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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. The wheel is responsive with tactile stops to it, so you will not easily overshoot what you're trying to select. One further button of note is the ‘Zoom Framing Assist’ functionality that’s located on the left of the zoom barrel. It seems though that Canon have fallen foul of the resolution race and simply added a few more pixels without trying to sort out the consequences of that action.
Those who want to take more direct control over the camera will find the full range of PASM modes to hand as well. The optical focal length is 30x on the Canon PowerShot SX500 IS but on top of the 30x, you can boost the zoom to 60x using ZoomPlus. On the left of the lens barrel is a button with a square that has four arrows shooting out of each corner on it. Part superzoom and part ultracompact, Canon has managed to engineer a small camera that comes with a powerful 30x optical zoom on the front. There’s no Raw image capture though, which means the SX500 is strictly JPEG only – you do get a choice of resolution settings, however, should you be looking to conserve space on your memory card, or if you’re just shooting non-critical snapshots destined solely for the internet.
It also has semimanual and manual controls, which are a bit of a rarity in lower-end megazooms, but Canon includes them in all of its PowerShot SX-series models. It's not a fast camera and it's not great indoors or in low light, so if those are must-haves, I wouldn't bother. In the box, there's the usual bag of mashings such as the camera, lithium ion battery and a charger with a figure eight lead. Unfortunately, in the SX500 IS Canon used a 16-megapixel CCD sensor and an old Digic 4 image processor instead of one of its better HS CMOS sensors and a newer, more powerful Digic 5 processor. It means that if you have a Canon printer, you don't necessarily need a Canon camera to direct print.
Those who prefer to let the camera do all the work can take advantage of the Smart Auto mode and let the camera choose a suitable setting from over 30 pre-programmed scenes.Other standout features include a Smart Auto mode that detects 32 scenes, ISO 100-1600, Zoom Framing Assist, and a range of Creative Filters.
Another mode, Live View Control, lets you easily experiment with exposure and color while seeing your results onscreen before you shoot (the same goes for the filters). Elsewhere, the SX500 generally feels quite responsive, with little in the way of shutter lag noticeable. For those who are addicted to the photo filters from a favorite smartphone app, Canon includes several of its high-quality Creative Filters: Fish-eye Effect, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Monochrome, Super Vivid, and Poster Effect. Here you can adjust the power of the flash, switch the red-eye correction on, the red-eye lamp and Safety FE. It's difficult to believe that they really would do that but given the image quality and the older processor it certainly looks that way.
There are nifty little features such as the framing button on the side of the lens barrel and Zoom Plus (which could actually be useful) to help get the best pictures. That's probably not a big deal for many people, but if you're used to a camera that does everything for you, this might result in some missed shots.
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