Canon Powershot SX50 HS is the latest Super Zoom Bridge Camera from Canon. If you need a light camera especially for traveling, you will find the Powershot SX50 to be a companion you cannot do without.

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Canon
Powershot SX50
HS The Latest
Super Zoom
Bridge Camera
From Canon
By Nathan Hobbs

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I picked up on the Canon Powershot SX50 HS to do wildlife
identification with birds and other critters. I have spent many hours
behind the lens of Canons EOS cameras including the Mark III and
5d2 with L grade telephoto glass but I needed something lightweight
and compact to use when the weight of the DSLR system was not
desirable.
The Canon Powershot SX50 HS bridge camera is amazing for that
task. I had looked at the SX30 and the SX40 in the past but for me
testing them out at the stores the Autofocus just was not yet fast
enough for me to be willing to work with. The Canon Powershot
SX50 HS bridge camera changes that and has a very quick AF system
that has already worked for me in a variety of situations for a sub 500
dollar point and shoot class camera I am extremely impressed with the
AF system.
The resolution at 1200mm has exceeded my expectations and can
create print worthy sharp results throughout the entire length. To get
that kind of focal length with a DSLR would require a serious budget
destroying investment that would weigh a large amount. I highly
doubt my 100-400L cropped to the same reach or frame could beat
this camera at 1200mm.
I’ll go over a few of the cameras functions.
AF.
The AutoFocus for the Canon Powershot SX50 HS bridge camera is
very fast for a point and shoot. Not DSLR 7D fast while running L
lenses fast but still locks on with ease. The autofocus does have a
tendency to lock onto foreground elements when shooting in foilage
and I do wish it had a MF ring of some kind or a AF stop button that
the DSLRS have. Using MF is frustratingly slow with the back dial.
ISO.
Blown away at how good the ISO ratings are for my Canon
Powershot SX50 HS. It has been a while since I owned a small point
and shoot and I am amazed that I can get usable results at ISO 800.

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Raw images clean up especially well and respond to noise reduction.
Its a good thing the camera can handle higher ISO's well because the
slower lens does eat up and demand a lot of light.
IS
The image stabilizer works remarkably well and easily preformed to
the claimed 4.5 stops or more, I have taken several successful shots at
1/100th of a second at 1200mm. That’s simply unprecedented. The IS
also does a great job at stabilizing the image while framing. Turn the
IS off for a bit and you will quickly realize how hard the IS has to
work to make the 1200mm lens on this camera worth using.
Zoom.
The Canon Powershot SX50 HS bridge camera has a looong lens. 24-
1200mm is insane look at my sample shots of the mine at 24mm and
1200mm to get an idea of the range of this camera.
Many of you will complain about the slow f stop at 1200mm but
consider that a 35mm SLR lens at 800 5.6 will set you back 10k and a
1200 5.6 is 150k so a useable 1200mm equivalent at F6.5 for 479 is
an absolute steal. The fact that this little Canon Powershot SX50
camera can get a acceptable shot at 1200mm opens up a realm of
possibilities that was previously simply economically impossible for
many.
It also zooms along the range very quickly, the framing assist button
along the cameras side is a handy feature and backs the lens in and
out fast allowing you to recompose.
What do I dislike so far?
The EVF viewfinder can be improved. There is not enough relief
between the body and the EVF for it to be very useful for me and it
does not have enough dots to make out what you are photographing,
the EVF screen is washed out especially on bright sunlit days. I have
opted for the swivel LCD exclusively and would not have missed it
had they omitted the finder altogether thankfully the LCD is plenty
bright so it can always be useful but a better evf would be handy to

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hold the camera in close.
Front dial. Canon why cant you give the top of the line powershot a
front rotating dial? That dial would make adjusting things on the fly
tremendously easier. The body is a bit small and the back dial is low
that using it while keeping a secure grip is a bit difficult for me as
well I would of preferred it to be higher on the camera personally.
Flash does not pop up automatically. The flash button on the side of
the Canon Powershot SX50 does nothing unless you have physically
raised the flash yourself.
This is not a deal breaker for me because I will likely use the flash
rarely if ever, I have better cameras that cover the range of the tiny
flash, but for the average point and shooter whom will purchase this
as an only camera this could ruin a lot of photos.
No front threaded filter mount. The only way to attach a filter is via
the bayonet adapter. I would prefer a screw on attachment for a
permanent UV filter to protect the lens.
The Minimum focus distance has a few awkward spots at around
700mm it jumps up to 6.5 ft but drops down to 4.2 ft at 1200mm this
may make a few macro insect shots hard to do without externally
attached filters.
All in all I am quite pleased with the Canon Powershot SX50. It is an
enjoyable system and I have already gotten many great shots with it.
The super telephoto lens of the Canon Powershot SX50 HS has a bit
of a learning curve but as soon as you get the hang of it and
understand the IS systems limitations you will be on your way to
getting many great photos with this little guy.
Click here for more reviews by other owners of the Canon Powershot
SX50 HS bridge camera or to buy it at a very attractive discount.