Just Posted: Canon PowerShot SX50 HS Review

Very good camera, very good picture quality, blazing fast operation (but with high speed sd card)

I bought the SX 50 because of its long focal lens and the CHDK.
In the past I have done some nice timelapse with my S100 and some realy good night shots. Things you only can do with compact Canons. And the SX 50 is one of the best!

I am also on the side of 'please review more cameras like this'. However, I feel like this review fails to capture the only reason people would buy this camera - the long reach. I think there are ways to address this - maybe shots from a tall place of a faraway landmark, for example. Or birds, or you could take all the superzooms on African safari.... I just feel like this review misses the essence of superzooms. Showing me how it performs at 85mm equiv. just doesn't really help much.

Great zoom range but pretty disappointing aperture. With a max F3.4 you can't do pretty much anything in low light. That's why people move on to larger sensor cameras, I've tried once to take fast action pics in low light with a similar Canon zoom, how clueless I was, you can do nothing with it.

With so many generations of cams and in 2013, you'd guess they at least be at F1.8, ideally at F1.4 or better. With such small and noisy sensors these cameras are useless and the slow lens doesn't make it better.

Faster lenses in compacts/small sensor cameras should be next hot thing brands should be competing for.

Why have such a big zoom when you can't use it past 6 PM?

Dear Webmaster of DPR,
I would really appreciate it if I could at least have the option to skip this silly page and go directly form the News page or emails that I receive, to the actual test or article and skip this page entirely. It wastes my time and your resources - please think about adding a direct link button or something, pretty please.

Thanks for reviewing the SX50

I agree that the final score seems a little low. Hand-holdable 50x is a fairly amazing stand-out groundbreaking feat. With the zoom and a better sensor than the FZ200, I'd think the scores would be a bit closer. I'm not suprised by all the complaining here.

Thank you dpreview and Jeff Kellar for this review. To those of you who scoff at dp for such reviews, may I remind them that many of us could be new to photography or buying a second camera, and still trying to decide what sort of camera we want...and need...and can afford. I guess you were all in that position at one time or other.

I personally come to dpreview because I feel their reviews are very professional. I am very much a beginner...with birding as my main hobby...and slowly getting into photography. The SX50, I've decided - with it's reach and pretty good IQ and other positives - sounds perfect for me.

My next/second camera for pure photography? Who knows, maybe a dslr, maybe a mirrorless, maybe a compact...whatever my needs, my expertise, and/or my budget, dpreview will help me decide. So please keep up the good work DPR and a sincere big thanks from me.

Dear DPR,

In addition to thanking you for the fine review, special thanks for selecting this particular camera - the commentary from the lunatic asylum is priceless entertainment - sheer genius!

Can I suggest the next review posted in lieu of the 60D, be the GE Power Pro X500?

http://www.amazon.com/GE-X500-BK-Optical-Digital-Camera/dp/B004LB4SAM/

;))

I tell it open: Canon recycles cheap electronic garbage coming from the previous millennium. To disguise this fact Canon raise one parameter to absurd value to get a record echo. Once upon a time - I loved you Canon.

The new DPR (or is it new ?) vogue: review the junk don't bother with the gems. I'm talkin about the 1DX you idiots

I bought the SX50 because my daughter allready got the SX40 and I was surprised by IQ, its excellent zoom, its impressive stabilization (but with some difficulties to keep the subject in the viewfinder at full zoom) good exposition, nice colours... and particularly the ease of obtaining nice pictures compared to my Pentax K-x...
And The SX50 is equal or superior to the SX40 in all domains.
See previous post !
Jean-Marc
From Normandy
See my moon shot in my gallery ; in this case I used a tripod !

The SX50 is equal or superior to the SX40 in all domains :
- same IQ
- more powerful zoom (with a much better quality than the FZ200 as seen in some forum comparisons) and much easier to use than the SX40
- Excellent stabilization : it is currently possible to shoot at full zoom at 1/40s without tripod
- the possibility to shoot raw what I use currently since DPP delivers clearly better results than jpeg (more details, less noise) (I have read in a forum that FZ200 Raw files are not so easy to process since Raw images are noisier, cameralabs review)
So, I don't understand the DPR conclusions. It seems to me that the SX50 is underestimated. I agree that the lens is slow but the SX50 qualities are so high... In the past, DPR tested the stabilization efficiency. Why no longer ? This is a major parameter because this is the a necessary condition to obtain nice pictures in the real life !
So, in conclusion... I love my SX50 ! and I think that DPR has not made a so good job here !

"While having all that telephoto power sounds appealing, keep in mind that you'll need to either use a tripod or crank up the ISO a bit in order to get a sharp photo at full telephoto"

This statement in the conclusion is deeply misleading. I bought this camera, (and returned it for some handling issues), but this is mostly false based on my experience with it. I could post plenty of handheld full telephoto shots at low enough ISO (<=400) taken outdoors in moderate daylight. Not a problem. Indoors or low light, yes this is probably true, but for example for wildlife photo buffs shooting in normal daylight, this is not true. The IS is fantastic on this camera.
Not noted in the review is that the high speed burst mode (13 fps) is completely blind. All displays (viewfinder/lcd) are black during this. This is why I didn't keep the camera, but I found IQ, as the review notes, and IS to be very good.

thx for review of Canon 'super-zoom'... all the better, one that offers super-broad wide-long 24-1200... (had asked/ponder a 24-1200 before... glad it's finally here)

no doubt 'super-zooms' wiill never compete with 'prosumer bridge' dcams (PowerShot G is Flagship Canon prosumer, not the SX), but super-zooms remain the pinnacle of pushing BOTH small sensor tech and wide-to-long lenses... i'm happy to see each next gen are better both areas than previous

now all Canon has to do is stop stalling on offering a '24' WA FoV on their PowerShot G series... '28' just doesn't meet my needs

already have their EF24 f1.4L II and TS-E24 f3.5L II for my FF 5DMkII dSLR... what more do they expect... restrict me from having a suitable 'carry around' PowerShot G lacking the '24'???

This 12mp camera makes images that are sharper and cleaner than the ones with more photo detectors. It goes to show you how pointless it is stuffing more pixels on these pin head sized sensors. Yet, there will be more P&S models released with 16+ MP sensors. Bummer.

SX30 was not reviewed, people complained,
SX40 was not reviewed, people complained,
SX50 was at last reviewed, people complain.
Now I want to complain about the complaints ;-)

I congratulate DPR for this review since the quality of analyse is very good and usefull. What I mean, there are cameras that are mostly tools than ways to express myself artisticly. IQ or DR are not so important for me than to have the images because my camera is light and versatile so I will carry it all the time. My need for bridge camera is different of other photographers because this is like a pen to help me taking note of what I saw in the wilderness or in my vicinity. Specifically, I am a birder so I use Canon SX40 HS for identify birds or to make video clip of behaviors that I share with fellows in the web. So it is good to have reviews of quality about a growing market and many readers expect to know more about this kind of cameras.

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Compare-Camera-Sensors/Compare-cameras-side-by-side/%28appareil1%29/848|0/%28brand%29/Canon/%28appareil2%29/738|0/%28brand2%29/Panasonic/%28appareil3%29/195|0/%28brand3%29/Nikon

DXO comparison with a 7 year old Nikon D50 and a current Psonic. Wishful marketing and reality collide big time with mediocre Canon engineering and dpr writers push to make a story happening.

I think a lot of folks are missing the point.

This review was NOT done at the expense of reviewing any other camera. It's not like this will create any delay in reviewing some DSLR you want to see reviewed.

The review was largely written by Jeff Kellar. Jeff has always been great at writing quick reviews of P&S cameras. He's got it down to a science. Dpreview has some sort of arrangement with Jeff where they take his basic review, transfer it into their own format and then publish it.

Everyone wins this way.

Dpreview gets to print reviews for cameras they would otherwise not be reviewing, the Dpreview members get to read these reviews, and hopefully... Jeff gets paid something. If Dpreview didn't do this this we would get fewer reviews of P&S cameras, and many of the members here have a strong interest in these cameras.

Jeff will not be writing the review for the Canon 6D. That will most likely be done by Amadou, Richard, Barnaby, Andy or Lars, or maybe a combination of them.

Isn't the 6d Review more urgent?

The wide to 1200 tele shot is remarkable.

You can see grappling pins on the chimney and the interior of the building on the right.

I guess this was handheld?

If so - WOW!!

I think a lot of people are underestimating the importance of this kind of camera. Its true that right now, 'one size doesn't fit all', but in the future the versatility of something like this could well make most other cameras either specialist items, or obsolete. The variety of images possible and their already reasonable quality should really make manufacturers take note. A 'killer' bridge cam could well take off like no other camera before it.

didnt mention any shots at 1200mm ?
why ?
wouldn't that be MAJOR interest for such a camera ?

Having spent much time deliberating between a bridge camera and a real camera, I went for an NEX, because although you pay (depending on the model and deal at the time) £100 to £200 more, you get vastly superior IQ and low noise in low light. These superzooms are versatile and good value, but hopeless at 'all conditions' photography. Without a tripod, nightshots are a big no no for a start.

Regarding sensor improvement: grils&guys, you can use DPR studio comparison tool to compare Canon SX20 vs Canon SX50: you'll see that 1/2.33 sensors have improved, quite substantially.

"Noise becomes pretty intense at ISO 800 and beyond", it's somehow weird to see that kind of critics over a sensor that practically step better than FZ200's one (check RAWs in lab test) but see no word about average high ISO performance in Panny review

Great to see a Jeff Keller review. I will really miss Dcresource. Reviews short enough to read but still including things not covered by other review sites. I particular the ideas that high iso performance depends on the lighting.

Its not that useful to know a camera will create great result at iso 3200 under bright lights as in reality you won't be using iso 3200 under bright lights

where is the 6D review.. or the 1DX review or the D4 review?

instead such a boring camera review?

you guys focus on the wrong things....

There is a lot inside a name and our perception depends very much on what we choose to call something.

Think of this 'thing' as a monocular with a sensor and everything else added around its zoom capability and suddenly you feel more relaxed.

Think of it as a digital camera with a nutty zoom and it immediately becomes bin material.

Ridiculous zoom with ridiculous speed 3.4 - 6.5,
ridiculous EVF - 202.000 coloured fuzzy spots,
ridiculous tiny sensor crammed with 12 million hopelessly squeezed pixels trying to catch a one foton,
ridiculous massive force of software necessary to fabricate from this hardware mess some digestible image,
ridiculous plastic fuzzy pictures good to watch on the mobile phone display.

Victory of Vanity Fair over good reason, victory of marketing races over science and technology.

As I read the news about this camera (and its future competitors) a few thoughts came to mind.
This won't be replacing my DSLR gear, but it may well be the ultimate image-stabilized, autofocusing, picture and video capable small telescope (50x optically, 200x digitally).
I'll probably wait a bit for the dust to settle and for its competitors to come out, and then I may well get one for that purpose: extreme magnification with side benefits.

Nice, BUT where is the 1DX/D4 review?

Oh good, the first camera review of the new year, after 2 weeks, is another recycled Jeff-review. Can't wait for him to start here as there are so many new cameras that are actually exciting waiting to be reviewed.

Specifications: Viewfinder type: Electronic
Yes, we know that! Maybe too embarrassing to mention the 202.000? Far behind the competition. My SX20 got 235.000.

A "Lance Armstrong" P&S. It pretends to be more than it actually is.
But so what. It's definitely not what any serious photographer would ever use but if you are a paparazzo on budget this is for your.

I've never considered a super-zoom bridge camera, although the Panasonic FZ200 is of moderate interest because of the lens, and the good video quality. I'd rather save for a proper telephoto prime for my DSLR to get more than just reach, but superb IQ and reach.

But thanks for the review. I always enjoy reading DPR camera reviews.

It's getting horrible even at ISO 400 in RAW. That is upper limit and preferably you stay at ISO 80-200.

Can't wait for the 24-1400 next year.

1/2.3" CMOS sensor

12Mp

1200mm

*sigh*

.

Why not. If people want it, make it. Props to Canon for doing a good job.

Still though, looking at image 2391783, where plants on the cliff face have been blurred by the NR circuitry to a 1 cm square, 10,000 pixel solid green blob on my monitor, and checking that the ISO is set at 80... I get depressed. I can't help myself.

These two cameras, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 and Canon PowerShot SX50 HS, are the best bridge cameras on the market.

Overall a fine/fair review, but can't agree that a tripod almost is a necessity when shooting at full zoom. The IS is so effective that you most often will get sharp images (of at steady subject) at 1/125 sec or so at 1200mm (equivalent), or even at even slower shutterspeeds with a bit of luck. So in good light it's perfectly possible to shoot handheld at base ISO at full zoom.