Digital Home Thoughts: DCRP Reviews the Canon PowerShot SX200 IS

"The Canon PowerShot SX200 IS ($349) is a compact ultra zoom camera with a 12X wide-angle zoom lens, image stabilization, full manual controls, HD video recording, and a 3-inch LCD display. That sounds an awful lot like Panasonic's ultra-popular Lumix DMC-TZ5 -- easily the best camera in this class in 2008 -- though that camera is soon to be replaced with the even more impressive DMC-ZS3 (also known as the TZ7). Regardless, the SX200 is a pretty nice step-up from the SX110 that came before it. Some other features of note include a "Smart Auto" (scene detection) mode, face and blink detection, automatic redeye removal, and an HDMI port. Is the PowerShot SX200 a good choice for a go-anywhere ultra zoom camera? Find out now in our review!"

Wow, I wasn't expecting a review of this camera quite so soon! Jeff Keller got his hands on this new point and shoot camera from Canon and puts it through its paces. Boasting 12x optical zoom, 12.1 megapixels, and 720p video recording using h.264. This a very thorough review and revealed a show-stopping weakness in this camera: the optical zoom doesn't work when you're shooting a video! I'm amazined that Canon couldn't make that work (or chose not to) because my Panasonic LUMIX can accomplish that. It's also a bit bizarre that the flash pops up when you turn on the camera, regardless of whether or not it needs to fire it, and won't go back down until you turn off the power. Still, it might be a good choice for some people - but be sure to consider the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-ZS3 as an option.