Canon's budget 42x superzoom — 20MP CCD, 24-1008mm IS lens, 720p video, Wi-Fi.
The PowerShot SX420 IS was a budget bridge-style superzoom announced by Canon in January 2016, slotting into the SX400 series between the SX410 IS and the SX430 IS. The line offered very long zoom reach at a low price by omitting manual exposure control and advanced features.
It combined a 20.0-megapixel 1/2.3-inch CCD with a 42x optical zoom spanning a 24-1008mm equivalent range at f/3.5-6.6, stabilised by Canon's optical IS. A DIGIC 4+ processor, 3.0-inch 230,000-pixel fixed LCD, 720p HD video and SD/SDHC/SDXC storage rounded out the spec, and unlike the earlier SX400/SX410 it added built-in Wi-Fi for image transfer.
It suits casual wildlife, holiday and sports-day shooting where reach matters more than speed or image quality, and the simple auto-driven interface is friendly to beginners. The slow lens and small CCD struggle in low light, video tops out at 720p, and there is no viewfinder or RAW capture.
As a 2016 model it is one of the safer used superzoom buys: proprietary batteries and chargers are still widely sold and SD cards present no compatibility issues. Cycle the zoom through its full 42x travel to check the motor and look for stuck pixels on the LCD; also confirm Wi-Fi pairing works if remote transfer matters.