Canon Powershot SX220 HS Digital Camera Review

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification

The Canon Powershot SX220 HS is an update to the Canon Powershot SX210 IS and features a new 12 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor, compared to the previous version's 14 megapixel CCD sensor. The new sensor allows high speed shooting and should lower noise in images, compared to the high noise results of the predecessor.

Canon Powershot SX220 HS Features

The Canon Powershot SX220 HS is one of the smallest digital cameras available with a 14x optical zoom lens and is well worth looking at if you want a camera with advanced features, and a lot of zoom. The camera includes full HD video recording with stereo sound and lets you use the optical zoom while recording. 

The camera also features a large 3 inch screen, with a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a mode dial with full P/A/S/M manual controls. A metal body and high speed shooting rounds this camera off nicely with a full set of features and controls, as well as an abundance of scene modes, and colour modes.

The Canon Powershot SX220 HS is the "little brother" to the SX230 HS - the SX230 HS is available in black, blue and pink and features GPS (logger and tagging, with map utility software), and other than these differences, the cameras are identical.

Key Features 

• HS System 12.1 MP megapixel backlit CMOS sensor
• 14x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 28 – 392 mm in 35mm equiv. f/3.1 - f/5.9
• Compact metal body available in grey (as featured), purple
• 28mm, 14x zoom. Optical IS
• Full HD with optical zoom. Dynamic IS
• 16:9 Wide-screen 3.0 inch screen with 461k pixels
• Smart Auto (32 scenes)
• High-speed Burst & Super Slow Motion Movie
• Movie Digest & iFrame movie
• Manual Control
• ISO 100 - 3200
• 5cm Macro mode

Canon Powershot SX220 HS Handling

The camera is one of the smallest cameras available with a 14x optical zoom lens, with most other cameras offering 14x zoom or more tending to be larger in the pocket. Because of this there's not a lot of grip, instead you have to use your thumb to grip onto the rear mode dial. 

The design is obviously popular at Canon, as the camera looks almost identical to the previous model. Including a pop-up flash that pops up every time the camera is switched on. This can be easily pushed down and manually raised later if needed - I found that whenever I switched the camera on my hand was on the flash and therefore it stayed down.

The buttons are large and easy to use. The mode dial is the right level of firmness so that you don't accidentally change mode, which is a good feature, especially as it's the most natural and perhaps only place to grip the back of the camera. The screen is a wide-screen model with 16:9 view meaning that the default image size of 4:3 photos will show black borders, and you get a smaller view than you would if they had used a 4:3 or 3:2 aspect ratio screen. Alternatively you can take all your photos at the 16:9 aspect ratio but then you are limited to 9Mp (4000 x 2248) images.

Menus: Canon menus are good, they are colour coded so that each mode (Photo, Playback, Setup etc) is easily recognisable. Once you are used to accessing the most popular controls using the Func button and back buttons, and the more advanced controls in the menu system, the camera becomes easy to use. They respond quickly and there is a good level of control and options so that you don't feel too limited when using the camera.

Battery Life: The camera's battery life is rated at approx. 210 shots according to CIPA / Canon testing. The battery is rated at 1120mAh and was able to provide around 200+ shots before going flat. This is lower than much of the competition, so it could be worth considering buying a spare battery if needed.

Speed: We tested the Canon Powershot SX220 HS, and tested the camera with the Panasonic Lumix TZ18, and Nikon Coolpix S9100, taking 6 shots and using the average to ensure consistent results.

High speed shooting helps you take a large number of shots, which is particularly useful in situations where you're not sure if you're going to get a sharp shot, such as in low light conditions. The camera generally performs quickly, with upto 3fps shooting at full resolution (although we only managed around 2.5fps), and a high speed class 6 card is recommended to take advantage of this, especially if you plan on recording Full HD videos.

Canon Powershot SX220 HS Performance

The Canon Powershot SX220 HS produces images that have good detail and excellent colour. Here are some sample photos you can enlarge.

ISO and Noise Performance

ISO speed test: Click on the thumbnails for larger images

Noise is good, thanks to the fact that levels are low right up to ISO1600, with the results looking good. At ISO3200 noise becomes very noticeable. Using ISO100 to ISO400 noise is very low, and again at ISO800 noise is low.

The optical zoom provides an impressive zoom range from 28mm equivalent to 392mm equivalent, helping you zoom into distant subjects and view high levels of detail.

Some of the creative modes and photographic features are shown below:

The creative modes can create some artistic shots, and can make some otherwise boring shots more memorable, using the modes available: Smart Auto (32 scenes detected), Program AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, Easy, Movie Digest, Portrait, Landscape, Kids & Pets, Smart Shutter (Smile, Wink Self-Timer, FaceSelf-Timer), High-speed Burst (3.0MP), Best Image Selection (3.0MP), Handheld Night Scene, Low Light (3.0MP), Creative Filter (Fish-eye Effect, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Colour Accent, Colour Swap), Beach, Underwater, Foliage, Snow, Fireworks, Stitch Assist

Beyond this, the camera also has a "My Colours" mode, the options are: My Colours Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Colour.

White Balance Performance

Auto white balance under incandescent lighting produced images with a yellow cast, and using the incandescent preset produced much better results. Auto white balance under fluorescent lighting produced very good results and there is very little difference between the auto white balance and the preset.

Macro Performance

The Canon Powershot SX220 HS allows you to be 5cm away from your subject, this produces good macro photos with high levels of detail, and good colour. The portrait shot came out well, however there is some red-eye noticeable in this photo, and better results can be produced by using the red-eye reduction flash. 

Video Mode