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When a company has unlocked a successful
formula for their product, they seldom deviate from it. Canon’s history
with camera making is a testament of that very fact. They have churned
out great cameras in every segment and the travel zoom is no exception.
The SX260 HS is Canon’s top-end travel zoom camera
that promises to be an excellent companion on every trip you make.
Well, we’re not that easily convinced to we put this little hunk of
gorgeous metal to the test.
The first thing you notice about the SX260 HS is its svelte matte finish which lends it a brushed metal feel. The unit we received was slate grey with slight color variations being used for the buttons and text. The metal ring around the zoom lens is brushed metal and blends rather well into the body’s color scheme. On the front, there is a nice, smooth rubber slab that juts out of the body, serving as a means of enhancing the grip of your shooting hand on the camera.
The back of the camera features the standard jog dial that also functions as a controller for various options (flash exposure, exposure compensation, focus modes and delete). Interestingly, Canon has moved the mode dial from the top onto the back (in a move to slim down the camera as a whole). The buttons on the back feel like they’re made from the same material as the body itself and there is no wobbling or wiggling, giving them a very well finished look and feel. The mode dial is well constructed, with just enough resistance to not move in case you accidentally knock into it. We liked how it makes a clicking sound when it switches modes, as a confirmation that the dial is in the correct position.
The bottom of the camera is pretty straightforward with a battery flap that covers the battery and SD card slots, a standard 1/4” tripod mount. The battery door on the SX260 HS is quite something to talk of. IT’s nothing special in terms of the engineering, but the quality is excellent. It locks into place quite well, and requires more than average effort to open, effectively eliminating any accidental openings of the door.
The top of the camera just features a standard shutter button with the zoom mechanism on the right edge and the mechanical pop-up flash on the far left edge. Lately, most camera makers have been switching the position of the on camera flash to the far left (from the original center) and we’ve got some beef with it. We often noticed that every time the camera had to pop the flash up for a shot, our finger would obstruct it, causing an uncomfortable sound. OF course, this is a problem only for those who are used to holding their cameras with both hands (which is like 98% of the camera user population according to a survey we just made up for this review). However, as we used the SX260 HS more and more, we noticed how comfortable and ergonomic it was for one handed use. Besides, we don’t like using flash anyway, so we kept it turned off for the most part.
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