Canon PowerShot SX130 IS Review Discussion

[Jim Keenan]

Canon's Powershot SX130 IS joins the compact superzoom posse as the SX120 IS rides off into the sunset.

Read the full content of this Article: Canon PowerShot SX130 IS Review

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[leaftye]

I really like the SX130, but that shot at the zoo really tells me how much more zoom I'm going to need if I want to shoot bears from the other side of a canyon.

[Andy Stanton]

I'm glad Canon is still making an affordable camera with manual exposure controls.

[leaftye]

And AA batteries! Sad that this is now the greatest Canon camera that uses them. This is probably the last of the line too.

[KCook]

I'm glad Canon is still making an affordable camera with manual exposure controls.

Agree emphatically. This series is always the camera that comes to mind when asked for a budget cam for a student of photography. Now if only Canon would put manual controls back in the A3100!

Kelly

[StuartG]

And AA batteries! Sad that this is now the greatest Canon camera that uses them. This is probably the last of the line too.

Agreed. I was excited to find out about the new SX30is and it's improvements to the line....until it was found on their web site for the new camera that it now takes their proprietary battery. And they still refused to bring back "Super Fine" mode back in the mix of features. I had the SX10is before, took it to Italy and shot over 1300 pictures with nearly all "keepers". The advantage of using AA's kept me from missing several pictures of a life time when there was no place or time to recharge an expensive proprietary battery. I now have the SX20is because I wanted the HD upgrade. I really like my SX20 and plan to take extra care of it, especially since it seems to be the LAST OF IT'S KIND.

[corke6]

I just got my sx130.
Great camera but very poor battery life.
I hope Canon will release a firmware update to adress this problem.
Greetz from holland

[Andy Stanton]

I just got my sx130.
Great camera but very poor battery life.
I hope Canon will release a firmware update to adress this problem.
Greetz from holland

Don't use regular alkaline batteries. Either use AA lithium nonrechargeables or NiMH rechargeable AA's (Eneloops are very good because they don't lose their charge when not being used). You'll find that battery life is at least as long as with cameras using a rechargeable lithium ion battery.

[corke6]

Hi, I'm using 2700 NiMH battery's.
So that aint the problem.
Greetz,
Cor

[StuartG]

Not all NiMH's are created equal. After finding a battery rating/testing site that ran tests on nearly every cell brand on the market, it was plain to see that nearly all "over the counter" brands did not meet the mark of their labels along with some of the not so known brands as well. I've got a set of Tenergy's that test out on my LaCrosse 700 charger as 1800's but labeled 2300. But I've got a set of 2700 Ansmann's that all test out to 3110's and another set of Ansmann 2850's that test out even higher, 3200.
With that said, I have the SX120 and alkaline cells don't last long. Rechargeable ones do. But I still believe the camera does use some power to maintain settings, etc.
I recently took it on a trip for 8 days and the batteries lasted the entire trip.