20.0X Optical Zoom 20.0X Optical Zoom of Canon SX1 IS will give you a lot of flexibility considering this will be your only camera during the day.
RAW shooting capability RAW files contains much more color information compared to JPEGs, and gives you more room for post processing without significant quality loss. They provide wider dynamic range and option to recover shadow and highlight clipping to some degree.
Medium size Body With relatively smaller body compared to DSLRs and better ergonomics compared to Compacts,Canon SX1 ISis a good compromise between size and functionality.
615g Carrying this weight all day may not be very comfortable for you.
Body Thickness 88mm With a thickness of 88mm,Canon SX1 IS is not a pocketable camera for sure.
Small 1/2.3" (6.17 x 4.55 mm) sensor Canon SX1 IS's small sensor struggles in low light situations compared to larger sensor.