Canon SX50 Specs (2 Viewers)

[brucelythe]

Oops - wrong ones

sorry

 

[woodwolf]

Hi Folks. I've been using the Sx30 for best part of 2 years now, been delighted with the results of both birds and butterflies and dragonflies.
Was just wandering if any UK users have bought recently ? I have seen prices c£280 for SX50 advertised on interweb but not really heard of these sellers, so wander if anyone has any positive feedback and can recommend them, and is the camera full UK spec etc ?


Cheers folks

 

[Vipers]

I got mine from here and I will use them again.

http://www.procamerashop.co.uk/came...t/canon-powershot-sx50-hs-digital-camera.html

 

[John Fleet]

Gary

were you able to get the Canon £50 cashback on the camera?- which could bring the price down to £230?

 

[Mahsleb]

Macro/ close-ups?

Hi All, I've been thinking of buying an SX50 to use as a general purpose carryabout
but searching through this thread I haven't found much evidence of it's close-up/ macro capabilities,
lots of great bird pics but hardly any butterfly or dragonfly images
I know it's still midwinter in the UK () but is it any good for this sort of photography?

Cheers

 

[IanF]

Hi All, I've been thinking of buying an SX50 to use as a general purpose carryabout
but searching through this thread I haven't found much evidence of it's close-up/ macro capabilities,
lots of great bird pics but hardly any butterfly or dragonfly images
I know it's still midwinter in the UK () but is it any good for this sort of photography?

Cheers

Certainly does for my close up needs. I don't take that many butterflies nowadays but I'm looking forward to using it on dragonflies when they appear.

Taken a couple of days ago.

 

[Vipers]

Gary

were you able to get the Canon £50 cashback on the camera?- which could bring the price down to £230?

Hi John. I didn't know there was a cashback offer, but I don't think they would give you such a good price and cashback.

 

[Mahsleb]

Certainly doers for my close up needs. I don't take that many butterflies nowadays but I'm looking forward to using it on dragonflies when they appear.

Taken a couple of days ago.

Very impressive Ian, thanks for your speedy reply, can you give me some info re distance from subject and settings please

regards

ps I saw my first Damsefly of the year today, a large red

 

[IanF]

Very impressive Ian, thanks for your speedy reply, can you give me some info re distance from subject and settings please

regards

ps I saw my first Damsefly of the year today, a large red

The exif should be on the photos. Taken at ISO 125 1/500 f5,6 -0.33 EV in AV mode. Maybe 40x optical + 1.5x converter from about 1m. Exif shows 154.7 rather than the 215 it would be for 50x zoom. I'd forgotten the 1.5x converter was on else the results would have been better. I'd obviously zoomed back to get it in the frame.

One of the first photos I took with the camera was a Common Darter - photo in my first post in this thread - http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=410470&d=1350768269

 

[John Fleet]

Hi John. I didn't know there was a cashback offer, but I don't think they would give you such a good price and cashback.

Gary
well the cashback is from Canon, so worth having a go at claiming it?- you download the form from their website - attach a copy of your receipt and mail it off - and wait (at least that's how it worked when I got cashback on a Powershot SX260 last year) - worth a go?
check out:

http://www.canon.co.uk/springcashback/

 

[crazyfingers]

Hi All, I've been thinking of buying an SX50 to use as a general purpose carryabout
but searching through this thread I haven't found much evidence of it's close-up/ macro capabilities,
lots of great bird pics but hardly any butterfly or dragonfly images
I know it's still midwinter in the UK () but is it any good for this sort of photography?

Cheers

Generally if you want a closeup you don't want to actually use macro but stand off at max zoom. Works better for critters who will spook and leave when something huge is shoved in front of their face anyway.

 

[Mahsleb]

The exif should be on the photos. Taken at ISO 125 1/500 f5,6 -0.33 EV in AV mode. Maybe 40x optical + 1.5x converter from about 1m. Exif shows 154.7 rather than the 215 it would be for 50x zoom. I'd forgotten the 1.5x converter was on else the results would have been better. I'd obviously zoomed back to get it in the frame.

One of the first photos I took with the camera was a Common Darter - photo in my first post in this thread - http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=410470&d=1350768269

Thanks Ian, that's very interesting, do you use a tripod for these sort of shots?

 

[crazyfingers]

Hi All, I've been thinking of buying an SX50 to use as a general purpose carryabout
but searching through this thread I haven't found much evidence of it's close-up/ macro capabilities,
lots of great bird pics but hardly any butterfly or dragonfly images
I know it's still midwinter in the UK () but is it any good for this sort of photography?

Cheers

Here's a photo of a US one cent piece a bit less than 2 centimeters across in size if you are unfamiliar with US money.

I dropped this on my driveway and took a photo at max optical zoom and the 2x teleconverter on. I have not cropped. Just reduced the size for attaching.

It was about 5 feet away in total. Almost straight vertical shot. I was a bit surprised that it focused being so close for such zoom.

 

[Cactusdave]

I agree with crazyfingers' advice. The macro setting isn't anything special, but if you stand back and use the optical zoom you will get good results. I was standing quite well back from the bee and using X 50 I think. Same technique for the flowers but less zoom needed for the larger subjects. Good resolution though. You can see pollen on the tulip and the hairs on the apple blossom buds.

 

[DavidNB]

I've taken some pics of common lizards using the same technique of using max or near max zoom from far enough away to get focus, and been more pleased with the results than I have from any of my previous cameras.

As the spring flowers are coming through, though, I've been playing with shots of them from distances of a couple of centimetres. So far just using Auto, when it goes to macro automatically when needed. Again, I'm finding the results better than with any of my previous cameras (my last was an SX30). And better than taking them at max zoom from distance. Flowers are not generally prone to being spooked by a close approach, I find. With things that are spookable, I use zoom.

David

 

[Mahsleb]

Generally if you want a closeup you don't want to actually use macro but stand off at max zoom. Works better for critters who will spook and leave when something huge is shoved in front of their face anyway.

Thanks for your input Cf

 

[Mahsleb]

I agree with crazyfingers' advice. The macro setting isn't anything special, but if you stand back and use the optical zoom you will get good results. I was standing quite well back from the bee and using X 50 I think. Same technique for the flowers but less zoom needed for the larger subjects. Good resolution though. You can see pollen on the tulip and the hairs on the apple blossom buds.

Thanks Dave, good results, I especially like the Apple blossom!

 

[crazyfingers]

I've taken some pics of common lizards using the same technique of using max or near max zoom from far enough away to get focus, and been more pleased with the results than I have from any of my previous cameras.

As the spring flowers are coming through, though, I've been playing with shots of them from distances of a couple of centimetres. So far just using Auto, when it goes to macro automatically when needed. Again, I'm finding the results better than with any of my previous cameras (my last was an SX30). And better than taking them at max zoom from distance. Flowers are not generally prone to being spooked by a close approach, I find. With things that are spookable, I use zoom.

David

There are several difficulties I've had on the rare moments that I've tried to actually use macro and very close to the camera. But I would say that I have not tried a lot.

1: Keeping the camera steady - It's a lot harder for me physically to keep the camera still when I'm crouching.

2: It seems that it's very harder for the camera to focus on the whole subject. For a flower it might focus on one part but another out of focus.

3: I find that being so close my options are limited when I or the camera cast a shadow on the subject.

 

[Mahsleb]

I've taken some pics of common lizards using the same technique of using max or near max zoom from far enough away to get focus, and been more pleased with the results than I have from any of my previous cameras.

As the spring flowers are coming through, though, I've been playing with shots of them from distances of a couple of centimetres. So far just using Auto, when it goes to macro automatically when needed. Again, I'm finding the results better than with any of my previous cameras (my last was an SX30). And better than taking them at max zoom from distance. Flowers are not generally prone to being spooked by a close approach, I find. With things that are spookable, I use zoom.

David

Thanks David, do you have any images taken from a very close distance?

 

[Cactusdave]

I reckon this is a pretty good example of what this camera can do with flowers. It was taken with a modest zoom setting standing a few feet away. I haven't tried the full auto setting for flowers. This was with Av and my usual bird settings.