Customer reviews from usa.canon.com
Canon - PowerShot SX130 IS 12.0-Megapixel Digital Camera - Black
Average customer rating
4
(151 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 151 reviews
5 Stars
73
4 Stars
44
3 Stars
14
2 Stars
6
1 Star
14
75%of customers recommend this product.
(
114 out of
151)
Customer Reviews for Canon - PowerShot SX130 IS 12.0-Megapixel Digital Camera - Black
Customer Rating
5
SX130 has extraordinary picture quality
on February 10, 2011
Posted by: DougR
from Bonita Springs, FL
In December 2010, I purchased the SX130 because it had good zoom range for bird photography, was compact and used AA batteries rather than a unique rechargable battery.
However, my greatest joy was seeing the incredible photo quality, even when in digital zoom range. I've used photos taken with this camera in newsletters and on website and have received great reviews from those that have seen it and utter surprise when I tell them what I paid for the camera!
Pros: excellent image quality, Bright LCD, easy to use
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
3
Display
on September 22, 2010
Posted by: jbird468
from Cedar City, UT
At first I had my heart set on the Nikon - Coolpix L110. Then right next to it was the Canon PowerShot SX120 IS. As I played with the menus and took different pictures I quickly fell in love with the SX120's easy to use buttons, especially the dial on the back used for scrolling through pictures and adjusting settings like the manual focus range. I also liked the top mode dial that is reminiscent of old film cameras. The body was much smaller and would fit into my shirt pocket. It took similar quality photos and video to the L110.
Having already owned another Canon camera combined with the easy to use buttons and other features the Nikon lacked, I was sold. Unfortunately the only SX120 left was the floor model and the (store) was not willing to give anything more than 5% discount off the new-in-box-price, which is bogus because a similar camera had a 15% "open-box" discount.
Long story short they just happened to have a few of the new model in the series, the PowerShot SX130 IS. So we bought it!
Looking back the Nikon did have one advantage, the LCD display looked crisper especially between shots. This also happens to be my only complaint about the SX130. In brightly lit areas such as the showroom of (store) the SX130's live LCD display looks wonderful. There is only a problem when you look at it in an average lighting situation such as inside a building. This is a HUGE problem because 90% of the pictures I like to take are indoors.
The problem is this:
Looking at the live LCD Display before you take a picture or even half-way press the shutter button in average/low lighting situations you get a very GRAINY and CHOPPY display. This does not seem to effect pictures that are recorded, just the display BEFORE you take a picture. No matter what mode I am in or what settings I modify(including the ISO speed) I get the same grainy display.
Looking at the live LCD Display before you take a picture or even half-way press the shutter button in average/low lighting situations you get a very GRAINY and CHOPPY display. This does not seem to effect pictures that are recorded, just the display BEFORE you take a picture. No matter what mode I am in or what settings I modify(including the ISO speed) I get the same grainy display.
I called Canon customer service to see if this was normal. Surprisingly I was greeted buy an unscripted and accent-free support agent who was very kind. He said that it could be something to do with the way the live display adjusts for lighting conditions. He also informed me that no one else had complained about this issue and since this camera has only been out for about a month it would be at least another month before a new firmware revision could potentially be released. This is very disappointing.
What bothers be the most is that our other digital camera(Samsung Digimax s500) which cost half as much as the SX130 and is 3 to 4 years older, has nearly no grainy static in the same conditions that cause the SX130 so much trouble.
Overall I am pleased to have a Canon again. But to those of you considering a point and shoot for a little less that 300$ compare the display quality while pointing the cameras towards average/low lit subjects away from the showroom flood lights.
Pros: buttons are easy to access and use with one hand., the smile detection feature is awesome!, picture quality is very good.
Cons: display is very grainy/choppy in averag/low light.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
AWESOME PRICE FOR CROSSOVER
on December 3, 2010
Posted by: COMRADE
from SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
PURCHASED THIS CROSSOVER AFTER COMPARING SEVERAL OTHER CAMERAS THAT CLAIM BETTER OPTICS, LENSES, ETC AND FOUND THAT THE EASE OF USE IN THIS CAMERA COMBINED WITH ADVANCED SETTINGS MAKE IT AN OUTSTANDING VALUE FOR THE MONEY. THE CAMERA IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM MAJOR RETAILERS AT A HUGE DISCOUNT, GET IT WHILE IT IS HOT HAS NEVER BEEN MORE TRUE. PERFECT CAMERA FOR A PERSON THAT WANTS EASE OF USE, GOOD ZOOM, AND LOTS OF AUTOMATED EASY TO USE OPTIONS. PLUS, CANON HAS AN EXCELLENT WARRANTY AND REPAIR DEPARTMENT TO BOOT!
Pros: Good Low-Light Performance, Nice features/settings, excellent image quality, Bright LCD, Simple controls/menu, easy to use, great digital photos
Cons: Short battery life
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
3
Elcellent features but difficult to learn to use
on March 9, 2011
Posted by: Cleareyes
from South Carolina
Have had nearly 3 weeks still learning how to make it work as desired. Close-up most difficult. Using in low light a problem. Eats up batteries. Miss my view finder.
Pros: excellent image quality, durable, Bright LCD, Lightweight/Portable, Simple controls/menu
Cons: Missing features/settings, Poor Low-Light Performance, Difficult to use, Short battery life
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Great Camera
on November 3, 2010
Posted by: Anonymous
I've owned the SX100 and SX110 IS and have used the SX120 IS. Another great camera by Canon. One thing greatly improved for the SX130 IS is the flash output in the Auto setting -- it now works very well, no washing out. The auto white balance seems a bit whiter than the 110.
The only thing that might make this camera better is a change to the flip up flash piece. In the 110 to 120 models, the flash could be easily flipped up/deployed with the right index finger. Now, however, with increased body sculpting, this is not as easy to achieve, with there being only a small lip in the center of the flash cover to achieve purchase. If the lip were extended all the way to the edge nearest the shutter release, this would be solved.
The only thing that might make this camera better is a change to the flip up flash piece. In the 110 to 120 models, the flash could be easily flipped up/deployed with the right index finger. Now, however, with increased body sculpting, this is not as easy to achieve, with there being only a small lip in the center of the flash cover to achieve purchase. If the lip were extended all the way to the edge nearest the shutter release, this would be solved.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
2
Low quality product. Degraded quality than SX120 I
on March 20, 2011
Posted by: Anonymous
Before I bought this camera I was using Canon SX120 IS and my expectation was to have the similiar level of quality and satisfication with improved features.
However, this camera turned everything down. Flash is not great, it doesn't flash at all on many occasions when it should (in dark). And if it flashes, it takes time to reload it and you feel a great lag to click another picture. Quality of used material is low, just use the zoom button and you'll realize it.
However, product has good photo quality and good zoom if it works.
Pros: excellent image quality, Simple controls/menu, easy to use
Cons: Dim LCD, Poor Low-Light Performance
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
3
Nice while it lasted
on November 9, 2010
Posted by: Houbma
from Ohio
I loved this camera. Then it broke... I barely ever used it, and never dropped or abused it. However, one day the lens wouldn't come out. I sent it to Cannon. They fixed it (excellent customer service). Then three months later it did the same thing again! I had the camera for a meager 10 months total... Sorry, but for $200+ the quality has to be better.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
1
Blurry video comapred with SX120
on September 10, 2011
Posted by: Theyellowjacket
from Austin, TX
We had a SX120 last year and we like it. We used it a lot for taking both pictures and videos for our children.
We bought this SX130 because of its HD video features for the new year and it disappointed us. We never had a blurry issue for video with our SX120. But almost every video we took with this SX130 has a couple of 2-3 second blurry sections. We even tried MF but issue is still there.
Pros: excellent image quality
Cons: disappointed video compared with its predeceder.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com