Canon PowerShot SX130 IS

Hi, I'm Josh Goldman, Senior Editor for CNET Reviews, and this is a look at the Canon PowerShot SX130IS. It's a 12-megapixel compact mega zoom with a wide-angle 12x zoom lens and a 3-inch LCD on back. It's actually bigger and heavier than others in its class, but part of the reason for that is because it's powered by AA-size batteries, which is tough to come by these days. Also, the LCD is not a wide screen, which makes the camera a bit taller. The SX130 is targeted more for people that wanna take a little more created control over their photos than a typical point and shoot generally allows. For instance, this offers shutter and aperture priority modes as well as full manual and several of Canon's creative scene modes; a few of which are available for movie capture, too. However, there is still plenty here for those wanting to take quick snapshots, including Canon smart auto and easy modes. And despite what looks like a fairly busy control panel here on back, operation is reasonably straightforward. The photo quality is some of the best you'll find on a sub-$250 megazoom with excellent color and exposure. Video quality is good, too, and the zoom lens can be used while recording, though it does move very slowly. In fact, performance overall is pretty slow with shutter lag stretching to more than half a second and shot-to-shot times averaging about 3 seconds. If you can live with this slow performance and large size, though, this camera's good deal, especially if you want the convenience of AA batteries and shutter speed and aperture control. I'm Josh Goldman, and that's that the Canon PowerShot SX130IS.