Canon SX50 Specs (3 Viewers)

HermitIbis · Jul 12, 2015

Index 2.0

An index for this long thread, new version. Maybe useful for newbies. Often the post cited was a starting point for a discussion, so it's worth to read on. - General hints: (a) before putting the SX50 in the pocket, take out the battery; (b) use the EVF, not the LCD.

Recommended Settings
Recommended settings [crazyfingers] p.16, #389
Question re settings [sarah durha, crazyfingers] p.55, #1355 and replies below (up to p.56, #1377)
Settings [marcobf] p. 67, #1661
Latest settings [crazyfingers] p.68, #1689
ISO priority mode p.73, #1824

Topics in Detail
Digital Converter [IanF] p.17, #418
TV and AV mode [RoyC] p.25, #603
Jpeg vs Raw [kNiks] p.25, #557
Manual mode [Kenn3d] p.25, #624
In-camera sharpness for Jpeg via "My Colors" [RoyC] p.39, #951
Thoughts on Auto ISO [IanF] p.51, #1273 and p.54, #1331
Exposing to the right = ETTR [RoyC] p.55, #1353
Sports mode (reminder: min. distance 13m) p.68, #1684
Burst mode (sample) p.72, #1791

Hardware and practical hints
Avoiding the self-timer [TRT45] p.56, #1392
Macro photos: Raynox DCR 250 [George Edwards] Fly (p.19, #469) and more p.20, #484
Raynox DCR 250 + adapter [rob lee] p.38, #929, sample: Green Tiger Beetle devouring Ant (p.39, #952)
Macro: Raynox DCR 250 [Frogfish] p.56, #1389 and p.56, #1397 and p.62, #1528
Rain protection p.72, #1778
Comparison to Nikon P900 p.77, #1905
Post Processing (= PP), Photoshop p.80, #1986
Shutter lag p.72, #1796

Sample photos (bird species, in alphabetical order):
Abysinian Roller [bf]
Bee-eater [if]
Black-necked Grebe [hi]
Common Redstart [hi]
Deer [cf]
Eastern Bluebird [cf]
Grey Catbird [cf]
Hermit Ibis [bs]
Hoopoe [pp]
Hummingbird [cf]
Kestrel BIF [if]
Long-tailed Duck [pp]
Meadow Pipit [hi]
Red-shouldererd Hawk [cf]
Opossum [cf]
Oriental Pratincole [bf]
Palm Warbler [cf]
Ruddy Shelduck [bc]
Stonechat [cg]
Tawny Owl [hi]
Waxwing [if]

Copyrights: bc BobCesme, bf bob freeman, bs Brian Stone, cf crazyfingers, cg ClarkWGriswold, hi HermitIbis, if IanF, pp pooleparrot
My apologies if photos worthy of inclusion are missing. This is just a personal selection: mainly European birds that I was able to identify.

HermitIbis · Jul 13, 2015

I had intended to return to the Index and include more sample photos. Other duties intervened though, and now it is too late for editing - sorry. Eventually I'll submit an improved version, I promise.

crazyfingers · Jul 14, 2015

You've put a lot of work into the index and it's appreciated. I've bookmarked it.

Gladiator96 · Jul 17, 2015

Wow thanks for that index. I've had the camera for more than a year but I still consider myself a newbie and normally settle for 'decent' photos. This will hopefully help.

Gladiator96 · Jul 17, 2015

Question regarding the settings for crazyfingers: what are the shutter speed and the aperture for your C1 and C2?

crazyfingers · Jul 17, 2015

Gladiator96 said:
Question regarding the settings for crazyfingers: what are the shutter speed and the aperture for your C1 and C2?

Hi,

They are variable. the camera makes those choices depending on the light and the zoom used.

Those settings are started from the "P" mode and what they mainly do is force the focus square to be in the center of the frame and force metering around the square. It's all about not letting the camera get distracted by a leaf to one side when you want it to focus on the bird in the center.

Gladiator96 · Jul 17, 2015

crazyfingers said:
Hi,

They are variable. the camera makes those choices depending on the light and the zoom used.

Those settings are started from the "P" mode and what they mainly do is force the focus square to be in the center of the frame and force metering around the square. It's all about not letting the camera get distracted by a leaf to one side when you want it to focus on the bird in the center.

Ah I see. My mistake was setting the C1 and the C2 from Manual rather than from P. Thanks.

Geoff Pain · Jul 18, 2015

What do people use for editing video taken with the SX50?

Gladiator96 · Jul 24, 2015

Geoff Pain said:
What do people use for editing video taken with the SX50?

I have a similar question. What software can be used to remove the constant background noise from videos?

crazyfingers · Jul 24, 2015

I've never done anything with videos from the SX50. No real interest in videos. If I take anything it's the kids for 30 seconds and then I just store it and never look at it again. Sorry.

HermitIbis · Jul 24, 2015

Geoff Pain said:
What do people use for editing video taken with the SX50?

Adobe Premiere Elements 9 (bought in a package with Photoshop Elements 9 for about Euro 20). However, I have used Premiere only sporadically. When I meet a kingfisher, this kind of events - every three months or so. The software was relatively easy to use, for cutting the *.mov files. I haven't tried to manipulate the sound though. - Once I filmed a Grey Heron struggling with a large fish, and since this happened in the city center, there was a lot of irritating traffic noise. I didn't want to invest more time.

HermitIbis · Aug 5, 2015

Photos from a recent trip in the Black Forest.

When I entered the train to return home, I put the camera off. Something that I regretted badly ten minutes later when a bussard flew parallel to the (fast) moving train. The bird was perhaps 10-15 m away from me and had the same speed as the train, so relative to me the bussard practically stood still for about 5 seconds. Raising the camera and pressing the button was fast enough, but it took another second to recognize that the SX50 was off. - A pity. The window would have tainted the result, but still...

crazyfingers · Aug 9, 2015

I've been on vacation in Maine this past week and arriving home tomorrow. I've been using both my old and new SX50's.

The new one, maybe 9 months old, has IS issues and it sometimes doesn't steady out until I take a shot. This week it has also developed a lens extension fault about 1 in 10 times I turn it on. It goes "click, click, click" for a moment and finaly extends. No dreaded "lens error" message yet but I fear it's coming.

The old one which probably has over 80,000 shots to it's credit is starting to show stickyness on the zoom/shutter button such that today I was having a hard time getting the zoom I wanted and twice it didn't shoot when I pressed the shutter... The button is getting old.

I did get 518 shots without changing the battery and the day ended without the meter going red.

But I will need to make some camera repair, replacement decisions soon.

We come back to Maine again the last full week of August.

Posting from Tablet to save data plan data use.

HermitIbis · Aug 10, 2015

crazyfingers said:
The old one [...] is starting to show stickyness on the zoom/shutter button such that today I was having a hard time getting the zoom I wanted and twice it didn't shoot when I pressed the shutter... The button is getting old.

A little stickiness of the zoom is something that I notice, too, in one of my SX50s. Much of my zooming happens via main wheel though (C1, C2). The shutter button has only striked when the card was full (knocking on wood).

A few days ago my camera no. 3 returned from repair (the failure had been mentioned in this thread, post #1960). I had asked the store for detailed information whether only the shutter/diaphragm was kaput or something else, but the invoice has a standard phrase "optical unit replaced". I'd assume that it is indeed the whole optical unit which is new. Since my camera no.3 had given me excellent results, investing the Euro 155 in the repair seemed like a justifiable decision. It comes with a warranty of 1 year on the optical unit.

Invoice in detail, maybe of interest for others with a damaged SX50:
material Euro 64.30
wages Euro 58
postage Euro 7.90
net amount = Euro 130.20
VAT (19%) = Euro 24.74
Total = Euro 154.94

My personal strategy: three working SX50s should last for at least a full year until September 2016. And since the SX50 was introduced 2012, the SX60 in 2014, maybe Canon will start selling the SX70 in autumn 2016. Just a guess, of course...

crazyfingers · Aug 10, 2015

HermitIbis said:
A little stickiness of the zoom is something that I notice, too, in one of my SX50s. Much of my zooming happens via main wheel though (C1, C2). The shutter button has only striked when the card was full (knocking on wood).

A few days ago my camera no. 3 returned from repair (the failure had been mentioned in this thread, post #1960). I had asked the store for detailed information whether only the shutter/diaphragm was kaput or something else, but the invoice has a standard phrase "optical unit replaced". I'd assume that it is indeed the whole optical unit which is new. Since my camera no.3 had given me excellent results, investing the Euro 155 in the repair seemed like a justifiable decision. It comes with a warranty of 1 year on the optical unit.

Invoice in detail, maybe of interest for others with a damaged SX50:
material Euro 64.30
wages Euro 58
postage Euro 7.90
net amount = Euro 130.20
VAT (19%) = Euro 24.74
Total = Euro 154.94

My personal strategy: three working SX50s should last for at least a full year until September 2016. And since the SX50 was introduced 2012, the SX60 in 2014, maybe Canon will start selling the SX70 in autumn 2016. Just a guess, of course...

A year on the optical unit? I checked and I got the new one Nov 10, 2014. I think I will contact Canon on getting it fixed.

HermitIbis · Aug 11, 2015

I don't know whether warranty rules are the same in the United States, but contacting Canon cannot be a mistake, they might also fix it as a gesture of goodwill, if nothing else. In Germany there is a 2-year warranty on new electronic items, one year for used items (if a company sells it) and on repairs. But that warranty will only help in cases if the optical unit doesn't work properly. If the focus button of my repaired SX50 becomes sticky, it won't be covered.

crazyfingers · Aug 11, 2015

HermitIbis said:
I don't know whether warranty rules are the same in the United States, but contacting Canon cannot be a mistake, they might also fix it as a gesture of goodwill, if nothing else. In Germany there is a 2-year warranty on new electronic items, one year for used items (if a company sells it) and on repairs. But that warranty will only help in cases if the optical unit doesn't work properly. If the focus button of my repaired SX50 becomes sticky, it won't be covered.

Yes. I think that I've got my money's worth out of the old SX50. It's not a complaint that after 80,000+ shots the 3 year old unit is getting a sticky button. I'm not going to bother canon over that.

It's the new one I got Nov. 2014 that should not be faulty. In that case it's the IS jitter and the faulty lens extension on power-on. Those two would be optical unit issues. I hope that there is a year warranty on that. I'll be checking.

crazyfingers · Aug 11, 2015

With my last big vacation of the year coming up in less than 2 weeks I went out and found a new SX50 on Amazon and ordered it. $329. It should be delivered this week.

HermitIbis · Aug 11, 2015

crazyfingers said:
With my last big vacation of the year coming up in less than 2 weeks I went out and found a new SX50 on Amazon and ordered it. $329. It should be delivered this week.

Welcome in the "I own three Sx50" club!

Didn't you buy your other SX50 as a refurbished product directly from Canon USA? See http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/refurbished-products-information :

"At Canon U.S.A., Inc. ("Canon"), nothing speaks more to the quality of our company than the quality of our products. ... All refurbished products come with a 1-Year Refurbished Limited Warranty."

crazyfingers · Aug 11, 2015

HermitIbis said:
Welcome in the "I own three Sx50" club!

Didn't you buy your other SX50 as a refurbished product directly from Canon USA? See http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/refurbished-products-information :

"At Canon U.S.A., Inc. ("Canon"), nothing speaks more to the quality of our company than the quality of our products. ... All refurbished products come with a 1-Year Refurbished Limited Warranty."

Thanks you for your welcome to the Club!

No I got them new from Amazon. When I purchased my second in November it immediately had lens extension issues and I returned it to Amazon for a new replacement.

I have checked the Canon USA website and the SX50 does have a 1 year warrantee and there is no mention of that just being just for the optical unit. My new (3rd) SX50 will likely arrive in 3 days. After that I'll initiate the return for service process with Canon.

I might eventually have my oldest serviced if the cost isn't too bad. But that's last on the to-do list.

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