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Canon PowerShot SX720 HS puts more zoom in your pocket

With an updated 40x zoom lens, the SX720 HS aims to be a simple, compact solution for anything your smartphone can't shoot.

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

Canon's PowerShot SX700 HS put a 30x, f3.2-6.9, 25-750mm lens in a body compact and light enough to comfortably carry in a jacket pocket. So did the SX710 HS, for that matter. The SX720 HS lets you peep even closer, however, with its new 40x, f3.3-6.9, 24-960mm lens, and there's still no problem pocketing it.

Seriously, the camera is just 4.3 by 2.5 by 1.41 inches big (109.7 by 63.8 by 35.7mm) and weighs 9.5 ounces (270 grams). That's remarkably small for a lens of this magnification.

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Arriving in March, it will cost $380. UK and Australian prices were not announced, but that converts to approximately £265 or AU$530.

Canon credits its tiny size to using one Hi-UD (ultralow-dispersion optical glass), three UD and three aspheric lens elements for being able to maintain high picture quality while increasing the zoom range out to 40x. Really though, all that matters is that it's a lens you can use for group shots and landscapes, portraits, birding and sports.

Other features include:

  • Built-in Wi-Fi and NFC for wireless transfers of photos and video to mobile devices
  • A 20-megapixel 1/2.3-inch type CMOS sensor
  • Full HD 1080p video capture at up to 60 frames per second
  • A 3-inch high-resolution display
  • Shooting modes ranging from full auto including several filter and effect options to full manual and semi-manual
  • Captures in JPEG (no raw support) and MP4