Just think of the Crayons you could buy with $195!
I have this camera and have been very happy with it! You won’t find a camera with this level of optical zoom at this price point. It’s awesome for getting “front row seat” photos from “I paid $20 for this ticket” seats! Also it has all the manual settings you could ever want without going pro!
A review and comparison with other compact travel zooms:
Couple annoying bits with the camera:
The flash. I’s a pop-up type. Though you can hold it down during power up.
Battery Life: Sucks. Sucks worse if you use the GPS. Buy extra batteries. I have 4 for the camera.
I own and do not recommend. Very bad battery life and heavy. Plus lens cover broke in my pocket.
Bought this camera when new, for the excellent zoom. I’ve owned two Canon cameras, and they’ve been rock-solid. This model has a lot of useful presets, but you can go manual if you need to. Straightforward operation with excellent results. Use this camera for those pics that you never are going to get with a phone camera - sometimes you just have to have a long zoom lens.
european power cord detected in the product photo, however specs state:
AC Power Adapter: CA-DC10 (not included)
Checking on it.
I think the cord goes to the charger and isn’t a power adapter. However, it has a mighty weird plug.
UPDATE: There’s also a US adapter to that cord but it’s not in the photo for some reason. That power cord goes to the charger. It’s not an AC Power Adapter.
For the love of all that is holy… avoid this camera at all costs!
Last summer I bought one for an international trip and was horrified to see the quality of images it took.
I don’t know if it is the sensor or the LCD… but without fail it was impossible to take a good picture. Indoor shots would come out looking grainy or blurry… while outdoor shots (regardless of amount of light) would look overexposed… and that despite what settings were used (auto or manual).
Twice my unit had to be sent in for work in less than a year… both times physical issues manifested… issues which they should have been able to predict before allowing people to buy this piece of crap.
What issue? The metal ring that hides the plastic lens covers (the things that retract when the lens shaft is extended) is very thin… so thin that even a small bit of pressure to it can cause it to bend in such a way that prevents the lens covers from fully opening or closing.
This separate from the fact that the visible ‘black’ plastic is just painted… under it is silver… and the visible ‘silver’ plastic is actually silver paint on black… in either case, a scratch or ding to any of the plastic reveals the opposite color… and in a rather unattractive way.
Twice this unit has had to be sent back… and the last time, it came back worse than how it went away… where the small tab which allows you to open the flash is no longer swipe-able with your fingernail.
Each time it went in, when feedback was requested I was very clear about my disgust with the quality of the camera and the service I received… and requested that someone contact me (as I also did when trying to what the delay was after sending in the camera for the first time and not hearing anything for a month)… in all three cases, my requests were either ignored… or never read.
I cannot say strongly enough how much I regret the purchase of this camera and hope that I can save even just one person from making the same mistake as I… even if they are able to do so for far less than I screwed up at (new last summer this camera cost ~$329.99).
Well, that SURE kills it for me.
I’ll also add:
I brought this camera with me to Egypt last year (Along with 4 batteries). It is an excellent travel camera. Compact, great zoom, good quality pictures.
Looking online, you can find some suggestions for settings to improve the quality of the pictures, and I suggest you use it on one of the manual settings for better control.
I’ve had no quality issues and the camera is still going strong.
But DO get extra batteries for it.
I’ve had this camera for more than a year and half, taken thousands of pictures and videos with it, and it has been amazing. There are a lot of manual controls (if one is into that) to allow one to customize shots. I really appreciate the fun features like color accent and miniaturization, as well as easily controlling contrast and flash power.
The video won’t blow you away, but it does well enough. It’s the pictures I love! What a great deal!
I have had mine for about a year. I do recommend extra batteries, 8.00. I have had many point and shoot cams from different maker’s, this one is by far the best. Pictures are clear / sharp. Movies are also very good for this type of cam. I’m more than happy with the quality of this cam.
@dehat - I’d wager a bad unit… i had the exact opposite experience with this camera. Love mine, and have had a whole range of canons, from this small point and shoot, to larger superzooms, and finally slr’s (i’ll trade up, skipping a generation with each type… so i went fromm an sx20 to an sx40, and i have this sx230, and will skip the 260, etc. My SLR is still an XTI, as i haven’t found a compelling reason to upgrade, unless i’m stepping into one of the higher end slr’s) This camera has the same CCD as the sx20 which was an excellent superzoom in it’s day. Light sensitivity was great, and daylight pictures were amazing (however, i never use it in automatic mode - so i can’t comment there… i use “P” (program) and set up my own color profile with a little more red (it tends to capture colors a little cooler, stock) and boosting the saturation and contrast exactly one notch each gave me results i was very happy with. Even before i tweaked it, the shots were much better than what you experienced, and if you look at the canon boards - the sx230 did have a higher than average failure rate 
But for what it’s worth, i do enjoy mine, and reach for it the most often, as lugging my SLR gear isn’t always an option… and even the superzoom - too bulky depending on the activity. This? it’s a pocketable digic4 canon that can reach out to almost 400mm with reasonable success (i say reasonable, because at the end of the day it IS a small camera, small lens, and tiny CCD sensor) - i wouldn’t shoot weddings or other important events with this, but vacation shots? kids sports on the weekend? random “have a camera ready” stuff? absolutely.
**edit - i turn off the gps feature altogether… but will still agree about battery life - it’s especially taxing on this camera if you’re changing your zoom a lot (a reasonable request for a camera, lol) and have continuous AF and IS enabled (autofocus, and image stabilization) - there are a lot of electronics packed into this little frame, and for reference, the same systems on the larger superzooms, with which this camera shares a lot - those cameras use a battery 4-6x the capacity.
This has not been my experience at all. I’ve taken this camera trekking in Nepal for 6 weeks where it faced extreme cold and extreme altitude, to the humid jungle. It’s been backpacking on the 93 mile Wonderland trail, and pulled out for family pics. Never has it failed, and it has always taken great pics when the conditions are good and I take the time to use it well.
I’m sorry you’ve had this experience, but it’s certainly not universal.
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About the battery life: it’s pretty average IF you take it off of GPS mode. Keeping it on GPS mode for photo tagging sucks it dry pretty quickly.
DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA!!!This is one of the worst cameras I’ve ever owned - and I’ve owned a bunch! The most annoying problem with it is that when you take pictures of a number of people lined up, the people at the two sides are stretched - almost like the lens was a fisheye. Nothing gets people more upset than having their faces widened. To add insult to injury, it’s delicate, and the plastic built-in lens cap bent from just being in my pocket and I had to use an exacto knife to pry it out of the way so it would open again. I regretted buying this camera and wish I could get my money back. Save yourself the hassle and pass on this one.
so… can anyone on staff confirm which of the Built NY cases in the side deal will fit this camera? 
I have never owned this camera but I did work at an electronic retail store for 2 years and have sold many of this and previous models. Excellent camera, pictures are amazing and good zoom for the compact size. Only downside to the camera is the awkward placement of the flash. It’s hard to get a “normal” hand placement on the camera. Besides that I would say best camera for under $200. I give my thumbs up.
Worst thing about it is the lens cover. It constantly gets bent and must be unbent to open and close. Other than that, I like it a lot!