SX 50 Question

plantguy · Oct 11, 2014

I'm going to get a sx50 as the price starts to drop. I was wondering if a tripod is needed with the tele capabilities of the sx50, or can it be used ok with the anti vibration? I'm not familiar with AV on cameras as I've only used 35mm with tele lens. I know it's almost impossible to hold it steady by hand with anything longer than a 200mm lens. Thanks for your input.

Ken

BobT · Oct 11, 2014

I seem to have problems holding it steady enough at full tele. But I'm old and shaky. One remedy to consider might be to shoot in shutter priority. Just be aware of what higher shutter speeds might do to your metering. Will the image be too dark, as resulting from shutter speeds a might too fast?

There are several SX50 users in this forum that routinely set the SX50 to Shutter Priority rather than any other setting.

evancj · Oct 11, 2014

Hi plantguy,

I guess it all depends on how steady you are. I very rarely use a tripod myself as do a lot of bushwhacking and carrying a camera mounted on a tripod is imposable in those conditions, and some of my subjects will not stand by while I get a tripod setup.

I think the image stabilization on the SX50 is quite effective.

Britney Elvis · Oct 11, 2014

plantguy said:
I'm going to get a sx50 as the price starts to drop. I was wondering if a tripod is needed with the tele capabilities of the sx50, or can it be used ok with the anti vibration? I'm not familiar with AV on cameras as I've only used 35mm with tele lens. I know it's almost impossible to hold it steady by hand with anything longer than a 200mm lens. Thanks for your input.

Ken

The average photog with decent handholding technique will do pretty well handheld at long zoom in good light....

But if you are a pixel peeper or you need to crop a lot for a small subject, and you need it blistering sharp then of course a tripod will help. A lot of the really well done moon and bird shots you see from the sx 50 are done with tripod...

gus

Setter Dog · Oct 11, 2014

evancj said:
Hi plantguy,

I guess it all depends on how steady you are. I very rarely use a tripod myself as do a lot of bushwhacking and carrying a camera mounted on a tripod is imposable in those conditions, and some of my subjects will not stand by while I get a tripod setup.

I think the image stabilization on the SX50 is quite effective.

I agree. I get good results hand held even at 2400mm Xtended zoom. I nearly always shoot at 1/500th sec or higher. I'm an old timer and likely no steadier than you are.

Jack

petebfrance · Oct 11, 2014

plantguy said:
I'm going to get a sx50 as the price starts to drop. I was wondering if a tripod is needed with the tele capabilities of the sx50, or can it be used ok with the anti vibration? I'm not familiar with AV on cameras as I've only used 35mm with tele lens. I know it's almost impossible to hold it steady by hand with anything longer than a 200mm lens. Thanks for your input.

Ken

Some people seem to manage better than others. I'm happy enough at about equivalent of 800-900mm (150-160mm actual) but for full zoom a lot depends on the distance from the subject and its size. This:

is probably as good as it gets hand-held for me at max zoom. Viewed at 100% there is a lot of movement visible - smaller, further away etc. the movement would be more significant.

Whereas at at about 800 equiv there's not much movement showing at 100%:

However, when out recently I did find photographing at any long lengths extremely difficult with a strong wind blowing....

regards

Pete

jazzii · Oct 12, 2014

Hello guys, I have been in the on the fence for a superzoom for a couple of years now, have tried many but never kept. I just bought the sx50 at sub 300 and I am still in the return window. I am test shooting right now and ran into a problem. Shooting down my street in very clear conditions temp stable around 14 degrees C (not hot) low humidity, a car parallel to sensor/perpendicular to lens at 215mm (50X), superfine, I would say no more than 150 meters away.

As you can see, lines on the car and sign are completely wavy (both vertical - sign post, and horizontal - car). my other shots seem to be OK, and I had not really noticed (or been looking for this) this in other reviews, but I am very worried.

I'm convinced there is nothing wrong with the brand new camera, although I haven't checked for firmware updates. I can't see why atmospheric distortion would be an issue as you can see there is no veil, could the road be emmiting this much heat, Pls comment. thx, Is this normal?

sx50, mode

1/640, ISO 125, -1/3 ev, 215mm zoom

VisionLight · Oct 12, 2014

jazzii said:
Hello guys, I have been in the on the fence for a superzoom for a couple of years now, have tried many but never kept. I just bought the sx50 at sub 300 and I am still in the return window. I am test shooting right now and ran into a problem. Shooting down my street in very clear conditions temp stable around 14 degrees C (not hot) low humidity, a car parallel to sensor/perpendicular to lens at 215mm (50X), superfine, I would say no more than 150 meters away.

As you can see, lines on the car and sign are completely wavy (both vertical - sign post, and horizontal - car). my other shots seem to be OK, and I had not really noticed (or been looking for this) this in other reviews, but I am very worried.

I'm convinced there is nothing wrong with the brand new camera, although I haven't checked for firmware updates. I can't see why atmospheric distortion would be an issue as you can see there is no veil, could the road be emmiting this much heat, Pls comment. thx, Is this normal?

sx50, mode 1/640, ISO 125, -1/3 ev, 215mm zoom

It appears that your 150m shooting distance is totally over asphalt heated by direct sun (based on the shadows). In this instance, temperature and humidity only have some bearing. The heat once built up in the black road will still be reflected back causing the thermal distortions. Even on cool days, raptors take advantage of this phenomenon and can readily be seen hunting over and near highways, floating on the thermals emanating from the road surface. The same thermals giving the ripple effect to your image.

Try the same test from the other side of the street so that you are shooting over grass. Although there may still be some thermal diffusion from the road, I suspect the image will be better and that your camera is fine.

plantguy · Oct 12, 2014

Very nice for hand held.

Cameras do 1080p do we still need 1080p camcorders · Oct 12, 2014

having use the SX50 for about a year and a half. I would have to say tripod is not needed.

my advice is to get a steady grip and lean against something and if possibe just use 2 second timer for the shutter.

and I use long end of the zoom ALOT

even for macro.

SX50 is WELL WORTH the money imho

hope this picture will help convince you

Don_Campbell · Oct 12, 2014

plantguy said:
I'm going to get a sx50 as the price starts to drop. I was wondering if a tripod is needed with the tele capabilities of the sx50, or can it be used ok with the anti vibration? I'm not familiar with AV on cameras as I've only used 35mm with tele lens. I know it's almost impossible to hold it steady by hand with anything longer than a 200mm lens. Thanks for your input.

Ken

You can check out some hand-held bird photos here:

SX50--acquired raw, cooked lightly

Fully sunny days have been in short supply on the Oregon coast. That, and the 100+ foot trees in the small patch of forest abutting our house has made for slowish shutter speeds. The little birds below were in a tree about 25 ft from our deck. The steep slope down meant that they were about at...

www.dpreview.com

Quite slow shutter speeds but still reasonably sharp at full zoom. I'd probably do the pp differently today because I've learned a lot since these were taken. I was hand-holding but reasonably well-braced against a railing on my deck. Not every photo at slow speeds works out but it is remarkable how many do. The SX50 IS is impressive.

Don

petebfrance · Oct 13, 2014

Excellent shots of a skipper. These are pretty small, about an inch long perhaps.....

regards

Pete

plantguy · Oct 13, 2014

Outstanding images. Thanks for sharing. I'm convinced, now if the price will just drop a little more.

Ken

Gopal Venkat · Oct 14, 2014

Hi Jack,

What ISO do you use when taking photos at 1/500 and 2400 Zoom?

I went to a football game recently and got soft images - hence the query! (No tripod was allowed)

Thanks

Gopal

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SX 50 Question

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BobT

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Cameras do 1080p do we still need 1080p camcorders

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SX50--acquired raw, cooked lightly

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