Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 50x Wide-Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 50x Wide-Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

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• World's first 50x Optical Zoom 24mm Wide-Angle Image Stabilized Lens
• 12.1 MP High-Sensitivity CMOS sensor with DIGIC 5 Image Processor
• 1080p Full HD Video With a Dedicated Movie Button
• High-speed AF, High-speed Burst HQ for a maximum of 10 frames
• Built-in Shoe Allows Compatibility with Optional Speedlites

Buy Now : Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 50x Wide-Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Brand : Canon
Category : Electronics,Camera & Photo,Digital Cameras,Point & Shoot Digital Cameras
Rating : 4.5
Review Count : 1507

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 50x Wide-Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

• I\'m an experienced nature photographer, having been at it for over 50 years. I have been using Canon\'s PowerShot cameras going back to the S3. My relationship with these cameras has been a love-hate one, but the SX40 was a \"Like\" and this is \"Really-Like-but-Love-is-too strong-a-word.\"See uploaded photos (click on \"most recent\") many of which have been published in birding magazines as well as with Audubon societies. But remember, I know this camera...This should NOT be your first-time-digital point and shoot camera! The learning curve is way too sharp because this camera is quite complex, and has unnecessary bells and whistles that you should avoid (at least until you learn the basics).What did I think about this camera? Well, after doing an awful lot of research, *I bought two* even after there had been a \"recall\" which I still don\'t understand! (One of these was for my wife.) I am a pro turned amateur nature photographer, and have been for many years. As for digital, I have had the Canons S3, S5, SX10, SX20, SX30 (returned immediately), SX40, and now the SX50.After you\'ve played with the SX50 for a couple of days, I\'d be happy to send my standard settings if you just email me. Here are the improvements over the SX40 and all SX models that preceded this (you can see the progression on my web site (see my profile).The good:1. Shutter lag is minimal! You can shoot in burst mode of 7-9 frames per second depending with the mode you\'re in, but shutter lag has been cut by 70%. Canon says that you can shoot up to 13 frames per second. Not with this camera, but 7 should be sufficient.2. Fast focus with center metering. The SX40 (and other like cameras) want to focus \"on an average\" of all the elements in a shot. Unfortunately, anything that uses the term average is like the guy with his head in the refrigerator and his feet in the oven, and on average, he\'s comfortable. It just doesn\'t work that way ... which is why you should also steer clear of \"Auto.\" (More later) So, basically, if there\'s a bird on a branch in the center of a bunch of branches and twigs, the SX50 WILL focus on the bird and usually on the first try.3. Super Fine Mode. The SX40 goes to Fine resolution, but still left noise (the \"snow\" you\'ll see when cropped a distant shot of a bird etc.). For lack of a better way of putting this, Super Fine Resolution gives you many more pixels making the shot \"tighter\" and easier to crop without losing definition.4. Burst (continuous) Mode: This will hit a top speed of 9 frames per second. That\'s maximum, but if you can find a bird in flight, you stand a pretty good chance to get at least one frame in focus. It could be the bird\'s butt as it\'s leaving, but it will be in focus. There IS a locking device called High Speed AF (two buttons to the left of the lens). I am still trying to master this, and it will come to me ... I hope. So far, it feels like I\'m trying to play an accordion with both hands doing something. I am pretty good at panning, but finding a bird in flight in the fully extended zoom is difficult. High Speed AF should correct that problem.NOTE: In order to get the most from burst mode, reducing shutter lag, etc., be certain to get a SDHC card! You need a fast card to maximize some of the aspects of the camera. Also, because the files will be much larger than what some are used to, I use a 16GB CLASS 10 card,* but 32GB CLASS 10 when on vacation in Yellowstone, Rainier, Bryce, Yosemite, in other words, anywhere where I\'ll be taking as many as 1,000 shots a day. And yes, especially with burst mode, you can easily take 1,000 pix on a vacation day. A Class 10 card will transfer 10 MG per second. If you want to - and you will - take pictures in burst mode, you need that speed between card and camera processor.5. Low light: Well, it isn\'t a disappointment because I expected this. You\'re buying a camera with a one chip sensor as opposed to 6-9 with a DSLR. The lens does allow more light than the SX40, but it still isn\'t a DSLR. Indoors, I recommend a flash.6. I have 9 settings that I use very often, but not all the time. One of the most critical difference is the white balance so that I don\'t blow out the whites of birds, goats, even recently bathed dogs. You can store ALL of your favorite settings in two modes C1 and C2. I store my settings for bright, sunny days in C1, and for low light or cloudy days in C2.7. IMAGE STABILIZATION: There\'s IS and then there\'s IS. The SX50, for a one-bit processor, has marvelous IS. I took shots of my TV\'s \"What\'s playing\" menu at 1/5 of a second (that\'s SLOWWWW!), hand held, and it was so sharp that my optometrist could actually see what I was complaining about, ghosting of letters and numbers on a white background. There are several photos I posted here that were taken hand-held at 1200mm (full zoom), and they\'re tack-sharp. Note that I haven\'t used a tripod or monopod since my 35mm SLR film days.8. Weight: 21 ounces and a 1200mm zoom! Those who carry a 6 pound camera around on a hiking day, often wish for the SX50. (I have a friend who carried a 34 pound camera and tripod who recently underwent back surgery, no kidding! Of course, neither of us is a young, fit 45.)The disappointments:1. RAW. All I\'ve heard from my brother - a photographer for 65 years (but he takes pix of people and buildings, not of birds, bugs, bees, badgers, or bison) - has been touting the value of RAW. Well, the SX50 gives you a choice of shooting in RAW or RAW AND jpeg. Because the size of these files is 4 times more than a jpeg alone, continuous/burst mode just doesn\'t work. The processor can\'t process that much without a delay. And it increases shutter lag like waiting for a dialup connection!2. Auto. I don\'t like Auto. As I said Auto is \"average,\" and that\'s the results you\'ll get. I suggest you learn TV, AV, and then Manual to get the most of this camera. (Again, I\'ll be glad to send my settings and save you trouble. 99% of the time, I shoot in shutter priority, Tv = \"Time value\" whatever that means.)3. MINOR disappointment: battery life. Look, this camera is doing so much more and processing so much information that it uses more battery power. I change the battery at least once every time I go out. At least it uses the same battery as the SX40. I carry two extra batteries - reasonably priced on Amazon - whenever I hike.4. Related to battery life, the SX50 doesn\'t give you a choice to leave the camera in an \"always on\" mode. The camera will turn off in 2 minutes which can be problematic when you see something you want to shoot at the last second. Turning the camera on can take 2 seconds. Birds, dogs, and kids under the age of 10 don\'t sit still for more than 1.5 seconds.5. The Viewfinder: I will not buy or even use a camera without an Electronic Viewfinder. The one on the SX50 is still small, no bigger than on the SX40. It does the job, but not until you get your photos on a 23 inch monitor will you be absolutely sure that they\'re in focus. I use the LCD for a preview of what I just took, but remember that a 3\" LCD will make your pix look sharp whereas a HD monitor will tell the truth. The LCD is perhaps a good way to take a macro (though I usually zoom and crop).6. The ISO \"Button:\" For some stupid reason, Canon went and switched the ISO setting button from the right side to the bottom of the wheel in the back, and they went and put the Self-Timer on the right. That exactly where you\'re most likely to hit the button with your right thumb. It\'s a terrible idea because the getting out of the Self-timer is a two step button pushing process, and that takes a couple of seconds or more while you\'re trying to get a shot of something that won\'t wait for you.Of interest, but not to me: I won\'t take videos with this camera (I did once with the SX40), but I really think that if you\'re looking for a camera for movies of your kid\'s soccer, little league, or gymnastics, start with some step up from a smart phone and, if you have the money, a camcorder with image stabilization. If you do want to shoot wildlife videos, you definitely will want a tripod.Also, don\'t ask me about the Clear Face, Fireworks, parties, Color Accept, Swap Colors, or the other whistles (I\'m a bell man) that I find gimmicky. I mean, you\'d think that \"Clear Face\" would also get rid of acne! I understand the marketing value, but fooling around with these should wait until you can take a sharp photo of your dog or weasel or kid before you decide that they\'d look nicer with a green complexion and yellow fur.If you\'re willing to take some time (2 to 4 weeks) to nail the basics, then this may well be THE camera for you. It is NOT for rank amateurs, and it probably won\'t satisfy most pros who are already into DSLRs. But if you want photos that are tack-sharp with a camera that\'s easy to use AND carry, and you\'re willing to learn the basics beyond Auto, this is the camera for you.
• The media could not be loaded.  I ordered the SX50 through Amazon, I tried it out, I liked it well enough and I intend to keep it. For what it does best, it works very well. For the rest, well... that depends.&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&This is a video I shot of a fishing boat in Monterey Bay. I used my new SX50 with a 50X optical zoom and a 4X digital zoom for a total of 200X (sort of.) I know it\'s pixillated, but still just look carefully and you can see the fisherman casting his fishing pole at the stern of the boat and then sitting down. Pretty amazing video technology they have developed for this camera. So that is where this review starts - with the monster-zoom telephoto lens.&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&What this camera does best is pretty obvious - it has a monster-zoom telephoto lens. I enjoy doing some telephoto work, and for that purpose it works amazingly well. At a 1200mm - 50X - zoom you simply cannot buy a Canon DSLR lens with that kind of magnification for any amount of money.*1 The largest [standard production] DSLR telephoto lens that Canon makes is an 800mm and that lens costs over $13,000. So there you have it. For around $500 you can run circles around that magnification, get some fantastic shots and have a lot of fun with it. It will most definitely amaze your friends when you show them with what you can do with the monster-zoom feature alone.*1 Technically, \"any amount of money\" is not completely true here. Another poster has pointed out that on special order Canon will make a 1200MM lens for a DSLR. It weighs about 40 lbs. The MSRP is $100,000. Only a few dozen have ever been produced. My bad.It also has a wide ISO range (film speed) combined with some very fast shutter speeds for fast-action shots. And the recovery and repeat shot time is very fast too. There is also built-in HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature that will be fun to use for creating vibrant-colored, surreal landscapes. (Don\'t try it with portraits though, since HDR is notoriously bad at distorting human skin tones.) For the more advanced shooters it also offer RAW files as well as RAW plus JPEG, so that you can fine-tune your photos with post-processing in a Photoshop-type program.All around this should turn out to be a good recreational and family-fun camera that will work very well for daytime things like social events and sporting events, particularly at getting candid shots of people all the way across the other side of the auditorium or the sports arena. And it has an excellent HD video feature that - with a good secure tripod - can produce some very respectable quality videos. Unfortunately, the \"hot shoe\" for the camera only works with an external flash, not a high-quality external microphone. So no, it won\'t take one, so you don\'t even need to ask. Yes, of course with a high quality HD video feature you would only expect that Canon would allow you to attach a high-quality external microphone to the hot shoe, but no they don\'t. You can take that up with Canon - again - just the way people did last year, and see how far you get with it. Otherwise you will simply have to enjoy it the way it is, or else use a tape recorder and sync the sound with it in a movie-making program afterwards.But if you want to take any long-exposure, nighttime shots with it, then this camera probably will not work for you at all. It COULD take them easily, but for marketing reasons Canon put an arbitrary ISO limit on it last year that will no longer let it take them. (Earlier models of this same camera could easily take them before Canon imposed the arbitrary ISO limit on it.)If you have ever owned any of the previous cameras of this series, (the SX1, SX10, SX20 and SX30,) then you probably know that it has a rather small 1/2.3 sized sensor, but (now) it processes the images with a very good DIGIC 5 processor. If you have also owned an SX40, then you also may be aware of a rather recent limitation on this line of cameras that the previous models did not have. Beginning with the model SX40 Canon put an arbitrary ISO (film speed) limit on the camera which severely restricts one type of photography in particular - long-exposure, low-light, nighttime photographs. They are now almost impossible to take with this line of camera, because the user can no longer select any ISO greater than 100 at any of the slower shutter speeds, not even in full manual mode.ISO 100 is a film speed (nowadays called \"sensor sensitivity\", but the numbers are identical) that has been traditionally used only in bright daytime photo shooting. Low light and nighttime exposures have always required faster film speeds like ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1000 or even more. Photos of that type which had always been easy to take with earlier models of this camera suddenly became almost impossible to take beginning with the SX40. Suddenly any attempt to set the shutter speed to slower than 1.3 seconds automatically reduced the camera setting to ISO 100. There was no way for the user to bypass this limit, (without resorting to a special Hacker program available on the internet called \"CHDK.\" Watch a YouTube video on that before you decide to try it. )There were a lot of complaints about the ISO limit on the SX40 from a lot of users (me included - see the YouTube video on \"Canon SX40 ISO limits,\") going on for a year now, and finally Canon has introduced the new model SX50. So here\'s the bad news... Canon did not take the ISO limit off this line of cameras. In fact, the ISO limit on the new SX50 is even worse. Now any attempt to drop the shutter speed under 1 second automatically drops the ISO setting to ISO 80. The user cannot change this limit, even in full manual mode.Adding to that problem, the SX50 has also reduced the widest aperture opening from f/2.7 to f/3.4. The aperture is the size of the opening that allows light to enter the camera through the lens. It is variable, and the smaller the number the larger the opening. So on the new SX50 the largest size to which you can open up the aperture to let light in has been reduced from f/2.7 to f/3.4. The result is that now it is even harder to take low-light, long-exposure, nighttime photographs with it. The current Canon SX160 with the same-sized sensor (though a CCD and not a CMOS sensor) does NOT have this arbitrary limit on it, and does very well at taking long-exposure, nighttime photographs, so I bought it too - for less than half the price of the SX50 - and I gave that one a very strong 5-star rating. Since my primary use of my cameras, however, is expressly for taking long-exposure nighttime photographs, and since there is NO TECHNICAL REASON for putting this arbitrary ISO limit on the SX50 camera (it has already been established during the previous year that it was a marketing decision) - then I\'m giving this camera a 4-star rating instead of a 5-star rating. Not for what it CAN\'T do, but simply for what Canon will no longer LET it do.If you want to use the camera for a similar purpose - nighttime long exposures, moonlit night scenes, deer in the garden at night, wide-angle star shots or anything similar to those themes, then this camera will not work well for you at all. I understand that the audience for that usage may well be only a small percentage of all users. Still, some users will be effected by it and they need to know. During the last year quite of few of them were pretty upset by that ISO 100 limit on the SX40, so those same users will probably like the the more restrictive ISO 80 limit on the new SX50 even less. In case there is any doubt about it, the online .pdf file for the User Manual at Canon\'s website clearly states on pages 150 and 152 - \"With shutter speeds of 1.3 seconds or slower, ISO speed is [symbol \"ISO80\"] and cannot be changed.\"If that effects you, then now you know about it. If it doesn\'t effect you, then you can simply ignore this part of the review and then you may well have a lot of fun with this camera. With it\'s many other features I\'m sure it will be a lot of fun, and that is one of the reasons I am keeping it myself - for those other features. But for $500 for a digital camera you should at least know very clearly what you will be getting for your money, ... and what you will not.Best wishes either way you decide, John

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