Canon PowerShot SX260 HS 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Image Stabilized Zoom 25mm Wide-Angle Optical Lens and 1080p HD Video (Black)

We travel often, and I am a serious-amateur photographer, taking many photos on every trip, both in the US and in Europe. One of my criteria is that the camera must be one I can carry in my pants or jacket pocket so it's always ready, but still high quality enough to take excellent photos and videos, be versatile, and have a processor that allows me to take good shots without a flash in places such as museums, cathedrals, castles, and other interior sites. Most of cameras have been Canons, and they have performed well.Based on reviews in camera mags, I bought the Canon SX260 this fall, as I thought its amazing 20x optical zoom, new processor, stabilizer, and wide angle lens would make it ideal for travel photos. At only $270 from Amazon, it was well below the big SLRs and other cameras I saw advertised, but would still be in-the-pocket ready.We have just returned from a two-week tour of Scotland- lots of lakes (lochs), the highlands, historic sites - a real test for any camera. In every respect, the Canon 260 lived up to its claims, and, in my opinion, may be the best camera for travelers on the market.The 20x zoom, over and over, allowed my to get shots of scenery, people, castle and cathedral interiors that would have been impossible before. The amazing processor "gathered" light in even very dim places,so I never had to use a flash once; I turned in off on the first day of the tour and never needed it for two weeks! And - a small but appreciated detail -- in every Canon before, if you turned the flash off for a shot, the next time you turned on the camera, it defaulted to flash on, making you turn it off over and over. With the 260, if you turn it off, it stays off until you change it - a big time saver. I was even able to take night shots of the lights and harbor at Oban- no flash, handheld and stabilized. The improved video controls on the back make that job easier as well.Although a bit larger by about 1/4" and a bit heavier by about 1 1/2oz, it is still easily an in-the-pocket, ready to go camera for any trip or occasion.In short, I 100% recommend this new Canon, for travel or otherwise,I

I am stunned that this camera has such high ranking feedback. I assume the picture quality is very good (I've yet to download and see my photos.) The issue is--TAKING THE PHOTOS! Good luck. There's multiple huge issues: The mechanical FLASH is placed exactly where most people hold the camera with their left hand. The shutter release button is right next to the Power on/off switch on the right side top of the camera. AGAIN? After All These Years!? How long have digital cameras been around now? I remember having this crazy-making issue (accidentally shutting the camera off rather than snapping the photo) on cameras years and years ago. After inadvertenly shutting the camera off, now you have the ten second restart cycle and the picture is gone. WHY HAS CANON NOT LEARNED THIS? (Yes, the power button is shaped differently. So what? When taking a picture, one's left and right brain are most likely occupied with the subject and the picture.) I'll tell you why the on/off button is next to the shutter--because the engineers put it there and do not care about what the consumers/users want or need. It's a classic example of "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity"--This is a book written over ten years ago and available here on Amazon. BTW, I am an engineer with an MSEE---I know when I see tech decisions that totally ignore common street smarts. (I owned a Ford Explorer where the change holder was immediately next to the CD player cartridge door. Coins would fall into the player and destroy it. Ford's solution---they placed a sticker on the CD player which read: DO NOT DROP COINS INTO THE CD PLAYER--making it YOUR PROBLEM.) 'pretty bad, but it really gets worse. The brilliant, crack engineering team put the flash unit (which mechanically rises out of the camera) on the exact opposite (top left) side of the camera, where most everybody (symmetrically) holds the camera. Your right hand/finger are on the right at the shutter/power button, and your left hand/finger are now on the left side, covering the flash unit. SHAME ON YOU! So what happens? You're trying to get a picture off---you're lucky enough not to shut the camera off with the power button, then the flash struggles to pop up through your finger...then it jams. Not only is the picture lost---but it gets user-unfriendly WORSE from here. The camera's software now goes into an error mode. The flash can no longer be used with the camera. An ERROR MESSAGE comes up on the screen telling you that you must restart the camera before the FLASH can be used again. WOW!! I'm writing this from the floor. Really? Imagine if airline software or even automobile software was written this way. You'd have to pull off the road and restart the car because you didn't get your seatbelt on right. WHY can't the software itself reboot without your attention? BTW: Canon's solution to this: MAKE IT YOUR PROBLEM: In the instruction manual they tell you how you should hold the camera---palm down under the bottom. Really? Good thing Canon does not (re)design forks or knives. We'd be holding them in some foreign way. So now, again, you are in a power-recycle mode trying to get a picture taken. FRUSTRATING frustrating FRuStRaTiNg! We want to take pictures of our ACTIVE five year old. The reason I bought this specific camera after hours of research was because its response time was supposedly quick. We completely miss the shots with all this nonsense---and guess what? Its response time is miserable anyway---pathetic---even if you manage to get your fingers in all of the right places. Lastly (in the physically ridiculous department) the battery goes in MORE EASILY backwards. One needs to struggle to get it in correctly. It's easier to "plop" it in backwards. You only then know it's backwards because it will not seat the remaining 5% of the way down. YIKES again! I am so disappointed with this design-disaster. I believe the optical/electronic engineers did their job, but the interface engineers were out to lunch. Shameful---after years and years of people using cameras, they ignore how people use cameras and the booby traps that they so easily fall into. I want to cry or smack a designer after all of the time and trouble I put into choosing this camera FOR MY WIFE for Christmas. Rather than showing her how easy it is to use, I have to show her the many things to avoid, watch out for, and how to RECOVER from the problem once engaged. Sad.