Canon SX50 Specs (1 Viewer)

[TheScrutinizer]

I had to try ISO80 and F8 - and I think these settings help me getting better images. What do you think?

 

[IanF]

Ian -
I'm assuming you use a tripod? Those are some fantastically sharp shots. The photo of the Owl buried in the branches shows off perfectly the capabilities of the SX50.

Steve

Excellent shots as usual Ian. It is clear that as time progresses you may have changed your set up ( I have not seen ISO 80 mentioned before or have missed it). After all these entries I wonder whether it might be appropriate for one of the SX50 experts to give a breakdown of the settings they currently use. I am sure we all have our own set up but the clarity of the shots you are getting is way above mine.

Sorry been away on holiday for the last week so couldn't keep up with things very well.

Almost all my photos are taken hand held. I think I've only used a tripod once or twice with this camera at most. If light levels are low then quite often I'll look for additional support such as bracing myself against a tree trunk or fence post or simply sitting down usually works well for improving stability.

I almost always use this camera set at ISO 80. If light levels are very poor then I set it on Auto ISO though I have the limit set to ISO400 max.

 

[crazyfingers]

It was a gray day this morning but I headed out before the rain moved in. At a nearby pond where the ice is finally gone the critters have returned.

1: Hooded merganser at about 400 feet away as estimated by Google earth
2: Ring-neck Ducks about 600 feet away also estimated by google earth. I do not understand why they are called ring neck ducks
3: Mute swan. No wonder they have no fear with those sharp "teeth" or whatever they are made of.
4: This appears to be a wild-domesticated duck who likes to hang with the mallards
5: Red wing blackbird singing

1,2, and 5 were at max optical zoom. 1 and 2 also had the x2 teleconverter on.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Lovely Blackbird CF

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

One from today. Had a fiddle with the settings but was struggling to hold the camera still due to the wind.

Rich

www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=489756&d=1396123280

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

I had to try ISO80 and F8 - and I think these settings help me getting better images. What do you think?

Really nice shot:t:

Rich

 

[TheScrutinizer]

I'm convinced! Under good light conditions ISO80 gives the best results.

This image is direct from my camera. No fixing, whatsoever.
The distance was approximately 20 meters and 215 mm with 2x.

 

[ebwilderae]

I see there is already some discussion here - in US Best Buy is no longer carrying this camera which makes me think a new model must be coming out fairly soon. Be interesting to see what comes our way.

 

[crazyfingers]

I see there is already some discussion here - in US Best Buy is no longer carrying this camera which makes me think a new model must be coming out fairly soon. Be interesting to see what comes our way.

I saw it on sale at Staples for, I think, $259.

 

[Roy C]

Another mention of the SX60 on Canon Rumors HERE. They are talking of a 100x zoom with the short end at 20mm (which means the long end must be 2000mm). I personally think a larger sensor to better control noise and better AF are more of a priority than increase focal length.

 

[Roy C]

I'm convinced! Under good light conditions ISO80 gives the best results.

There are other things that will effect image noise apart from the obvious low ISO - the most noticeable is when a shot is underexposed and then lifted in post processing, this will always accentuate any noise present especially in the shadow area's so always make sure you shoot to the right to get the very best out of the sensor - exposing the bird correctly will inevitably mean using EV compensation and this is a practice every bird photographer should be conversant with
The attached shot was taken on the SX40 (the same sensor as the SX50) at ISO 800 as an example - I needed to shoot at ISO 800 to get the right shutter speed to freeze the action (1/1000 sec) but by shooting to the right the noise is reasonably controlled.

 

[David142]

Roy,Please explain the term "shooting to the right" for the less skilled among you.
David

 

[Roy C]

Roy,Please explain the term "shooting to the right" for the less skilled among you.
David

David, Wikipedia sums it up better than I could - In digital photography, exposing to the right (ETTR) is the technique of increasing the exposure of an image in order to collect the maximum amount of light and thus get the optimum performance out of the digital image sensor. For more detailed info just google 'ETTR' where you can find many articles on it.
Attached are a couple of Camera histograms that show it in action, the first image is a 'normal' histogram whereas the second one shows an histogram where the exposure has been to the right (ETTR).

You basically expose to the right as far as you dare without blowing any of the targets highlights (RAW helps here as it gives a bit of latitude on the exposure in processing) - often in bird photography this will result in a light background being overexposed at the expense of correctly exposing the bird. Very often you will need to apply exposure (Ev) compensation to achieve this, how much (if any) compensation you need to apply depends on several things like:-
The difference in tones between the bird and the background.
How big the bird is in the frame.
What exposure mode you are using.

How much Ev comp to apply becomes second nature after a while as it is just a matter of experience (your Cameras histogram is your friend).

There are many scenarios where applying Ev comp is a must for the bird photographer, as an obvious example when shooting into the sun/light - if left to its own the Camera will produce an image where the bird will just be a black blob but the light backround will be perfectly exposed - to counteract this you need to dial-in some Ev+ to correctly expose the bird.

 

[dabut101]

many thanks for the explanation roy.yesterday I tried taking pics of grass snakes but was looking into the sun but didn't move in case they did and it came out very dark but they stayed put whilst I got in a better position
.

 

[sarahdurha]

settings help

I bought the SX50 a couple of days ago (mostly on the strength of this thread, thanks everyone for your reviews/photos), and it is my first venture into actually photographing the birds I spot. I am literally clueless when it comes to photography so please bear with me!

I set C1 and C2 to crazyfinger's settings, but I think I might have done it wrong as when I partially depress the shutter, the screen goes quite dark. I have also used AV mode, but I think I might have fiddled with the settings too much, so could anyone tell me what they are supposed to be?! Here are my current settings for C1, C2, and AV, can anyone spot where I'm going wrong?!:

C1:

AF Frame - FlexiZone
Digital Zoom - Off
AF-Point Zoom - On
Servo AF - Off
Continuous AF - Off
AF-assist beam - Off
MF-Point Zoom - Off
Safety MF - Off
Iso Auto settings - Max 800
High ISO NR - Low
Spot AE Point - AF Point

C2:

AF Frame - FlexiZone
Digital Zoom - Off
AF-Point Zoom - Off
Servo AF - greyed out but looks On
Continuous AF - On
AF-assist beam - Off
MF-Point Zoom - Off
Safety MF - Off
Iso Auto settings - Max 800
High ISO NR - Standard
Spot AE Point - AF Point

AV:

AF Frame - FlexiZone
Digital Zoom - Off
AF-Point Zoom - Off
Servo AF - Off
Continuous AF - On
AF-assist beam - On
MF-Point Zoom - On
Safety MF - On
Iso Auto settings - Max 800
High ISO NR - Low
Spot AE Point - Centre

I also turned the spin wheel when it was on some sort of setting that ranges from 15" to 1/2000 what is this? What should it be, and how do I change it back?! Any advice on improving these settings would be much appreciated.

Sorry for the huge post!

Sarah

 

[crazyfingers]

I'm sorry I can't think why it's doing that. Does it do the same on full Auto?

But looking at this setting, taking a hint from Roy, I think I'll set one for a lower max ISO and see what happens.

 

[Jamvol12]

Same problem for me with the self timer button. Even though I consciously try to avoid it I still sometimes activate the self timer menu.

I'm still very pleased with the results I'm getting from the SX50 HS whether the birds are close or distant.

A few photos over the last few weeks. All at least 50% crops and taken hand held in AV mode with aperture wide open at ISO80 and at 1200mm with the 1.5x digital converter engaged.

Waxwing c.20m
Long-eared Owl c.30m
Merlin c.60m
Long-tailed Tit c.5m
Little Egret c.30m

Wow! If that Merlin really was 60m away then that is an absolutely amazing shot :clap:

Anything > 50m falls firmly into the 'record shot' category for me, though that is to be expected considering I'm very much a 'get bird in the middle and click on auto mode' sort of photographer...

I'm subscribed to you on Youtube and your videos there are great also.

 

[Hamhed]

David, Wikipedia sums it up better than I could - In digital photography, exposing to the right (ETTR) is the technique of increasing the exposure of an image in order to collect the maximum amount of light and thus get the optimum performance out of the digital image sensor. For more detailed info just google 'ETTR' where you can find many articles on it.

I did follow up on this, skimming through the DPreview site. It sounds interesting but depends heavily on post-processing, correct?

Steve

 

[Roy C]

I did follow up on this, skimming through the DPreview site. It sounds interesting but depends heavily on post-processing, correct?

Steve

No more than you would normally do, especially if you shoot in RAW. If you shoot in Jpeg the only essential thing is to correct the levels which you should do any way as a matter of course (depending on the software you are using but correcting the levels will take around one minute at the very most!).
Playing around with highlights/shadows also helps produce a nicer image irrelevant of if you are shooting to the right or not.

 

[Roy C]

Here are a few more snaps from the SX50 that I have just dug-up.
EDIT all three of the shots were taken at 1800mm and hand held.