The Canon PowerShot SX400 IS is a budget super-zoom that combines simplicity and ease of use with a capable 30x zoom in a compact and stylish body with SLR styling but point-and-shoot proportions. Style-wise it’s a sort of half way house between a compact super-zoom like the SX700 HS and the bigger bridge models like the SX520 HS which is the next model up in Canon’s super-zoom range.

The SX400 IS takes good quality photos, has user-friendly and fun features like Live View Control, Face self-timer and filter effects including a miniature mode that can be used for movies. It’s quick to start up, can focus at close distances and has excellent stabilisation.

All of which is fine, but most of those are features you’d expect to find in any budget compact and when you look beyond them the SX400 IS doesn’t have a great deal more to offer. The shooting modes are thin on the ground with the SX400 IS’s CCD sensor and Digic 4+ processor missing out on stacking modes and the new Creative shot mode featured on other recent Canon compacts. Continuous shooting is non-existent and the battery life is poor, though it can be boosted if you’re prepared for the camera to turn itself off after a few minutes inactivity.

The SX400 IS offers very basic video features. Its 720p best quality mode falls short of what most people expect even from a budget compact these days which is good quality 1080p full HD video. That would be forgivable if the SX400 IS offerred something else, like slow motion modes or Canon’s fun Hybrid auto mode, but alas those aren’t included. Below you can read my comparison of the PowerShot SX400 IS with Nikon’s popular budget super-zoom the COOLPIX L830 before my final verdict at the bottom of the page.

Compared to Nikon COOLPIX L830

The first point of comparison for two budget super-zooms has to be the lens. And the lesson here is that small differences in focal ranges don’t translate to big differences in viewing angles. The COOLPIX L830 goes a little wider and a little closer, it’s a difference, but not the most significant difference between these two super-zooms. Likewise the COOLPIX L830 has a slightly wider aperture at the wide angle setting, but practically speaking it won’t make that much of a difference. Much more significant is the difference in size and weight, the COOLPIX L830 is bigger and heavier due mostly to using AA batteries, but also its longer zoom and articulated screen.

Both models are equipped with a 16 Megapixel sensor, the COOLPIX L830 with a CMOS sensor and the SX400 IS with a CCD. The latter’s CCD sensor performs less well into the light and with bright highlights when shooting video. Aside from that there isn’t much to choose between them in terms of image quality or noise. Though the COOLPIX L830 does better at high ISO sensitivites and offers a very passable maximum 3200 ISO sensitivity setting compared with 1600 ISO on the SX400 IS and also has a stacking HDR mode.

The COOLPIX L830’s 3 inch 921k dot articulated screen outclasses the 3 inch 230k dot fixed screen of the PowerShot SX400 IS. They’re the same size and both look good, but the COOLPIX L830’s is more detailed and can be angled up or down. The COOLPIX L830 also offers more sophisticated information overlays including a 16:9 movie area.

The Digic 4+ processor in the SX400 IS offers more sophisticated scene processing than the COOLPIX L830 and its effects filters are more versatile. But in almost every other respect the COOLPIX L830 has more to offer. It has more useful scene modes including a stacking HDR mode, panoramas, and Smart portrait mode for automatically capturing smiling faces. It also has 6.7fps full resolution continuous shooting, albeit only for a 5-frame burst, plus a raft of reduced resolution burst modes. In its favour the SX400 IS has novice-friendly Live View Control, Face self-timer and a miniature mode that can be used at one of three speeds for movie recording.

But its miniature mode is about the only thing the SX400 IS has in its favour when it comes to movies. With a Full HD 1080p25/30 mode, 1080i, 720p, iFrame encoding and three high speed modes, the COOLPIX L830 walks all over the SX400 IS when it comes to video. The best the SX400 IS can offer is 720p25/30 and VGA, most smartphones can do better than that.

Lastly, we come to price. As usual it depends when and where you shop, but at the time of writing both the COOLPIX L830 and PowerShot SX400 IS were evenly matched. That being so, unless compactness and style, both of which the SX400 IS has more of, are very high priorities for you, the Nikon COOLPIX L830 is a better equipped and more feature filled super-zoom for your money.

See my Nikon COOLPIX L830 review for more details.

Canon PowerShot SX400 IS final verdict

The Canon PowerShot SX400 IS is a camera that makes a great first impression, but the more you expect of it the less impressive it becomes. Its strengths are that it’s small, light and stylish, uncomplicated, inexpensive, and simple to use. If those are your main priorities it’s a winner.

But there are plenty of other models out there that have more to offer, not least the Nikon COOLPIX L830, though it’s a bigger and heavier model. If you like the SX400 IS styling a better option might be the older SX510 HS; with the same 30x zoom range, a higher resolution LCD screen, a mode dial with PASM modes, 1080p HD movies and built-in Wifi, it could prove to be a real bargain while still available.

Good points
30x optical stabilised zoom.
Quick startup.
Close focus macro down to 0cm.
Compact, lightweight, and stylish.

Bad points
No Creative Shot mode.
Slow 0.8fps continuous shooting.
No 1080p full HD video.
No Hybrid auto or slomo video modes.
Poor battery life.
No Wifi.