Canon PowerShot SX · on sale August 2010

The Canon PowerShot SX130 IS: the 12x superzoom that ran on two AA batteries

We found no other regional name for it; Canon's museum page gives the same name for Japan, the Americas and Europe.¹

In August 2010 Canon replaced its SX120 IS with a wider, longer lens, 720p video and a $249.99 price. Reviewers liked the zoom and the value, and most of them complained about the same two things: noise at higher ISOs and the AA batteries.

Launched

August 2010

Launch price

$249.99 · £199 · €229²

Sensor

12.1 MP CCD

Lens

28–336 mm, 12×

Card

SDXC, SDHC, SD, MultiMediaCard

Battery

AA

Specs and sources

Meet the camera

It is a bulky black superzoom, 113.3 by 73.2 by 45.8 millimetres and about 308 grams with batteries and card, according to Canon.¹ Reviewers called the body bulky.⁶⁸ Canon's museum page lists a 12x zoom of 28 to 336 millimetres equivalent, a DIGIC 4 processor and a 3-inch screen of about 230,000 dots, and says the camera takes two AA cells.¹ DPReview lists a CCD sensor and an announcement date of 19 August 2010.³ Imaging Resource gives the sensor as 12.1 megapixels and 1/2.3 inch.⁶

PhotographyBLOG listed the launch prices as £199, €229 and $249.99, with availability from late August 2010.² Imaging Resource gave a US suggested price of about $250 and said shipping began in late August.⁶ Photo Review gave an Australian recommended price of A$329.⁷ Expert Reviews priced it at £151 in December 2010 and said that undercut most rivals by £50 to £100.⁵

Why this one was interesting

A wider, longer lens on a bigger sensor

The SX120 IS it replaced started at 36 millimetres equivalent; the SX130 IS started at 28.⁴⁹ Imaging Resource listed the changes in one place: resolution up from 10 to 12 megapixels, sensor up from 1/2.5 inch to 1/2.3 inch, zoom up from 10x to 12x, and HD video new.⁶ PhotographyBLOG said the UK price was slightly lower than the older model's.⁴

HD video and a quieter zoom

PhotographyBLOG called the video "a big improvement" on the SX120's video mode: 1280 by 720 at 30 frames per second with stereo sound, a zoom motor that can run while recording, and a quieter lens than before.⁴ Expert Reviews rated the quality of the 720p clips as excellent.⁵

A value pitch

What Digital Camera set the price against the Panasonic TZ10 (about £225), the Nikon S8000 (about £175) and the Sony HX5 (about £270), and said Canon's camera was bulkier and less well finished than those but strong on features for the money.⁸ PhotographyBLOG gave it 5 out of 5 for value.⁴ If you want an earlier AA-powered Canon, see our PowerShot A640 review.

What was lost

The new lens was slower. PhotographyBLOG listed the maximum aperture as f/3.4 to f/5.6 and called that a drawback against the SX120 IS; Imaging Resource said the maximum aperture was noticeably dimmer, and that flash reach in auto ISO was slightly shorter.⁴⁶ Cameralabs put the flash range at 3 metres at wide angle, one metre less than on the SX120 IS, and also noted the SX130 IS was larger and heavier.⁹

The dark: its weak point

Noise and softness above ISO 400 were the recurring complaint. PhotographyBLOG saw some noise, blurred detail and slight desaturation at ISO 400, with noise and detail loss getting worse at 800 and 1600; its writer called noise the main image-quality drawback.⁴ Imaging Resource's print tests found ISO 400 usable at 13 by 19 inches but better at 11 by 14, and ISO 800 better at 8 by 10.⁶ Photo Review's lab found resolution stayed high to ISO 400 and then dropped sharply at 800 and 1600.⁷ What Digital Camera wrote that ISO 800 was the last capable setting and called ISO 1600 disappointing, with stronger JPEG artifacts and muted colours.⁸

Expert Reviews was kinder: the SX130 IS looked a little soft but reasonably smooth and natural at ISO 400 and above, while rivals looked grainy or blotchy up close, though it lost clearly to a much more expensive Canon Ixus.⁵ Expert Reviews also noted that Full Auto limits the ISO to 800.⁵ At night, PhotographyBLOG said the 15-second maximum exposure gives enough light for most situations and called its night photograph, a 15-second ISO 80 shot, very good.⁴

We did not use a low-light strip: none of the free photos we reviewed has its sensitivity confirmed in the file.

On eBay right now

Live listings for this camera, supplied by eBay and updated automatically. We earn a commission if you buy through them.

The little wins

How it drew the picture

PhotographyBLOG scored image quality 4 out of 5 and found out-of-camera files a little soft at the default sharpening, with chromatic aberration handled well and only limited purple fringing.⁴ Imaging Resource called colour generally natural, with bright yellows slightly muted, and measured about 0.5 percent barrel distortion at wide angle.⁶ Photo Review found saturation slightly high, especially in reds and purples, and said automatic white balance struggled under incandescent light.⁷ What Digital Camera found automatic white balance a little warm under fluorescent light.⁸

Photos taken with this camera, from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each picture. The camera is well represented on Commons, but these nine are a hand-picked sample, not a test.

Where it let you down

The batteries came first. Imaging Resource said the reviewer could barely get through a day on alkalines, blamed continuous stabilisation and HD video for the appetite, and said NiMH cells were the way to go.⁶ Photo Review saw a low-battery warning after about 50 stills and 19 video clips on the supplied alkalines, then 116 more stills before the next warning.⁷ Expert Reviews found low-battery warnings long before the cells were flat, and noted that rechargeables and a charger were not included.⁵ PhotographyBLOG added that the battery and card share a compartment that is awkward to close.⁴

Speed was the second complaint, and the reviewers did not agree on the numbers. Start-up to first shot was 2.7 seconds at Expert Reviews and Imaging Resource, about 1.6 seconds at Photo Review and about 1.5 seconds at Cameralabs.⁵⁶⁷⁹ Imaging Resource measured full-autofocus shutter lag at 0.77 seconds at wide angle and called the autofocus slow; Photo Review measured 0.45 seconds; PhotographyBLOG noticed no shutter lag.⁶⁷⁴ Burst shooting was about 1 frame per second at best (Expert Reviews measured 0.6 fps),⁶⁹⁵ and flash recycling was about 12 seconds in Imaging Resource's lab, 15 seconds between full-power flash shots at Expert Reviews and just over 5 seconds at Photo Review.⁶⁵⁷

The screen was the third. PhotographyBLOG called the 230,000-dot resolution disappointing for 2010,⁴ and Photo Review found the monitor flat and hard to use in bright light, with no viewfinder.⁷ Video had its own gaps: no dedicated movie button, a zoom that PhotographyBLOG said runs slowed during recording, HD clips that stop at 10 minutes or 4 GB, and wind noise outdoors at Photo Review.⁴⁷ The camera records JPEG only, with no raw.⁷

What the reviewers said in 2010 and 2011

We read only the first page of Cameralabs' review, so it is cited for specifications and handling, not for a verdict.⁹ Trusted Reviews also published a review that we could not load, so we do not rely on it.

The timeline

• 19 August 2010Canon announces the SX130 IS, with prices of £199, €229 and $249.99.³²
• Late August 2010First availability, according to PhotographyBLOG.²
• 12 November 2010PhotographyBLOG publishes its review.⁴
• 9 December 2010Expert Reviews publishes its review.⁵
• 18 February 2011Imaging Resource posts its review.⁶

Should you buy one now?

Buy one if you want a cheap, simple way to get a 28 to 336 millimetre lens, stabilisation and manual controls, you will shoot at ISO 400 or lower, and you are happy to run on AA cells. It launched at $249.99;² what it sells for now is a question for the sold listings, not for us. Before you bid, check these:

• The name. Search the PowerShot SX130 IS. Photo Review called the differences from the older SX120 IS mainly cosmetic,⁷ but the SX120 IS has a 36 mm start and a 10 MP sensor.⁶⁴
• The batteries. It takes two AA cells; Canon names its NiMH option NB-3AH and rates it at about 370 shots against about 130 for alkalines.¹ Buy rechargeable AAs on Amazon ↗ and check the battery door, which reviewers called awkward to close.⁴
• The card. It takes SD, SDHC, SDXC and MMC cards.¹ See our memory card guide.
• The lens. Check that it extends and retracts smoothly through the whole zoom, and that the glass is free of scratches.
• The screen and flash. Look for scratches on the screen, and raise and lower the pop-up flash by hand to make sure it moves and fires.⁵

If you are wondering why cameras like this are being hunted down again, we tell that story once, in Pictures that never left the card.

See recent sold prices on eBay ↗Shop on eBay ↗AA rechargeable batteries ↗

Sources

1. Canon Camera Museum, PowerShot SX130 IS (specification page; marketed August 2010, predecessor SX120 IS)
2. PhotographyBLOG, Canon PowerShot SX130 IS announcement (19 Aug 2010: £199, €229, $249.99, late August availability)
3. DPReview, Canon PowerShot SX130 IS product page (CCD sensor, announced 19 August 2010)
4. PhotographyBLOG, Canon PowerShot SX130 IS review by Mark Goldstein (12 Nov 2010)
5. Expert Reviews, Canon PowerShot SX130 IS review by Ben Pitt (9 Dec 2010)
6. Imaging Resource, Canon PowerShot SX130 IS review by Greg Scoblete and Stephanie Boozer (posted 18 Feb 2011)
7. Photo Review (Australia), Canon PowerShot SX130 IS review (undated page; RRP A$329, lab tests)
8. What Digital Camera, Canon PowerShot SX130 IS review by Mike Lowe, page 3 only (image quality and value; page dated 30 Oct 2014)
9. Cameralabs, Canon PowerShot SX130 IS, introduction page only by Gordon Laing (page dated 14 Dec 2011)

Photographs are credited under each one, all via Wikimedia Commons. Links to eBay and Amazon are affiliate links.