Canon PowerShot SX10 IS review

The Canon's 20x zoom matches the Olympus SP-570 (and Casio's FH20) as the largest ever built into a digital camera.

At 700g with four AA batteries inserted, it's also the heaviest camera here. No memory is supplied, so you'll need to order an SDHC card.

The bulbous curves fit snugly in the hand, and the controls are accessible and friendly. A wheel around the navigation pad makes for quick exposure adjustments. The 2.5 inch screen is hinged for shooting at awkward angles, and there's a hot shoe for an external flash. Performance was fast: at just two seconds to power up and shoot, the SX10 IS was the quickest here, and the continuous mode delivered1.4 frames per second.

Video is recorded in H.264 format, which is highly efficient and keeps file sizes down. Sound quality from the stereo mic was excellent, and video footage looked great too, though it's not HD.

Big zooms often bring problems with focus, but despite the Canon's record breaking zoom range it produced consistently sharp images. Only the Panasonic bettered it, with even sharper detail in the corners at wide angle. The SX10's image stabilisation was also incredibly reliable, keeping full zoom shots sharp at 1/30 second.

The Canon and Panasonic tussled for pole position in terms of noise levels. In bright conditions both performed superbly, but the Canon's shots were slightly smoother. In lower light, the Panasonic crept ahead at the higher ISO 400 sensitivity, but the Canon regained the advantage in very low light at ISO 1600. Both cameras' automatic settings proved extremely reliable in a wide range of scenes, but we had to select Hi ISO to get the best results from the Canon in low light.

It's tough choosing between these two cameras. The Canon's articulated screen is a big advantage, but the Panasonic's superior video, RAW capture, Li-ion battery and lower weight are compelling.