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Powershot sx500 IS

Started Sep 13, 2012 | Discussions
fealcen New Member • Posts: 2
Powershot sx500 IS

I've just joined to try and get some user help. I've heard this model is just out and I was wondering if it would meet my needs - and which are the other comparable models around? I'm highly surprised that there's no thread for this yet.

I'm after a bridge or compact system style model. I currently have an EOS 450 dslr and am fed up with lugging a big camera and spare lens round. I'd love a portable size camera (don't mind it's weight - being female, my handbag has inured me to weight).

I believe the size and type of sensor are more important (to a point) than the number of MP but the technical stuff mostly makes my eyes glaze. I'd love a kit lens that can let me both zoom (for interesting details on or in buildings) and do macro (flowers). I'd like a camera that can give decent results up to ISO1200 and allow me to mess with the white balance. I appreciate some image stabilisation too as I have a slight tremor and can occasionally find it difficult to keep the camera still enough.

I can't work out if this is a successor to the SX40 HS or is a slightly inferior, and thus cheaper, camera. Would the sx160 meet my needs anyway?

All advice gratefully received.

Canon PowerShot SX40 HS Canon PowerShot SX500 IS
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jacketpotato Senior Member • Posts: 2,244
mighty mouse Re: Powershot sx500 IS

I tried it out with Nikon P510.

SX500 is mighty mouse, tiny compared to P510 & imo as good at the long end in image stabilisation and smoothness of video zooming in & out.

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The real artist is the subject, the photographer an admiring devotee.

OP fealcen New Member • Posts: 2
Re: mighty mouse Re: Powershot sx500 IS

Many thanks - it seems from the posts I've read that lots of people who enjoy the technological side, as well as capturing the scene or details, post on here and I presumed that you lot wouldn't be as partial as a sales assistant who may be being paid by or specialised in a single supplier.

Sunflower6 Regular Member • Posts: 359
Re: Powershot sx500 IS

Disclaimer: I'm an SX40 owner.

The SX500 is not a successor to the SX40. The SX50 is the SX40's successor, just announced last week.

The SX500 is a stripped-down version of the SX40, IMHO. No viewfinder, different sensor, older processor. No articulated LCD, either. I wouldn't buy this camera, personally. I would recommend that you get the SX40, if you're in a hurry to buy - it's a great camera. And the SX40 is selling for about $30 less than the SX500, right now.

But if you want the extra zoom, wait and see what the SX50 has to offer. In the next few weeks, we should start to see lots of sample images and reviews, to see whether it's as good as its specs.

RoyAmatore
RoyAmatore Senior Member • Posts: 1,440
Re: Powershot sx500 IS

The SX500 supposedly has better focusing and perhaps has improved image stabilization. If you're interested in using the 840mm zoom to take pictures of birds or other small mobile creatures, and would like to enter the market at a better price point, I would seriously consider the SX500 over the SX40. The SX40 focuses just fine for most situations, but if a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker lands in your viewfinder for a couple of seconds, your going to want the camera to focus and the shutter to fire, something the SX40 struggles to do and the SX500 promises to improve upon. I would weigh the loss of an articulated viewfinder and other deficits of the SX500 against the real world need for speed and stability.

I am an SX40 user and think the camera is God's gift to amature bird photography. But using it for a year on birds in my backyard, I find myself greatly desirous of faster focusing--and had the SX50 not been announced, I would have considered "upgrading" to the SX500. The big question would have been whether the SX500's sensor was up to snuff. Of course, the SX50 does exist and barring negative reviews of its lens, it will very likely be my next camera.

As someone who has spent many thousands of dollars over the years on 35 mm and dslr bodies, lenses and stability equipment, dropping $450 (the price of a good ball head) for a complete, hand-holdable, 1200mm bird photography setup, which is what the SX50 is, is an easy decision.

Roy

 RoyAmatore's gear list:RoyAmatore's gear list
Nikon D750 Nikon D850 Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm F4G ED VR Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED Tamron 15-30mm F2.8 +5 more
21st Hermit Veteran Member • Posts: 5,470
No EVF

The SX500 has no EVF, would using the LCD at full zoom work for you?

Other than using the LCD, it should be a fine camera.

fealcen wrote:

All advice gratefully received.

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Lost in the Colorado Mountains!!!

RoyAmatore
RoyAmatore Senior Member • Posts: 1,440
Re: No EVF

21st Hermit wrote:

The SX500 has no EVF, would using the LCD at full zoom work for you?

Other than using the LCD, it should be a fine camera.

I used to use the EVF, but I find that I no longer do. Of course, I do use a monopod most of the time, and that's probably why.

 RoyAmatore's gear list:RoyAmatore's gear list
Nikon D750 Nikon D850 Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm F4G ED VR Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED Tamron 15-30mm F2.8 +5 more
Anepo Regular Member • Posts: 154
Re: Powershot sx500 IS

fealcen wrote:

I've just joined to try and get some user help. I've heard this model is just out and I was wondering if it would meet my needs - and which are the other comparable models around? I'm highly surprised that there's no thread for this yet.

I'm after a bridge or compact system style model. I currently have an EOS 450 dslr and am fed up with lugging a big camera and spare lens round. I'd love a portable size camera (don't mind it's weight - being female, my handbag has inured me to weight).

I believe the size and type of sensor are more important (to a point) than the number of MP but the technical stuff mostly makes my eyes glaze. I'd love a kit lens that can let me both zoom (for interesting details on or in buildings) and do macro (flowers). I'd like a camera that can give decent results up to ISO1200 and allow me to mess with the white balance. I appreciate some image stabilisation too as I have a slight tremor and can occasionally find it difficult to keep the camera still enough.

I can't work out if this is a successor to the SX40 HS or is a slightly inferior, and thus cheaper, camera. Would the sx160 meet my needs anyway?

All advice gratefully received.

The SX50 is the replacement for the SX40, the SX500 is inferior to the SX50, might be the same level as the SX40 I really don't know, Also do yourself a favor stay FAR AWAY from the SX160 and all that model lineup sx210, sx220,sx160, basicly this line which uses the same camera model look. The lens gets dust SUPER easy INSIDE BEHIND the glass. I gave my father one and less than a month he had dust behind the glass and the store refused to take it back as faulty.
And apparently this happen's to most people sooner or later.

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