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Canon SX60HS in Action (2 Viewers)

mzettie:
Did you try the camera only in Auto mode, or did you try Manual, Aperture Priority, or Shutter Priority modes?

(I did see you mentioned you were "not now an accomplished photographer," but even amateur me has learned to use AP or SP modes to get the "best" or "better" shots. Auto mode isn't always great for digiscoping, and at these ranges and handicaps, some of those rules probably apply here. Not discounting your judgement, just trying to suss out the camera's abilities.)
 
My mate and I have, like many waited patiently for the arrival of the SX60, we both have SX40's at the moment. My mate got his last Thursday, I was going to order mine on Saturday. He phoned me on Friday saying he was retuning the camera as he couldn't even get what he considered to be a reasonable shot out of it. He said IQ isn't a patch on the SX40!

So the question is, where from here? An SX50 would be an upgrade for us, but Canon seem to,have left behind in the bridge camera market. I need to do more research. Any suggestions?
 
Perhaps Canon will get things right with the SX70 !!

(ie in another year or two!)

Anyway, will be interested to hear more hands-on reports from other early adopters of the SX60............

May be of interest: DP Review have said that Canon have announced a new superzoom bridge camera. It will be coming out later this year (?) and it will have a one inch sensor. I was going to get a SX60 but I think I might just wait a while!
 
I received my sx60 on Friday but work all weekend so couldn't use it properly, I haven't read the manual yet, I focused the camera at full optical zoom on a post outside my house and noticed a lot of camera shake,i did the same with my sx40 and no shake at all,even leaning on my window sill the shake was still visible through the viewfinder, I was planning a proper test today but we have been hit with severe gales and heavy rain (east Scotland)I headed for a sheltered area I know and found a dipper to practice on,it was a bit shaded and the pics are iso 1000,again at full zoom there was a lot of camera shake and a lot of pics were deleted,the video is awesome but I think a tripod is probably the only way to get a good result nearer the full optical zoom,it wouldn't be fair to judge the camera on the conditions I shot in today but I will go back out tomorrow and try some shooting in the forecasted sunny day we are meant to be having tomorrow

pics

the first pic shows the location of the dipper, centre of the pic

the last one is a crop
 

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If you're experiencing camera shake, hit n hold the bottom button on the left side of the lens when shooting...does wonders!
 
Kevin, I trialed the SX60 with the same settings I use on the SX50, ie., "Program" mode, with a small focus area and auto ISO. I'm primarily a birder, not a photographer, and find that when switching from bins to camera, I don't have time to change settings. As it is, I miss half the shots I go for, trying to find the bird through the lousy EVF, although the zoom retract has helped in that regard.
I pretty much use the SX50 as a high-powered point and shoot. Practically every shot I take is at max zoom or beyond, but otherwise I'm not that demanding of it. I long ago accepted the fact that I'll never get good flight shots, and I don't need to print photos, so I'd have been happy if the SX60 had just delivered an improved viewfinder with results equivalent to the SX50....didn't seem like that much to ask.

I couldn't get anybody in the yard to sit still long enough to get the same bird in the same light at the same distance, but here's a link to a couple of inanimate objects taken with both cameras at approximately the same focal length (had to crop the SX50's to fill the frame similarly.)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g6d3jipq3cm13jo/AADvqlarlulJdHr_etY5u82Oa?dl=0

I'll also include a link to my flickr photos, (most of which were taken with the SX50) to give you some idea what I've come to expect a bridge camera to do. Many were taken through double-paned windows or at great distance (of a moving subject,) so I'm used to less-than crisp images. I don't change priorities or shoot raw, and know I'm not I'm not maximizing the abilities of the camera, but I'd have been happy to get similar results from the new model.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89510826@N05/with/15376165242/
BTW, the first two images in the photostream were NOT taken by me, but by my husband with a Sony Alpha 65. I put them in cause I didn't see the Chestnut-sided he captured, but they also serve to demonstrate the difference in image quality between a bridge camera and and one paired with a 500mm lens and proficient operator. Incidentally, he fooled around with the SX60 for a while but lost patience with it....couldn't get it to focus properly.
 
I couldn't get anybody in the yard to sit still long enough to get the same bird in the same light at the same distance, but here's a link to a couple of inanimate objects taken with both cameras at approximately the same focal length (had to crop the SX50's to fill the frame similarly.)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g6d3jipq3cm13jo/AADvqlarlulJdHr_etY5u82Oa?dl=0

Wow, the deterioration in IQ of the SX60 snaps is quite astonishing. Going by these photos there's no way I'll be upgrading from the SX50 now.
 
Wow, the deterioration in IQ of the SX60 snaps is quite astonishing. Going by these photos there's no way I'll be upgrading from the SX50 now.
I'd have to concur on the face value of the photos. I've begun re-looking at the SX50 and even back to my original idea of jumping to the MFT format. I have to agree that even the full-auto mode should produce better sharpness than that. :eek!:
 
sx60

hi. I bought the sx60 on the bases of this thread and the above review, before the latest posts.I've tested it now against the fz200 and even brought the D5100 out of the cupboard! I cannot agree with the comparison with the sx50, focus wise. Mine focuses on my test subject as well as both my other two. Noise at iso 200 the same as pany. More than Nikkie, but if I crop the nikkie image, 400mm lens, to have the same size image, its still noisy. But I have to thank you guys because I thought I had Parkinsons the first day I took the sx60 out, and it is annoying. Now, I have a question. My test
subject was a bird feeder, spot focus, full zoom on the pany f2.8, 800th. Not the same settings on the sx60, however, the depth of field on both cameras appears to be behind the focus point, ie a bird landed on the feeder. His eye, head are in focus, but his body is not. A branch about 3 feet behind the feeder is also in focus. Why?
 
I don't belong to any photography forums but did get redirected here from one. I joined cause I figured there had to be other bird nerds who jumped on the SX60 and I was (and still am!) eager to hear about their experience with it. Anybody.....?
Part of me still can't believe the camera performed as poorly as it did, and I wonder if I should have requested an exchange instead of a refund. Apparently that's what this purchaser intends to do;
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/54483385
 
May be of interest: DP Review have said that Canon have announced a new superzoom bridge camera. It will be coming out later this year (?) and it will have a one inch sensor. I was going to get a SX60 but I think I might just wait a while!
Hi Pol, can you pse include a link to the bit you read on dpreview re a new Canon with a 1" sensor coming out? I've used search strings on the site such as "new canon 1" sensor" and "latest canon news" but not found the item you refer to. I am so put off the SX60 by what others have said on this forum, that I would rather wait yet again for the right bridge camera to come along: ie. For me that would be the improved EVF quality of the SX60, the IS quality of the SX50, and a decent burst mode. Bigger than 50x zoom doesn't do it for me, but the SX50 EVF is a no-no for me. Cheers
 
Hi Pol, can you pse include a link to the bit you read on dpreview re a new Canon with a 1" sensor coming out? I've used search strings on the site such as "new canon 1" sensor" and "latest canon news" but not found the item you refer to.

Here is the link: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/54430870
It says a compact camera but some are comparing it to the Panasonic FZ1000 (which has very good reviews though limited zoom), however, I am not sure if it will be in the same superzoom bracket as the SX60. The one inch sensor is appealing though.
 
Sounds like Canon are brewing a fabulous camera but doubt it will have the zoom for most birders needs, more of a FZ1000 competitor. So we will go with the Canon SX50 or look as I'm going to at the Nikon P600 or Sony HX400, though it may be worth waiting to see what Fuji do when they replace HS50! I for one will leave the SX60 and stick for now with the wonderful SX50.
 
I tried holding down the button adam described it did make a big difference, just need the wind to stop and get some decent lighting, here is a short vid I took on Monday the mic got an unexpected test too

https://vimeo.com/108301264
 
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I've been toying with getting a second SX50 before they are out of stock. My current one is getting a slightly sticky zoom switch and i don't think that the SX60 is an upgrade.
 
Thought some of you might like to read a comparison of the SX50, SX60 and Sony HX400V that Stephen Ingraham posted here; http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/54493501
The Sony's one of the other bridge cameras I tried, wish I'd read this before returning it. The manual focus on the barrel held huge appeal for me, but like the better EVF on the SX60, it wasn't enough to trump the better image quality of the SX50. I now wonder though, if tweaking the settings to reduce the "over-processed" look of the Sony would have changed my mind.

Flossiepip, we bought the Nikon too, and my husband ended up keeping it as his portable camera. I think the image quality rivals (exceeds?) that of the SX50, but I found the autofocus to be agonizingly slow. He hasn't used it much but here are a couple of bird shots;
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k0ep8hiw81q4vrf/AAB2jIgDJyjClH87LUQ_l5Zpa?dl=0
 
I don't belong to any photography forums but did get redirected here from one. I joined cause I figured there had to be other bird nerds who jumped on the SX60 and I was (and still am!) eager to hear about their experience with it. Anybody.....?
Part of me still can't believe the camera performed as poorly as it did, and I wonder if I should have requested an exchange instead of a refund. Apparently that's what this purchaser intends to do;
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/54483385

I also ordered the sx60 and it was delivered last Thursday, to say I was disappointed is an understatement... I used it for two days and was very disappointed with the picture quality, video was great but stills are what do the most. I like the build quality but some of the controls where not easy to use, no easy ISO access was another annoying point. I've been using the sx40 for couple of years now and was really looking forward to the 60.... Very disappointed and I have now returned the sx60.
 
Two super images mzettie. The p600 is worth looking into if there is a deal to be had I think! Would want good autofocus and image stabilisation though, image quality looks good!
 

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