The Canon Powershot SX260 HS digital camera is a powerful, compact digital camera with 20x optical zoom. A longtime BargainBabe.com reader wrote this review of the Canon PowerShot SX260 HS because he loves his camera so much! I happen to be in the market for a new digital camera because I’m tired of taking crappy iPhone pictures, and you may be looking to buy a digital camera for a Christmas or holiday gift.

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Here is The Unethical Man’s camera review:

I planned to take a week long vacation to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park this past summer.  I made reservations with five different ATV rental companies and knew I wanted to document my excursions.  I have a Canon EOS Rebel 6.3, and it’s a good camera, but there was no way I was going to take my bulky and heavy DSLR camera with me.  I had to buy a new camera.

I needed something compact that could easily fit inside of my cargo pants pocket.  It also needed to be easy to use and sophisticated enough to take nice pictures.  Canon and Nikon are the top manufacturers when it comes to digital cameras.  After comparing all of the slim cameras each company had to offer, I decided to purchase the Canon PowerShot SX260 HS. I paid about $200 for it in May 2013.

This camera, small as it is, packs a serious punch.  The 20x optical zoom is very good.  The image stabilizer really helped to keep my moving ATV shots in focus.  I found it to be really easy to operate even with just one free hand.  It also fit the ergonomics of my hand nicely as well.  The large, nearly 2.5″ x 3″ bright video screen, easily shows you what it sees.  Basically, what you see is what you get.  I love it!  No more viewfinder eye.  It is so light that I hardly felt the 8oz weight of it at all.

This camera uses SDHC memory cards with up to 128GB storage capacity!  This advancement in technology is huge.  My old camera uses compact flash cards, and the one I purchased only has a storage capacity of 4GB.  I think they maxed out at 32GB capacity, but that’s still quite a wide disparity between the two types of tech.

The 260SX can also take decent videos as well.  This is something my Rebel cannot do.  It has GPS, but I haven’t used it yet.  I’m sure it would come in handy for a real adventurer.  The battery is pretty powerful too considering its small size.  I was able to take hundreds of pictures on a single charge.  It’s probably a smart idea to purchase a couple of extra batteries just in case.

This camera won’t hold a candle to a professional grade camera or camcorder.  If you’re a photographer by profession or the next James Cameron, buy professional equipment.  For the price I paid for it, I think it is excellent.  You definitely get a lot for your money.  The kit provides you with a battery, battery charger and a lanyard.  You purchase your own memory card.  I plan to take this camera along all my future trips until it dies or something else comes along that blows this piece of tech away.

NOTE – Canon discontinued this particular model and the one they replaced it with the 280SX HS model. That model has Wi-Fi capability, but I didn’t need it.   And it costs a lot more too.  Even though the Canon PowerShot SX260 HS has been discontinued by the manufacturer, I am assuming that there are still distributors, wholesalers and retailers that still need to move new old stock.  Also, looks like Amazon sells used products too, so there must be no shortage of owners that are looking to trade up.

What digital camera do you have?

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