Canon PowerShot SX700 HS review

The best thing about the SX280 HS was its image quality. That’s arguably true of the SX700 HS too, but the upgraded specs, from a 20x to 30x zoom and from 12 to 16 megapixels, don’t equate to upgraded image quality. Focus was reasonably sharp at medium focal lengths, but the widest 24-50mm range exhibited chromatic aberrations that gave details an indistinct haze and created halos around high-contrast lines. These largely disappeared from 50mm to 200mm, but were back with a vengeance at 300mm up to the maximum 750mm focal length. They weren’t enough to spoil image quality after resizing photos to fit a screen, but photos looked a little vague when inspected up close. It also meant that there wasn’t much extra detail captured at 750mm compared to 500mm. This diminishes the benefit of the extra zoom range compared to the 25-500mm SX280 HS.

1/160s, f/6.9, ISO 800, 750mm (equivalent) – The SX700 HS’s compact size and big zoom are great for unexpected photo opportunities like this. There’s not a huge amount of fine detail, though. (click to enlarge, and then icon for full resolution)

1/200s, f/5.6, ISO 200, 238mm (equivalent) – This high-contrast shot reveals chromatic aberrations towards the edges of the frame, even at a modest 238mm (equivalent) focal length. (click to enlarge, and then icon for full resolution)

1/320s, f/5.6, ISO 100, 255mm (equivalent) – The camera has coped well with the dense tree textures here. (click to enlarge, and then icon for full resolution)

1/200s, f/6.9, ISO 800, 750mm (equivalent) – Soft details, a grainy background and a discoloured hazy glow around highlights – not a great result. (click to enlarge, and then icon for full resolution)

The 16-megapixel resolution told a similar story, with photos that were bigger but not necessarily more detailed than the SX280 HS’s 12-megapixel output. The SX700 HS was slightly better at high-contrast details such as text but the SX280 HS handled subtle textures such as hair better. This is because the higher pixel density of the SX700 HS’s sensor makes it more susceptible to noise, so the stronger noise reduction takes its toll on fine details.

Even so, the SX700 HS held it together at fast ISO speeds. Fine details took a pounding but photos looked fine at modest sizes. It outperformed the 18-megapixel Panasonic TZ60 with smoother details throughout the ISO speed range, although the TZ60’s ability to shoot in RAW mode meant it clawed back an advantage after sending RAW files through Lightroom. Ultimately, though, neither camera can match the SX280 for image quality both indoors and out.

1/100s, f/4.5, ISO 1600, 89mm (equivalent) – Noise reduction cleans up this ISO 1600 reasonably well but there’s not much left of subtle skin and hair textures. (click to enlarge, and then icon for full resolution)

We prefer the SX700 HS to the Panasonic TZ60. It takes the lead for photo and video quality, and we wouldn’t be tempted to pay £60 more for the Panasonic’s viewfinder and GPS radio. However, the Canon SX280 HS is currently available for just £150 inc VAT. It’s a little slower and not as handsome but it has the edge for image quality – snap it up while you can.