Canon Powershot SX10 IS camera

Bewilderingly, Canon currently has five similarly named Powershot cameras, all of which have 10x optical zoom lenses or better.

The 10-megapixel SX10 offers a huge 20x zoom, with a focal length that runs from a very wide angle for landscapes right up to extreme close-up, making it fit for a broad range of photographic purposes.

Though the camera is cheaper and lighter than a digital SLR with an equivalent lens, it’s not much more compact than such a camera's body, so you’ll need a bag or have to rely on the carry strap when transporting it.

The IS suffix indicates that the SX10’s lens is stabilised to avoid blur when shooting handheld, and it dutifully delivered sharp shots most of the time. Continuous shooting of up to four frames per second may not sound like much and yet, unlike some rivals, speed is not traded for a lowering of resolution.

Taking just a second to power up, the SX10 has an adjustable 2.5in screen on its rear that acts as a viewfinder for tricky low or high angle shots. There’s also an adapter on the top to add a flashgun if the included one isn't powerful enough, a feature it shares with the similarly powerful (and similarly priced) Olympus SP-570UZ.

It misses out on the HD movies some cameras are starting to offer, though, with a standard movie resolution of 640x480 pixels, though this does come with stereo sound, use of the full zoom lens and a dedicated video record button.

Mainly made of plastic, the SX10 feels sturdy when gripped, even if the dial that controls shooting modes was loose enough on our sample for it to accidentally jog around to adjacent settings when we retrieved it from a camera bag. Handily, as you twist this dial a virtual version appears on screen so you don’t have to take your eyes off the subject.

As you’d expect from an enthusiast's camera, shutter lag (the delay between pressing the button and getting a picture) is imperceptible, the zoom is responsive and saving full-resolution images to memory takes under a second. Pictures displayed muted colours as standard, so we recommend choosing the ‘vivid’ effects option. Low-light images up to ISO1600 were noise free, enough for us to wonder why Canon didn’t aim higher in terms of sensitivity.

Ultimately the SX10’s a good value all-rounder for those who don’t feel they need a camera with interchangeable lenses.