If you’re looking for an easy-to-use, pocket-sized travel compact and your main consideration is the zoom ratio, then the Canon SX740 is a great choice. It’s also not too damaging on the old bank balance, coming in at around £350. By contrast, the other compact cameras, like the Panasonic Lumix TZ200 or the Sony RX100 VI, which tend to be marketed towards travel and family type users, are much more expensive and have a much more restricted zoom (but have a larger sensor, raw format shooting, touchscreens and so on). It’s clear that the SX740 represents a compromise – as pretty much all compact cameras do these days. Whether it’s the one you want is largely down to personal preference, but it’s certainly worth thinking about packing it in your suitcase.
40x optical zoom; Good image quality in good light; Easy to use; Well priced;
No touchscreen; Raw shooting not supported; Smaller sensor means iffy low-light performance;