choosing a travel zoom

It's nearly holiday time again (the sunny Greek islands) and I need a new travel zoom rather than lugging my 7D and MFT kit around.

I've enjoyed using a Canon SX260 and want something similar but am confused after reading the many conflicting reviews on various web sites. So would any kind soul care to share with me their practical experiences. Specifically I am interested in the following:

Does the new NB-6LH battery solve the "flashing battery indicator/shut off in video" problem that seems to have plagued the SX280? And does the SX700/710 also suffer from this?

I've seen reports that the SX710 has much better IS than the SX700. True?

The SX700/710 have smaller pixels than the Sx280 but does that add to the discernible (ie displayed on a PC screen and not pixel peeping) noise at low ISOs.

And does the improved Digic 6 of the SX700/710 overcome some of the noise issues with having smaller pixel sizes?

Really appreciate any real life experiences anyone can share.

Thanks.

If you want to double the reach of your FZ200 try the Canon SX50hs.  It does a very good job for an "all-in-one" travel camera.  That is if you can find one, even a referb.  I only use FZs for travel and have several including the SX50.

Hi Don,
No I am quite happy with my FZ200 (and all my other cameras) but need a smaller "pocket sized" travel zoom. Hence my query.

Also, (not wanting to start a storm here) but when I tested an SX50 against the FZ200 a while back I found the FZ much more responsive.
Cheers

Ken at this link talks a lot about this SX280 battery video problem and that the SX700 fixes it.

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_PowerShot_SX700_HS/

He also notes the IS is better than the SX260 you have now.  5 stops versus 4 stops (in the older SX260 review same site)

And he reports in sunny conditions the SX700 screen is usable.  (the Sonys are the worst for that.. I find it  very hard to use my HX50 in the sun, but my SX260 is fine)

Optics engineer,

Thanks for your message. Its one if the many sites that I have read already but despite what you say it doesn't tell me if the IS is better in the 710 than in the 700. Also it doesn't say that the battery problems are fixed. In fact it's quite ambiguous saying that it's fixed then saying that the battery low level light flashed in video mode but then showed two bars.

Hopefully someone can give me some real hands on feedback. It must be possible.

"Also it doesn't say that the battery problems are fixed"

Read again carefully.  The exact words "prior to the fix" are used.    Add up the minutes recorded.   48 minutes of video, three of 16 minutes each, no problem.   Shooting stills in between.   Fourth video started, during the recording the battery icon starts flashing. That is the desired behavior.  The indicator is  giving us some warning the battery is reaching end of capacity. Completes the 16 minute run.  User shoots some more stills.   Then during the fifth video run, the battery is exhausted after six minutes.  Sure sounds fixed to me.

Hello opticsengineer,

Dont want or need a battle here but you ask me to read the quoted article carefully. I have done this but still disagree with your conclusion.

It says " During my fourth movie, the battery icon did start to flash.....I then powered the camera down and back up again, at which point the battery icon displayed two bars".

So you seem to think that a flashing low battery icon when later there is 2 out of 3 bars shown available is ok. Well either you are a canon apologist or you have a very different understanding from me as to what a low battery warning should be.

Anyway I would still like to hear from those who actually have hands on experience please, not just quotes from reviews. I'd like to buy another canon but need some real world feedback.

thanks

"So you seem to think that a flashing low battery icon when later there is 2 out of 3 bars shown available is ok"

The behavior you are seeing has to do with with charge migration inside the battery and where a voltage is being sensed  in the camera.  The sensing point is far removed from battery capacity is.   After the camera is turned off and the current stops flowing, there is some time for the charges to "catch up" so to speak to where they are being sensed.  So you go from having a low battery icon to having an indicator show two out of three bars.   It is characteristic of Lithium-Ion batteries that the fall off in voltage as they discharge is pretty small.  So if you a camera relies on just voltage sensing to know the charge remaining, you get a somewhat imprecise reading.  The indication is not just charge remaining, it is influenced by recent load history.

This is normal behavior for the relatively low cost type of battery used in the SX series. The manufacturer will see this as "functioning as designed" Maybe not the ideal way, but this is as good as it is going to get given the level of technology built into the battery itself.

There are more sophisticated battery management technologies, for instance those built into Sony batteries used in cameras like my HX50 and HX300.

I can appreciate you thinking that maybe someone that actually has an SX280 could give you better information.  But the situation is that it is not the camera, it is the level of technology built into the battery that limits what can be done.

If having a better charge remaining indication is important to you, you really should be looking at a different brand of camera instead of Canon.

John McCormack wrote:

The ZS50/TZ71 and the Sony HX90V are arguably the best 30x pocket zooms on the market right now, IMO. Both have good EVFs. The HX90V has a flip up selfie-LCD, FWIW. Read the reviews on both, but I'd say they are better cameras than the SX700 series.

Are they both 1.33 sensor size ?

Thanks opticsengineer for your info on Lithium ion batteries. I'll certainly read up more on that although I never had that issue with my sx260.

Also thanks to the other folk who have made suggestions for other cameras, all of which I have previously looked into but still believe the canon six series is what I prefer. This is based on the other cameras I have and intend buying, the type of photography I do on holiday, and my need for a good zoom range and portability and a willingness to trade image quality. Otherwise I'd use my 7d or MFT or FZ200.

Incidentally I'd also have a canon G3X in my collection if it had a evf.

So, anyone have experience is the IS on the 710 and 700 as a comparison.

thanks again

I just returned from a trip to Alaska with my SX60 and EOS 7D + 17-55mm f2.8. The 7D never came out of its bag. The SX60 performed exceedingly well.

I think it's time to put the 7D and its lens on the market.

Hi Dutch van Atlanta,

I see you took those shots using an SX60 but your list of previous gear says you had an SX700, which I believe has the same Digic 6 processor and sensor.
How does the image quality an IS compare? I guess you got the SX60 for it's increased range.

I'll be keeping my 7D, at least until I get a 7D mk2, as I need it for air show photography.

Cheers

Nice shots, Dutch! I also just returned from Alaska and didn't even take my 7D and chose instead to rely solely on the SX50, which turned out to be a superb choice. BTW, did you take a cruise and if so, which ship were you on?

Andy