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Canon PowerShot SX280 HS highlight is low-light

New processor leads to less noise at higher ISOs and faster performance.

Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice
Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.
Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials
  • More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
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Joshua Goldman

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For the PowerShot SX280 HS, Canon's new top compact megazoom, it's all about the processor.

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Compared with its predecessor, the SX260 HS, the SX280 shares the same 20x, f3.5-6.8, 25-500mm lens and 12-megapixel backside-illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensor.

Joining them, however, is an all-new Digic 6 image processor. For low-light shooters, this is an important update, as it allows for less noise in pictures taken at higher ISOs. How much less? Canon claims the noise at ISO 1600 on the SX280 is equivalent to what you'd get at ISO 400 with the SX260.

Canon PowerShot SX280 HS gets a new heart (pictures)

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The new processor also gives the camera a shooting performance boost: the SX280 can shoot at up to 14 frames per second (fps) in its HS Burst mode (only for seven shots, though) and shoot continuously at up to 3.8fps in Program Auto mode. It can also now capture 1080p MP4 movies at 30fps or 60fps; the SX260's videos were in MOV format and maxed out at 24fps.

Canon tuned up the camera's autofocus (AF) performance, too, making the AF more than 50 percent faster than the SX260.

The other major new hardware feature is Wi-Fi, which joins the built-in GPS receiver. The latter is for geotagging your photos with location information, while the former allows you to wirelessly connect to an iOS or Android device for transferring and sharing or backing up to a computer.

The Canon PowerShot SX280 HS arrives in April for $329.99 and will be available in black and red versions.