Canon SX70 vs SX50 — big differences?

whakapu wrote:

what do I think about those photos? I think they were taken at 800 ISO and look similar to SX70 shots taken at lower ISO.

I should clarify what I mean by "usable". Everything is usable for social media. I want to upload to Flickr at a resolution at least 2000px on the long dimension and look clean, and I like to imagine that one day I will buy printer consumables and do A3 or A4 prints of some of my favourite shots and for those to reward close examination.

Point taken that we shouldn't stop others enjoying their new cameras however I welcome anyone stopping me buying a new camera on the assumption that it will be better in every way. For example I'm grateful to Michael the Maven for exposing some dastardliness Canon has done with the SL3. They removed the hotshoe centre pin to prevent 3rd party flashes working on it. I'd hate to have discovered that after upgrading from my SL1.

..These sooc jpeg images are about the "best" the SX70 camera can do, whether you like it or not.. (see below link)

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4371656

..that's why I mentioned for you (and others) to enjoy using the existing (older) cameras, and there's nothing wrong with that..

..if the "newer" cameras such as the SX70 is not your preferences, that's "okay"..

..even though I'm still in the "learning" process, but I'm enjoying my SX70 camera very much..

..the differences for me is, I don't use the "hotshoe", and I prefer the "slimmer" body design on top of the camera..

..if someone who wants (desires) having a "hotshoe" for their Canon "bridge" camera, then I highly recommend the SX60 camera..

..and someone like you with "high" expectations, I highly "recommend" for you to only look at "full frame" cameras, as they will yield the kind of "quality" you are seeking..

..and the smaller sensor cameras has nothing to offer you that you'll be happy with..

..thanks for sharing your viewpoints & happy shooting your existing cameras..

..Cheers..

whakapu wrote:

what do I think about those photos? I think they were taken at 800 ISO and look similar to SX70 shots taken at lower ISO.

Not the best examples for sure.  Very little EXIF data to determine ISO #s .

I should clarify what I mean by "usable". Everything is usable for social media. I want to upload to Flickr at a resolution at least 2000px on the long dimension and look clean, and I like to imagine that one day I will buy printer consumables and do A3 or A4 prints of some of my favourite shots and for those to reward close examination.

Powershots are basically used for social media and personal photography.  If a photo fills a monitor screen and looks reasonably sharp it's performing its intended purpose.  Any thing more requires a step up in gear.  Tiny sensor cameras allow extra long zoom range.  That's life as we know it.

Point taken that we shouldn't stop others enjoying their new cameras however I welcome anyone stopping me buying a new camera on the assumption that it will be better in every way. For example I'm grateful to Michael the Maven for exposing some dastardliness Canon has done with the SL3. They removed the hotshoe centre pin to prevent 3rd party flashes working on it. I'd hate to have discovered that after upgrading from my SL1.

Canon does those little tricky removals with the hope no one will notice.  Well they do notice.  The hot shoe removal from the SX70 is a big deal.  It's inexcusable.  

whakapu wrote:

The jpeg engine does a good job with colour, exposure, tones etc. I generally shoot jpg + raw with the SX50 and it takes a lot of editing to get the raws any better than the sooc .jpg.

..Cameras are getting better & better with their jpeg images..

..one thing I do use for my bridge cameras, including my SX50.. is the use of the Hoya HD3 UV lens filter, which helps reduce any glares.. so I usually do not need to use -0.33ev that's used by others in their pictures taking..

..in certain situations I will shoot raw, but because of my limitations in post processing skills, I find out of camera jpegs works well for me..

..thanks for sharing & happy shooting..

..Cheers..

BillBalh wrote:

I've just moved up from an sx60 to an sx70 , and while the menus are COMPLETELY different - a real new and complicated learning curve - but the big advantage I found is that it has a MUCH better manual focus. It has the old fast focus, but also a slow focus and much more precise and controllable focus via a little wheel, i.e. you can NOW focus on a bird inside a tree, next to impossible with the sx60. The only snag I am finding with that is once you have focussed on the object you want, if you change the zoom you lose control of the manual focus until you have reselected manual focus !! That seems unbelievably stupid and someone may know a get-around, but I haven't found it yet. However the manual focus is still lots better.

I don't know about the sx50 but the sx60 and sx70 have a thing called a 'Digital Tele-Converter' which gives either a 1.6x zoom or a 2.0x zoom which SAYS it allows a faster shutter than the same zoom factor via the normal zoom, but the big advantage I found is that it is not just a zoom at the top end, but a zoom at the bottom end too, i.e. for close-ups of flowers or insects it magnifies the image by up to 2.0 times, which I find very useful. Quite fiddly to set up but you can also make that Tele-convertor facility selectable via a button you don't normally use.

The sx70 has of course any other advantages developed in the last few years by Canon. It is yet another change of size of battery size tho!

For what it is worth, I like it, the sx70, and it is a little lighter too.

It has the same lens filter adapter as the sx 40 and the sx60, so if you had a close-up lens for your sx50 you will still be able to use that on the sx 70 too.

Good luck!

Bill Balharry

..Congrats on your SX70 camera!..

..glad to hear you are enjoying using it..

..as I really like my SX70 camera as well..

..Cheers, John..

1gregory1 wrote:

I was thinking about picking up a sx60 or 70 lately considering the poor financial state of camera manufacturers . I think the writing is on the wall that we are in the last days of compact camera offerings and thought I might buy something with a viewfinder before the lights go out . It doesn't matter that I can't print 16x20 from it. 8x10 works OK for me. My 60 yr hobby is croaking. All that will be available in the not too distant future if companies are to survive will be ILC cameras and lenses priced beyond what most would care to pay. Nikon and Canon photo divisions won't survive on cameras and lenses priced under $3000. What to do? I guess I can always still get B&W film and chemistry and bring out the old film cameras that i refused to sell to KEH.

..Personally, I think the SX50 SX60 SX70 cameras are all good choices..

..however, from these, there are many who favors & prefers the SX50..

..maybe because the SX50 12mp sensor is a sweet spot for the images..

..but to my eyes, all the three camera models can produce good photos..

..can see the below thread to see some pictures from all three cameras..

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4366157

..Cheers, John..

Woody S wrote:

You won't be able to get a new SX50, but might well be able to get a brand new SX60 and the SX70 is still in production. Beware of buying a used SX50 unless you know it's actual history since there's no way to determine the number of activations it's had. My first SX50 had lens motor/gear issues after probably 150,000 clicks and that's far beyond the consensus estimate of a lifespan of 100,000. Fortunately, I have another SX50 that I bought new just after they went out of production; and I've turned down an opportunity to buy a gently used SX50.

I just did a comparison shoot of my SX50 and SX70 at three different ISOs. At each one the SX50 appeared to yield sharper images, but only if I zoomed in on the photos. If there's no need to crop the photos I don't think there's much reason to favor one over the other on the basis of image quality. However, the SX70 has a vastly superior viewfinder and much superior controls.

At first I was disappointed with the SX70, but now that I've used it for several thousand photos I've changed my opinion. My SX50 is now relegated for use in low light situations since it performs better at high ISOs than the SX70, while the SX70 is my go-to day-to-day camera.

..Thanks for sharing your experiences!..

..Cheers, John..

whakapu wrote:

probably too late to answer this but there is one big difference that I've noticed; the SX50 can take usable pictures and the SX70 and SX60 can't, nor can the Nikon P900 or P1000 or possibly any bridge camera with more than 12MP. I've only owned the SX50 but never seen a picture from the 60 or 70 that I would find acceptable. The SX50 is obsolete in terms of features, but - it's a camera - it can take pictures, the others can't do that.

While curious about SX50 vs SX70 I saw this comment from last year and I just couldn't help but provide some "unacceptable" photos from the P1000

Just in case someone reads that comment and feels like completely ignoring the P1000 based on it.
I still own an SX50 as well and after testing the SX60, I sold it because the SX50 just gave me better images at least IMO.

I concur about the SX70 being worse than previous models.

I sold my SX70 at a loss and jumped to an ILC.

I've had several of these Canon superzoom bridge cameras over the years, dating back to S2IS. Great cameras for their time, mostly.