Canon PowerShot SX430

The PowerShot SX430 is a bridge camera released in 2016. Its 104 x 69 x 85 mm body and 325 g weight keep it close to compact-camera proportions.

The lens is fixed, so there is no system to buy into and nothing to swap. Point, frame on the screen and shoot is the whole workflow, and a CCD sensor handles the image capture.

There is no viewfinder, so all framing happens on the 3-inch screen. That arrangement suits anyone who wants a simple, light camera for holidays and everyday photographs.

The 20-megapixel sensor is a small 1/2.3-inch CCD, a chip design from an earlier era of compacts. Pixels are plentiful for everyday prints and web sharing. Sensitivity runs from ISO 100 to ISO 1600, and there are no higher settings when light falls.

The maximum shutter speed is 1/4000. The camera lists burst shooting at up to 25 fps, and that figure is a maximum rather than a promise of sustained speed.

Autofocus relies on a single point, so the frame offers one focusing position rather than a spread of points across it. Composition and focus placement have to work around that single spot.

Image stabilisation counteracts camera shake, which helps in dim rooms and during long handheld exposures. It does nothing to freeze a moving subject, so shutter speed still matters there. And because the lens is fixed, the shooting envelope you buy is the one you keep.

Video is supported, topping out at Standard HD resolution. The camera's listed maximum video frame rate is 30 fps, and these are separate maximums rather than one combined recording mode. Those limits point the camera at casual, everyday clips of family and travel rather than detailed cinematic work.

Recordings save as MPEG-4 or MOV files, giving two format options for clips.

There is no built-in timelapse mode, so interval work means triggering frames yourself and assembling them in software afterwards.

The flip screen makes it easier to record with the camera held low or overhead, and stabilisation reduces the shake that handheld clips usually pick up. Moving subjects will still blur without a fast shutter, since stabilisation only counteracts your own movement.

Framing and menu work happen on a 3-inch TFT screen with 230,000 dots. That is the display's own resolution, which shapes what you can see on the screen rather than what the camera records.

The screen flips out, which helps at waist level or above a crowd, and live view means what you see on it matches the capture. There is no touch input, so all settings run through the physical buttons.

A built-in flash adds light for indoor snapshots. Since there is no support for an external flash, it is the only artificial light the camera offers.

Wireless connectivity covers both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The camera has no GPS and no weather sealing, so there is no built-in location tagging and it needs protecting from rain and dust.

Memory cards come from the SD family, with SD, SDHC and SDXC all supported, spanning a range of card capacities. There is a single slot, so choose a card size that covers the whole shoot; no second card is recording a copy as you go.

The NB-11LH battery carries a rating of 195 shots per charge. A rating like this is not a promise of real-world endurance, since shot counts depend on how the camera is used.

There is no USB charging, so the battery cannot be refilled from a cable in the field. A charged spare is worth keeping in the bag for days away from a socket.