Canon PowerShot SX · on sale August 2013
The Canon PowerShot SX170 IS: a $180 CCD superzoom that swapped its AA batteries for a lithium-ion pack
We found no other regional name: Canon's museum page lists PowerShot SX170 IS for Japan, the Americas and Europe, Asia and Oceania.1
In August 2013 Canon offered a 16x zoom with full manual modes for $179.99, rebuilt the body slightly and kept the same CCD sensor as the year before. Reviewers liked the zoom and the price, TechRadar wished for a CMOS sensor, and all three found noise creeping in as the light fell.
- Launched
- August 2013
- Sensor
- 16 MP CCD
- Lens
- 28–448 mm, 16×
- Card
- SD, SDHC, SDXC
- Battery
- NB-6LH
Canon PowerShot SX170 IS specs: sensor, lens, battery, memory card and cable
The Canon PowerShot SX170 IS is a 16 MP CCD compact camera with a 28–448 mm (35 mm equivalent) 16× zoom lens, launched in August 2013 at $179.99. It takes SD, SDHC and SDXC cards and runs on the NB-6LH battery. Sources
- Sensor
- CCD, 1/2.3", 16 MP source
- Lens
- 28–448 mm equivalent, 16× zoom source
- Memory card
- SD, SDHC, SDXC source
- Battery
- NB-6LH source
- USB / A/V cable
- IFC-400PCU, AVC-DC400ST Confirmed · all Canon cables
Meet the camera
It is a chunky pocket camera: PhotographyBLOG said it looks like a miniature SLR, and Canon lists it at 108 by 71 by 43.9 millimetres and 251 grams with battery and card.41 TechRadar called it just about pocketable with the lens retracted and liked the chunky handgrip.5 It came in black and red.3
Canon announced it on 22 August 2013 alongside the SX510 HS, a 30x model with a CMOS sensor and Wi-Fi at a higher price.2 The SX170 IS was listed at £169.99, €199.99 and $179.99, and went on sale in the UK and Ireland on 23 August;2 Imaging Resource said it would ship in the US in September 2013.3 PhotographyBLOG saw street prices of around £150 at the time of its review,4 and ePHOTOzine quoted £149.6
Why this one was interesting
The battery changed
Its predecessor, the SX160 IS of September 2012, ran on two AA batteries.7 PhotographyBLOG noted that cameras of this type used to rely on AAs, and welcomed the rechargeable lithium-ion pack that slots into the grip, together with a proper standalone charger and mains lead.4 TechRadar, citing the user manual, put the gain at 300 shots per charge against the SX160's 140, or 440 in Eco mode.5 In 2010 the same line's PowerShot SX130 IS was also an AA camera.8 If AA cells are your reason for hunting these cameras down, see our guide to digicams that run on AA batteries.
Full manual control for $180
Imaging Resource found it impressive at this price that the camera offers full program, aperture, shutter and manual control, plus creative filters.3 TechRadar liked that the same shot taken in manual and in auto came out practically identical, and noted flash exposure compensation, which it said is not often seen on point-and-shoots.5
A lower price, a slightly new body
Imaging Resource put the US price some $50 below the SX160 IS's launch price a year earlier, and described the new model as a smidge smaller, with a more pronounced grip.3 PhotographyBLOG listed Canon's own PowerShot SX280 HS among its rivals, describing a 2013 travel zoom with a 20x lens, a 12-megapixel back-illuminated sensor, GPS and Wi-Fi.4
What was lost
This was an update, not a redesign. Imaging Resource said it is built on the same 16-megapixel CCD and DIGIC 4 processor as the SX160, with the same lens, the same 720p video and the same 230,000-dot screen, and it said it was not sure how Canon had made the autofocus faster with unchanged hardware.3 PhotographyBLOG likewise said it does not look massively altered from the SX160 IS.4 Imaging Resource also noted that the button that raised the pop-up flash was dropped, so the flash has to be lifted by hand;3 PhotographyBLOG found that the flash needs manually raising before it will fire.4
The dark: its weak point
The three reviewers described a similar shape and differed on where it starts. PhotographyBLOG saw noise creeping into shadows from ISO 400, spreading subtly across the frame at ISO 800 and losing visible detail to noise reduction at ISO 1600, though it called the results still usable.4 ePHOTOzine found noise low at ISO 100 and 200, white dots at ISO 400, softness at 800 and a lot of detail lost at 1600, but pictures that would look fine on the web.6 TechRadar noticed noise above ISO 640 and said low-light shots suffer, and that the camera hunted for focus in dim light for a frustrating time.5 PhotographyBLOG added that the f/3.5 maximum aperture is not suited to low light, and that the low-light scene mode drops the resolution to 4 megapixels to hold noise down.4
Real photographs taken with this camera. The sensitivity shown is recorded in each file's own EXIF data, and the camera's own EXIF model name matches.
Curious what one sells for? See recent eBay sold listings for this camera ↗
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The little wins
That zoom
TechRadar called the optical zoom performance superb, though it saw fairly noisy images at the far end of the digital zoom.5
Colour on a dull day
TechRadar said it mostly makes vibrant, true-to-life colour, and found the custom white balance spot on.5 PhotographyBLOG, shooting in dull overcast weather, still got well-saturated colour that visibly pops.4 ePHOTOzine found auto white balance slightly orange under incandescent light, with the preset much better.6
How it drew the picture
PhotographyBLOG scored image quality 3.5 out of 5 and called it an average snapshot camera with an above-average zoom: sharp enough at the wide end, with purple fringing, and soft at full telephoto handheld despite the stabiliser, with unsophisticated metering that either washes out skies or leaves foregrounds murky.4 TechRadar saw no obvious distortion or loss of detail on wide-angle shots at 100 percent and only a little colour fringing, unlikely to show at A4 print size, but found that it sometimes mis-exposed backlit scenes.5 ePHOTOzine found detail good through the zoom range but much softer in the corners, with a little purple fringing.6
Photos taken with this camera, from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each picture. We checked the Commons category on 27 October 2026: it holds about a thousand files, but more than half come from a single uploader, so we picked from several.
Where it let you down
It is not quick. PhotographyBLOG listed a burst of about 0.8 frames a second and said the camera takes roughly two to three seconds to start up.4 ePHOTOzine timed 2.2 seconds from switch-on to the first photo and 1.5 seconds shot to shot without flash, rising to 4.9 seconds with it.6 TechRadar was occasionally frustrated that it was slow to focus when shooting with the optical zoom, and found the screen sometimes lacked clarity while shooting, though playback was crisp; it thought the 230,000-dot panel might be the cause.5 PhotographyBLOG pointed out that video is 720p rather than the Full HD of most models by then and that the camera has no built-in Wi-Fi.4 It shoots JPEG only.45 TechRadar's reasons to avoid it were the missing Full HD recording, slow focus while zooming and the lack of a CMOS sensor;5 Imaging Resource said the CCD limits video quality and that the model still lacked the CMOS sensor used elsewhere in Canon's SX line.3
What the reviewers said in 2013
| Outlet | Date | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| ePHOTOzine | 31 Oct 2013 | An ideal cheap, pocketable camera with a little more zoom, easy to use, with creative filters; cons were the hand-raised flash, slow continuous shooting and no outstanding features. No numeric score on the copy we read.6 |
| PhotographyBLOG | 11 Nov 2013 | Design 3.5, features 4, ease of use 4, image quality 3.5 and value 4 out of 5. Acceptable build and performance for the price, but picture quality is so-so; for shots that stand apart from a decent smartphone's, it recommends a camera with a better sensor.4 |
| TechRadar | 14 Nov 2013 | 4 out of 5 in the page's review markup. Easy to use, good value and consistently good photos; held back by the CCD sensor and 720p video.5 |
Imaging Resource's August 2013 page is a launch preview without lab tests, so it is not in the table.3
Where sources disagree: ePHOTOzine described a metal body and listed 291 g and 111 × 72.5 × 44.1 mm,6 while PhotographyBLOG called it solid despite the plastic construction and Canon's own figures are 251 g and 108 × 71 × 43.9 mm.41 The larger numbers match what Canon gives for the SX160 IS,7 so we trust Canon's. TechRadar called the camera weather and dust proof,5 but the Canon specification list we read gives only an operating range of 0 to 40 °C and 10 to 90 percent humidity, so we would not assume it is sealed.4
The timeline
- September 2012Canon markets the AA-powered SX160 IS.7
- 22 August 2013Canon announces the SX170 IS and SX510 HS; Imaging Resource publishes its preview.23
- 23 August 2013On sale in the UK and Ireland.2
- September 2013US shipping expected, at about $180.3
- 31 October 2013ePHOTOzine posts its review.6
- 11 November 2013PhotographyBLOG publishes its review.4
- 14 November 2013TechRadar publishes its review.5
Should you buy one now?
Buy one if you want a cheap pocketable zoom with proper manual modes, a rechargeable battery and a CCD sensor for daylight snapshots, and you can live with slow handling and weak dim-light pictures. It launched at $179.99;23 what it sells for now is a question for the sold listings, not for us. We have not tested a unit. Before you bid, check these:
- The name. Search the Canon PowerShot SX170 IS; Canon's museum page shows no other name.1 Do not confuse it with the SX160 IS, which takes AA batteries.7
- The battery. It uses an NB-6LH, and Canon's accessory list names a CB-2LYE charger;4 a fresh battery is on Amazon ↗.
- The card. It takes SD, SDHC and SDXC cards;46 see our memory card guide and glossary.
- The cable. Canon's accessory list names the IFC-400PCU interface cable and the AVC-DC400ST AV cable, and describes a dedicated connector that is mini-B compatible;4 see our IFC-400PCU page.
- The flash. It must be raised by hand, so check that it pops up and stays up.34
- The lens. Check that it extends and retracts cleanly and that the glass is free of scratches.
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 ↗NB-6LH battery ↗
Sources
- Canon Camera Museum, PowerShot SX170 IS (marketed August 2013; same name in Japan, the Americas and Europe/Asia/Oceania; dimensions and weight)
- PhotographyBLOG, Canon PowerShot SX510 HS & SX170 IS announcement by Zoltan Arva-Toth (22 Aug 2013), with Canon UK's press release
- Imaging Resource, Canon SX170 preview by Roger Slavens (22 Aug 2013; a first look, not a review)
- PhotographyBLOG, Canon PowerShot SX170 IS review by Gavin Stoker (11 Nov 2013), including Canon's specification list
- TechRadar, Canon PowerShot SX170 IS review by Sarah Chong (14 Nov 2013; three pages)
- ePHOTOzine, Canon PowerShot SX170 IS review by Daniel Bell (posted 31 Oct 2013; read from the Internet Archive copy of 4 Apr 2015)
- Canon Camera Museum, PowerShot SX160 IS (marketed September 2012; two AA batteries; 111.0 x 72.5 x 44.1 mm, about 291 g)
- Canon Camera Museum, PowerShot SX130 IS (marketed August 2010; two AA batteries; 12x lens)
Camera photo by NightWolf1223 (CC BY-SA 4.0); other photographs are credited under each one, all via Wikimedia Commons. Links to eBay and Amazon are affiliate links.