From a distance, the 12-megapixel Canon PowerShot SX40 HS ($429.99 direct) could be mistaken for a D-SLR camera. Its black body, large lens, deep hand grip, and top hump are signature characteristics of SLRs like Canon's own EOS Rebel T3i ($899.99, 3.5 stars). The SX40’s lens doesn’t come off, though; its large size is due to an long 35x zoom range, one that is unmatched by any existing SLR lens. You can’t slip it into your pocket, like the 18x zoom Editors’ Choice Nikon Coolpix S9100 ($329.95, 4 stars), but that’s a small price to pay for an 840mm (35mm equivalent) telephoto reach.

Design and Features
The SLR-inspired SX40 HS is neither compact nor light. It measures 3.6 by 4.8 by 4.2 inches (HWD) and tips the scales at 21.2 ounces, or about 1.3 pounds. Nikon’s similarly styled Coolpix P500 ($399.95, 4 stars) is slimmer and slightly lighter, measuring 2.3 by 4.1 by 1.3 inches and weighing 1.1 pounds, with a slightly wider 22.5-810mm (35mm equivalent) 36x zoom lens. The SX40’s 35x lens isn’t quite as wide at 24mm on the short end, but it does extend to 840mm to give you a little extra reach on the long end while still keeping a wide angle. Stepping away from the numbers, there isn’t much of a practical difference between the two—you can take a few steps forward or back to make up the difference on either end, and the 12-megapixel resolution gives you some room to crop a photo without sacrificing quality for online sharing or a standard sized print.

The camera features a largely metal body with a few plastic elements. A deep handgrip allows you to hold the SX40 firmly, and its 230k-dot LCD is 2.7 inches in size and hinged so you can view it from any angle. It also has 230,000-dot electronic viewfinder,, but its small size makes it rather difficult to see details in your frame. It does come in handy, as you can hold the camera steadier by bracing it against your body and using the viewfinder rather than holding it at arm’s length and using the rear LCD to frame your shots. This, along with the SX40’s optical stabilization system, makes it possible to get a sharp photo at the extreme end of its zoom range, even if you don't have a tripod or monopod.

There are ample control buttons on the SX40’s body, also like a D-SLR. A top-mounted dial lets you change between shooting modes, and the rear four-way jog wheel is used to scroll through menus, adjust ISO, set exposure compensation, activate the self-timer, and toggle focusing modes. The menu system is one of the camera’s strong points, as controls are laid out in a logical manner for quick adjustments. The SX40’s pop-up flash is manually operated, so you can just flip it up when you’d like to use it. You can also use a Canon Speedlite flash, thanks to the dedicated hot shoe.

Performance and Conclusions
The SX40 HS doesn’t boast the fastest start-up time in the world, taking about 2.5 seconds to capture the first shot. After that, however, it delivers a very impressive 0.4-second recycle time and 0.5-second shutter lag. It doesn’t start up as quickly as the Nikon S9100 , which is ready to shoot in 1.6 seconds, but it does better it in shot-to-shot time—the Nikon requires 1.6 seconds between shots—and is its equal on shutter lag. The Nikon P500 takes 2 seconds to start, but requires 1.5 seconds between shots. Continuous shooting is excellent, capturing just over two frames per second.

We use the Imatest software suite to measure cameras' performance in terms of image sharpness and noise. To evaluate sharpness, I shot several photos of a test chart and analyzed them using a center-weighted algorithm. The SX40 HS averaged 1,836 lines per picture height, which surpasses the 1,800-line benchmark that qualifies an image as being acceptably sharp. While this is a good score, the camera isn’t the sharpest in its class; Kodak’s EasyShare Max Z990 ($329.95, 3 stars), which packs a 30x zoom lens, records a slightly higher 1,946 lines.

Noise is also a factor in image quality. Once an image contains more than 1.5 percent noise it looks overly grainy. The SX40 HS was able to stay under this threshold through ISO 800, so you can capture good images in modestly lit environments. The Nikon P500 fared better here, keeping noise below 1.5 percent through ISO 3200, which is four times more sensitive to light than ISO 800.

The camera records 1080p24 QuickTime video, and the footage looks quite good. Detail is preserved, but there are some video glitches when panning, probably caused by the rolling shutter effect. These glitches, which cause part of the video not to be in line with the rest, appear infrequently and only when panning. You can plug the camera into your computer via mini USB to copy video and photos to your hard drive, or connect to an HDTV via mini HDMI to view them from the comfort of your favorite armchair. The standard SD card slot also supports SDHC and SDXC card formats.

The Canon PowerShot SX40 HS captures sharp photos, delivers stellar continuous shooting performance, and offers one of the longest zoom lenses in its class. The fast continuous shooting, combined with the long telephoto reach, makes this a good camera to capture sports and wildlife. The camera isn't cheap, so you may want to consider the General Electric X500 ($149.99, 3.5 stars), which offers a 15x zoom, but is best used in bright light only. If low-light shooting is more important that fast image capture, you should take a close look at the Nikon Coolpix P500 , which captures clean images in as little as one quarter the light as the SX40, but sacrifices a teensy bit on the telephoto end. While our Editors’ Choice in this category is still the pocketable, 18x zooming Nikon Coolpix S9100, the Canon PoweShot SX40 HS is also a very nice camera with a much longer reach.

More Digital Camera reviews: