Thoughts on this camera for an amateur photographer (someone who knows cameras)?

So I'm an amateur photographer, it's been a hobby of mine for a long time, however I kind of got away from it for a while (I've been in college for two years and been very busy) and I never really had the right camera either. For Christmas I was going to ask for a Canon PowerShot SX-500 16MP Digital Camera with 30x Optical Zoom (I got that off of the target webpage) and I was wondering any opinions? I'm not sure what all of that in the title or description means so if someone who knows cameras and photography well, can you tell me more about it? I just want a camera to do photography that is better quality then an iphone or cheap digital camera. Does this sound good for what I'm looking to do (amateur)?

Added (1). Http://www.target.com/p/canon-powershot-sx-500-16mp-digital-camera-with-30x-optical-zoom-black/-/A-14233618#

Added (2). Under $300 is what I want to spend.

What about this one?

http://www.target.com/...rizontal_1

How much do you want to spend?

The PowerShot SX-500 looks like a fine camera for amateur photography. You should enjoy it.

I have one of that camera's predecessors, an S2 IS, and I've been using it for years and years. I haven't been careful with it, it's plastic body is scuffed in many places, but the camera keeps on working like a champ.

The SX-500 doesn't have the optical quality of a 'professional' camera or an SLR, but that's about all the bad you can say about it. My camera has only a 12x zoom (impressive at the time) and it's so nice to be able to stand in one spot and zoom in and out to compose a picture! Plus my camera, when it was made, Image Stabilization was a new idea, and I thought it was just a gimmick, but it's really been useful, allowing longer exposure times.

Canon and Nikon are the best companies for cameras. Good reliability, good customer service, etc.

So yeah, you could do a lot worse.

The only thing I don't like about is that it uses a proprietary lithium battery. Mine uses AA cells so you can always keep a spare set in your pocket. Batteries go out at the very most inconvenient times. Of course you could always carry a separate lithium battery, but they're expensive and you might be able to charge them only in the camera.

Your picked out a good one! Give a look at this one for comparison!
http://www.target.com/..._Pentax+X5

The Pentax X5 solves the battery issue and is a fine camera

Canon has released a successor to the SX-500, Canon SX510.checkout the video review of the new camera from the link below. Hope this helps.

Canon PowerShot SX510 HS
http://minimalio.com/canon-powershot-sx510-hs/

Key Features
( + ) Shoots 1080p Full-HD Video
( + ) 30x Optical Zoom
( + ) Built-in Wi-Fi®

Superzoom cameras usually try to tick too many boxes.
For more reliable image quality you need a DSLR or a compact with a fast bright f1.8 or f2 lens, but you loose the all-in-one long superzoom.

For a DSLR (seriously better image quality) think about a refurb like this Nikon D3100
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...amera.html

The super duper optical zoom is likely to be less useful than most imagine.
If you are considering a Canon SX500 IS anyway, I think it would be worthwhile to go for the newer SX510 HS. It has 12 MP instead of 16 MP. Less is better.