Canon SX50 still performing well

TonyBritton · May 4, 2014

UPDATED CANON SX50 GALLERY 2/23/15

Hello from a new member,

While I'm awaiting the release of a new model mega-zoom Canon P&S camera, I'm still quite pleased with the performance of the Canon SX50. Like my previous Canon SX40, it thrives on plenty of bright sunshine and a few strategies that help compensate for the challenges presented when using mega-zoom P&S cameras. I mostly enjoy taking portrait style bird & wildlife photos with the SX50 and find it's excellent for this. Fortunately, I can get quite close to many of my subjects and this allows the SX50 to effortlessly fill the frame providing me with exactly the type of image I prefer. This also spares me the need to crop the vast majority of my images. All of my nature images were taken hand-held.

If interested, you can see my Canon SX50 photos by using my signature link. I hope you enjoy them!

campp · Feb 12, 2015

Lovely! I use the same camera

goodguy · Feb 12, 2015

Ok, ahhh not sure what to say on this thread..........................

I know-Live Long And Prosper!

goodguy · Feb 12, 2015

Oh darn just noticed the date of thread, another resurrection of a long dead thread and I fell for it

ChiPhotog6865 · Feb 24, 2015

goodguy said:
Oh darn just noticed the date of thread, another resurrection of a long dead thread and I fell for it

That's OK that you resurrected this thread!! I just bought a refurbished SX50HS from the Canon website last night and I'm very excited about it. I've been lugging my 50D and my heavy lenses around all my international trips lately and I'm just getting tired of the excess weight and switching lenses all the time. I went to Paris in 2013 with both my DSLR and a Fugifilm advanced superzoom, it was the HS30EXR and it took some awesome close ups of the church steeples and towers good enough to frame to 11x14. Sadly that camera dropped a few times and the autofocus was messed up, so I had been in the market for another good super zoom and had been researching the SX50HS or the SX700. I'm returning to Paris and also London in September this year for 2 weeks and I decided there was no way I was traveling again so far with all my heavy equipment so I've settled on the SX50HS after spending hours reviewing all the super zooms and feel that the SX50HS is even better than it's newer SX60HS that just came out, according to the reviews the 60 just doesn't cut it like the 50 does.

Right now Canon has the refurbished SX50HS models for $229 as of last night so I think this is an excellent time to ressurect this post!!

soufiej · Feb 24, 2015

I have a SX50 which I purchased through Canon's direct on line store. Refurbished and operating well. No complaints about the refurbished camera at all.

I would comment on the above post though, don't discount the performance of your DSLR. Realize the strengths and weaknesses of the SX50 and make your decisions based on reasonable and provable facts. IMO the SX50 is quite the deal for both the macro and the super-zoomed ends of the lens. It's a difficult camera to beat in those situations and even more so at the refurbished prices. A wide angle lens the equivalent to the SX50's will take up a lot of space in a camera bag and be useful only a small portion of the time for most photographers. A zoom lens with equivalent reach (not even counting the built in teleconverter of the SX50 which will double the effective range with few noticeable issues) will take up both space and a lot of money. You'll also look like the tourist photographer when you pull out that extra long zoom lens for your DSLR. Candid shots are more difficult to pull off when you and your camera stand out from the crowd.

In between these two points, the SX50 is, IMO, a very good camera but not the equivalent to a DSLR with a good prime lens. The SX50's slow lens makes some shots look as though they were taken with a point and shoot camera, which, in truth, they were. Certainly, low light conditions are the SX50's weakest situations. If you take photos of the local people or want to have a subject stand apart from the (blurred) background, this is where the SX50 really shows its budget price IMO.

I'm quite pleased with the SX50 for most shots and it will be my day to day camera for now. I will remove most of the lenses and accessories from my bag where the SX50 duplicates or even exceeds their performance. The combination of one simple high quality body with a very good lens and the SX50 is, I think, a pretty good mix for travel.

ChiPhotog6865 · Feb 24, 2015

soufiej said:
I have a SX50 which I purchased through Canon's direct on line store. Refurbished and operating well. No complaints about the refurbished camera at all.

I would comment on the above post though, don't discount the performance of your DSLR. Realize the strengths and weaknesses of the SX50 and make your decisions based on reasonable and provable facts. IMO the SX50 is quite the deal for both the macro and the super-zoomed ends of the lens. It's a difficult camera to beat in those situations and even more so at the refurbished prices. A wide angle lens the equivalent to the SX50's will take up a lot of space in a camera bag and be useful only a small portion of the time for most photographers. A zoom lens with equivalent reach (not even counting the built in teleconverter of the SX50 which will double the effective range with few noticeable issues) will take up both space and a lot of money. You'll also look like the tourist photographer when you pull out that extra long zoom lens for your DSLR. Candid shots are more difficult to pull off when you and your camera stand out from the crowd.

In between these two points, the SX50 is, IMO, a very good camera but not the equivalent to a DSLR with a good prime lens. The SX50's slow lens makes some shots look as though they were taken with a point and shoot camera, which, in truth, they were. Certainly, low light conditions are the SX50's weakest situations. If you take photos of the local people or want to have a subject stand apart from the (blurred) background, this is where the SX50 really shows its budget price IMO.

I'm quite pleased with the SX50 for most shots and it will be my day to day camera for now. I will remove most of the lenses and accessories from my bag where the SX50 duplicates or even exceeds their performance. The combination of one simple high quality body with a very good lens and the SX50 is, I think, a pretty good mix for travel.

Great post Soufiej! And I agree completely!!

For this second trip to Paris I feel comfortable with my decision to leave the DSLR home this time as I'm going to focus more on enjoying the trip with my wife than being the shutter bug I was when I went with my daughter for Spring Break in 2013. I took over 1,300 photos in 7 days on that last trip and came out with about 1,000 saved and processed. I feel I've adequately photographed Paris to my liking with my last trip so the DSLR can happily relax at home and will be content with what I capture with the SX50HS. For the 2 nights we are going to be in London and Stonehenge I will sacrifice the DSLR for that short trip, but will consider bringing the DSLR on a return trip to England when we plan a 2 week tour of England and Scotland.

Great to hear you are happy with the refurbished SX50 from Canon!! Looking forward to getting mine soon!!