Canon PowerShot SX500 IS

Overview

TechSpot Metascore

Based on 18 expert reviews

Excellent:

2
Good:

7
Average:

6
Bad:

3

Pros:

Ultra-wide angle lens offers a 30x zoom.
Manual and semi manual controls.
Very small, very light body.

Cons:

Only records video in 720p HD.
Shooting performance might still be too slow for action shots, especially indoors.

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Last revision on November 26, 2014

Reviewers Liked

Ultra-wide angle lens offers a 30x zoom
Manual and semi manual controls
Very small, very light body
Offers more shooting options
Very good optical image stabilization
Great image quality

Reviewers Didn't Like

Only records video in 720p HD
Shooting performance might still be too slow for action shots, especially indoors
Not a great choice for handheld low-light shots
Body doesn’t feel particularly solid
No viewfinder
Lacks Raw capture
Very poor continuous shooting
Lens suffers from Chromatic aberration
Poor battery life
Vertical streaking on highlights in video (due to CCD)

Expert reviews and ratings

If you are on a budget and want a high-zoom full-body camera, you will love the PowerShot...

By TopTenREVIEWS on May 31, 2013

It has its limitations, but the Canon PowerShot SX500 IS is a good choice for zoom addicts on a...

By cnet on January 31, 2013

The Canon PowerShot SX500-IS is another in the range from Canon, this one on a cursory glance could be confused with a small DSLR unit, it is however a digital unit with excellent zoom as well as other features making it almost a bridge...

By GadgetSpeak on January 25, 2013

The PowerShot SX500 IS an interesting alternative to all those travel compacts. It offers a useful zoom range with very effective image stabilisation, excellent low-light focusing, a good range of creative features, easy-to use controls and pleasant...

By IT Pro Portal on January 24, 2013

If you're after a little compact that gives you most of the features and control of a prosumer/DSLR then the Canon PowerShot SX500 IS is perfect. It has the large zoom to cover all eventualities as well as auto and manual controls to either let you...

By PhotographyBLOG on October 22, 2012

Need a lot of zoom for a little bit of cash? The PowerShot SX500 IS fits the bill nicely, as long as you can live with its...

By CNET Australia on October 11, 2012

The Canon PowerShot SX500 IS is a sort of mini-bridge camera that packs a 30x zoom into a low-cost body. While the lens is OK quality, cost-saving cuts tarnish the final package—this camera can be frustratingly slow and is incapable of correcting...

By DigitalVersus on October 02, 2012

The Canon PowerShot SX500 IS represents something of an anomaly in that it straddles the gap somewhere between ultracompact and superzoom. The first thing that strikes you about it is the size; it's a very small camera, and yet within its diminutive body...

By Trusted Reviews on October 02, 2012

The casual snapper will love the huge zoom range that the small-bodied SX500 IS offers. But the more intensive photographer won’t find that the image and lens quality live up to the highest level. Not really a surprise for the £250 asking price, but,...

By Pocket-lint on September 28, 2012

The core feature of the Canon PowerShot SX500 IS is its 30x optical zoom, which covers a focal range of 24-720mm in equivalent terms. The lens itself is supported by Canon's Intelligent IS stabilisation technology, which will no doubt ease some of the...

By What Digital Camera on September 27, 2012

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