Canon Powershot SX700HS review

Once again, Canon has produced an incredibly capable travel camera. With a market leading 30x optical zoom, this camera is definitely likely to appeal to those looking for something flexible to take on holiday with them.

As we've pretty much come to expect from Canon, colours are bright and punchy, while detail is very well resolved, especially for a camera with a sensor of this size.

That 30x optical zoom gives you a huge amount of flexibility, but the fact that you can boost it to an even further reach using the pretty well performing digital zoom also makes it an appealing prospect for those that need it. Optical Image Stabilisation does a great job here, both in terms of helping to frame a shot and also to produce blur free shots. The Frame Assist button is also a very handy feature when you're trying to track a subject which is far away.

While it's a shame that the camera doesn't have a touchscreen, there's still a decent array of buttons which make using the camera pretty easy. There's no viewfinder, but it's pretty unusual to find one on a camera such as this – if you do particularly want one though, you'd do well to look at the Panasonic TZ60.

On the other hand, it's nice to see Canon embracing Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity for a camera such as this. While it's a shame that it's not a bit more advanced, the fact that you can remote control the camera is a bonus, especially when you want to take group shots and similar shots.

Enthusiast photographers, perhaps those who own a DSLR, should appreciate the manual control afforded by the SX700HS – especially if you're a photographer looking for something small and flexible to take on your travels, or use as an every day pocket camera. It's a shame that you can't shoot in raw format though, as you can with the Panasonic TZ60.

It's nice to be able to use creative fun modes, such as Hybrid Auto, or Creative Shot mode, but I wish you could have a little more control over some of those features – for instance by controlling which creative filters to add if want to in Creative Mode, as well as the fun random choices it decides for you.

We liked

The best thing about this camera, as you'd expect it to be, is the 30x optical zoom functionality. It shoots great, crisp images at either end of the telephoto zoom, and optical image stabilisation does a fantastic job of keeping shots blur free. It's also nice to see that the digital zoom is also very usable, especially if you're just sharing online. Low light shooting is also excellent, thanks to the addition of the Digic 6 processor.

We disliked

Thankfully, there's not too much to dislike about the SX700HS, it's more a case of a little niggle here and there which stop it from being the perfect travel camera. I'd like to be able to shoot in raw format for a bit of added flexibility, especially while shooting with film simulation and digital filters activated. I also think it's a shame that you can't set the autofocus point to a specific point you want – having to focus and recompose is something I would normally associate with cheaper, less advanced compacts.

Final verdict

If you're after a reliable camera to take on your travels, and are tempted in by a huge zoom range, then you can't go far wrong with the Canon PowerShot SX700HS. It's a good step up from the SX280 in terms of image quality, with particularly impressive performance when shooting in low light, high sensitivity situations.

There's a couple of issues which stop it being better though – such as not being able to set the autofocus point, or the lack of raw format shooting. Overall though, a very competent camera which shouldn't leave you disappointed. It's also worth noting that, as it stands, it's reasonably cheaper than its closest competitors from Sony and Panasonic.