Review posted 6/5/2012

Quick Take

Pros

Good mix of easy-to-use features and manual setting options for beginners and intermediates 20x zoom lens is great to see in such a thin camera LCD is very bright and sharp, easily can be viewed in sunlight outdoors Color accuracy quality is very good Good mix of advanced features, when compared to other point and shoots Some interesting built-in special-effect features Pop-up flash unit provides good results Offers a very basic built-in GPS Button controls are comfortable to use

Cons

Camera's autofocus can be a little slow in low light Overall response times can be a little sluggish Mode dial has a few odd choices on it Seems like there's some redundancy in the easy-to-use modes Battery can drain quickly with GPS activated Experienced photographers will want more control options Low light photos can be a bit soft when trying to make really large prints

Bottom Line

If you can swing the $300+ price point of the Canon PowerShot SX260 HS, beginning and intermediate photographers will find quite a few nice options with this camera. The 20x optical zoom lens is a great feature, and color accuracy in images is very good. Response times are a little sluggish and low-light performance is mixed, but this is a very nice intermediate-level camera. Read more in our Full Conclusion.

Canon continues to update their popular SX-series line of compact super-zooms, with the PowerShot SX260 HS being their most recent entry for the first half of 2012. This unit builds upon the SX230 HS from last year, with several upgrades. The most notable of these is the 20x optical zoom lens, which covers a 35mm equivalent zoom range of 25 - 500mm. It sports Canon's proven Optical Image Stabilization system, helping you capture sharper images when using its telephoto capabilities.

They've also included their HS (High-Sensitivity) System in the SX260, which they boast helps the camera perform better in low-light situations. Smart Auto has received some enhancements too, now with 58 scenes and Face ID. Other impressive features include burst shooting at 10.3fps, and built-in GPS.

Canon PowerShot SX260 HS key features include:

• Slek and stylish body available in 3 colors (Black, Green and Red)
• 12.1-Megapixel High-Sensitivity CMOS image sensor
• Canon's HS System
  
• 20x optical zoom with 25-500mm equivalent zoom range
• 3.0-inch LCD screen with 461K pixels and 100% frame coverage
• Canon's HS (High Sensitivity) system
• Optical Image stabilization
• 1080p HD Video recording with stereo sound
  
• Smart AUTO (Face detection, focus, exposure), detects up to 58 scenes
  
• Li-ion battery pack
  
• Memory card slot for SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards (Eye-Fi compatible)
• Built-in GPS functionality for Geotagging and logging
• Li-ion battery pack (good for up to 230 shots)
• SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot
  

The Canon PowerShot SX260 HS is available now with a suggested retail price of $349.99 USD. See our buy box below for the most current online pricing at various well known retailers.

What's in the box?:

• PowerShot SX260HS Body (black shown here)
• Battery Pack NB-6L
• Battery Charger CB-2LY
• Wrist Strap WS-DC11
• USB Interface Cable IFC-400PCU
• Digital Camera Solution CD-ROM