Canon SX50 Specs (4 Viewers)

[mzettie]

Here is one with massive brightness and contrast adjustments.

Yep, adult male Ruby-throated. But you could very well get a Rufous, as the numbers of them showing up in the northeast have been steadily rising. PA especially, has been getting gobs of them.

If an adult male appeared in your yard you'd know it right away...almost the whole bird is rufous colored. But it's more likely you'd see an immature bird, and those can be much harder to identify. A big clue is the vocalization, which people describe as sounding like a geiger counter. So as fall approaches, keep your ears open......and camera ready!
Here's a link you might like; http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/west_hum_east/

 

[crazyfingers]

Yep, adult male Ruby-throated. But you could very well get a Rufous, as the numbers of them showing up in the northeast have been steadily rising. PA especially, has been getting gobs of them.

If an adult male appeared in your yard you'd know it right away...almost the whole bird is rufous colored. But it's more likely you'd see an immature bird, and those can be much harder to identify. A big clue is the vocalization, which people describe as sounding like a geiger counter. So as fall approaches, keep your ears open......and camera ready!
Here's a link you might like; http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/west_hum_east/

Ya. They are showing up in ebird. Sibley's guide also shows the Rufous as very rare but not unknown in my area.

 

[Toirealach]

Thanks. PBs are such showy little birds, it's amazing that they can hide as well as they do. Felt good to finally grab a shot.

The Snowy was taken in TV mode at 141mm (819mm eq.) Shutter speed of 1/800, EV -2/3, center-weighted metering.

Thanks, I need to get to grips with TV mode for flying birds.

 

[HermitIbis]

I've found a better photo of the Black-necked grebe.

 

[HermitIbis]

A Black redstart, shot at 172mm, no crop. The other two photos of a feather in a distance of 5m, both 50% crops, compare my settings at C1 (172mm, AV, iso priority, 2.0TC) and C2 (last photo: TV, 2.0TC, max. zoom). The differences are not huge, the slightly better iso (iso 250 vs 400) may well be more than outweighted in a real-life scenario with a bird, instead of a stationary feather, as the C2 setting is a little faster. Still, I like the flexibility of this C1 and C2 combination.

It is true that it would help if we had a third customer mode, C3 - which I would probably use for RAW. But I love to vary and often go to AV, TV, M, Sports mode, High Speed and even "Auto". When I feel that Raw might be worth it in a situation, I'll just go to AV and dial in "raw". I only have to remember to change it back - which isn't hard, as RAW is so limiting that you can hardly forget it: no TC, no continuous shooting.

 

[crazyfingers]

A Black redstart, shot at 172mm, no crop. The other two photos of a feather in a distance of 5m, both 50% crops, compare my settings at C1 (172mm, AV, iso priority, 2.0TC) and C2 (last photo: TV, 2.0TC, max. zoom). The differences are not huge, the slightly better iso (iso 250 vs 400) may well be more than outweighted in a real-life scenario with a bird, instead of a stationary feather, as the C2 setting is a little faster. Still, I like the flexibility of this C1 and C2 combination.

It is true that it would help if we had a third customer mode, C3 - which I would probably use for RAW. But I love to vary and often go to AV, TV, M, Sports mode, High Speed and even "Auto". When I feel that Raw might be worth it in a situation, I'll just go to AV and dial in "raw". I only have to remember to change it back - which isn't hard, as RAW is so limiting that you can hardly forget it: no TC, no continuous shooting.

You can set the "S" button to toggle JPG/RAW. Don't know if you use that for something else though. I have it set to toggle the Teleconverter.

 

[HermitIbis]

You can set the "S" button to toggle JPG/RAW. Don't know if you use that for something else though. I have it set to toggle the Teleconverter.

Toggling the teleconverter is my preference, too. RAW does not have the same importance. However, in a situation like the one I met today - a swallow against the morning sun - it would have been very useful to have RAW available at a single press of a button!

Unfortunately, setting the "S" button to toggle RAW/JPEG, it still requires to press three buttons: "S" + "left" + "set". If I leave the "S" button as it is, for the TC, and then want to change to RAW, it also takes three buttons (if I have chosen the Raw/JPEG menu option before): "Func/set", "left" and "set". In effect, setting the "S" button to RAW/JPEG isn't worth it.

 

[crazyfingers]

Not 5 star photos but good enough to tell that it's a red wing blackbird that is really mad at this red-tailed hawk. There were two that would not quit until they had driven the hawk away from the nesting area.

Cedar Waxwing is much better quality. It was quietly sitting in a tree and it was dumb luck I even saw it as I walked by.

Finally, meet Squirmy/Fred. May 2014 my kids captured it and kept it as a pet though the summer and the winter. We let it go back into the frog pond a month ago. We see him sometimes. Today I picked him up. He hid in his shell at first but when I talked to him he stuck his head out and looked at me. I need to remember to bring freeze dried shrimp treats with me.

 

[HermitIbis]

These special moments worth to remember - I think that's what most users want from their camera, if they are no professionals. Yesterday I experienced one of these moments without even noticing it. A bird in flight, too fast for me. But it sat down in a reed area, so I shot a photo of the place, from a large distance - see first photo.

Only in front of the computer I found out that I had met my first Bluethroat.

 

[HermitIbis]

More photos from the same day when I met the Bluethroat, at a place with an impressive variety and quantity of birds. There was a moment when I heard a chorus of four Nightingales. - The first bird is new to me, maybe a Ruddy Duck?

 

[wotcha]

These special moments worth to remember - I think that's what most users want from their camera, if they are no professionals. Yesterday I experienced one of these moments without even noticing it. A bird in flight, too fast for me. But it sat down in a reed area, so I shot a photo of the place, from a large distance - see first photo.

Only in front of the computer I found out that I had met my first Bluethroat.

What a thrill to discover you'd captured such a rarity.

Congratulations!

 

[HermitIbis]

What a thrill to discover you'd captured such a rarity.

Congratulations!

Thank you. Rarity of a bird species is relative. While the Bluethroat is an ultra-rarity in Britain (vagrant), about 200-300 Bluethroats are said to live in Baden-Württemberg. The Waghäusel reservation where I met my bird is the area with the largest population of Bluethroats in my state. That may translate to 30-40 individuals, I don't know. Needless to say that I'll return!

I am just as happy about a shot yesterday on the mountain "Hornisgrinde": a juvenile Spotted Nutcracker (estimate ~1800 birds in my state). The wings are not totally frozen, but I like this photo more than the pin-sharp three others where the bird sits still.

Plus a Tree Pipit. According to a book, the population of this bird in the UK has been 100,000 in 1983, it has the identical number for Baden-Württemberg (1987). But Wikipedia says there was a decline of 85% in Britain in the last 20 years. Does this mean it is now a rarity? A recent estimate for my state says: 30,000-60,000. Anyway, it was a new bird for me.

 

[crazyfingers]

Nothing spectacular but I love having the range to keep tabs on the Swan chicks. There were 6 a few days ago. Now just 4. Last year this pair lost all 7 chicks. I hope they do better this year.

And a Baltimore Oriole. It was actually pretty bad lighting but it didn't turn out too bad with some brightness and contract.

 

[hgalbraith]

Sx50 carrying case

Anyone know of any advice on this forum for sx 50 carrying cases.

 

[HermitIbis]

Anyone know of any advice on this forum for sx 50 carrying cases.

An older thread with suggestions: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=270912

Edit: To illustrate the macro abilities of the camera: an ant.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Today's garden visitor and a very confiding Stonechat from the weekend.

 

[pppppvvvv]

Today's garden visitor and a very confiding Stonechat from the weekend.

Stonechat is really good.. Was this with the teleconvertor on?

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Stonechat is really good.. Was this with the teleconvertor on?

Hi Peter. Thx. Yup it was on 1.5. Think it was this year's youngster hence he allowed me to get a little nearer.

Rich

PS really impressed with your Lapland pictures. Looks like you've hit the ground running with your new purchase - congrats:t:

 

[HermitIbis]

Visiting the reservation again, I slowly get an idea where I have to search for the Bluethroats. Four encounters with the species, the photos from ~20m are still lacking detail.

 

[HermitIbis]

Some more from the same trip. All taken with camera numero 2.

My third SX50 used exclusively for six+ months has died. The usual problem: its central shutter gave up, all pictures are black. In other respects it is fine, so I plan to send it to a shop, to receive an offer how much a repair would cost. My first SX50 had suffered the same fate (with ~130,000 shots), yet its repair was still on warranty. Adding up the photos with the highest number in my folders, the result for no. 3 is about 112,000 photos. Plus photos from a former owner, which adds perhaps a few thousands. Googling the topic, my experience seems typical, even the (more complicated) shutters of DSLRs have a similar resilience, for some models the "mean time before failure"/expected shutter life is given as 150,000. Of course when you are lucky, the shutter can last much longer.

Buying a new SX50 with warranty might have advantages for a heavy user like me. On the other side, information about the SX50's durability and possible repair costs should be welcome in a thread like this one.