Canon SX50 Specs (3 Viewers)

MKinHK said:

Many thanks HermitIbis

My problem is that I may not be able to replace the SX50 easily here . . . and I have a trip to Kenya coming in less than 3 weeks. So I need either a new primary camera with the SX 50 as a backup or a complete replacement.

I understand that the RX10iii is bigger and substantially more expensive, but the versatility to do great landscape pix, plus macros and have great image quality seems an attractive option, with the SX50 (which I still thoroughly enjoy) retained for the longer range stuff.

I found the reviews of the P900 and the RX10iii by Stephen Ingraham to be very useful as his focus on point and shoot nature photography is close to my own mix of interests.

Cheers
Mike

Here's a few more SX50 pix from the Spring.

Click to expand...

Mike,
I have the Sony rx10M11 and it's a quality camera. Better results than from the SX50 or 60. The extra zoom of the Mark 111 version would cover 90% of your needs ( except the for the longer telephoto for birds). The 4k video mode is excellent too and would enable you take quality stills from the clips.
I wouldn't go the P900 route as it's AF is a bit iffy in low light and no raw. The Canon/Sony image stabilising is a bit better than Nikon.
Africa is a very special place it's always good to take the best camera that you can afford and a backup camera.
Have a good trip,
Neil.

MKinHK said:

I understand that the RX10iii is bigger and substantially more expensive, but the versatility to do great landscape pix, plus macros and have great image quality seems an attractive option, with the SX50 (which I still thoroughly enjoy) retained for the longer range stuff.

I found the reviews of the P900 and the RX10iii by Stephen Ingraham to be very useful as his focus on point and shoot nature photography is close to my own mix of interests.

Click to expand...

The versality and image quality of the RX10iii may be ideal for your needs. My own love for BIF comes from living close to a river, with birds easily available. I had moments with hundreds of migrating swallows over the river. For BIF the V2 is a superior choice. On the other side if someone had a sympathy for owls, I guess he/she must buy a flashlight. Landscapes is a special genre. My V2 came with a 10-30mm kit lens, probably OK for landscapes, but I have never tried it.

Here is an article about shooting macro with a Nikon J5, the 30-110mm zoom lens and extension tubes. At the end the RX10iii may cost about the same as this Nikon 1 equipment, if bought second-hand - the two cameras V2 and J5 and the three lenses. Having it all in a single camera should be easier to carry around in Kenya, I guess.

On Friday I went ahead and bought the Sony RX10iii - many thanks for you advice Neil and HermitIbis - they were useful in confirming my thoughts and pushing me over the edge into making a decision.

I've started a new thread in the Sony forum to share my efforts and encourage discussion on settings and the overall merits of the RX10iii:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=328256

I'll also post a few on my Facebook page (Mike Kilburn), which does a better job of maintaining the quality of the image than my struggles to shrink pix to fit the BF size limits.

Cheers
Mike

Plovers and shrikes are everywhere More on my Flickr.

Nice shots Derwal.

Rich

It is surprising how much feather detail my older SX50 photos have - if they are (re-)edited with the DxO software.

Lovely shot HI.

Rich

HermitIbis said:

It is surprising how much feather detail my older SX50 photos have - if they are (re-)edited with the DxO software.

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Nice shot!
I hadn't heard of that software, can you post the pre-edited version for a comparison?

Thanks, Rich and John.

Below are the photos. I've done my best to show the difference that DxO Optics pro 10 Elite makes. Maybe I have treated the file too aggressively - I am still not too familiar with DxO, using it mainly for my Nikon V2 files. Reducing noise in RAW files (like those from my V2) is actually a key feature of the DxO software, while the SX50 photos are typically in JPEG only (to get the greatest magnification).

The original had a "large green spot" (right, bottom), please try to ignore it. My additional editing (in my last post) was done in Photoshop, so it isn't the "fault" of DxO.

Because the site limits posting jpeg images to the 1600x1200 format, the images below have gone through a reduction process (via IrfanView).

So the first photo is the original JPEG, out of camera, just scaled down.
The second is after a quick treatment with Photoshop Elements 9, then cropped to about the same format as in the post above, then scaled down. The third image is a part of the 2nd of 1600x1067 size, to give a closer impression. The fourth is the same part (1600 x 1067) of the DxO version. So photos 3+4 are not diminished by the reduction process.

Please let me know what you think. I am aware that picture editing isn't a particular strength of mine, and I don't invest much time into the process.

Need some help. Finally starting to dabble in photo editing and would like to start shooting RAW photos.
2 Questions:
1) Why can't I use the teleconverter in RAW mode?
2) Why isn't RAW mode available in sports mode?

Hi Gladiator96
I can get raw and raw+jpeg with the tc on.
Possibly some thing to do with the buffer (or more accurately lack of) for the sports mode.

GrahameNZ said:

Hi Gladiator96
I can get raw and raw+jpeg with the tc on.
Possibly some thing to do with the buffer (or more accurately lack of) for the sports mode.

Click to expand...

I have the shortcut button set to the teleconverter and it doesn't work when I switch to raw or raw+jpeg. I'll try and fiddle around with it more tomorrow.

You haven't got digital zoom enabled, have you? I don't think you can use the teleconverter if that is the case.

Check in the camera menu and, if necessary, switch off digital zoom then see if you can select the teleconverter via the shortcut button.

Malcolm

GrahameNZ said:

Hi Gladiator96
I can get raw and raw+jpeg with the tc on.
Possibly some thing to do with the buffer (or more accurately lack of) for the sports mode.

Click to expand...

How is this possible? Is there a new firmware available for the SX50?

Page 146 of the manual says that raw photo mode (and jpg plus raw) disables the digital zoom modes including digital teleconverter.

Thus if you want to use the TC in M, Av, Tv or P mode, you must select JPEG.

HermitIbis said:

How is this possible?

Click to expand...

No idea how it's possible by my SX50 will let me select RAW and RAW + JPEG with the 2X on.

Just tried it again in case I had got something wrong.
Even put a different SD card in, not that that would make a difference.

I have a 18.5 Mb CR2 file of this post with 2X on.

There's a couple of versions of firmware for the camera, I have 100b which was the original version.

I guess it will remain a mystery.

For me the RAW's weren't worth the effort of playing with, the Canon JPEG engine does a good job.
Especially if you use the CHDK superfine JPEG setting.

I am still using my SX50 and one of the undiscovered (for me) benefits recently has been in photographing leafmining moths at 0cm by holding the leaf to the lens and then holding it up to the light, it produces pretty good images and detail of the larva feeding in the mine and great detail of the frass left behind (which can be critical for an ID).

Andy M

Yeppers. Me and my SX50 are still together.

crazyfingers said:

Yeppers. Me and my SX50 are still together.

Click to expand...

Good to see that there are still a few of us left still plugging away at it...

My SX50 is still going, though the zoom is little noisier after 3 1/2 years of operation. Satisifed with its performance, I'm hesitant to move on to something new and lose its familiarity and ability to focus through the clutter, as in this Red-eyed Vireo photo.


Steve

Settings

Jhanlon said:

what settings are these? is there a post number? I'm sure there are some handy tips on this thread but at 87 pages long I don't think I can go through it all!

Click to expand...

Maybe this will help:

Early sample photos [IanF] pp. 1-10. For example: Bee-eater, Waxwing, Kestrel BIF
Recommended settings [crazyfingers] p.16, #389
Digital Converter [IanF] p.17, #418
TV and AV mode [RoyC] p.25, #603
Macro photos: Raynox DCR 250 [George Edwards] Fly (p.19, #469) and more p.20, #484
Jpeg vs Raw [kNiks] p.25, #557
Manual mode [Kenn3d] p.25, #624
Raynox DCR 250 + adapter [rob lee] p.38, #929, sample: Green Tiger Beetle devouring Ant (p.39, #952)
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
Question re settings [sarah durha, crazyfingers] p.55, #1355 and replies below (up to p.56, #1377)
Macro: Raynox DCR 250 [Frogfish] p.56, #1389 and p.56, #1397 and p.62, #1528
Avoiding the self-timer [TRT45] p.56, #1392
Settings [marcobf] p. 67, #1661
Latest settings [crazyfingers] p.68, #1689
ISO priority mode p.73, #1824

From p 17, digital teleconverter

The digtal converters can only be used when you're in P, TV, AV or M modes plus of course the customised modes C1 & C2 using one of those modes.

Just press the Menu button and then the down arrow to highlight the second entry down from the top, press Func Set and then the right arrow to select which option you want which alternates between digital zoom off, standard and teleconverter 1.5x and 2x. Press Func Set to select the one you want.

Rather than have to access the converters through the menu each time you can set them to one or bot of the custom function buttons - C1 and C2. However swapping to C1 or C2 to activate the converter causes the camera zoom to reset each time. A better way is to set the short cut button to T - press the Menu button and then the up arrow twice to get to the 'set shortcut button' and press Func Set and the left arrow twice to highlight the T and press Func Set again. Now when you press the S button to the left of the viewfinder the camera alternates bewteen the 1.5x, 2x and no converter and the camera zoom doesn't reset each time.