Canon SX50 Specs (2 Viewers)

Stonefaction · Dec 15, 2014

Having kept an eye on this thread for a while, while waiting for the price to drop sufficiently to justify buying a camera which is probably only going to be used sporadically, I finally got my hands on one at the weekend. I've posted a few photos on my blog....

http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/testing-toy-141214.html

and one that isn't on the blog, but may be of interest to a couple of posters here....

Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 787 EI-LNB "Thor Heyerdahl"

Settings used were the ones posted on here. Probably saved me a lot of time and effort.

crazyfingers · Dec 15, 2014

Stonefaction said:
Having kept an eye on this thread for a while, while waiting for the price to drop sufficiently to justify buying a camera which is probably only going to be used sporadically, I finally got my hands on one at the weekend. I've posted a few photos on my blog....

http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/testing-toy-141214.html

and one that isn't on the blog, but may be of interest to a couple of posters here....

Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 787 EI-LNB "Thor Heyerdahl"

Settings used were the ones posted on here. Probably saved me a lot of time and effort.

Here you go if you like airplanes

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=268621

Stonefaction · Dec 15, 2014

Seen it (and posted in it).

jeffhosier · Dec 16, 2014

The SX50 continues to amaze me

The SX50 continues to amaze me. I took some pictures of a kingfisher after 3 pm on an overcast December day in England (are there any other types of day in England?). I wasn't expecting much because it was getting quite dark - sunset was at 4:01pm.

They're all hand-held on on maximum optical zoom, and the largest one had either 1.5x or 2x tele-converter. Exposure times were1/30th and 1/20th, and ISO was set to 800 (by the camera, not me).

I fiddled with them a bit in Apple's aperture program.

They're clearly not going to win any prizes, but I'm very pleased with them!

crazyfingers · Dec 16, 2014

Yes those long exposures wouldn't be possible without the image stabilization.

Clive29 · Dec 20, 2014

Has anybody used CHDK on the SX50?

Roy C · Dec 21, 2014

crazyfingers said:
Yes those long exposures wouldn't be possible without the image stabilization.

Or better still on a tripod with IS switched off !

crazyfingers · Dec 21, 2014

Roy C said:
Or better still on a tripod with IS switched off !

In most situations I've been in, the critter appears unexpectedly, lingers a moment and is gone. I'd never wander about with a tripod.

Roy C · Dec 21, 2014

crazyfingers said:
In most situations I've been in, the critter appears unexpectedly, lingers a moment and is gone. I'd never wander about with a tripod.

Suely you were commenting on someone else's post and not you own!!!!. I was just commenting on your statement that 'those long exposures wouldn't be possible without the image stabilization'.
A good tripod and head will yield better results than hand holding with IS that's for sure so those long exposures without IS are possible - Because you do not choose to use a tripod does not alter this fact

.
BTW for anyone out there wanting to improve the Image quality from this Camera, especially when at the long end, a tripod and good head is the way to go. Of course if you just want average record shots then hand holding will suffice.

HermitIbis · Dec 22, 2014

Roy C, your own photographs are the best evidence that the SX50 can produce more than record shots, handheld. The typical user of the SX50 is probably rather a birder than striving for ultimate image quality. Still, the SX50 has been an enormous improvement for me, vs my former Canon 600D + Tamron 70-300 + Keno 1.4 TK. Even the burst mode which you have called a "gimmick" is a very helpful feature for a beginner. Kind of an emergency solution for unexperienced users when everything else fails.

However, this camera remains a compromise, and I am not tempted to carry a tripod around on my daily walks. Theoretically, my bird photographs will be better with a tripod, for sure. Theoretically there is also the option to photograph birds from a self-constructed hide or attract birds by feeding, Varesvuo style. While I much admire Varesvuo's photographs, not every theoretical possibility is also realistic.

HermitIbis · Dec 22, 2014

Clive Hallam said:
Has anybody used CHDK on the SX50?

I've read about CHDK, but it didn't seem to offer much for bird photography. Am I wrong? With CHDK the SX50 would be able to shoot faster exposure series: a speedy "sssrrr" instead of "click-click-click", reducing the danger that the bird is moving out of focus. Still, it doesn't seem worth it.

Edit: It would be handy if CHDK would make the "burst" mode more flexible, e.g. offering slower burst speeds (sometimes you rather want to have 10 shots in 3 seconds than in 1 second). However, in one of the comment threads someone explained that CHDK has no influence on programmed modes like "burst". That's a pity. - Sample burst: a diving Tufted Duck.

HermitIbis · Jan 1, 2015

If there is someone who owns both the SX50 and its predecessor SX40 - are you preferring the SX40 on rainy December days? It was one of the main points of criticism that the SX50 had the "slower" lens, when this camera was introduced two+ years ago. And I have to admit that my rate of pleasing shots on winter days is a bit frustrating...

crazyfingers · Jan 2, 2015

My wife uses my old SX40 to photograph gravestones of all things. The 40 is noticeably better in low light than the 50.

pshute · Jan 2, 2015

crazyfingers said:
My wife uses my old SX40 to photograph gravestones of all things. The 40 is noticeably better in low light than the 50.

How do these compare to the SX60?

birdboybowley · Jan 2, 2015

The 40 is far better in low light than both its successors - so much so that my girlf takes it on our hols so I can nab it if we're photoing in low light! Don't think the 60 would get half as many shots in somewhere like the Madagascan rainforests that my 40 did......

Raptorash · Jan 7, 2015

SX50 "Shutter Lag"

At the risk of exposing myself to ridicule as a total digital muppet - is the significant "shutter lag" a feature that all digital bridge cameras such as the SX50 suffer from? ie. is it something I just have to put up with, or can I adjust some settings to reduce the time taken to capture a shot once the button is pressed? (I realise the phrase "shutter lag" is probably the wrong description - not sure if a digital camera actually has such a thing as shutter anymore?)

I seem to spend my time reviewing pictures I have taken of the spot a bird was perched on, just before it flew away ! I have an awful lot of "empty twig" pictures. Having previously used a Canon 50D and 400 prime lens in an earlier incarnation as a birder who took bird photos, I don't recall any sort of delay affecting me before.

I have had to resort to taking the strap off the camera, so as to resist the temptation to use it to swing the camera around and around before launching it into the sea in disgust. Help !!

crazyfingers · Jan 7, 2015

I have never noticed any lag between the time that I actually fully press the shutter button and the camera takes the picture. There is often a lag when half-pressing the shutter button as the camera works on the focus and there is a lag that I create between when the camera says it's focused and I decide to take the photo.

I do often end up with an empty twig photo but I swear that birds have a 6th sense and know when the camera gets a focus and fly off before I press the button all the way.

Foxy · Jan 7, 2015

Roy C said:
Suely you were commenting on someone else's post and not you own!!!!. I was just commenting on your statement that 'those long exposures wouldn't be possible without the image stabilization'.
A good tripod and head will yield better results than hand holding with IS that's for sure so those long exposures without IS are possible - Because you do not choose to use a tripod does not alter this fact .
BTW for anyone out there wanting to improve the Image quality from this Camera, especially when at the long end, a tripod and good head is the way to go. Of course if you just want average record shots then hand holding will suffice.

I agree that most SX50 users are birders who want a picture rather than a photographer who photographs birds and most birders will have their scopes set up on the tripod. I have had good results hand held but recently taken to using a carbon fibre Manfrotto monopod: really light, easy to carry and makes a huge difference to the stability of the camera. I had always been sceptical about monopods but I am a committed user now.

crazyfingers · Jan 7, 2015

pshute said:
How do these compare to the SX60?

I don't have an SX60 but the F values of the 50 and 60 are pretty much the same. I don't think that you should expect the 60 to have better low light capability than the 50 but you might ask that in the SX60 topic.

HermitIbis · Jan 7, 2015

Raptorash said:
Having previously used a Canon 50D and 400 prime lens in an earlier incarnation as a birder who took bird photos, I don't recall any sort of delay affecting me before.

From a review of the SX50: "Shutter lag [...] is very good at 0.3 second in bright lighting and 0.5 in dimmer conditions. From shot to shot, you're waiting an average of 1.6 seconds; with flash that time goes up to 2.4 seconds."

So I guess the SX50 is slow for someone who is used to the 50D (shutter lag: 0.059 seconds), but fast for a bridge camera.

Some recent photographs. For the wet Gold Crest in the rain it would have been great to have a dslr and the 400mm prime lens! The Tawny Owl sat there for hours. The first wild owl I ever met.

Canon SX50 Specs (2 Viewers)

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