Design & Features

The new SX1 IS is built like their excellent SLR cameras but sports a much more compact design that is as borderline in design as it is an actual SLR. 

A Quick Glance

I will say it is much smaller than depicted in most pictures.  As with all Canon cameras, it is solidly built and of the highest quality.  The built-in flash must be manually exposed though and you can do this by simply lifting it to its final open position.

A quick glance at the rear of the camera reveals its electronic viewfinder (EVF) and the most apparent feature is none other than the vari-angle 270º/170º 2.8" widescreen display, a major difference over its previous model, the SX10. 

A Closer Look...

Starting with the front left, you have your shutter button and zoom rocker switch, as well as your mode dial switch.  Moving on to the front center, there's something most will find intriguing here and that is the dual L/R mic grills located between the lens.  This is important to note because unlike many alternatives out there, the SX1 supports stereo sound from all movie captures.  On the right front of the camera is where you'll find your large red eye reduction lamp and mic/flash toggle button.

Moving on to its rear body, you have plenty of well-placed controls.  Starting with the left rear of the camera, you'll find two buttons here, one is to toggle its aspect ratio and one is your print or PictBridge button.  The large electronic viewfinder will display basically the same information as the external swivel display would.  On top of it, there's a hot shoe that will support external flash options.  Also, there's a large record button on the right side of the viewfinder for convenient movie captures.  On the right is where you'll find most of its controls which includes the on/off switch, playback button, exposure/jump button, frame selector/erase button, main function/set dial with ISO, Macro and Time buttons and the Display and Menu buttons right under it.

One of its main features is its impressive 20x optical zoom range.  It also has a digital 4x zoom, but that can impact quality significantly and not really needed with a camera offering this kind of zoom range.  The lens offers an equivalent range of 28-560mm and a focal ratio of f2.8-5.7.  It also offers an optical image stabilizer as with most of their latest cameras and offers three selectable modes.  However, Continuous is the default and is what most would want to use.

Canon supplies both a lens cap and lens hood along with the SX1 IS.  The lens cap is well-designed.  It not only clips on firmly, but is attached to the outer lens housing, not having to worry about powering the camera on/off with it attached.  The lens will have full functionality, even with the cap on.  The lens hood is easily attached and can be reversed and twisted into place for storage.

While their are minor overall cosmetic differences over its predecessor, the one major change is the LCD.  While both sport the same 230K pixel TFT display that does allow flexible 270º/170º swivel, the new SX1 IS sports a 2.8" widescreen display as opposed to the 2.5" 4:3 display found on the SX10 IS.  There is an angle toggle button on the camera that will allow you to easily switch to 4:3.  However, note that there will be black bars on the sides if in 4:3 shooting mode.  The display is magnificent and offers plenty of flexibility.  It also works quite well in bright daylight.

Next:  Bundled Software