Canon SX720 HS

Canon SX720 HS is Canon's Small Sensor Superzoom digital camera initially revealed on February of 2016. It comes with a 20.3 MegaPixel, BSI-CMOS 1/2.3" sized sensor and has a full resolution of 5184 x 3888.

Canon introduced this model in an effort to replace the earlier Canon SX710 HS (Read Full Comparison) and then introduced the updated Canon SX730 HS (Read Full Comparison) in order to update this model.

The SX720 HS comes in at #27 out of 244 in Small Sensor Superzoom cameras and over-all #454 out of 1465 for digital cameras in our database. Please try out our Advanced camera search to see camera ratings based on your customized requirements.

Below is a chart of specific factors used in the rating system.

The Canon SX720 HS is part of a family of digital cameras. You can see the full range underneath.

You can see the SX720 HS from different angles in the gallery underneath.

Below is a shortlist of good and bad points of the Canon SX720 HS based on factors which are usually regarded as useful in a digital camera.

The Canon SX720 HS features the DIGIC 6 chip. The sensor spec in the Canon SX720 HS is 6.17mm x 4.55mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor has the ability to capture 5184 x 3888 pixels at aspect ratios of 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9. The camera has got Image Stabilization (Optical). Sensor stabilization is preferable than digital stabilization as the latter may produce cropping.

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The BSI-CMOS sensor boasts 20.3 megapixels and gives a standard ISO range of 80 - 3200. Unfortunately, RAW format is not supported which means that the user has less room to maneuver in post.

The graphic underneath displays the SX720 HS's sensor dimensions compared to other popular sizes. The SX720 HS sensor comes with a crop factor of 5.8 and is pointed out in green.

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To get an understanding of different aspect ratios, you should refer to the graphic below.

Canon SX720 HS weighs in at 0.60 lbs (270 grams / 9.52 ounces) and the sizing of the camera is 110mm x 64mm x 36mm (4.3" x 2.5" x 1.4"). The weight of average Small Sensor Superzoom camera is 387 grams so the Canon SX720 HS is less heavy when compared with various rivals.

Photography Glossary

Underneath is a picture of the Canon SX720 HS next to a soda to help you have a sense of its scale.

The top view under will highlight the button layout on the SX720 HS.

The SX720 HS offers a fixed lens providing a focal range of 24-960mm giving it a 40.0 x zoom which is huge and is going to allow you to zoom all the way in.

At the widest 24mm, the lens provides an aperture of f3.3 which is somewhat slow and not great in low light occasions and you will likely find it hard to capture good bokeh. You might also need to raise the ISO which results in noisy photos. At the tele end, 960mm is fantastic zoom and comes with f6.9 which is really slow and you will need to apply slower shutter speeds.

The SX720 HS has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• Wireless Yes
• NFC Yes
• HDMI Yes

Digital cameras which have NFC and Bluetooth compatibility can be used wirelessly with smartphones. You will be able to transfer images and oftentimes alter settings with no need to connect straight to the camera.

Certain applications even allow a Liveview and release the shutter in case you are not near the camera. If the camera includes a HDMI out, it can be hooked up to an external monitor. Almost all cameras enable you to recharge the battery pack with the USB port.

The highest possible video resolution in the Canon SX720 HS is 1920 x 1080 and it can capture in MPEG-4 and H.264 file format. 1080p resolution will provide a decent balance in video quality and file sizes but 1080p is not going to leave you with much room to downsample. The camera does not offer a mic and headphone jack which means you have got no control over your audio. It is perhaps best to purchase another model in case you need better audio in your videos.

Canon SX720 HS does not include environment sealing so wet conditions could affect the camera.

The Canon SX720 HS comes with a 3 inch fixed screen boasting a resolution of 922 thousand dots.

Please note that the screen offers no touch support.

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The View Finder specifications regarding Canon SX720 HS are as follows:

• ViewFinder None

In those sunny outdoor situations which make the camera displays washed out and tricky to view, viewfinders can be pretty helpful.

Canon SX720 HS has the ability to shoot continuously at 5.9 frames per second. The highest shutter speed is 1/3200s.

Canon SX720 HS has got only in-built flash with no external flash support.

Canon SX720 HS has got just Contrast Detect Auto Focus and is missing Phase Detect Auto Focus. Phase Detection focusing is a lot more snappier & accurate when compared with Contrast Detect focusing. The camera comes with Face detection making it helpful for taking portraits of people.

The Sensor comes with 9 focus points to choose from. It also features Tracking Auto Focus for moving things. Canon SX720 HS comes with manual focus when needed in low light or you want more accurate control on focus.

The battery life (NB-13L) for the Canon SX720 HS is built to last for 250 clicks with respect to the CIPA measurements making it less compared to its rivals. The average Small Sensor Superzoom camera battery life is 316. Fujifilm HS35EXR offers the best (600) battery life in this category of cameras.

Listed below is a number of Small Sensor Superzoom cameras which have the best battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Fujifilm HS35EXR
SX720 HS vs Fujifilm HS35EXR600 yesnono

Nikon B500
SX720 HS vs B500600 nonoyes

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Nikon L840
SX720 HS vs L840590 noyesno

Panasonic FZ200
SX720 HS vs FZ200540 yesnono

Leica V-Lux 4
SX720 HS vs V-Lux 4540 yesnono

The following graph displays a rundown of the Canon SX720 HS for varying types of photography. To check out more, visit the specific paragraph underneath.

The Canon SX720 HS gets a rating of 48 which is average, and means the camera is relatively suited to use for portrait photography. Shooting portraits favors greatly towards sensor size, RAW support and potential to use external lighting.

With a nice rating of 62, the Canon SX720 HS is a fine fit to use in street photography. A decent street photography camera features a perfect balance of picture quality and portability.

A decent sports photography points total of 48 suggests the Canon SX720 HS is reasonably suitable for shooting sports. A camera needs to have excellent tracking plus fast continuous shooting for sports photography.

Size is extremely crucial in buying a camera for travel. All round, the Canon SX720 HS gets a very good 67 for a travel camera which makes it a very decent option to take with you on your journeys.

When you're looking to choose a camera for landscape photographs, the biggest aspect is going to be image quality. The Canon SX720 HS at it's reasonable rating of 50 for a landscape camera is relatively acceptable in the current market.

A camera for vlogging should really come with a moving screen, microphone port and ideally IBIS. Taking everything into account, the Canon SX720 HS is not suitable for vlogging as it comes to a subpar rating of 35.

If you are interested in alternatives to the SX720 HS, here is a number of the highest scored cameras which fall under the category of Small Sensor Superzoom.

The line chart down below provides you a bird's eye view of the SX720 HS versus it's top ranked competitors suggested above.

Here are a handful of other cameras you might take into account as alternate options. To check out a extensive comparison, simply click the "compare" link.