Canon Powershot ranges - SX, A and SD

Hi Everyone,

I am a bit of a newbie on here and have decided that I want to buy a Canon Powershot. I have had Ixus cameras in the past and have found that Powershot pics are better quality and there are more photo functions on the PS cameras too.

I have narrowed down my choices to the Canon Powsershot SX200 IS and A2100 IS. I have also seen older Canon Powershot SD 700 etc cameras and have noticed that these are not in the shops anymore.

Can anyone explain the main differences between the POwershot SX, Powershot A and Powershot SD ranges please?

Thanks!

You can find descriptions of the different series on Canon's website or sites like this one. The A-series take AA batteries. The SD are the most compact. The SX200 is by far the most versatile. If you are considering the A2100, you may want to shop around. You may find more features in cams from other brands. And unfortunately, the image quality gap has narrowed in recent years. The A2100 and SX200 should be on sale within the month.

My very first camera was a Powershot A530. As far as I could tell the A-range had manual aperture/shutter modes whereas the SD-ranges did not.

The SX is a relatively new range...replacing the S-superzooms.

So:

A: creative cameras with manual modes and hand grips

SD: stylish and small fast performers where predominantly Ato-modes are used

SX: big zooms (bigger camera) and manual performance

Would the Canoners agree?

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dholl

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but, latest A series doesn't have manual control anymore (A1000,A1100,A2000,A2100). it's why i still like old A590IS.

SD/Ixus : simple and compact.
SX : semi-SLR ^^.

Anybody know which Canon's can continue to focus on changing subjects for video? I tried a SD series .. the focus did not change on shifting to different subjects on video. But with a SX1, the zoom and focus would fully work in video.

I'm looking for a good camera that records video in H.264 format (many of the new Canons do that) and also can maintain focus on changing subjects and also do optical zoom. So far only the Sx1 seems to do that, but its kinda big.