Canon PowerShot SX260 HS 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Image Stabilized Zoom 25mm Wide-Angle Optical Lens and 1080p HD Video (Black)

I had bought this camera a few years ago for my wife to replace an older Canon point and shoot. The old one took great pictures, but noise or artifacts started to show up in the pictures in the form of dots here and there. Then bought another one for her mother few years later. Right away, when she started using the new camera, she noticed that it took great, sharp pictures. What the difference was that by just using the auto setting, the pictures came out great, effortlessly. No need to fuss with the settings for anything particular. The camera did the adjustments quite accurately, enough. The camera is full of useful features. One I was interested in was the burst modes, where you can take several shots in a row. I took a sequence shot of my kid jumping off from a swing. It captured the path that she took to where she landed in the sand. I've read comments about noises/hissing with video mode. We never noticed any noises until I compared the second SX260 with my old Sanyo video camera. Sure enough, there was hissing. Then I compared the first SX260 and the same hissing was there as well. I don't know if the hissing I heard is the same as ones mentioned in other comments, though. But it wasn't bad enough that we didn't even realize until they were compared. There were other comments about speed. This camera can be fast in bright settings, but will yield poor/blurred images in darker situations. I'd guess that this is related to the size of the optical sensor where the light is absorbed. So, (in simplified form) if you have lots of light, the "shutter" speed can be fast, but with low light, the shutter has to be slower. Therefore, blurred images. So, this camera may not be for taking sports scenes in all types of lighting. Find a camera with much larger sensor(s) if you want to take fast action shots. Lastly, this camera has been obsoleted a while ago when the SX280 came out. It turns out that the SX280 is inferior to SX260 in quality. They have low ratings for being a "lemon." So, at that time of purchase, SX280 was selling for much less than the SX260. That is if you can find SX260 any more. The SX260 seems to be getting harder to find, so I was afraid that some of the stores that are still selling these, may be the last of the returned items. They could be defective/refurbished, or last of the leftover stocks. The one I got turned out fine. Everything seems to be in order. But then, we haven't used it much, since it's a gift to my wife's mother.

I am stunned that this camera has such high ranking feedback. I assume the picture quality is very good (I've yet to download and see my photos.) The issue is--TAKING THE PHOTOS! Good luck. There's multiple huge issues: The mechanical FLASH is placed exactly where most people hold the camera with their left hand. The shutter release button is right next to the Power on/off switch on the right side top of the camera. AGAIN? After All These Years!? How long have digital cameras been around now? I remember having this crazy-making issue (accidentally shutting the camera off rather than snapping the photo) on cameras years and years ago. After inadvertenly shutting the camera off, now you have the ten second restart cycle and the picture is gone. WHY HAS CANON NOT LEARNED THIS? (Yes, the power button is shaped differently. So what? When taking a picture, one's left and right brain are most likely occupied with the subject and the picture.) I'll tell you why the on/off button is next to the shutter--because the engineers put it there and do not care about what the consumers/users want or need. It's a classic example of "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity"--This is a book written over ten years ago and available here on Amazon. BTW, I am an engineer with an MSEE---I know when I see tech decisions that totally ignore common street smarts. (I owned a Ford Explorer where the change holder was immediately next to the CD player cartridge door. Coins would fall into the player and destroy it. Ford's solution---they placed a sticker on the CD player which read: DO NOT DROP COINS INTO THE CD PLAYER--making it YOUR PROBLEM.) 'pretty bad, but it really gets worse. The brilliant, crack engineering team put the flash unit (which mechanically rises out of the camera) on the exact opposite (top left) side of the camera, where most everybody (symmetrically) holds the camera. Your right hand/finger are on the right at the shutter/power button, and your left hand/finger are now on the left side, covering the flash unit. SHAME ON YOU! So what happens? You're trying to get a picture off---you're lucky enough not to shut the camera off with the power button, then the flash struggles to pop up through your finger...then it jams. Not only is the picture lost---but it gets user-unfriendly WORSE from here. The camera's software now goes into an error mode. The flash can no longer be used with the camera. An ERROR MESSAGE comes up on the screen telling you that you must restart the camera before the FLASH can be used again. WOW!! I'm writing this from the floor. Really? Imagine if airline software or even automobile software was written this way. You'd have to pull off the road and restart the car because you didn't get your seatbelt on right. WHY can't the software itself reboot without your attention? BTW: Canon's solution to this: MAKE IT YOUR PROBLEM: In the instruction manual they tell you how you should hold the camera---palm down under the bottom. Really? Good thing Canon does not (re)design forks or knives. We'd be holding them in some foreign way. So now, again, you are in a power-recycle mode trying to get a picture taken. FRUSTRATING frustrating FRuStRaTiNg! We want to take pictures of our ACTIVE five year old. The reason I bought this specific camera after hours of research was because its response time was supposedly quick. We completely miss the shots with all this nonsense---and guess what? Its response time is miserable anyway---pathetic---even if you manage to get your fingers in all of the right places. Lastly (in the physically ridiculous department) the battery goes in MORE EASILY backwards. One needs to struggle to get it in correctly. It's easier to "plop" it in backwards. You only then know it's backwards because it will not seat the remaining 5% of the way down. YIKES again! I am so disappointed with this design-disaster. I believe the optical/electronic engineers did their job, but the interface engineers were out to lunch. Shameful---after years and years of people using cameras, they ignore how people use cameras and the booby traps that they so easily fall into. I want to cry or smack a designer after all of the time and trouble I put into choosing this camera FOR MY WIFE for Christmas. Rather than showing her how easy it is to use, I have to show her the many things to avoid, watch out for, and how to RECOVER from the problem once engaged. Sad.

This camera was purchased as an upgrade to my Canon Power Shot SD1400 IS Digital Elf that I have used for the past few years. It only had a 4x zoom so I wanted to get a small pocket camera that had a longer zoom range so I picked the 20x SX260 HS after reading numerous reviews about the battery life problems with the SX280. I received the camera within a few days of ordering it and a week before a planned vacation. I tested it to make sure it was in working order. It is very user friendly and similar to my previous camera. I turned the GPS function OFF to save battery life & didn't have to worry about the WiFi feature since it isn't included. I set the pixel resolution for LARGE for the best quality since I usually make a DVD movie/audio disk at year end for each member of my family. I rarely print out pictures since I usually email them or post them to Facebook or other websites. I ordered extra NB-6L batteries to take with me on vacation but never received them. A week after returning home they are still lost and the vendor is issuing me a refund instead of shipping another set of batteries. My only complaint for this camera is the flash unit. When the camera is set to AUTO the flash pops up when needed. If your hand or finger is on the top left rear of the camera it prevents the flash unit from popping up & you may have to shut the camera off & turn it on before the flash can fire. When I know I must use the flash especially in a sunny back lighted situation I set the camera in LIVE mode & then set the dial to have the flash ON for the shot. The flash then pops up and is ready to fire & you don't have to worry about your hand or fingers being in the way. I shot some VIDEO and had no problem with the low battery light coming on. I had to charge the battery once during a two week period & lost some photo opportunities since I didn't have an extra charged battery with me. I haven't loaded the software CD yet so that will be next along with downloading the SD card onto my computer to view the picture and video files. I would like to see an optical viewfinder on this camera, since it is practically impossible to see anything on the LCD in bright sunlight. This is true of every LCD camera even with a fold down attachable LCD shade that I have used on my SD1400. The only other item I purchased was a set of LCD protective shields cut to the exact size for this camera. I was wiping off fingerprints, water & suntan lotion constantly & I am sure these screens helped protect the LCD from scratches & damage. Overall I am extremely satisfied with this camera, especially the 20x zoom. Although I also ordered the suggested CaseLogic case for the camera, I never used it since the camera was always in one of the pants pockets of my cargo shorts for easy retrieval. Portability was a priority and this camera is perfect. I didn't want a huge SLR to cart around while fishing, at the beach or pool, or visiting bars, restaurants or attractions with family and friends. It was easy to hand to a waitress or stranger to take your picture & stick in your pocket or wife's handbag when not needed. It's an excellent choice for a small point & shoot camera that has some great features and is easy to use. I think you will be satisfied with this camera.

I have had this camera for over a year now and didn't feel I should write a review until I had used it enough to get a good sense of it. It takes good pictures and is fairly easy to use. I'm just a casual user who prefers to point and shoot, not interested in being a professional photographer. I tend to not use most of the special features of the camera, but at least they are there if I want them. I did accidentally discover the Movie Digest setting, which turned out to be pretty cool. I didn't realize the setting had gotten bumped to that and to my surprise when I went to play back the pictures I had taken at a concert, I had gotten a little movie with clips from various parts of the concert where I had taken a still picture. I knew the camera had some sort of feature like that but had never investigated it. A neat feature that I will use again. Other features that I like are the size of the screen, the 20x zoom and the wide angle lens. The only cons I can think of are 1) it has a proprietary battery, which I knew when I purchased it and debated about, but so far it hasn't been too much of a problem since I try to keep it charged knowing that I can't simply put in new disposable batteries in a pinch, and 2) the flash is a bit awkward, as it suddenly pops up when needed, right where your finger is. I've learned to expect it and have gotten used to it but it never fails to surprise someone else when I have them take a picture for me. It's kind of like when the Jack-In-The-Box pops up, lol. The placement could've been better for sure but it is not a deal breaker for me.

I would characterize myself as a mid-level amateur photographer - I'm picky about good image quality and not satisfied with cell phone pictures or a basic point and shoot. On the other hand, I don't want to carry a lot of bulky equipment and I don't know enough about photography to mess with things like aperture settings. Between 2005 and 2009 I went through four or five digital cameras as the technology evolved trying to find one that fit my needs. In May of 2009, I got the first camera in this series, the SX 200, and felt that I finally had the camera for me. It just takes fabulous pictures, is so easy to use, and easy to carry around. It has 12 X optical zoom, which was unbeatable in a compact point and shoot at that time. I've kept my eye on the newer models coming out and haven't been tempted to upgrade until I saw that the SX 260 had a 20 X optical zoom. I was concerned that some of the modes I used regularly on the SX 200 (indoor lighting, landscape) didn't seem to exist anymore, and another mode that I used frequently (portrait) still existed but wasn't accessible through the dial, you have to go through the menu. After a few days of trying this camera, I am just blown away by the image quality. I experimented with different scene modes, but there's really very little need to use anything but auto. The camera just figures out what you want to do. I've gotten a number of incredibly beautiful flower pictures without ever leaving auto mode. If you want macro, you just zoom in on what you want and there it is. If you want pictures of people, it figures that out and adjusts accordingly. The 20 X zoom is phenomenal and, as others have stated, the image stabilization is flawless. I can take pictures one-handed while holding my two dogs' leashes in the other hand as they pull and tug to keep walking, and there's no blur or lack of focus whatsoever in the pictures (I will say this was also true of the SX 200). I've uploaded a couple of images if you want to look at them. Regarding video, I'm of the school that if you want video, use a video camera. I do have a video camera, but I don't use it very often. Generally I prefer still photographs. So, I would use the video in limited situations where something came up that I wanted to capture and I didn't have my video camera with me. I did a little testing of the video and did not hear the whirring and clicking that others reported. The video quality is very good. I did notice that the playback was atrocious using VLC media player - there was a very loud hiss and the images would pixelate and freeze during playback. However, when using Windows media player for playback, the hiss was only slightly audible and significantly reduced, and the video playback was flawless. For the limited occasions that I expect to use the camera for video, it's perfectly adequate for my needs. I've been so happy with the Canon SX 200 that I really hesitated a lot before purchasing the upgrade. Finally I decided to give it a try, knowing that Amazon would take it back if I wasn't happy with it. I'm so happy that I did - I'm extremely pleased with this camera. Oh, I got red, not black, and it's a little more pinkish than I would like, a darker red wold be nicer :) But who cares, a fun color is nice but what really counts is how it performs.

I received my SX260 last Wednesday and have taken about 700 shots and a few quick 5 minute video. Without writing a novel, here are the high/low points of this unit. In addition to this unit, I also purchased a couple of aftermarket batteries (and after market A/C adapters for about $5.00 each) for about $5.00 each and the batteries work fine. With the battery (original and aftermarket) I was able to get over 300 shots (50% flash) with zooming and playback and the battery meter still showed about 25% charge remaining. Pro's Zoom - very long for a subcompact camera 20x optical, total 81x combined (yes 81 times!) Image Stabilizer - Excellent (far superior than the DSC-HX9V); Even at 81x the picture did not come out of focus, but of course not as sharp. I think it's still acceptable Scenes - A few scenes; I think the portrait, sepia, B/W works real well (the Portrait+ suppose to blur the picture a bit, but it's not to my liking) It has a few effects (fish eye, toy, miniature) that's very effective and can be fun for creative shots. Auto Mode - was able to pick the correct type of scene almost all the time; it has an easy mode, and smart auto. Not sure why they have an easy mode, but the smart auto works great Size/Weight - very compact and weigh's 8.2 oz. I would have prefer if the lens was flushed with the unit, but at 20x it may not have been possible Uniformity - the unit does not feel cheap, and beautifully curved; no sharp jagged corners Grip - the right side of the camera has a nice plastic strip for easier grip Controls - Dial extremely easy to use with one hand. The other buttons, if you're a previous Canon user, it's a no brainer; the menu and setup are practically the same across all their models. Screen - 3 inch TFT LCD screen very beautiful; nuff said Processor - Didn't notice that much difference between the DIGIC 4/DIGIC 5, but compared to the DSC-HX9V, this camera is like a Ferrari. GPS - Camera has it, but I never used it and probably won't; at least for the time being. Am more interested in a camera that takes excellent picture Con's Video - compared to the Sony DSC-HX9V this Canon comes in a distant second; if you plan on using this primarily as a video recorder, look elsewhere. I think Sony has excellent lens on their camera but their processing technology is clumsy, painfully slow and unacceptable; whereas with taking videos, the Sony does not do any processing (not to mention it captures at 60fps compared to Canon's 24/25 fps) This is one thing I will miss dearly. Flash - not sure if there is a good place but I had to change my grip as the flash is on the top left corner. Couple of times, I had my left index finger on the flash and the camera gave some flash error message and had to power off and power on the camera to reset the flash. If you're a casual or intermittent photographer (or a professional wanting an everyday point and shoot camera without carrying a luggage everywhere) that is interested in looking for a well refined point and shoot camera, yet has manual controls usually found on higher end DSLR (or higher end point and shoot camera), this is it! UPDATE 04/14/2012 - I paid $349 and today I noticed it's selling for $299, a 15% price drop in less than a month! I thought cars depreciate quick ... UPDATE 04/18/2012 - The Live Mode works great! For those hard shots (for example, taking indoor picture with fluorescent lighting and without a flash), you can view the screen and make the adjustment right then and there. You look at what you plan to take, compare it to the SX260 LCD screen and press the shutter button.

I am so disappointed with this camera. I purchased it after reading the hundreds of glowing reviews and found it to be an abysmal choice for my family. I guess if you were only shooting landscapes in brilliant sunlight, it might be an acceptable camera, but for capturing two young kids and the joy of Christmas it is a horrid choice. There's not a single photo of people that doesn't have some blurring in the photo. The auto focus function is very slow and randomly locks on to various spots in the frame. It makes trying to a photo more like trying to play a very frustrating video game, better fire when the sights are on the correct target, because who knows how long before it jumps to the next one. Many of the photos of the kids were missing one thing.... the kids, this camera is so laggy that they were often out of the frame by the time the camera decided to release the shutter. Forget about getting another shot off to make up for the one you missed, as the write time (even to a class 10 card) also seems excessive. I purchased this camera to replace a 6 year old Canon Powershot ELPH SD600 - now that is a fantastic camera. In fact, we gave that camera to our seven year old daughter and the photos that she took are so much clearer and in focus than those taken with the SX260. Even the photos I took with my iPhone 5 are better, since I could focus reliably. I've never seen a camera that focused so poorly. After I realized that the photo quality was so bad, I began testing and took multiple shots from the same location within a few seconds of each other. The focus point would change betwen these shots and result in wildly varied pictures. The one thing that I noticed was that on highly zoomed shots of inanimate objects, the focus was much sharper and more what I expected from this camera. Even though I purchased the camera to use for pickup and shoot pictures, I did try to experiment with the various settings and took the camera off Auto mode. I got better shots using AV or TV mode, but even then the shots were just plain bad. It seems that there's something off with the flash (in addition to the horrid placement, more on that later) it didn't freeze motion like I'm used to with other cameras. Even flash photos are very blurry if there is any motion. And speaking of the flash, it is like a jack-in-the-box that pops up, right where your fingers naturally rest, at the most in opportune times. This either shocks and makes you miss your shot or requires you to restart the camera if you don't get out of the way in time. The horrible photos, the frustrating focus, the draggy performance and the poor design all add to to make this the most aggrevating device that I've seen in a long time.

We have taken some very nice pics of our kids outdoors, but the indoor pics have disappointed us. I have an old Canon 4MP camera that's about six years old that's better indoors. The flash photos are slow, in my opinion, and the photos did not look like they came from the same camera as the pics we took of our kids playing in the backyard. I'm no camera buff and have not owned an SLR since the film days, so I don't pretend to be an expert. Just want to share my experiences as someone who bought this for an all-around-use camera. It's too heavy to put in a pocket or even for long hikes, so really I wish I had just spent some more money and bought one of the higher-end cameras. If I am not using it as a compact camera anyway, something a bit larger and more ergonomic would have been better. Plus - and this is my fault - I should have gone by Target or somewhere and felt the camera - a mistake I won't make again. I bought this because it was rated highly on Amazon and by a consumer magazine, but overall think I should have spent the extra $100 and moved up. I would suggest putting any camera in your hands before you buy it - lesson learned. If you want a camera with a nice zoom to take outdoor pics of your kids, this is a good one, but for birthday parties and other indoor uses, based on my personal experience here my suggestion is look elsewhere, as the speed and quality of the flash photos left us disappointed. We are keeping this, though, because for $200 it is still a good deal based on the zoom/outdoor capabilities - just not the all-around camera we were looking for.