The Canon SX20IS - good enough for profesional shooting or not?

[robersml]

Hello guys and gals, I am very new to the photography world and I have a couple of questions. I recently bought the Canon SX20IS, which has a 20x optical zoom, 1/3200 shutter speed, and an ISO level of 6400 if I choose, as well as many other options and features.

So my question is, is this camera good enough for professional photography?

I'm wondering because I wanted a camera that had a very nice zoom on it because I knew I would never be extremely close to sports figures (at football, baseball, basketball games) and wanted a 20x zoom, but I also wanted an SLR which would undoubtedly enable me to achieve the kind of photo quality professionals have. However, I cannot afford a 20x zoom SLR lens (if they even make them), so I bought the SX20IS.

Basically, how well can you shoot sports games with this kind of camera? and ...

Is this camera suitable for up-close photography of couples and stationary objects?

[BradM]

The camera is certainly capable of taking nice images however for sports you will probably find the autofocus and shutter lag just can't keep up with the action. Not to mention that in lower light situations that using ISO levels above 800 probably will result in an unacceptable amount of noise.

For portraits you will be limited in some effects that you may wish to achieve like a smooth out of focus background. It is possible but with this type of camera you are limited to getting this look by posing your subjects well away from the background scene. These cameras will always have a much deeper depth of field than one can get with a slr.

These limitations are a function of the sensor size, lens type and focusing system. You certainly can get some images that you might desire but it will rarely be easy or perform as well as another choice would have been.

[bjyoder]

A good friend of mine got his image from a final four hockey game onto the front page of a major university's newspaper with an S1 IS - the first in this line of cameras. This just goes to show (again) that it's not totally the camera, it is the photographer.

That said, know that many of the images you want to capture will take a bit more work to do well (or at all!) versus an SLR.

[Photoform]

Hello guys and gals, I am very new to the photography world and I have a couple of questions. I recently bought the Canon SX20IS, which has a 20x optical zoom, 1/3200 shutter speed, and an ISO level of 6400 if I choose, as well as many other options and features.

So my question is, is this camera good enough for professional photography?

I'm wondering because I wanted a camera that had a very nice zoom on it because I knew I would never be extremely close to sports figures (at football, baseball, basketball games) and wanted a 20x zoom, but I also wanted an SLR which would undoubtedly enable me to achieve the kind of photo quality professionals have. However, I cannot afford a 20x zoom SLR lens (if they even make them), so I bought the SX20IS.

Basically, how well can you shoot sports games with this kind of camera? and ...

Is this camera suitable for up-close photography of couples and stationary objects?
Now I'm an amateur on this stuff, but... what level of professionalism are you talking about? That's pretty broad. No doubt you can take good pictures, but good is relative, and you need to figure out who you want to say "this is good" about your pictures.

Also, if you're interested in professional sports photography, look at a professional sport photographer. Do any of them use that camera? Why or why not? Again, is a high level of professional pictures your immediate goal? Or are you aiming for something else?