Canon SX60HS in Action (6 Viewers)

2 shots from a rainy day in Arbroath, once the weather changes I will take a lot more, I have noticed that the battery takes longer to charge than sx40 battery or maybe I have a dud battery,first pic 226.62mm/1/320/f6.3/iso 500 second pic 147.55mm/1/320/f5.6/iso 640 both handheld with slight sharpening

Steve Babbs said:

[ It sounds so far that the SX60 is no upgrade for what I would mainly use it for. Still photo at max zoom. The SX50 is a lot less expensive than the SX60 these days.

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It does sound that way. I'm thinking get a cheap sx50 and hope the sx70 will be a proper improvement.[/QUOTE]

The SX50 won't let you down.
The main difference for stills is the better EVF on the SX60.
Neil.

Roy C said:

They are nice 'crazyfingers' but where you lose most with the small sensor Cams is when you have to crop heavily before you even resize for the web. Attached is an example of the original full frame and a near 100% crop taken with a 400/5.6 lens on my old 40D cam. On the 1.6 crop camera this equates to 640mm but when you consider the 100% crop then the finished image would be equal to a field of view well in excess of 2000mm!

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Nice comparison Roy.
Neil.

Neil said:

It does sound that way. I'm thinking get a cheap sx50 and hope the sx70 will be a proper improvement.

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The SX50 won't let you down.
The main difference for stills is the better EVF on the SX60.
Neil.[/QUOTE]
Yes it is the EVF on the sx50 which is putting me off the most.

Generally I find that the EVF is good enough that I can tell if it's focused or not. Usually if it appears to be focused it is focused on what I want, though there are slight differences in focus. I usually take as several to more than several before the critter scampers off. I delete all but the best once on the computer.

I personally don't find the EVF to be a problem.

Yes, I agree.

I would ideally like the EVF on the SX50 to be better, but it is usable as it is and I don't have a problem with it as such.

I wouldn't let the EVF stop me buying an SX50.

Going back to the SX40 comparisons:

Calling Starling is with the 40 and the other with the 60. Both same distance away as on the same aerial (so front garden looking up at two-storey house roof!), both shot in P mode (then both lazily auto smart-fixed in P'shop):



Finding max zoom shots soft-looking (but then again so are the 40's....) Would like to know what settings Neil uses as he seems to be getting better results at the max end than me!
The other thing I don't like is the rear 'function' wheel...the design is flush with the body and is still a b'stard to find when looking through viewfinder (not had a 50 so don't know what that one was like)
Still trying to like this camera....

birdboybowley said:

Going back to the SX40 comparisons:

Calling Starling is with the 40 and the other with the 60. Both same distance away as on the same aerial (so front garden looking up at two-storey house roof!), both shot in P mode (then both lazily auto smart-fixed in P'shop):

View attachment 517925 View attachment 517926

Finding max zoom shots soft-looking (but then again so are the 40's....) Would like to know what settings Neil uses as he seems to be getting better results at the max end than me!
The other thing I don't like is the rear 'function' wheel...the design is flush with the body and is still a b'stard to find when looking through viewfinder (not had a 50 so don't know what that one was like)
Still trying to like this camera....

Click to expand...

I thought the shot taken with the SX60 looked sharper than the one with the SX40. I don't have either camera, but some of the shots posted here from the new model look pretty good to me and I'm not sure why you think the new model is a backward step in image quality.

The right hand shot does look good. In answering the question reviews online suggest that photos at the far end of zoom on the 60 break down in quality when compared to the 50. There are links to those other reviews in this thread.

I wonder how the right hand photo looked before processing. I tend to take or leave the photo as it comes from the camera. Sometime come contrast and brightness not nothing more.

scodgerott said:

I thought the shot taken with the SX60 looked sharper than the one with the SX40. I don't have either camera, but some of the shots posted here from the new model look pretty good to me and I'm not sure why you think the new model is a backward step in image quality.

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I'm going to say the same, though I suppose since the SX40 shot is a moving target (bird is calling?), perhaps that's the only real difference.

QUESTION to SX60 owners. I know Neil mentioned a button to push to help the IQ at the far end of the zoom range. Does this account for the difference?

I ask because it does bring up a question: if using a remote shutter release with the camera on a tripod, this "special button" might not be an option?

CalvinFold said:

I'm going to say the same, though I suppose since the SX40 shot is a moving target (bird is calling?), perhaps that's the only real difference.

QUESTION to SX60 owners. I know Neil mentioned a button to push to help the IQ at the far end of the zoom range. Does this account for the difference?

I ask because it does bring up a question: if using a remote shutter release with the camera on a tripod, this "special button" might not be an option?

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Kevin,
The lower button on the lens barrel (there are two on the left hand side) kicks in the Image Stabilising at the long end of the zoom. You won't need this if you are on a tripod .
The upper button zooms the lens back to the start-up position to help with finding the subject and when released fast zooms the lens back to full zoom. These two buttons are very important for hi magnification shooting, as is the fast Continuous Mode (without AF).
Also it can be useful for birding to have the Digital Zoom ( 2.0 x) switched on all the time so that you can zoom out to 2730 mm.
Neil.

birdboybowley said:

Going back to the SX40 comparisons:

Calling Starling is with the 40 and the other with the 60. Both same distance away as on the same aerial (so front garden looking up at two-storey house roof!), both shot in P mode (then both lazily auto smart-fixed in P'shop):

View attachment 517925 View attachment 517926

Finding max zoom shots soft-looking (but then again so are the 40's....) Would like to know what settings Neil uses as he seems to be getting better results at the max end than me!
The other thing I don't like is the rear 'function' wheel...the design is flush with the body and is still a b'stard to find when looking through viewfinder (not had a 50 so don't know what that one was like)
Still trying to like this camera....

Click to expand...

If you look at the birds feet you can see the right hand photo is much better.
Neil.

As I mentioned earlier the Exif shows distance to subject but it shows a different number when the lens is zoomed. Does anyone know how we are supposed to use this?
Neil.

Neil said:

Kevin,
The lower button on the lens barrel (there are two on the left hand side) kicks in the Image Stabilising at the long end of the zoom. You won't need this if you are on a tripod .

Click to expand...

You have to press a button to turn on IS? With the 30, 40, 50 it was a menu option with the setting Off, Continuous and just when focusing.

Oops, I got distracted while responding to Kevin and didn't see that people had already..... will go ahead and chip in, cause I have to run and I included a link, for what it's worth...

Kevin, I'm a techno-phobe and probably shouldn't be the one trying to answer your question. Since no one else is jumping in though, I'll give it a shot.....

The SX 50 (and the SX60) has two buttons on the left side of the barrel. The upper button is called the zoom assist (I think) and it's very helpful when trying to find your subject at long zoom ranges. When you press this button and hold it, the lens retracts, giving you a wider field of view. Once you're "on the bird" you release it, and the lens automatically goes back out to the focal length you'd chosen. Hopefully, the bird's in the frame and you get the shot. If not, you can press the button again and sometimes this will allow you to re-find the bird without removing your eye from the viewfinder.

Right below the ZA button is the one Neil was referring to. I believe it's called the frame assist, and it's supposed to help with image stabilization in hand-held shots....don't think there'd be any reason to use it on a tripod.
I'd never used this function til trying the SX60, but have been playing around with it since (on my SX50) and don't think it improves my results. That could be because I find it's placement to be awkward, and actually end up moving the camera around more trying to find the button and keep it engaged. Reading around a little, I found that others aren't impressed with it either; http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/50277062 Nobody seems to care though, since the IS is good without.

The SX60 is a different ball of wax. In my limited experience, I found one had to use this button just to hold the image still enough to see if the camera was focusing. To me, it didn't seem to actually improve focus, maybe was even a little detrimental. I wonder if using it changes shutter speed as it does on the SX50 and that's why IQ isn't as good at long zoom range. Or maybe I'm just too old and shaky to keep up with technology.....better get checked for cataracts!

mzettie / Neil: Thanks for the feedback.

So my dilemma is...is the SX60 okay at some point short of full zoom, and just need a tripod at full zoom (or put-up with some fuzzier photos).

In other words, is it "an SX50 that just needs a tripod for the longest shots" or is it truly "worse than the SX50."

Again, my interest is "digiscoping without a scope"...so if I can hand-held most of the time and have to use a tripod or monopod sometimes, that wouldn't bug me as much as it would others. Heck, for long sessions photographing the white-tailed kites I see all the time, I'd probably want to use a tripod to save me holding the camera, honestly.

Obviously having a tough time figuring out between the two cameras and not likely to have the ability to try both under real-world conditions (or even in-store for that matter). I'm going to be buying somewhat blind.

mzettie said:

Right below the ZA button is the one Neil was referring to. I believe it's called the frame assist, and it's supposed to help with image stabilization in hand-held shots....don't think there'd be any reason to use it on a tripod.
I'd never used this function til trying the SX60, but have been playing around with it since (on my SX50) and don't think it improves my results. That could be because I find it's placement to be awkward, and actually end up moving the camera around more trying to find the button and keep it engaged. Reading around a little, I found that others aren't impressed with it either; http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/50277062 Nobody seems to care though, since the IS is good without.

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I have never used that button. On the SX50 and looking at the manual, it's not clear at all why one would use it if they have IS set for continuous or when focusing. Perhaps if I did a lot of picture taking when walking or did movies it would choose a different IS mode but 100% of the time I'm just standing there trying to hold the camera steady as I can with IS on when focusing. In that case I see no purpose for the frame assist. I just did some impromptu testing on a local tree limb in my yard. I see no difference given that I have IS set to initiate when I press the shutter button half-way.

mzettie said:

The SX60 is a different ball of wax. In my limited experience, I found one had to use this button just to hold the image still enough to see if the camera was focusing. To me, it didn't seem to actually improve focus, maybe was even a little detrimental. I wonder if using it changes shutter speed as it does on the SX50 and that's why IQ isn't as good at long zoom range. Or maybe I'm just too old and shaky to keep up with technology.....better get checked for cataracts!

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Is this saying that the menu settings don't just let you set it to be on when focusing? (or continuous which wastes batter) and you have to press the button to use IS?

I just went out an had an opportunity to try that lower button again. Framing assist - LOCK on the SX50.

There was a rabbit in my yard. Photos are not worth posting but what I observed was interesting. At full optical and the 2x teleconverter, I first did a regular focus which turns on the IS when I press the shutter button half down. Then with it still focused there released the shutter button and pressed the lower button on the side, Framing Assist - Lock. The IS Turned on and seemed no different then the IS when I half-press the shutter. Then I kept the button on the side pressed and half-pressed the shutter. In about 1 out of three attempts, doing both at the same time caused the image to jump all about crazy. And it wasn't my hand. It was if two software commands were in competition and the result was craziness.

I see no need to ever use the lower button - Framing Assist - Lock.

Framing Assist Seek, the top button, is extremely useful though.

crazyfingers said:

Is this saying that the menu settings don't just let you set it to be on when focusing? (or continuous which wastes batter) and you have to press the button to use IS?

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Crazyfingers, the SX60's IS can be set to "continuous," "shoot only" or "off." The manual says very little about the framing assist lock button, just that it "compensates camera shake at the telephoto end, making it easier to frame the shot." I believe it's supposed to be an adjunct to the IS that is always engaged, unless of course you've turned IS completely off.

What I couldn't understand was why the shake on the new model was so pronounced....it was crazy, kind of like you described in your experiment. It made me wonder if I'd received a defective camera, since I can shoot at 100x digital (not even in teleconverter mode) with the SX50, with less shake than the SX60 had while still in optical range. When others started commenting about the jumpy image I returned the camera, and now I don't know what to think. Hopefully someone who currently has the SX60 will weigh in on this.