainly useful if you do need that extra reach. I'd probably stay clear of the extra digital zoom unless absolutely necessary, as here you can see a much greater loss in quality.

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS sample images

At its widest point, the SX60's lens offers 21mm, which is great for capturing wide sweeping vistas. Click here for a full resolution version.

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS sample images

The 65x optical zoom gives you lots of flexibility – here we can see a close-up of a ruin which is barely visible in the wide angle image. Click here for a full resolution image.

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS sample images

Use the ZoomPlus feature to get even closer if you need to. Click here for a full resolution image.

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS sample images

The standard digital zoom allows you to get even closer if you need to, but it also represents a drop in image quality. Click here for a full resolution image.

The lens also produces sharp images at its widest point (21mm), and shooting mid-range apertures such as f/8 allows us to examine how well the lens performs for edge-to-edge sharpness. Detail is kept reasonably well across the frame, with some slight softness in the very outer corners of the frame when viewing at 100%. Again, though, the overall impression of sharpness is great.

Focusing is quick and generally reliable when in good light, locking onto the subject with accuracy. Unlike some of the other cameras in Canon's range, you can alter the AF point which gives you greater flexibility when framing. As the light drops, the camera struggles a little more with focusing, but generally speaking it's not too bad.

Image quality and resolution

As part of our image quality testing for the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS, we've shot our resolution chart.

Click here to see a full explanation of what our resolution charts mean.

Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100: