The Canon PowerShot SX540 HS is a very basic bridge camera with a superzoom lens. It's decently comfortable to use, quite lightweight, and delivers impressive overall stabilization performance. That said, it has a very limited feature set, as you can't use it to shoot RAW images, doesn't have 4k video recording capability, and offers limited FHD video recording features. Autofocus tracking performance is poor in both video and still photography too. It also lacks a viewfinder and has a relatively low-resolution screen that isn't touch-sensitive.
Our Verdict
The Canon PowerShot SX540 HS is middling for travel photography. It's lightweight and comfortable to use, though it isn't nearly small enough to fit into a pocket or a small bag. The lens' enormous focal range should allow you to frame both wide-angle shots as well as tight zooms on far-away subjects. Unfortunately, its autofocus system struggles with tracking moving subjects, and depending on your choice of settings, its battery life might not be sufficient for long shooting sessions. Image quality degrades noticeably at higher ISO levels, while its built-in lens has a narrow maximum aperture, so it isn't a very good fit for low-light photography. The lens' focal length also can't be adjusted in fine increments, which could be an issue if you're trying to frame a scene without moving around too much.
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Lightweight construction.
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Extremely wide focal range.
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Mediocre build quality.
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Poor autofocus performance.
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Incapable of shooting in RAW.
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Fixed low-resolution screen isn't very sharp.
The Canon PowerShot SX540 HS is a poor choice for landscape photography. It's fairly lightweight and decently comfortable to use if a little bulky. Its lens' wide minimum focal length should make it easy to frame landscape shots too. Unfortunately, its lack of a viewfinder and fixed screen can make it hard to compose your shots. It also can't shoot in RAW, which is a significant omission if you plan on editing your shots. Image quality is okay for its class, though it's best suited to shooting in the daytime. It isn't advertised as weather-sealed and has a plastic body that scratches rather easily.
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Excellent overall stabilization performance.
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Lightweight construction.
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Extremely wide focal range.
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Mediocre build quality.
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Incapable of shooting in RAW.
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Fixed low-resolution screen isn't very sharp.
The Canon PowerShot SX540 HS isn't bad for sports and wildlife photography, especially for more casual use. Its maximum full frame-equivalent focal length of 1200mm allows you to snap fairly clear photos of far-away subjects. Its maximum continuous shooting speed of 8 fps is also relatively fast, and it clears its buffer almost instantaneously. It also does a great job smoothing out camera shake, which is handy if you're shooting at a fairly extended focal length. However, its autofocus system struggles to maintain focus on moving subjects, and while its tracking performance does improve if you set the camera to 'Sports' mode, you lose the ability to change your exposure settings. In addition, it feels cheaply built, though it is comfortable to hold for the most part.
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Excellent overall stabilization performance.
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Extremely wide focal range.
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Fast buffer clearing time.
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Mediocre build quality.
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Poor autofocus performance.
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Incapable of shooting in RAW.
The Canon SX540 HS doesn't shoot in RAW format.
The Canon PowerShot SX540 HS isn't intended for vlogging. You can't see its fixed screen when the camera is pointed at you. In addition, while the camera is lightweight, its bulky design can make it a little impractical to carry around for extended periods. Its battery life is also very short, though this can vary depending on your choice of settings and usage habits. It's incapable of shooting 4k video, and video quality in FHD is very soft and noisy, even in well-lit environments. Thankfully, it does an incredible job of smoothing out camera shake when shooting handheld video.
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Excellent overall stabilization performance.
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Lightweight construction.
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Poor autofocus performance.
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Terrible FHD video quality.
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No 4k shooting capability.
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Fixed low-resolution screen isn't very sharp.
The Canon PowerShot SX540 HS isn't intended for studio video. FHD video quality is terrible, and it can't shoot in 4k. Its autofocus system also delivers terrible tracking performance. It doesn't have a mic or headphone jack, and you can only use its HDMI port for media playback. Its battery life is short, and you can't recharge it over USB while in use, so it isn't a good fit for long recording sessions.
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Simple menu system with built-in guide mode.
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Poor autofocus performance.
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Few inputs and outputs.
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Terrible FHD video quality.
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No 4k shooting capability.
The Canon PowerShot SX540 HS isn't designed for action video. It's too big to mount on any chest or helmet rig and isn't advertised as water-resistant, dust-sealed, or impact-resistant. It can't shoot 4k video, while its maximum frame rate in FHD is limited to 30 fps. All of that said, its video stabilization performance is superb.
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Excellent overall stabilization performance.
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Lightweight construction.
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Mediocre build quality.
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Terrible FHD video quality.
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No 4k shooting capability.
- Travel Photography
- Landscape Photography
- Sport & Wildlife Photography
- Raw Photo Performance
- Vlogging
- Studio Video
- Action Video
- Updated Jan 29, 2024: Added text to the 'Raw Photo Performance' verdict box and updated existing verdict boxes for clarity and accuracy.
- Updated Jan 29, 2024: Converted to Test Bench 0.12.1.
- Updated Apr 24, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.12.
- Updated Apr 12, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.11.
- Updated Oct 03, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.10.
- Updated Aug 05, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.9.
- Updated Apr 22, 2022: Corrected the FHD crop factor to 1.1x. The 'FHD Video Frame Rate' score has been updated accordingly.
- Updated Apr 22, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.
- Updated Oct 06, 2021: Updated 'Tested Firmware' field from 'N/A' to 'Unspecified'.
- Updated Sep 28, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Sep 24, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Sep 08, 2021: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Sep 07, 2021: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated May 23, 2021: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Canon PowerShot SX540 HS is only available in one color variant: 'Black'. You can see our test unit's label here.
Let us know in the discussions if you come across another variant, and we'll update our review.
Test Results
- Body is made of plastic that scratches fairly easily
- Buttons are large and provide good physical feedback, but are made of a cheap-feeling plastic
- Command dial feels solid and provides good feedback
- Hard to set a precise focal length since the zoom toggle is very sensitive but is also a little laggy
- Flash mechanism feels passably well-built
- Input compartment is covered by rubber flaps
- Canon PowerShot SX540 HS camera
- Shoulder strap
- Lens cap with string attached
- 1x Canon NB-6LH battery
- Battery charger
- Getting Started guide
- Lightweight contoured body makes it comfortable to hold
- No viewfinder
- Fixed screen has a slow refresh rate and isn't very sharp, so you need to position yourself right in front of it to see it clearly
- Dedicated ISO and video mode buttons
- Aperture and shutter speed can be adjusted using the single command dial
- Zoom toggle changes focal lengths in set increments, making it tricky to frame your shots precisely
- Camera doesn't display focal length, forcing you to pull out its SD card and check an image's EXIF data to see the focal length it was taken at
- SD card can't be changed while the camera is mounted on a tripod
Note: Our standard test methodology for this test is to have the camera in its manual mode with ISO set to 'Auto'. However, you can't set ISO to 'Auto' with this camera in its manual shooting mode. To capture well-exposed images, the camera was set to shutter priority mode, allowing us to change the ISO setting to 'Auto'. As such, the results shown might not be fully comparable with other cameras that we've tested.
Note: This camera's recording limit is advertised as being 29 min 59 sec, or whenever a video file reaches 4GB in size. Our test unit's maximum recording limit was 23min 50sec, which generated a video that was 4GB in size. That said, users may be able to reach this recording time limit if they use lower video quality settings.
