Introduction

Ease of Use

At first glance the new Canon PowerShot SX240 HS looks almost exactly the same as its SX230 HS predecessor, but design-wise and operationally it's not quite a perfect match. The build quality of the SX240 HS is the usual solid mixture of plastic and metal, with the camera feeling sturdy enough to withstand the odd drop or knock. Slightly curved edges and corners make it appear less boxy and rectangular than it actually is, and while the SX240 HS is noticeably bigger and especially wider than your average compact, it still just about fits into your pocket and is reasonably light too at 231g with the memory card and battery inserted.

This modest additional bulk feels like a fair compromise given the amazing 20x built-in zoom power, although the lens does extend an ungainly 2-inches from the body when using the maximum 500mm equivalent telephoto setting. Still, having the equivalent of a 25-500mm zoom lens in such a relatively small body is no mean feat, although perhaps inevitably the maximum apertures at either end of the range are pretty slow (f/3.5 and f/6.8 respectively). We suspect that most users won't notice that detail, however, instead attracted by the ability to capture everything from ultra-wide-angle landscapes to up cloase and personal action shots. Helping to steady the camera is a new handgrip on the front, which was absent on the SX230 model. Used in conjunction with the effective image stabilisation system which automatically prevents blur by matching the optical Image Stabilizer to the scene from 7 different modes, this most vertical bar helps to ensure that most of your shots in good light are sharp, whatever the focal length. Completing the fron of the SX240 HS is a small window for a self timer/AF assist lamp positioned to the top left of the lens.

On top of the camera next to the large shutter release button which has just the right amount of 'give' to enable users to determine a definite halfway point when pressed and encircling the shutter release button is a responsive rocker switch for operating the zoom - a nudge to the right zooming in, to the left zooming out. Also located on top of the SX240 HS are the small pop-up flash unit, holes for the stereo sound and microphone, and a relocated and recessed on/off button, which is a little unresponsive to use but at least ensures that the camera won't be turned on inadvertently.

Front	Rear

Moving to the rear of the camera, the shooting mode wheel on the top right of the back plate features a plethora of options - 12 in total - with the sort of set-up found on an entry-level DSLR in relation to its mixture of creative manual options, plus point and shoot modes for common subjects. Canon has here thoughtfully included an 'easy mode' in addition to the scene and subject recognizing Smart Auto - the former denoted by a camera with a heart icon that more usually denotes a 'favourites' setting. This mode disables pretty much everything in terms of user selectable shooting options and so allows for fuss-free point and shoot operation suitable for complete beginners. The new Live mode takes things one step further in terms of complexity by allowing you to change the camera's key settings via three onscreen sliders - dark to light, neutral to vivid, and cool to warm.

The shooting mode dial is also where you'll find the camera's scene modes, some of which again mirror the kind of selections you'll find on the latest consumer DSLRs and Micro Four Thirds hybrids. Further hand holding is provided by the Smart Shutter scene mode which as it sounds allows the shutter to be controlled with a smile or a wink, increasing the overall user-friendly feel and handy for when you want to include yourself in the picture. The shooting mode dial also provides access access to the creative effects mode, which contains 9 different looks including the popular perspective warping fisheye, miniature and toy camera options, and the interesting Movie Digest mode, which captures up to 4 seconds of the action before a still shot is taken, then joins all the clips together from the same day into a single VGA movie, which creates a time-lapse movie overview.

Of course when you're given fun new tools such as the above effects, the overwhelming temptation is to go crazy with them. Certainly the tilt and shift lens-like 'miniature effect' that transforms friends and colleagues into the equivalent of toy soldiers is hard to resist. Plus, with a press of the 'display' button on the SX240 HS's back plate followed by a toggle of the zoom switch on the top plate, users can go one further and precisely control the width of the portion of the image that is sharply in focus, leaving the rest artistically blurred. A live preview of each one is handily shown on screen so you don't even have to take a picture to see what the results of each effect will be.

Front	Top

Unfortunately such effects cannot also be used when recording movies, though users do have access to the 'My Colors' settings, including colour swap and colour accent for anyone wanting to experiment something visually different from the norm, even if the results do at times resemble an early 1990's grunge rock video. Smart Auto is deployed in movie mode, though, with the camera referencing 21 different presets to find the most appropriate.

Perhaps most usefully, the full extent of the 20x optical zoom can also be deployed when shooting movies, its ultra quiet transition meaning that the built-in microphone doesn't pick up operational buzzes, the usual reason for manufacturers disabling the zoom. Focus is automatically adjusted as the user zooms in or out, which, with no alternative manual adjustment ring, means the footage can go soft for a moment or two before the camera locks on target. Canon states that Dynamic Image Stabilisation also kicks in when shooting video to ensure smooth tracking shots, of use when filming whilst walking for example. The SX240 HS records 1920x1080p Full HD movies at 24fps with stereo sound, making it one of the few compact cameras currently on the market to offer such good quality, while the new Intelligent IS system helps to keep footage steady.

Changing modes and features on the SX240 HS is a simple task thanks to a friendly user interface (UI) and straightforward menu system. Of the two menus, arguably the one you will use the most is the Function menu, activated by the Func/Set button in the middle of the four-way navigation pad. This gives you quick access to the most used functions of the camera, and everything is labelled clearly so you can understand what is what - the same goes for the Main menu system too.

Ensuring swiftness of operation, Canon has included a Digic V processor as found within its more grown up DSLRs. Otherwise the PowerShot SX240 HS incorporates technology very similar to its other current non-super zoom IXUS and PowerShot compacts. As previously touched on, it features Smart Auto with Scene Detection Technology whereby the camera compares subjects with no less than 58 on-board variables and selects the most appropriate for optimum results. Also making an appearance here are shadow detail enhancing i-Contrast, Smart Flash Exposure which adjusts flash levels according to prevailing conditions, plus Face Detection technology which can recognize up to a whopping 35 faces in a frame, whilst Face Self Timer allows you as photographer to join them before the shutter fires.

Pop-up Flash	Side

The SX240 HS sports a built-in flash of the pop up variety, positioned to one side of the lens which lessens the chance of red eye (with automatic red eye correction software further built-in as a belt and braces approach and selectable via the shooting menu folder). Thankfully Canon have seen the light and finally stopped the flash from automatically popping up when the camera is initially switched on, as on the SX240's predecessors. This was inevitably more than slightly irritating if you did't actually intend to use it, with the only option being to press it down to return it to its dormant state.

As expected, in the absence of any modest integral memory - something with which Canon has quietly stopped bothering with of late as resolutions have grown higher - captured pictures and movie clips are written to optional SD, SDHC or even higher capacity (up to 2TB) SDXC cards. As regards video, the ability is also provided for Eye-Fi transfer and the camcorder-like direct upload of videos to YouTube to keep the younger members of the family happy.

The SX240 HS powers up in just over a second, rear LCD bursting into life and zoom extending to maximum wideangle setting so the camera is ready for action. With a half press of the shutter release button the camera takes a further second to determine focus and exposure, AF point/s highlighted in green with the customary beep of confirmation that focus and exposure has been determined and the user is free to pursue the shot. Go on to fire the shutter and a full resolution 12 megapixel image is committed to memory in a couple of seconds, the screen briefly blanking out before returning to the real-time scene before the lens. The amount of time the captured image appears on screen as a means of review can be altered via the menu folders.

The SX240 HS features an excellent 3-inch, 460k dot resolution widescreen format LCD at the rear that displays a 4:3 image ratio as its default setting. That's unless one is shooting HD movies with stereo sound, whereby the picture is automatically relayed in 16:9 ratio to more closely ape how it would appear when viewed on a desktop PC, or a flat panel TV. The excellent High-speed Burst mode shoots at a fast rate of 10.3fps at full 12 megapixel resolution, one of the major benefits of the Digic 5 processor, while the Super Slow Motion Movie mode offers a great way to dramatically slow down fast-moving subjects, shooting at either 240fps at 320x240 pixel resolution or 120fps at 640x480 pixels.

Memory Card Slot	Battery Compartment

With approximately four fifths of the Canon's backplate taken up with the elongated widescreen format LCD, its operational controls are shunted over to the far right. Starting at the top, we have the penny-sized shooting mode dial with its ridged edge enabling a more definite purchase and nicely solid feel. This rigidity ensures it clicks into place for each setting in such a way that it is hard to accidentally slip from one option to another when fetching the camera out of a pocket or camera bag.

Below the shooting mode dial are the one-touch video record button, and next to it the identically sized replay/playback button. These two self-explanatory controls sit above the command/dial scroll wheel. It's here that alterations can be made to flash settings, as well as those for self timer, auto, close up (to 5cm from a subject) or manual focus, plus exposure compensation (+/- 2EV). In manual focus mode a distance slider appears at the right of the screen, adjustable with a swivel of the scroll wheel (so it's a bit fiddly), rather than more intuitively tabbing up or down. Any changes to the status quo are naturally effected with a press of the central function/set button as previously described. The Self-timer button doubles up as a Delete button when playing back your images, instantly fixing another of our major criticisms of the prexious SX230 model, which amazingly didn't have a dedicated Delete button and took no less than six button presses to bin an image.

The bottom pairing of buttons on the SX240 HS' back meanwhile are for the self explanatory 'display' and 'menu'; press the former and on-screen shooting information is either turned off or summoned up. Via the menu screens, users can also activate compositional grid lines or opt to present an image with grey bars cropping the default 4:3 presented ratio to a 3:2 ratio equivalent if so desired. Subsequently a press of the 'menu' button itself brings up two folders - the first containing the shooting menu - it's here users can activate the likes of the iContrast setting - the second the standard set up menu.

The right hand flank of the camera - if continuing to view it from the back - is where you'll find HDMI connectivity under a plastic port cover attached via a rather flimsy rubber catch. This is the port allowing the camera to be hooked up to a flat panel TV once you've purchased the relevant cable, and is presented adjacent to a second more traditional AV/USB out port. Under this compartment there's a plastic lug for attaching the wrist strap provided in the box. Underneath a side open catch and door at the base of the SX240 HS there's another dual compartment, with a slot for media card plus the provided rechargeable battery, good for a so-so 230 shots from a full charge, 20 more than its predecessor.

That concludes our tour of the Canon PowerShot SX240 HS' features and controls - next we'll take a close look at its image quality.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4.5Mb.

The Canon PowerShot SX240 HS produces images of very good quality. It recorded noise-free images at ISO 100, 200 and 400, with some noise and slight colour desaturation at ISO 800. ISO 1600 shows more obvious noise and loss of colour but still remains perfectly usable, and even the fastest setting of ISO 3200 doesn't suffer too badly.

The Canon PowerShot SX240 HS handled chromatic aberrations well, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations and generally at the edges of the frame. The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure.

Anti-shake works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. Macro performance is good, allowing you to focus as close as 5cms away from the subject. The images were a little soft straight out of the Canon PowerShot SX240 HS at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Canon Powershot SX240 HS. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default setting ideally and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes via the My Colors menu option.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Canon Powershot SX240 HS' 20x zoom lens provides a versatile focal length of 25-500mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

25mm	500mm

File Quality

The Canon Powershot SX240 HS has 2 different image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

12M Fine (4.13Mb) (100% Crop)	12M Normal (2.65Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Canon Powershot SX240 HS handled chromatic aberrations excellently during the review, with limited purple fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Canon Powershot SX240 HS offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Canon Powershot SX240 HS are Auto, Flash On, Slow Synchro, and Flash Off, with Red-eye Correction and Red-Eye Lamp settings available via the Flash Settings main menu option. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (25mm)	Auto Flash - Wide Angle (25mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (500mm)	Auto Flash - Telephoto (500mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On setting or the Red-Eye Correction option caused any red-eye.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red-eye Correction	Red-eye Correction (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Canon Powershot SX240 HS has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/6th sec / 25mm
1/3rd sec / 500mm

My Colors

The My Colors function menu option contains the now familiar range of colour options for tweaking the look of your images before shooting.

Off	Vivid
Neutral	Sepia
B/W	Positive Film
Lighter Skin Tone	Darker Skin Tone
Vivid Blue	Vivid Green
Vivid Red

Creative Filters

The Canon Powershot SX240 HS has 9 different creative filter options to help spice up your images.

Fish-eye Effect	Miniature Effect
Toy Camera Effect	Soft Focus
Monochrome	Super Vivid
Poster Effect	Color Accent
Color Swap

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Canon PowerShot SX240 HS camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

As of February 2025, we are no longer providing full size sample images or videos for download.

Please contact us if you have any feedback on our new policy.

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Turned On

Isometric View

Isometric View

Isometric View

Isometric View

Front of the Camera / Pop-up Flash

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Function Menu

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The new Canon PowerShot SX240 HS travel-zoom narrows the gap to the market-leading Panasonic TZ series by offering a much longer zoom, more features and fixing some of the issues that afflicted its predecessor. Full 1080p HD movies make the SX240 HS a more than competent all-in-one camera for both photos and video, although the built-in GPS system of the otherwise identical and slightly more expensive SX260 HS model is worth the extra cost.

 

The new 25-500mm, 20x zoom lens offers a broad focal range that makes it possible to frame up subjects near or far in pretty much an instant, pretty amazing given the size of the SX240 HS which is only a little larger than most compacts. We're glad to see the back of the flash unit that always popped up whenever the camera SX230 was turned on, and also the inexplicable 6-step delete image process which slowed down operation. Fast 10.3fps burst shooting at full 12 megapixel resolution is another big improvement offered by the SX240 HS.

 

Image quality is on a par with the previous SX230, that is to say very good. The employment of a back-illuminated sensor helps the SX240 to perform well in low light, with a usable ISO range of 100-800 and even the higher settings proving adequate for web use and smaller prints. The inclusion of full manual controls makes the SX240 HS as well suited to more experienced users looking for a compact alternative to their DSLR as it is the beginner, although as you'd perhaps expect there is no raw format support to sweeten the deal further.

 

Despite looking outwardly similar to its predecessor, the PowerShot SX240 HS represents a big step forward for Canon's travel-zoom cameras and is a real challenger to Panasonic's TZ30 and TZ25 models. Anyone looking for a pocket camera that can shoot high quality stills and video both near and far should seriously consider the exciting new Canon PowerShot SX240 HS.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4
Value for money	4

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Reviews of the Canon PowerShot SX240 HS from around the web.

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