The Canon PowerShot SX30 IS is a great digital camera for anyone who wants a big zoom. It has a zoom that can reach up to 840mm, and this means you can get very close to the action at sporting events and concerts. However, for best results you do need to use a tripod. Its image quality is decent, but it won't give you crystal clear pictures -- there will be some noise and purple fringing noticeable when you scrutinise your pictures closely. Overall though, if you want a compact camera with a big zoom, it's hard to pass up the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS.
The Canon PowerShot SX30 IS offers the longest zoom that's available in a compact camera. This Canon digital camera has a 35x optical zoom, and it's suitable for travellers, plane spotters and sports fans who are often far from the action. It's also useful for taking close-up shots without getting too close to a subject. Its image quality is quite good, even at full zoom, but it does suffer from some noise and also from chromatic aberration, both of which can be seen clearly when you view the photos at their full size or crop them closely.
The Canon SX30 IS follows in the footsteps of the PowerShot SX20 IS, which was a 20x zoom advanced compact camera with a 12.1-megapixel sensor. The SX30 IS has a slightly different body, beefed up specs and it costs less. It has a 14.1-megapixel sensor and its lens has a wide angle of 24mm. With a 35x zoom, it can give you a range equivalent to an 840mm telephoto lens. When it's fully zoomed out, the aperture can be as open as f/2.7, but when you zoom all the way, it closes to f/5.8, and it can be closed manually up to f/8.0. When you zoom all the way, the lens sticks out of the body by 60mm, and it really makes you look conspicuous. Zooming is smooth for the most part, but there are some big jumps in the zoom rate after you pass 100mm.
Having such a long zoom can be useful whenever you're in a situation in which you can't get close to your subject (or when you don't want to get close to your subject), and it can also come in handy when you want to capture details of tall buildings or objects in the distance. It should be noted that it's not easy to use the camera at its full zoom; even the smallest movement will cause the image in the frame to jump around considerably. You have to be completely still when taking photos at 840mm, especially if your subject is filling the frame. We recommend you use a tripod for best results, even if you're shooting on a bright day.