Canon PowerShot SX150 IS

The Canon PowerShot SX150 IS ($249.99 direct) is a bit of a conundrum. The fairly large camera is smaller than the 35x zooming PowerShot SX40 HS ($429.99, 4 stars), but dwarfs the PowerShot Elph 510 HS ($349.99, 3.5 stars), a camera with which it shares the same 28-336m (35mm equivalent) 12x zoom lens. The camera’s rather modest price point and long zoom range make it look appealing on the surface, but excessive image noise at almost every ISO level hinder the camera’s usefulness. In that regard it's not dissimilar to the General Electric X500 ($149.99, 3.5 stars), although that camera produced a little less image noise.

Design and Features
The SX150 IS measures 2.9 by 4.5 by 1.8 inches (HWD) and weighs 10.8 ounces. It's  bulkier than other superzoom cameras with similar focal length ranges, like the Editors’ Choice Nikon Coolpix S9100 ($329.95, 4 stars), which packs an 18x lens and is only 2.5 by 4.2 by 1.4 inches. Its body is mainly plastic, although it is of the quality found on many D-SLRs rather than that of low-end point-and-shoots. It comes in both red and black finishes.

A large, 3-inch LCD gives you a sprawling view of what the camera's lens sees. It isn’t the sharpest display, with a resolution of only 230k dots, half that of the 3.2-inch touch screen found on the Elph 510 HS. The SX150 skips the touch interface and opts for more traditional physical control buttons and a mode dial, giving you quick access to exposure compensation, macro focusing mode, ISO adjustment, video recording, and various shooting modes. The camera’s controls are its strong point, as they are laid out in a thoughtful manne and let you adjust settings without diving into menus. The pop-up flash is manually operated, activating when you physically flip it up.

The on-screen display changes what information is shown based on the shooting mode and your preferences. You can hit the Display button to toggle how much information is shown, and a translucent overlay appears on the screen when you are adjusting a specific setting. This allows you to make adjustments without losing sight of what is in the camera’s field of view. The system menus, where you can format memory cards, mute beeps and sounds, and delve into the more esoteric camera settings are text-based and quite responsive, though you may have to refer to the manual to understand what some of the settings do.

The SX150’s most prominent selling point is its 12x zoom lens. It covers a 28-336mm (35mm equivalent) zoom range, which is wide enough for landscapes and group shots and has enough zoom to get close to wildlife and distant objects. Although it doesn’t have the quite the reach of the SX150, the 10x-zooming Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX7V ($299.99, 3.5 stars) has a lens that covers a 25-250mm field of view, delivering an expanded wide angle at the cost of its telephoto reach. If you need a longer reach, consider another Canon superzoom, the Powershot SX230 HS ($329.99, 4 stars), which offers a 14x zoom range and built-in GPS. 

Performance and Conclusions
Despite having D-SLR-like control buttons, the SX150 IS does not come close to SLR-like performance. It takes about 2.7 seconds to start up and take a shot, and can only capture a new photo every 1.1 seconds after that. Its shutter lag, the time between pressing the shutter button and actual moment of image capture, is a middling 0.7 seconds. The Canon PowerShot SX40 HS offers a similar 2.4-second start up time, but only pauses 0.4-second between captures and keeps shutter lag to just under half a second.

>Image sharpness is measured in lines per picture height and calculated with a center-weighted algorithm using the Imatest suite. The SX150 performed extremely well here, capturing 2,213 lines, well above the 1,800-line benchmark that qualifies an image as acceptably sharp. The PowerShot 510 HS was only able to record 1,875 lines in this test, despite it having the same lens. The difference in scores could be attributed to the SX150’s use of a CCD sensor, a different technology than the CMOS sensor found in the 510 HS.

The decision to use a CCD for this camera may have helped it record sharper images, but it does not help in the noise department. An image is considered to be overly grainy if it is made up of more than 1.5 percent noise. The SX150 is able to keep noise under this level at its base ISO of 80, but surpasses the 1.5 percent mark at ISO 100 and above, much lower than most compact cameras' noise threshholds. Depending on the focal length and desired shutter speed, there’s an excellent chance that your camera will expose best at ISO 100 or above on even a bright, sunny day. The Sony HX7V, which uses a CMOS image sensor, is able to capture clean images through ISO 3200.

Video is captured in 720p30 resolution in QuickTime format. The quality is good—fine detail is captured and the colors are excellent. The camera can zoom while recording, but the microphone picks up the sound of the lens moving. Despite being able to record HD video, there is no HDMI output on the camera, a now relatively common features for cameras that can shoot in HD. There is an AV port, but the output cable is not included with the camera. A standard mini-USB port lets you upload photos and videos to your computer. The SX150 can use SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards.

The camera is powered by AA batteries. I exhausted the charge of the included set of alkaline cells during testing, which involved snapping less than 100 photos, reviewing some photos on the LCD, and exploring the camera's menu system. In addition to a rather short life, another drawback of the AA power system is the amount of time it takes to recharge the camera’s flash after firing. It took as long as four seconds between shots using the flash. You’ll get better battery life and faster flash recycling if you opt to use disposable Lithium or rechargeable NiMH batteries.

The Canon PowerShot SX150 IS is one of the more affordable superzoom cameras, although its sticker price comes at the cost of features and performance. Unlike our Editors’ Choice Nikon Coolpix S9100, which will set you back $80 more, the camera doesn’t perform well in low light and doesn’t include a rechargeable battery. It’s a shame that the sensor produces so much noise, since it can otherwise capture very sharp images and good 720p HD video. The GE X500 does a little bit better in low light, offers a longer zoom, and is $100 less expensive. Canon’s svelte PowerShot Elph 510 HS features the same 28-336mm zoom range, performs better in lower light, and is a bit speedier in terms of rapid-fire shooting, but it's priced a full $100 higher than the SX150. Even though it doesn’t offer the same telephoto reach, you may want to consider the Sony HX7V or Canon SX230 HS. Both of those cameras are a little bit more money, but they deliver excellent low light performance and GPS functionality for geotagging. 

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