Letter to ed: We had a Leica V-Lux 1 for several years while sailing the Pacific. A great camera and (we consider) great quality. Unfortunately our camera was stolen and we are in the process of replacing it.

 

Letter to ed: We had a Leica V-Lux 1 for several years while sailing the Pacific. A great camera and (we consider) great quality. Unfortunately our camera was stolen and we are in the process of replacing it.

The Canon Powershot SX1 looks like a comparable camera but we do not want to sacrifice quality for price.

It was difficult to determine from your two reviews (Leica V-Lux 1 and Canon Powershot SX1 IS), the relative quality comparison between the two cameras. We can work with the rechargeable AA batteries that do not appear to provide the same number of shots and the multi-stop focusing rather than the infinite manual focus of the Leica. But at what cost?

I also noted in your review of the SX1 that Canon are able to achieve the x20 zoom by dropping the resolution to 2 megapixels (if I understood correctly) but it was unclear when the transition occurs between 10 and 2 megapixels.

If the SX1’s photo quality is comparable to the Vlux 1 we will be happy with the SX1 given its x20 zoom and HD video capability.

Can you assist our decision making please?

Kind regards,
Ian, Western Australia

The PowerShot SX1 IS offers a greater level of functionality (more user-adjustable camera settings) than the current Leica equivalent (which is essentially a Leica-badged Panasonic camera with some firmware modifications and a slightly better software bundle). Build quality of the Canon SX series cameras is very good and the cameras are as straightforward to use as the Panasonic models – once you’ve worked out when to use the Function (Func) menu and when to use the Menu button.

To answer your specific question about the Safety Zoom feature on the SX1 IS: this setting reduces the image size in order to provide a longer zoom. Consequently, Canon can claim it ‘does not reduce image quality’. This claim holds true if you only want to view images on-screen – but not if you want to make large prints. Here’s where the transitions occur.

With the L, M1 and LW (Large/wide) image sizes, the zoom range is limited to 20x and you get the full resolution of 3648 x 2736 pixels (or 3840 x 2160 pixels for 16:9 aspect ratio).

With the M2 setting, resolution drops to 2272 x 1704 pixels but the zoom range extends to 28x.

At M3 size, resolution is at 1600 x 1200 pixels for a zoom range of 46x and at S size, you can only record at 640 x 480 pixels but you can shoot with an 80x zoom (up to 2240mm equivalent for the 4:3 aspect ratio or 2320mm for the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio.

One feature of the SX1 IS that would attract it to serious photo enthusiasts is Canon’s recent announcement that a firmware upgrade will be available next month that would add raw file capture to its capabilities. I don’t know whether you do any subsequent editing of your photos but, if you do, this is a huge advantage for this camera over other competing super-zoom models.