Image quality is compromised

Author's Rating:

Pros: Portability
Manual mode
Large screen
IS
Long reach lens
Logical Controls  
Startup time, shutter lag ok

Cons: Picture quality
no RAW 
Flash always pops up 
Slow Focus 
flimsy USB door

The Bottom Line: 
Tried to be too much of everything but needs RAW mode or a better sensor to make it all work.  Better to have fewer pixels with higher fidelity.

Author's Review
As an enthusiastic amateur photographer I already had a DSLR but I wanted a smaller cam for candid and convenient travel shooting.  Had a long hard look at the Canon G10 and I loved all the features, but it was just too chunky to carry with convenience.   If I did not already have a DSLR I may have chosen the G10.  Perhaps I should have anyway.

If either the picture quality was more clear or it had RAW mode capture, then it would be a much better camera.  I find I am doing a lot of heavy-handed and time consuming editing to my pics to get them up to the level of quality of my old 6MP DSLR.  Ths SX200IS has 12MP - but they are quite noisy pixels and so without a RAW mode the net result is not very good.  Further, although the Lens has a fantastic reach...I contend that there must have been quite a few optical compromises in order to have it telescope from such a thin  camera.

If you just want a "happy-snaps" camera, there are a lot less expensive choices than this. If you are looking for excellent image quality in the same price range, and can live with a bit more weight and chunky-ness, then the G10 is a much better choice.