Canon PowerShot SX60 HS Digital Camera

• NB-10L Lithium-Ion Battery Pack
• CB-2LC Charger for NB-10L Lithium-Ion Battery Pack
• NS-DC11 Neck Strap
• Lens Cap with Strap
• Limited 1-Year Warranty

Ease of Use

Externally the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS looks like most other high-end ultrazoom bridge cameras, which is to say it resembles a small DSLR. But considering it packs what’s currently the biggest zoom range in the business, the camera isn’t particularly large at 127.6 x 92.6 x 114.3mm, although its 650g ready-to-shoot weight is on the chubby side. This beefiness does translate into solid build quality though, with a rugged plastic casing that’s free from flex or squeaks, to the tactile rubber coating on the finger and thumb grips.

Front of the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

Considering the SX60 HS is a feature-packed camera, its control layout is fairly simple and logical. Some buttons are more unusual though, like those positioned on the lens barrel. The upper button activates Canon’s Zoom Framing Assist function. When you’re zoomed in to the max, it only takes a tiny twitch of the camera to send a distant subject flying out of frame. Finding it again can be frustrating, but by pressing and holding the Zoom Framing Assist button, the camera automatically zooms out but leaves an outline of the original frame size on screen. Position the outline around your subject, release the button and the camera automatically zooms back in. The lower button on the lens barrel then helps prevent you losing track of your subject again, as pressing it enhances the camera’s image stabilisation to further iron out camera shake. The effect is minimal though, however the Zoom Framing Assist feature is handy and effective.

Rear of the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

Move to the back panel and we find a couple more non-standard controls. Beneath the video record button is a control for selecting and locking the focus point, and further down sits the camera’s Wi-Fi link button. Initial set-up can be a faff, requiring you to manually connect to the camera’s wireless hotspot, but if you’ve got an NFC-equipped mobile device, you can make the connection by simply tapping it against the camera. However you connect though, Canon’s CameraWindow mobile device app lets you wirelessly transfer images to a smartphone, tablet or computer, as well as print to a PictBridge-compatible printer. The app also allows you to remotely control the camera, which although initially impresses with minimal lag, soon loses much appeal as you can’t remotely view or set an autofocus point.

Tilting LCD Screen

Above the Wi-Fi button sits the usual directional dial pad that doubles as controls for burst shooting, flash, macro focus and display options. The latter allows you to show histograms and other information overlays in playback mode, but it also switches between the LCD and electronic viewfinder when shooting. Alternatively you can activate the EVF by flipping the movable LCD screen into its closed position.  It’s a pity the camera doesn’t have an automatic eye-detection system to switch between the two though.

Thankfully the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS's LCD and EVF themselves are both good quality and easy to use. Unfortunately the 922k-dot LCD screen isn’t touch-sensitive, but it does have great viewing angles which translate to accurate colour and contrast reproduction, regardless of your angle of view. The screen also benefits from being a fold-out unit, making it easy to compose high and low angle shots, as well as a good old selfie. Screen brightness is also high enough to be usable under direct sunlight, but if things get too bright, the electronic viewfinder is a useful alternative. Its 922k-dot resolution is crisp, but be prepared to squint at the small physical size of the EFF, which isn’t helped by a seemingly pointless black border around the image preview area.

Top of the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

On top of the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS sits a proper hotshoe mount, should you wish to connect a separate flashgun or remote flash triggering device. The camera’s built-in flash has to be manually opened by pulling it upward, rather than using a typical button release. Next to the flash there’s a useful customisable shortcut button which can be configured to operate one of various shooting options like white balance or exposure metering. It’s a shame this control is located directly alongside the power button though, as the two can be easily confused until you’re familiar with the camera.

You also get two dials on top of the SX60 HS. One is a control dial just like you’d find on a Canon DSLR, which makes it far easier to adjust common settings like exposure compensation than fiddling with buttons. The main mode dial sits behind this and provides instant selection of the camera’s auto, program auto, aperture and shutter priority modes, as well as a fully manual option.

Front of the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

Another mode worth mentioning is Hybrid Auto, which automatically captures a couple of seconds of video with each still and compiles everything into a video digest of your day. The fun continues in Creative shot mode, where six separate images are captured with one press of the shutter release, each being automatically given a funky crop and filter according to one of five different styles. Then if you switch to the Creative Filters mode, a further eight individual filter effects can be applied as you shoot. With so many shooting options to choose from, remembering your preferred settings can be tricky, but thankfully the C1 and C2 modes allow you to save two custom setups for quick recall. The only mode that’s missing from the SX60 HS is an automatic panorama setting.

When it comes to shooting the Canon PowerShot SX60 HS, the camera will turn on and fire a shot in a spritely 1.8 seconds. Focussing in good light is almost instantaneous, but dimmer conditions slow things to a slightly sluggish 1.5 - 2 seconds. Zooming in to long focal lengths can also cause some focus hunting, and the system is sometimes unreliable in these situations, too. Exposure metering is absolutely dependable though and isn’t fazed by high-contrast scenes.

Pixels Actual: 16.8 Megapixel Effective: 16.1 Megapixel Sensor 1/2.3" CMOS Bit Depth 12-bit File Formats Still Images: JPEG, RAW Movies: MP4 Max Resolution 16 MP: 4608 x 3456 Aspect Ratio 1:1, 3:2, 4:3, 4:5, 16:9 Image Stabilization Optical Optics Lens EFL: 3.8-247mm (35 mm equivalent: 21-1365mm) Aperture: f/3.4 (W) - 6.5 (T) Filter Thread None Zoom Optical: 65x Focus Range Wide: 0" (0.00 cm) - Infinity Telephoto: 5.9' (1.80 m) - Infinity Macro: 0" (0.00 cm) - 1.6' (0.49 m) Exposure Control ISO Sensitivity Auto, 100-3200 (High Sensitivity Mode: 100-6400) Shutter 1 - 1/2000 second 15 - 1/2000 second in  Shutter Priority Mode 15 - 1/2000 second in  Manual Mode Exposure Metering Center-weighted, Evaluative, Spot Exposure Modes Modes: Aperture Priority, Auto, C1, C2, Manual, Program, Scene Modes, Shutter Priority White Balance Modes Auto, Cloudy, Custom 1, Custom 2, Daylight, Flash, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Multi-Area White Balance, Tungsten, White Balance Adjustment Burst Rate Up to 6.4 fps Self Timer 10 Sec, 2 Sec Flash Flash Modes Auto Flash On Off Slow Sync Built-in Flash Yes Maximum Effective Flash Range Wide: 1.6 - 18' (0.49 - 5.49 m) Telephoto: 5.9 - 9.8' (1.80 - 2.99 m) External Flash Connection Hot Shoe Memory Built-in Memory None Memory Card Type SD SDHC SDXC Recording Video Recording Yes Resolution 1920 x 1080: 60 fps Video Video Clip Length Up to 29 Min 59 Sec Audio Recording Built-in Mic: With Video Optional External Mic: With Video Viewfinder/Display Viewfinder Type Electronic Viewfinder Coverage 100% Screen 3.0" LCD Tilt (922,000 pixels) Screen Coverage 100% Connectivity/System Requirements Connectivity 1/8" Microphone, AV Output, HDMI C (Mini), USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Yes built-in Environmental Operating/Storage Temperature Operating 32 to 104°F (0 to 40°C) Humidity: 10 - 90% Waterproofing None Power Battery 1x NB-10L Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery Pack, 7.4 VDC, 920 mAh AC Power Adapter ACK-DC80 (Optional) Physical Dimensions (WxHxD) 5.0 x 3.6 x 4.5" / 12.7 x 9.1 x 11.4 cm Weight 22.9 oz / 649 g Packaging Info Package Weight 2.55 lb Box Dimensions (LxWxH) 7.795 x 5.906 x 5.118"