Canon Powershot SX60 HS Takes Ultra-Zoom Crown

2014.09.17

The new Canon flagship ultra-zoom features the most powerful optical zoom on the market. Its 65X range covers focal-lengths equivalent 21 to 1365mm, going from the widest to the longest reach of any fixed lens digital camera. This is paired with a 16 megapixels 1/2.3" CMOS sensor to keep a size similar to its predecessor.

The Canon Powershot SX60 HS is bridge camera with full manual-controls, including manual-focus and custom white-balance, plus choice of metering patters, including Spot. The high-speed CMOS sensor can shoot continuously at 6.5 FPS and record full 1080p HD video at 60 FPS. It has an ISO 100 to 3200 sensitivity range with an expanded ISO 6400 setting in Low-Light mode.

In addition to a 3" LCD, the SX60 HS has a built-in 920K pixels EVF, the highest resolution one on a Canon camera to date. Only a handful of ultra-zooms have such high-resolution viewfinders lately, mostly from Fuji, but the technology has been around since 2004 when it was introduced by Konica-Minolta on the Dimage A2. That one even has an Eye-Start sensor which is unfortunately lacking on the SX60.

The incredible lens of the Canon Powershot SX60 HS is capable of focusing down to 0 (yes, zero) centimeters from the lens, providing for the ability to capture extreme close-ups. At the long end, it can focus down to 1.8m which is still every impressive considering a 1365mm-equivalent focal-length.

The Canon SX60 HS is scheduled to be available next month for $549 USD or $579 CDN. Adorma and B&H Photo are both already accepting pre-orders.

• Digital Camera
• Photokina