My experience using a Canon SX730HS for four years

First off, Jack, thanks for chiming in!  I like your apt comparison of the SX720 vs. the SX280 — and confirming my points about TV and GPS battery eating!

Second, several additional comments about your thoughtful replies, COS.

GPS lags. Many cameras with built-in GPS take time to lock in your position — just like the lag you experienced with using the phone connection. I get that you want GPS if you are hiking for hours over many trails and covering a wide distance… do you need the precise location? Are there alternatives such as taking a photo of trail signs, recording a brief video with voice memo? It seems that having GPS is a biggie for you.

Touch screen. On a re-read, I see that you were referring to the app your phone rather than the camera. I had been reading about the G series with touch screen interface and assumed one had been introduced with the tilt screen on the SX730. “Even once you get it full working, because it's on a touchscreen where the entire screen is "active", if you accidentally touch the screen…” but then it's about the app!

Autofocus. if your camera is having trouble focusing on a bird that fills up half the screen, my guess is that the camera is defective. Never had that issue with the SX720 or any other Canon. The difficulty I was referring to was with a bird “hiding” inside a bush or among branches, taking up only a small part of the screen. Even then, with some judicious aiming, or trial-and-error, it will lock onto the bird.

Interface. It sounded as if your SX730 worked differently than other Canons in the SX series, even to the point of requiring that the spin dial be pressed DOWN before it would spin. That would have been a change from the classic interface.

You are right. I shouldn't have used the term “GUI” when referring to the physical button, dial set up. Your calling it the “UI” is more apt. The Canon UI is well-regarded. The Function set, main buttons, and exposure controls are identified well; the options are easily accessed; and the layout of choices logical. In contrast, e.g., Panasonic's layout involves duplication, too many choices in different areas so they flow off the screen, counter-clockwise motions when one expects clockwise, readily overshooting options and ending up on the other end of different controls, with dramatically problematic results,

Spin dial. I wonder if your dial is defective. Mine moves round with a gentle touch — it does NOT require pressing it down. I've never had the problem of it inadvertently turning on, say, focus. If this were a standard problem, there'd be massive complaints about it!

Switching focus modes. I can see how a single switch would be quicker. Plus, doing the manual focusing with the spin dial is definitely trickier than using a large front control ring around the base of the lens (e.g., how the Panasonic ZS40 works). A big problem, as you've described, is that the manual focus control isn't that fine. In fact, I just tested this and the SX260 seems to have finer control than the SX720. The Focus Peaking helps on the SX720, though, for showing me whether I’m focusing on foreground branches or the bird.

Auto-focus behavior. In any case, i rarely need to resort to manual focus as the auto focus works just fine — and that's true across a host of Canons. I’ve never had a problem focusing on a bird sitting there for 10 seconds! Something must be wrong with your camera! I moved to using Time Value mode with a fast shutter speed because birds often flit around or fly away suddenly and the fast shutter speed ensure good focus. It also means little or no impact from any hand movement or shake. I've also found it convenient to use the half-press to lock focus — and it stays at that distance until I reframe and take the shot.

Auto-focus options. I don't know enough about the ins-and-outs or impact of the various focusing options, but it would seem that Servo AF, Continuous AF, and AF-assist beam could be major factors. I always have AF-assist beam off, as years ago, discovered it didn't help, even hurt, as my photos were mostly of distant objects, not indoor close-ups. I also found it incredibly helpful to set Image Stabilization to Continuous as it steadies the image on the screen when zoomed in at high magnification. That helps in seeing whether a distant bird is in focus.

Digital Zoom. I was referring there to the built-in teleconverter — not the standard digital zoom, which people rightly say to avoid. The 2x DZ gives my SX260 and SX720 greater reach and a bigger image on the screen when zoomed in. Combined with continuous IS, I can tell when the bird is in focus on not. Given I’m photographing birds, whether the edges of a frame is visible or not on the screen doesn't matter to me. Indeed, i didn't even know it they weren't being shown.

It'd be interesting to have other SX700-SX740 series owners chime in on these issues and the problems you've had. Is your camera defective? Is there some setting or combination of settings that could improve or solve your focusing issues?

Have you found a different camera that solves these problems for you?