Canon SX1 IS Performance

Above average performance overall.

Better than average times for a long-zoom here. Buffer clearing was fairly fast and consistent, no matter the image quality mode.

Mode switching times are on the slow side of average.

Shutter response is about average at wide-angle, and faster than average at telephoto for a long-zoom, at 0.59s and 0.67s respectively. Enabling the flash nearly doubles shutter lag to 1.03s., which isn't unusual. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a lag time of 0.065 second. This is very fast, albeit not as quick as some digicams.

Shot-to-shot cycle times are good, at about 1.52 seconds for large/superfine JPEGs, 1.95 seconds for RAW and 2.02 seconds for RAW + LF JPEG, and the camera seems to capture frames indefinitely at this rate. (That is, given a fast enough memory card, it doesn't have to pause every few frames to wait for the card to catch up.) Continuous modes speeds and buffer depths are also quite good, at 3.81 frames-per-second for 14 large/superfine JPEGs. That rate drops significantly for RAW mode, at 1.59 frames-per-second for 5 RAW files, or 1.38 frames-per-second for 4 RAW+JPEG frames. Still, this is quite fast for an all-in-one digicam. (Note that the Canon SX1 IS has the trait we've observed in some other digicams from time to time, whereby the delay between the first and second shots of a continuous-mode series is longer than between subsequent shots. Times mentioned just now are overall averages for the bursts; see the table above for more detail.) Enabling tracking AF during continuous mode drops the frame rate to 1.11 frames-per-second when shooting JPEGs. The flash takes about 10.2 seconds to recycle, which is longer than average, especially for a model that uses 4 AA batteries.

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are very good.

Overall, the Canon SX1 IS performs better than most all-in-ones in terms of timing. Autofocus speed is good, and cycle-times are faster than average, giving it the ability to capture shots in most shooting situations, including sporting events. The only disappointing result was the over 10-second full-power flash recycling time, however the Canon SX1 does have a hot-shoe, so a faster, more powerful external flash can be used if needed.

Battery
Average battery life for AA alkalines, though much better runtimes with NiMH rechargeables.

The Canon SX1 IS uses four AA-type batteries for power, and ships with a set of ordinary alkaline cells. We strongly recommend you pick up a couple sets of rechargeable NiMH batteries and a good quality charger, as they'll save you many times their cost over the life of the camera.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on Canon's standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Canon SX1 IS accepts SDHC/SD/MMC memory cards, and doesn't include a card in the bundle.

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SD/SDHC memory card. (These days, 2 to 4GB is a good trade-off between cost and capacity.) You might consider larger if you plan on shooting lots of RAW images or HD video. Also, be sure to buy a Class 6 or higher speed-rated card, to avoid pauses during HD movie recording.