Canon PowerShot SX10 IS SLR like- Wide angle+ 8GB SDHC+ bag for $339.99 shipped from Newegg

Linky
buy with the combo [bag +8GB] shipped!

MSlive CashBack 2.75% brings to $330.

I'm very interested in this camera.
Specs sound great and the trial handling I got in store was nice too.
Camera is a bit bulky, but this is expected for a 20x zoom (quite small even for such a nice lens).

I'm still on the fence though for 3 reasons:
- cant find any review of the beast and i'd like to know how it performs in low light and how fast is the lest
- its bigger brother, the SX1, comes out end of november (not in the US yet though). Same camera, but a different (CMOS) sensor and allows HD videos (1080p).

Otherwise, great price (retail is $400) with a bundle included.
Another solution for a cheap price is MSN rebate on eBay (25% at the moment). About similar price at the end, but Newegg is definitly more serious.

Here is a stat page: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_sx10is.asp

The key figure here is pixel density which affects low light performance (lower is better to keep things simple): 35 MP/cm²
Compared to a Canon Rebel XS: 3.1 MP/cm²
Nikon D40X: 2.7 MP/cm²

Probably not great low light performance. Sure it won't be a DSLR but that is a pretty average stat for most point and shoots. But then again, you're paying almost as much as a DSLR and not getting the compact size of the smaller, cheaper cameras while not having anywhere near the quality of the slightly larger ones. What are you paying for then? The 20x zoom.

I have the S1 and S3. Love both of them. Low light does detract from the picture quality, but that s/b expected. SUPERB for taking action shots at sporting events. You can ZOOM WAY in there , and IS captures it amazingly.
The next step up Is full out SLR's with hefty price tags , when you start to add in the lenses you would need to zoom like this one it would easily be near $700-800. BTW I don't have the S10, but if the VIDEO is as good as my S3 it doubles a good video camera, that you can actually TAKE still photos while shooting a video.

ggrr8t said:I have the S1 and S3. Love both of them. Low light does detract from the picture quality, but that s/b expected. SUPERB for taking action shots at sporting events. You can ZOOM WAY in there , and IS captures it amazingly.
The next step up Is full out SLR's with hefty price tags , when you start to add in the lenses you would need to zoom like this one it would easily be near $700-800. BTW I don't have the S10, but if the VIDEO is as good as my S3 it doubles a good video camera, that you can actually TAKE still photos while shooting a video.

The lens and sensor on this are not anywhere near the quality of a SLR camera. Itreally amazesmethat people can get roped in by the term 'SLR-like' which is essentially meaningless. Basically manufacturers hoping to rope in some sales on people that basically just think it 'looks' like a smaller SLR. This category of cameras is normally called 'megazooms' I believe in the Camera World. They are no better than a pocket cam, just zoom more.

The lenses you'd probably buy for a SLR would be sharper than this and the snesor would do ISO800 at least clean whereas the Canon S-series can't even do ISO200 clean.

Please do not ever mention 'SLR' in a post about a camera like this as it's pointless.

lzpoof said:ggrr8t said:I have the S1 and S3. Love both of them. Low light does detract from the picture quality, but that s/b expected. SUPERB for taking action shots at sporting events. You can ZOOM WAY in there , and IS captures it amazingly.
The next step up Is full out SLR's with hefty price tags , when you start to add in the lenses you would need to zoom like this one it would easily be near $700-800. BTW I don't have the S10, but if the VIDEO is as good as my S3 it doubles a good video camera, that you can actually TAKE still photos while shooting a video.

The lens and sensor on this are not anywhere near the quality of a SLR camera. Itreally amazesmethat people can get roped in by the term 'SLR-like' which is essentially meaningless. Basically manufacturers hoping to rope in some sales on people that basically just think it 'looks' like a smaller SLR. This category of cameras is normally called 'megazooms' I believe in the Camera World. They are no better than a pocket cam, just zoom more.

The lenses you'd probably buy for a SLR would be sharper than this and the snesor would do ISO800 at least clean whereas the Canon S-series can't even do ISO200 clean.
Please do not ever mention 'SLR' in a post about a camera like this as it's pointless.
What I thought I mentioned was that even an entry level SLR camera would be near double the price. I also mentioned that this is a VERY good camera. I did NOT say it was in the same class, hence the BIG differance in prices. For an every day all around camera including sport, this camera is about the best you will get in that price range.
This is a VERY nice entry into photography. If you get the "bug" and desire to improve, the next STEP would be all out SLR with its various lenses, mono+tripods. Apparently you have not shot with The canon "S" series. It takes amazing crisp vibrant photos up to about ten zoom, un like other zoom cameras that dissapoint
From a respected review site
"The S3 features a f/2.7-3.5 Canon all-glass 12x zoom lens (36-432mm equivalent in 35mm) that makes tack-sharp long telephoto shooting positively practical. By incorporating a UD (Ultra Low Dispersion) lens into the lens element, the incident of chromatic aberration was reduced. Despite its extensive optical range, the lens is ultra-compact and retracts into the camera when it's powered down".
NOT everyone is interested in spending near a thousand dollars for an SLR setup. For them , this makes perfect point and shoot sense.
And from DPREVIEW...." there is nothing out there that offers the feature set, handling and sheer fun factor of the S3 IS, and so it still - just - keeps hold of our top rating."

The new SX10
"Excellent image quality - the zoom coupled with the Digiac 4 processor and the IS of
the in body really is impresssive. It is impossible to belive that this camera can take pictures that just a few years back requried a 35mm crop sensor SLR. Mucho Bang for the Buck"

Frenchy2k1 said: - its bigger brother, the SX1, comes out end of november (not in the US yet though). Same camera, but a different (CMOS) sensor and allows HD videos (1080p).

that's what *i'm* waiting for! i was doing some heavy drooling when i saw the specs for that camera.

i just replaced my S2 IS over the summer with the S5 IS. they're a great line of cameras for the price, and the video is really really good. i want the SX1 badly.

The video limitation used to be true for Canon, but not anymore.
They used Motion-Jpeg for video until the last generation (digic 3 and before).
The SX1/SX10 are using the digic4 processor and Mpeg4 compression in MOV containers (apple quicktime format). Those pack about an hour of video on a 4GB SDHC (for the SX10 at 640x480) and a quarter of that for the SX1 according to what I can find online.
Bitrates indicated (43Mb/s on SX1 manual at full HD) would indicate very good quality or at least lower compression. Samples are on hold until release, on november 30th overseas.