Let's get something straight: the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS is basically little more than a compact point-and-shoot camera with a long lens. It may look like a digital SLR, but outside of that, they have almost nothing in common. If you're expecting dSLR-like speed and photo quality, you won't find it here or on any other current megazoom camera. However, if you need a 35x lens and only have $430, this is the camera to buy. That doesn't mean it's great, just that it's more affordable than a digital SLR with comparable lenses. Though the SX30's lens range does allow for a lot of framing flexibility and has excellent image stabilization, shooting with it can be a trying experience. Everything about this camera is slow; from the lens to its movement to shooting speeds, it's just not a fast camera. Also, though photo quality is very good in bright light, there's a noticeable drop-off at ISO 400 and above. That's unfortunate since you'll need those higher sensitivities when using that long lens.
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On the other hand, it has a lot of features outside of the lens including a vari-angle LCD, a one-touch record button for movie capture at 720p resolution, and shooting modes from full auto to full manual as well as some creative scene modes. If you need one camera to satisfy a whole family of users or just want one camera to handle a wide variety of situations, the SX30 IS might be the solution.