Canon PowerShot SX120 IS Review

October 19, 2009 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star

Introduction

The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS is a new 10 megapixel digital camera featuring a 10x zoom lens complete with optical image stabilizer. Successor to last year's SX110 model, the Canon SX120 IS offers a focal range of 36-360mm, 3 inch LCD screen, DIGIC 4 image processor, and Face Detection complete with Face Select & Track and Face Self-Timer modes. The SX120 IS has 20 shooting modes including Smart Auto and Easy Mode for complete beginners and full manual control for more experienced photographers. A high ISO setting of 1600, 30fps VGA movies with a Long Play mode and is power in the form of readily available AA batteries completes the SX120's headline specifications. The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS is priced at £229 / $249.99 and available now in black.

Ease of Use

We reviewed the SX120's predecessor, the 9-megapixel 10x zoom SX110 IS, in October 2008, and, additional million pixel boost aside, outwardly very little appears to have changed at first glance. There's the same tactile control layout with reasonably large buttons and dials to intentionally keep things family friendly, plus that identical optically stabilized zoom range equivalent to 36 to 360mm in 35mm terms.

Though like its forebear the SX120 IS is chunky compared with the average point and shoot, it is smaller than the typical super zoom or bridge camera pitched at enthusiasts. There are no higher end features here such as a hotshoe for additional flash - merely one of the pop up variety - while power is again provided by two standard alkaline AA batteries that slot into the base of the handgripas does the 128MB SD card supplied in the box. While these features are indicative of a budget model, so too is the mainly plastic build, though it's handily disguised by a matt black finish. Those two AAs also add weight and, as we found with the SX110, generally the camera feels substantial when gripped in the palm.

Canon PowerShot SX120 IS Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Front Rear

The front of the SX120 IS is dominated by that behemoth of a lens, the majority of which is hidden flush to the body when not in use, rapidly extending (in a couple of seconds) to maximum wideangle with a press of the slightly recessed but clearly labeled lozenge-shaped on/off button up top. On initial inspection the front of the SX120 and SX110 are identical, but look very close and you'll see that the handgrip on the left is just a little wider. Three narrow slits indicate the built-in microphone nestling top left of the lens, and over to the right-hand side of the lens we find the same rounded window housing the AF assist/self-timer lamp as found on the earlier SX110.

While the above changes are largely cosmetic, when it comes to more practical considerations there's a more important omission. As on its predecessor there's no optical viewfinder or EVF - the space instead occupied by the built-in flash. Continuing around the slight curve of the handgrip we find a loop for attaching the supplied wrist strap and a sturdy pull-open plastic cover for the AV out, DC in and USB ports.

Canon PowerShot SX120 IS Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Front

Top

The top of the SX120 is likewise identical to its predecessor. The SX120 has the exact same user-friendly control grouping as the SX110, namely a shooting mode wheel, on/off button and shutter release button encircled by a zoom lever. The mode dial is almost flush with the top of the body, although fortunately the dial itself has enough of a ridged surround to be able to turn it decisively with your thumb, and there's a cutaway portion at the camera back to allow access. It has a stiff action with a distinct click, so you're highly unlikely to shoot past the setting you want in the heat of the moment.

With the camera taking a couple of seconds to get going from cold, once again the action of the optical zoom is smooth and steady, though its motions are still sound-tracked by an audible mechanical buzz. More positively, with a half press of the shutter release button the SX120 is lightning fast in determining focus and exposure, while there's no noticeable shutter delay as you go on to take the shot. Operational speed is slightly improved than before, with the new DIGIC 4 processor on-board, although current SX110 IS owners would be hard-pressed to tell the difference.

Starting at the new Smart auto mode, which automatically chooses from 18 different scenes, and moving clockwise around the mode dial are the more creatively enticing settings of program auto, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual. The chosen mode is also shown as a virtual version on the screen, so you don't need to take your eye off your subject while making adjustments. Continuing clockwise we get a dedicated VGA-quality video mode (with a long play feature plus a further 320x240 pixels alternative), a selection of scene modes (including fireworks, snow, aquarium and an ISO 3200 mode), an optimized indoor setting mode, a dedicated children and pets mode, a night scene mode, plus landscape and portrait settings and finally the no frills 'Easy mode', which turns the camera into a purely point-and shoot experience, perfect for complete beginners.

Canon PowerShot SX120 IS Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Front Pop-Up Flash

The handy auto red-eye correction feature is accessible via a flash settings option that's rather hidden away among the SX120's menu screens. Red eye reduction can also be turned on/off in capture mode by delving into the same menu; like the SX110 it's not included among the options accessed via the dedicated flash switch at the rear, but at least here it's 'on' that handily appears to be the default setting rather than 'off'. The quality of the video - although disappointingly still the standard 640x480 pixels resolution, rather than High Definition - is again commendably sharp with 30fps allowing for more realistic motion, and the sound, though mono, is equally respectable. Another remaining disappointment is that the 10x optical zoom can't be used when shooting video, though a 4x digital zoom can (albeit with a certain loss of quality).

Moving to the back of the SX120 IS, we find a 3-inch, 230k dot LCD, identical to its predecessor's. The direct print button on the SX110 IS that was positioned top left of the screen has disappeared, presumably because most people didn't use it. The display and menu buttons are located beneath the rather fiddly four-way control pad-come-command wheel that remains centre right of the LCD. A press of 'menu' in capture mode brings up two folders on screen, one with shooting options and the second with more generic set-up features. A press of 'menu' in playback gives access to both image review plus print selection folders, while the third folder is the same set up menu. If you've used a Canon camera before, the menus will be immediately familiar: their design pretty basic but easy to navigate because of it. Mirroring these two buttons above the command wheel are a dedicated face detection button (on/off) and exposure compensation button (-/+ 2EV).

Face Detection has been improved, with the DIGIC 4-powered system now capable of recognising up to 35 faces in a scene and automatically adjusting the focus and exposure settings. Face Detection includes the Auto Red-Eye Correction, Face Detection AF/AE/FE, and Face Self-Timer technologies – the latter is a new feature that waits until it detects a new face in the frame before taking the shot. Face Select & Track allows a particular face to be tracked as they move around the frame, making sure that your chosen subject is always in focus and well-exposed.

Canon PowerShot SX120 IS Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

Playback again has its own button on the camera back, rather than squeezing in among the modes on the top dial. As noted in our review of the SX110, when you come to access the options set at four points around the control pad/command wheel it's easy for your thumb to slip round to the adjacent setting. Being pre-aware of its liveliness, this time around it didn't irritate so much, but it's a little too easy to inadvertently change the wrong setting.

Ranged around the control dial, which additionally features a function set button at its centre, are a means of accessing ISO speed (Auto, Hi, ISO 80 to 1600), flash setting, self timer or continuous shooting, plus macro or manual focus – whereby users are presented with an enlarged central portion of the screen to check focus, its distance dialed in using the aforementioned wheel.

As you'd expect when up-ending the camera, the base of the SX120 features a screw thread for a tripod and a compartment storing the two AAs and SD memory card, opened by flicking the substantial catch and pressuring it proud of the unit. Closing it is a little awkward however as you have to press down on the two AAs as you're sliding it shut.

In summary, the SX120 IS is far more evolutionary than revolutionary, falling into the incremental yearly update cycle that a lot of modern digicams seem to follow, with slightly faster processor times and the improved face detection system being the new standout highlights.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 10 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 3Mb.

The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS produced images of good quality during the review period. The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS's main drawback in terms of image quality is noise, with ISO 400 showing some noise, blurring of detail and slight colour desaturation. The noise and loss of detail get progressively worse as you go from ISO 800 to the fastest 1600 setting.

The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS handled chromatic aberrations well with just some limited purple fringing effects appearing in high contrast situations. The 12 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and either require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you should increase the in-camera sharpening level.

The night photograph was OK, with the maximum shutter speed of 15 seconds allowing you to capture enough light for most situations, but the resulting image looking rather over-processed. Macro performance is a stand-out highlight, allowing you to focus as close as 1cm away from the subject, although there is a lot of lens distortion and shadowing at such a close distance. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure. Anti-shake works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Canon PowerShot SX120 IS. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS's 10x zoom lens offers a verastile though not particularly wide-angle focal range, as illustrated by these examples:

36mm

360mm

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   

Chromatic Aberrations

The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS handled chromatic aberrations well during the review, with fairly limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS allows you to focus on a subject that is just 1cm away from the camera. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot

100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Canon Powershot SX120 IS are Auto, On, Auto Red-eye Reduction, Slow Synchro and Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (36mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (36mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (360mm)

Flash On - Telephoto (360mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Red-eye-Reduction settings caused any red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
   

Red-eye Reduction

Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Canon Powershot SX120 IS's maximum shutter speed is 15 seconds, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 80. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Canon Powershot SX120 IS has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length Anti-Shake Off (100% Crop) Anti-Shake On (100% Crop)
1/4th sec / 70mm
1/4th sec / 70mm

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Canon PowerShot SX120 IS camera, which were all taken using the 10 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample movie at the quality setting of 640x480 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 20 second movie is 35.2Mb in size.

Product Images

Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

Front of the Camera

 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

Front of the Camera / Lens Extended

 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

Isometric View

 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

Isometric View

 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

Rear of the Camera

 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

Rear of the Camera / Function Menu

 

Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

Top of the Camera

 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Bottom of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Side of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Side of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Front of the Camera / Pop-up Flash
 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Front of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Front of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Memory Card Slot
 
Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Battery Compartment

Conclusion

Virtually identical to its year-old predecessor, the new Canon PowerShot SX120 doesn't represent a worthwhile upgrade for current SX110 owners, but it does remain an affordable and well-specified super-zoom that should appeal to both beginners and serious photographers alike.

The Canon PowerShot SX120 is slightly cheaper than the precious model and offers an extra megapixel, new Smart Auto mode, slightly faster processing thanks to DIGIC 4, and an improved face detection system. Pretty much everything else remains unchanged, with the same appealing combination of 10x zoom, large LCD, easy operation for the inexperienced, and manual modes for those looking for a pocketable alternative to a DSLR.

The negatives are that the Canon PowerShot SX120 eats up alkaline AAs in a couple of afternoons of shooting, the optical zoom still can't be used when filming video, there's no stereo sound or HD movie option in line with some recent competitors, the zoom mechanism is very audible, the wide-angle zoom setting is not really wide-angle by modern standards, and images can be noisy if you stray above ISO 400.

The Canon PowerShot SX120 is a cheap and more than cheerful super-zoom that delivers consistently good results, although slightly more expensive rivals do offer more bang for your buck.

4 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 4
Features 4
Ease-of-use 4.5
Image quality 4
Value for money 5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Canon PowerShot SX120 IS from around the web.

cameralabs.com »

The Canon PowerShot SX120 IS is a budget super-zoom compact with a 10 Megapixel sensor, 10x optical zoom with image stabilisation and 3in LCD panel. Launched in August 2009 it replaces the popular PowerShot SX110 IS, increasing the Megapixel count from 9 to 10 and adding other features courtesy of the new DIGIC 4 processor including scene recognition, i-contrast image enhancement and improved face recognition.
Read the full review »

steves-digicams.com »

Due to be released in September of 2009, the Canon PowerShot SX120 IS is one of the more affordable of the "SX" series cameras. The "SX" series is part of Canon's "High-End" PowerShot models. This compact digicam features a 10-Megapixel imaging sensor, 10x optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization (IS), Digic 4 image processor, 3.0-inch LCD screen and Smart Auto shooting mode. There are also several other shooting modes including easy, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual and a slew of scene modes.
Read the full review »

Specifications

IMAGE SENSOR

Type

1/2.5” CCD

Effective Pixels

Approx 10.0M

Colour Filter Type

Primary Colour

IMAGE PROCESSOR

Type

DIGIC 4 with iSAPS technology

LENS

Focal Length

6.0 - 60.0 mm (35mm equivalent: 36-360mm)

Zoom

Optical 10x. Digital approx. 4x (with Digital Tele-Converter approx. 1.4x or 2.3x and Safety Zoom¹)². Combined approx. 40x

Maximum f/number

f/2.8 - f/4.3

Construction

10 elements in 9 groups (1 aspherical element)

Image Stabilisation

Yes (shift-type)

FOCUSING

Type

TTL

AF System/ Points

Face Detection, 1-point AF (fixed to centre or Face Select and Track)

AF Modes

Single, Continuous

AF Point Selection

Size (Normal, Small)

AF Lock

On/Off Selectable

AF Assist Beam

Yes

Manual Focus

Yes

Closest Focusing Distance

1cm (W) from front of lens in macro

EXPOSURE CONTROL

Metering modes

Evaluative (linked to Face Detection AF frame), Centre-weighted average, Spot (Centre)

AE Lock

On/Off Selectable

Exposure Compensation

+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments.
i-Contrast for automatic dynamic range correction

ISO sensitivity*

AUTO, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

SHUTTER

Speed

1- 1/2500 sec (factory default)
15 - 1/2500 sec (total range - varies by shooting mode)

WHITE BALANCE

Type

TTL

Settings

Auto (including Face Detection WB), Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom

LCD MONITOR

Monitor

3.0” TFT, approx. 230,000 dots

Coverage

100%

Brightness

Adjustable to one of five levels.

FLASH

Modes

Auto, Manual Flash On / Off

Slow Sync Speed

Yes. Fastest speed 1/500 sec

Red-Eye Reduction

Yes

Flash Exposure Compensation

+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments. Face Detection FE. Safety FE.

Flash Exposure Lock

Yes

Manual Power Adjustment

3 levels with internal flash

Built-in Flash Range

50cm-4.0m (W) / 1.0m-2.5m (T)

External Flash

Canon High Power Flash HF-DC1

SHOOTING

Modes

Auto*, Program AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, Easy, Portrait, Landscape, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, SCN (Night Scene, Sunset, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium, ISO 3200¹), Movie
*with Scene Detection Technology and Motion Detection Technology

Photo Effects

My Colors (My Colors Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Custom Color(Limited))

Drive modes

Single, Continuous, Self-Timer, FaceSelf-Timer

Continuous Shooting

Approx. 1.3 shots/sec.¹ AF/LV: Approx. 0.9 shots/sec.¹ (until memory card becomes full)²

RECORDING PIXELS / COMPRESSION

Image Size

(L) 3648 x 2736, (M1) 2816 x 2112, (M2) 2272 x 20%4, (M3) 1600 x 1200, (S) 640 x 480, (W) 3648 x 2048.
Resize in playback (M3, S, 320 x 240)

Compression

Fine, Normal

Movies

(L)640 x 480, 30fps/30fps(LP)
(M)320 x 240, 30fps

Movie Length

Up to 4GB or 1 hour¹

FILE TYPES

Still Image Type

JPEG compression, (Exif 2.2 [Exif Print] compliant) / Design rule for Camera File system, Digital Print Order Format [DPOF] Version 1.1 compliant

Movies

AVI [Motion JPEG compression + WAVE (monaural)]

DIRECT PRINT

Canon Printers

Canon SELPHY Compact Photo Printers and Canon Inkjet Printers supporting PictBridge (ID Photo Print, Fixed Size Print and Movie Print supported on SELPHY CP & ES printers only)

PictBridge

Yes

OTHER FEATURES

Red-Eye Correction

Yes, during shooting and playback

Intelligent Orientation Sensor

Yes

Histogram

Yes

Playback Zoom

Approx. 2x – 10x

Self Timer

Approx. 2 or 10 sec. or Custom

Menu Languages

English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Chinese (traditional), Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Thai, Arabic, Ukrainian, Romanian, Farsi

INTERFACE

Computer

Hi-Speed USB (MTP, PTP) dedicated connector (Mini-B compatible)

Other

A/V output, dedicated connector (PAL/NTSC)

MEMORY CARD

Type

SD, SDHC, MMC, MMCplus, HC MMCplus. 128MB memory card supplied

SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEM

PC & Macintosh

Windows XP SP2-3 / Vista (including SP1-2)
Mac OS X v10.4 - 10.5

SOFTWARE

Browsing & Printing

ZoomBrowser EX / ImageBrowser

Other

PhotoStitch

POWER SOURCE

Batteries

2x Size-AA Alkaline or NiMH Batteries(NB4-300) (Alkalines supplied)

Battery life

Approx. 130 shots¹ (with supplied batteries)
Approx. 370 shots (with optional Canon NB4-300 batteries)¹
Approx. 420 min. playback (with supplied batteries)
Approx. 540 min. playback (with Canon NB4-300 batteries)

A/C Power Supply

Optional, AC Adapter Kit ACK800

ACCESSORIES

Cases / Straps

Soft Case DCC-750

Flash

High Power Flash HF-DC1

Power Supply & Battery Chargers

AC Adapter Kit ACK800, Battery Charger Kit CBK4-300, Ni-MH Batteries NB4-300

PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Operating Environment

0 – 40 °C¹, 10 – 90% humidity

Dimensions (WxHxD, excl. protrusions)

110.6 x 70.4 x 44.7 mm

Weight (body only)

Approx 245g

Zoom

¹ Depending on the image size selected.
² Digital zoom available for still image and standard movie modes only. Optical zoom may not be available during movie recording.

Modes

¹ Recording pixels fixed at 1600 x 1200 (ISO 3200 Mode) and 1824 x 1368 (Low Light Mode).

Continuous Shooting

¹ Under conditions where the flash does not fire.
² Depending on memory card speed / capacity / compression setting.

Movie Length

¹ Depending on memory card speed / capacity / compression setting.

Battery life

¹ Using the batteries and memory card format supplied with the camera (where included), except where indicated.

Operating Environment

¹ 0 – 35 °C when NB-3AH is used

 

* Standard Output Sensitivity / Recommended Exposure Index.

According to ISO 12232:2006 (20th April 2006) which specifies the method for assigning and reporting ISO speed ratings for digital still cameras.

 

All data is based on Canon standard testing methods (according to CIPA Standards) except where indicated.

Subject to change without notice.

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