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Upgrading Sx20 to Sx40

Started Mar 22, 2012 | Discussions
Kayhold New Member • Posts: 6
Upgrading Sx20 to Sx40

Ive had my SX20 for about 2 years and have loved it so far. I shoot primarily on program or manual, and I use CHDK for raw. Because if CHDK, I intend to stay with Canon if possible.

My primary reasons for upgrading are that about 90% of my shots are of my 6 year old and are action shots -playing, baseball, etc. It's hard to get a 6 year old to be still!

The SX20 with burst is about 1shot a second, where out of the box I've read the SX40 is 8 FPS in burst and so far, but I am not sure that alone is worth the cost of upgrading. (I have a tight budget - I can swing the $400 if I use my Brandsmart no interest card)

I'm just looking for more points to consider from someone who has played with or owned both.

I do not wish to own a DSLR, I simply can not justify that cost for personal use. The mega zoom is an absolute must. I don't care about video. I use it some, but I only ever watch it on my PC and it's just not a concern of mine.

When I am not taking photos of my kid, it's usually flowers, etc so I do use the macro feature quite a bit, but I am perfectly happy with macro on the SX20.

I do take quite a bit of indoor shots, an the SX20 isn't great at that. I prefer to not use the flash but when I do use it, I have a homemade lightscoop I use.

I don't take many landscape photos but we are going on a cruise soon and it's something to keep in mind.

I have read the sensor is better on the SX20 (CCD) but I'm not sure how outdated that info is.

When I am not carrying my SX20, I have a Panasonic ZS8 that is always in my purse.

I guess what I am trying to decide is if the speed is that much better on the SX40, and as I said, anything else I've not thought of that would make it worth the $400 upgrade.

I keep going back and forth between "Thats a lot of money for higher FPS in burst mode!" and "But I use burst mode most of the time!"

If I could find something to push me either way I can stop torturing myself. For a bit I was considering just going DSLR but I don't need or want all of those features and included costs when all I really want is something I can shoot raw with (CHDK) and take high speed photos with a great zoom. My kid HATES pictures so I can not be anywhere close to him when taking them, LOL

Thanks in advance!

Canon PowerShot SX20 IS Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 (Lumix DMC-TZ18)
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bluewater1
bluewater1 Regular Member • Posts: 270
Re: Upgrading Sx20 to Sx40

I have the SX40 and still have the S5IS. The SX40 is a very good, fun camera. The focal range is awesome. As relates to action shots, be aware that your screen is going to freeze when you shoot the sequence of shots with burst mode. If you can accept that period of blindness, you may be a happy camper. If not, a dSLR is absolutely going to kick butt on any fixed lens camera on action shots. It could be worth considering one of Canon's older dSLR's, which are still around, and a budget longer zoom lens, like (I believe) a 70-250. The SX40 is fantastic at the long shots and pretty darned good at low light, but may not cut it for action.

B. H. Contributing Member • Posts: 562
Re: Upgrading Sx20 to Sx40

I've read that the normal FPS is 2.4, with no view blackout, so that might be good enough. What makes this possible is a CMOS versus CCD, I believe so anyhow, and supposedly PQ isn't compromised too much. I really don't know by experience though.

I have the SX30 and by comparison it's probably slow and worth an upgrade, too, if money wasn't a consideration. Only had my camera a year and a half.

You might want to think about the fact SX20 uses AA batteries, SX40 is Li-Ion, if you haven't already.

Oh, and if you like video there's the slow motion capability (or high speed as its called).
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DonA2
DonA2 Veteran Member • Posts: 3,720
Re: Upgrading Sx20 to Sx40
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I own both the SX10is and the SX40hs. If the SX10 didn't start showing a hot pixel and a tendency to not want to switch between the EVF and LCD I would not "upgrade". The 10 was a very good cam in most every respect. The 40 is a bit bulkier, has a proprietary battery and a lower level EVF.

If your 20 has nothing really wrong with it I would consider getting the small 270EX flash for better indoor shots especially when tilted for bounce flash. The 40 does have that CMOS sensor and Digic 5 processor so it has an advantage for video. The super-zoom+ has a slight edge too.

I originally went from the S2is to the SX10is then to the SX40hs so left a few in between as there was little advantage. Used mainly for travel these all-in-one cams are hard to beat. My wife just got an S100 for an upcoming cruise and for a pocket cam it sure can put out on IQ. Lacks a few other tricks but that's the way it goes. You won't go wrong on a SX40 for sure but the advantages are small ones.
Don V. Armitage

 DonA2's gear list:DonA2's gear list
Canon PowerShot S2 IS Canon PowerShot SX10 IS Canon PowerShot S100 Canon PowerShot SX40 HS Canon PowerShot SX50 HS +2 more
OP Kayhold New Member • Posts: 6
Re: Upgrading Sx20 to Sx40

Thanks. I think what I am going to do first is buy a small hotshoe flash, probably the 270ex. I don't need much more than that and if I decide to buy the Sx40, I have the flash. I am going to look around and the ofdbrand flashes like the YN-468 but I haven't quite figured out if it ONLY works in manual mode or not. I'm goin to run my SX20 hard this weekend at baseball opening day and see if I can decide after that what I need to do.

OP Kayhold New Member • Posts: 6
Re: Upgrading Sx20 to Sx40

Just a follow up. When I went today to buy the flash, I tested my SX20 side by side with the SX40. In sports and Program mode with burst, my SX20 was faster with burst.

In the SX40, using the specialty scene mode for high burst,the SX40 was obviously faster at 8fps burst but it had trouble focusing and I realized I would never need 8FPS because in one second, almost all of the pictures looked like duplicates.

Since continuous shooting was faster in mine for the modes I actually use, I decided to not purchase it until mine bites the dust.

nancy7047 New Member • Posts: 9
Re: Upgrading Sx20 to Sx40

I own both cameras, I shot 35,000 with the 20 and am well on my way to 20,000 on the 40. Both are great cameras I only got the 40 for the super zoom. I miss the AA batteries of the 20, but I am able to get over 500 shots per battery with the 40. Action shots are hard with either camera. You made a wise choice to just wait.
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nancy7047

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