The PowerShot SX260 HS ($349) is the latest compact travel zoom from Canon. The SX260 replaces the SX230 (one of my favorite travel zooms from terminal year) and its biggest feature is its wider, more than powerful zoom lens. Other things that accept been improved include its image processor, image stabilization organisation, Smart Auto fashion, and burst mode performance. The SX260 retains the aforementioned 12.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor, 3-inch LCD, GPS receiver, and Full Hard disk movie mode of its predecessor.

A not-GPS model known as the PowerShot SX240 HS is bachelor in certain countries.

What's in the Box?

The PowerShot SX260 HS has a standard Canon bundle. Inside the box, you'll detect:

  • The 12.one constructive Megapixel PowerShot SX260 HS digital camera
  • NB-6L lithium-ion rechargeable battery
  • Battery charger
  • Wrist strap
  • USB cable
  • CD-ROM featuring Canon Digital Photographic camera Solution
  • 34 page Quick Offset Guide (printed) + full manual on CD-ROM

As with all of their contempo cameras, Canon neither builds memory into their cameras, nor includes a retention card in the box. So, unless you lot have 1 already (which y'all probably practise), you'll demand to purchase yourself an SD, SDHC, or SDXC carte du jour correct away. You're going to want a 4GB card at the very to the lowest degree, and larger if you program on taking a lot of Total HD videos. A high speed (Grade 6 or higher) card is recommended for best performance.

Catechism uses the NB-6L lithium-ion battery for power. This battery, used on a number of other PowerShots, packs iii.5 Wh of energy, which is on the lower finish of the spectrum. Hither's how that translates into battery life:

Camera Battery life
(CIPA standard)
Battery used
Catechism PowerShot SX260 HS * 230 shots NB-6L
Fuji FinePix F770EXR * 300 shots NP-50A
Nikon Coolpix S9300 * 200 shots EN-EL12
Olympus SZ-31MR iHS 200 shots LI-50B
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20 * 260 shots DMW-BCG10
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX20V * 320 shots NP-BG1

* Congenital-in GPS
Bombardment life numbers are provided past the manufacturer

The expert news hither is that the SX260's battery life is about ten% higher than its predecessor. The bad news is that it's nonetheless a chip below the group average. Picking up a spare battery (which will run you around $38) is a skilful idea, particularly if yous're using the power hungry GPS (which is not office of the above bombardment life calculations).

When your 230 shots are up, just pop the NB-6L into the included charger. The charger plugs right into the wall and takes but under 2 hours to fully accuse the battery.

There are a couple of accessories available for the PowerShot SX260 HS. They include:

Accompaniment Model # Toll Clarification
External flash HF-DC2 $150 Attaches via the tripod mount and fires when the onboard flash does. Boosts overall flash range and may reduce redeye too.
Underwater case WP-DC46 $240 Take the SX260 up to 130 anxiety under the sea.
Stereo A/Five cable AVC-DC400ST $25 Connect the photographic camera to a TV using these composite video cables. I remember when these used to come up in the box!
Air-conditioning adapter ACK-DC40 $fifty Power the photographic camera without draining your battery.
Prices were accurate at time of publication

And that's it! Not surprising, though, as compact ultra zooms like this are usually pretty calorie-free in the accessory section.

Canon continues to accept ane of the nicest software bundles out in that location. Yous'll first encounter CameraWindow, which will download photos from the camera onto your Mac or PC. The main photo organizing suite is called ZoomBrowser in Windows and ImageBrowser on Macs. The software lets you e-mail or print photos, upload videos to YouTube, and do some editing, equally well. Available photo editing features include trimming, redeye removal, level/tone curve adjustment, and color tuning. Moving-picture show editing tools in Image/ZoomBrowser include trimming and frame grabs.

Ii other products yous'll notice in the box with the PowerShot SX260 HS are PhotoStitch and Map Utility. PhotoStitch can have photos that you've lined upwardly using the Stitch Assistance characteristic on the photographic camera, and combine them into a single panoramic paradigm. Map Utility will prove y'all where photos with GPS information embedded appear on a Google Map. If yous had the logging function turned on, you lot'll also be able to meet the route you lot travelled.

The documentation for the SX260 is the aforementioned every bit it is for all Canon PowerShot models. Inside the box is a leaflet that'll go you upwards and running. For more than details, you'll need to open the full manual, which is in PDF format on an included CD-ROM. This manual will reply any question yous may have about the SX260, though it'south non the most user friendly guide out there. Instructions for the arranged software is installed onto your Mac or PC.

Compared to the PowerShot SX230 HS

The PowerShot SX230 and SX260, side-by-side (close to scale)
Images courtesy of Canon Usa

Although outwardly very similar to its predecessor the SX230 HS, the SX260 HS does display some differences. Gone is the GPS 'hump' on the tiptop plate, and the rear LCD takes upwardly more than space and is in the 4:three aspect ratio, dissimilar the 'letterbox' view offered by the screen on the back of the before photographic camera.

PowerShot SX230 HS PowerShot SX260 HS
Processor DIGIC four DIGIC 5
Lens max aperture range F3.1 - F5.9 F3.5 - F6.8
Lens focal range (35mm equiv.) 28 - 392 mm (14X) 25 - 500 mm (20X)
Intelligent IS No Yes
LCD aspect ratio Widescreen (sixteen:9) Normal (4:iii)
Outburst charge per unit (full res) 8.1 frames/sec ten.3 frames/sec
Wink working range (Auto ISO) 0.eight - 3.5 m (W)
1.0 - ii.0 m (T)
0.5 - 3.5 m (Due west)
1.0 - 2.0 m (T)
Smart Automobile scenes 32 58
Face ID (recognition) No Yes
Alive View Command manner No Aye
Movie Digest resolution 640 x 480 1280 x 720
Battery used NB-5L NB-6L
Battery life (CIPA) 210 shots 230 shots
Dimensions 4.2 x 2.iv x 1.3 in. 4.2 x two.4 ten ane.3 in.
Weight (torso only, empty) 195 grand 208 g

This review was offset published at www.dcresource.com, and is presented here with minimal changes, notably the inclusion of a total set of product images, our usual studio comparisons and an expanded samples gallery, plus the add-on of a standard dpreview score.