Canon PowerShot SX170 IS

The Canon PowerShot SX170 IS is a compact superzoom digital camera that offers a long zoom in a compact camera body at an affordable price. With a metal body and a small hand grip, the SX170 is small enough to carry in a pocket. The SX170 IS replaces the SX160 IS which was very popular unit with casual shooters and generalist photographers thanks to its compact body.

The Canon PowerShot SX170 comes with a 16 megapixel 1/2.3″ CCD sensor and with DIGIC4 image processor that work together to produce high-resolution, well detailed images and HD 720p video recording (with stereo sound). The image processor also provides reduced noise level. The SX170 IS also features a built-in Canon 16x optical zoom lens that provides a 35 mm-equivalent focal length range of 28-448 mm. This lens covers wide-angle to telephoto lengths for shooting  in a wide variety of conditions. An Intelligent IS image stabilization is also available and offers six uniques stabilization modes.

A large 3.0″ 230k-dot LCD monitor is also present on this compact camera. This display has a wide viewing and it is bright enough to support use in bright conditions. An Intelligent Smart Auto mode is also present on this camera and it allows selecting one of the 32 pre-defined shooting situations.

The Canon PowerShot SX170 is available in black or red.

 

Canon PowerShot SX170 IS specifications:

• Sensor: 1/2.3″ CCD, 16.0 Megapixels
• Image Processor: Digic4 with iSPAPS technology
• Lens: built-in Canon lens; 11 elements in 9 groups
• Zoom: 16x optical, 4.0x digital zoom
• Monitor: 3.0″ TFT color LCD with wide viewing angle; 230000 dots; 100% coverage
• File Types: still image – JPEG; movies – MOV (H.264+Linear PCM Stereo)
• Sensitivity: ISO 100 – 1000
• Storage media: SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card
• Interface: USB Hi-Speed; NTSC/PAL dedicated connector
• Batteries: Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery NB-6LH

 

Canon PowerShot SX170 IS reviews:

There’s no doubt that the SX170 is an easy camera to use. All the buttons are well placed and the on-screen menu tips are helpful. Settings are clearly labelled and allow users to spend minimal time fiddling with settings and maximum time shooting. You can find more on Canon SX170 review by Tech Radar website, that concludes:

For a point and shoot, the PowerShot SX170 certainly offers a fair amount for your money. The full manual shooting will definitely appeal to users who are frustrated with not being able to tweak their shooting settings, while the auto mode with its ability to select from 32 different scenes will help to put novice users at ease that whatever situation they’re shooting in, the SX170 can probably handle it.

The Canon SX170 IS handles chromatic aberration fairly well, with some purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations. Noise starts to intrude from ISO 400 in shadow areas. More about image quality you can read on Photography Blog, that concludes:

The Canon PowerShot SX170 IS’ build and performance is acceptable given its asking price, so those who have little to spend will find equally little to complain about. Though picture quality is a little so-so for our tastes, at least the camera looks good and feels good in the palm, which at this currently contracting budget end of the market actually counts for quite a lot.

Another short Canon SX170 review comes from ephotozine.com website. On this website you can see also a lot of sample photos made with different settings in various conditions.