Canon SX20 help required

traveller2010

Hi friends,

I am planing to buy a semi SLR. I have looked at a lot of options and the Canon SX20 seems to be the best.

I want to know that as a amateur, how would be the performance of this camera. Would it be easy to handle in the auto mode and automatically take good pictures like a P & S? Or would I need to have a lot of practice on it before I put it to use. The reason is that I am going on a vacation shortly and I intend to use SX20 there.

Request your advice considering that I am an amateur photographer using a Nikon Coolpix L5 model.

Also, in the highest quality, what would be the photo size in MBs in SX20? And can the camera handle a 8GB card without any issues?

Thanks in advance,
Amit

traveller2010

Hi friends....

Request your advice.........

ziggy53

A Canon PowerShot SX20 IS would be considered an "advanced digicam", but it is not an SLR (even though there is a slight physical resemblance.)

Cameras like the SX20 IS make very nice vacation cameras. The SX20 IS has a decent zoom range and the IS section also works well. Fully automatic mode will produce results typical for this sort of camera, but the SX20 IS also has a Program mode, Aperture Priority mode, Shutter Priority mode and Manual mode which collectively give a user a high level of control.

The SX20 IS has a hot shoe and allows an external flash, which I highly recommend for indoor use. The Canon 430EX (or 430EX II) flash would make a good external flash for the camera and greatly enhance indoor shooting. I also recommend using a flash modifier for best results and the "Better Bounce Card" and Demb Flip-It are useful and compact flash modifiers I can recommend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNCmuExlHvM

http://www.dembflashproducts.com/flipit/

An external flash and either of the above flash modifiers can produce results that clearly distinguish from a typical snapshot.

traveller2010

Great....Thanks for the reply......

So can I use the Canon SX20 just like I use my Nikon Collpix, i.e. just point and shoot? Is it that easy to use?

I am going on a vacation and plan to buy SX20 so that I can shoot the pics with SX20. Do I need to practice first, or it should not be a problem to use the SX20 in the automatic mode and it will function just like a point and shoot.

Thanks in advance

ABCL

I'd imagine it would be as easy as a P & S (it is still a Point and Shoot camera), these are made for the same people as it's smaller siblings are, you'll be fine with it if all you want is auto mode. Have you tried it yet to see if you are comfortable holding it?