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Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Started Jan 21, 2014 | Discussions
Helstor Regular Member • Posts: 272
Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?
2

This year my wife and I spent our Xmas holiday in Colombia. I didn't want to carry a big DSLR and lenses so I just took my Canon SX240 with me. It turned out to be the perfect travel camera.

Have a look at some of my shots if you have time:

http://www.pbase.com/helstor/colombia_20132014

Erik

PS. All shots except the one of the coffee grinder is taken in Colombia with the Canon SX240 HS

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brianj Forum Pro • Posts: 14,657
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Helstor wrote:

This year my wife and I spent our Xmas holiday in Colombia. I didn't want to carry a big DSLR and lenses so I just took my Canon SX240 with me. It turned out to be the perfect travel camera.

Have a look at some of my shots if you have time:

http://www.pbase.com/helstor/colombia_20132014

Erik

PS. All shots except the one of the coffee grinder is taken in Colombia with the Canon SX240 HS

You've got all good shots there.

I did similair, I took only a SX260 to Vietnam & Cambodia and got a set of great shots, I can't see why anyone would need more, the SX260 is all I use now.

Brian

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TOMSDPR Contributing Member • Posts: 935
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

I agree - SX240/260 are perfect for travelling. In good light the results are hard to beat by any later compact model and the zoom range makes many bridge and most system cameras look very poor. Batterylife is great (260 GPS turned OFF) and they are really easy to carry and handle.

The only real drawback is the lenscover which can easyly create scratches on the front lens if the camera is turned on while it is still in a pouch or bag.

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Norman B Regular Member • Posts: 300
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

You have a very nice set of photos from your trip. The Bogata in rush hour was interesting because it showed what the camera can do in low light. The close-ups also showed what the camera can do in macro. You're right, the SX240 does make a fine travel camera all things considered.

RLBur
RLBur Veteran Member • Posts: 5,551
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

I enjoyed viewing your pictures, thanks for sharing them.

Randy

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BobT Forum Pro • Posts: 13,217
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Have any had experience with the SX230 camera?  If so, I'd really like to hear comments on how that camera compares with the SX260.  Thanks.

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Hollander Senior Member • Posts: 1,370
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

I enjoyed looking at your pictures Helstor. Yes the SX240 was up to the task, but the real kudo's go to the photographer.

Well done,

Rob.

-- hide signature --

To keep my brain active I'm looking forward to my next trip. So much to see yet and not enough time.
http://robvorderman.zenfolio.com/

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OP Helstor Regular Member • Posts: 272
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Thanks for your kind comment Brian.

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OP Helstor Regular Member • Posts: 272
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

mjdundee wrote:

The only real drawback is the lenscover which can easyly create scratches on the front lens if the camera is turned on while it is still in a pouch or bag.

Thanks for your comment

The SX240 I'm using has had the lens assembly changed by Canon (under warranty) for just that reason.

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OP Helstor Regular Member • Posts: 272
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Thanks Norman.  The camera also functioned well for taking indoor family shots with and without flash.

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OP Helstor Regular Member • Posts: 272
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Thank you for your kind comment Randy.

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OP Helstor Regular Member • Posts: 272
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Bob, I had the SX220 before I bought the SX240. Image quality is comparable. I only upgraded because of the wider and longer lens on the SX240.

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OP Helstor Regular Member • Posts: 272
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Rob, thank you for your kind comments. Much appreciated.

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racollins Contributing Member • Posts: 600
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Nice shots, Erik! Isn't it nice to have so much capability packed into such a compact camera? Thank you for sharing.

Andy

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racollins Contributing Member • Posts: 600
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

I had a 230 and then moved to the 260 before finally settling on the 280 for my 'pocket superzoom'. I liked the 230 a lot but I didn't like that the flash popped up every time I turned it on, although I learned that if I held it down while turning the camera on it wouldn't activate. I also liked the fact that the 260 was a 500mm compared to the 392mm on the 230. That was a big plus for me. The 260 is a bit better at higher ISO than the 230 but they're pretty similar with regard to image quality.

Andy

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GeraldW Veteran Member • Posts: 8,872
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Bob,

I've owned both.  The SX230HS has an unusually sharp lens, and very good high ISO.  I wasn't as happy with the SX260HS that I had.  It had difficulty focusing on some subjects, even in good light, and added a graininess to images that wasn't there is the SX230HS.  However, the SX230HS can suffer from chromatic aberration under some conditions.

The SX230 has a flash that tries to pop up at turn on.  I trained myself to hold it down at turn on, so it stays down - that does not hurt the flash.  My other gripe was the 16:9 LCD which is wide, but not tall and gives undersized images in 4:3, although it's nice for 3:2 images.  The SX260HS has a 4:3 screen, and styling is much better; but a slower lens.  Of those two, I preferred the SX230HS, and liked the GPS-less SX220HS even better.

My "final solution"?  A used Panasonic ZS6 (the ZS7 without GPS).  Panasonic travel zooms do not have "Picture Adjust" in the menu; which lets you adjust sharpening, saturation, contrast, and noise reduction.  That is, except the trio of ZS5, ZS6, and ZS7, all of which have Picture Adjust in their menus.

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Jerry

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BobT Forum Pro • Posts: 13,217
Maybe I'll keep my SX230 now

I had plans of getting rid of my SX230.  But after these encouraging remarks, maybe I'll just hold on to it.  It's been my least used camera of late.  But maybe it should come out of retirement instead.  Thanks for the comments.

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OP Helstor Regular Member • Posts: 272
Re: Canon SX240 - The perfect travel camera?

Thanks for your comment Andy. One of the great things about the camera is the size. I have a 5D Classic, a 550D, an EOS-M and a G12 but the SX240 is the camera I always have with me.

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