Powershot Lens Filters

I have a SX500 IS and trying to find a way to add a adapter for 55mm lens filters.

The camera has no threads for a filter

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The camera has no filter threads on the lens assembly because the camera is not designed to accept the addition of any weight at all to the lens.

The lens zoom/focus gear assembly is quite fragile as regards the load it can bear in operation, which does not include the extra loading of a filter adapter and/or filter.

To burden the lens with the additional weight of accessories is to greatly increase the likelihood of lens gearmotor failure.

You can be inexpensive push-on filter adapters. The one I have is from GOJA (58mm) for a SX50 HS and I just saw one this morning on Amazon.

Anything I write here is from my SX50 perspective.

The face of the camera lens has a plastic ring with 2 gaps in the "lip". The adapter goes on with tabs into those gaps. You gently push the adapter in and then give it a quarter turn to set it. The outside face of the adapter has your "new" female threads.

If you don't crank down the filter threads too hard you shouldn't have any trouble un-screwing the filter later and the adapter stays on the camera. Mine is plastic for this very reason. Some people bought metal ones and they seized on to the filter threads. The other scenario is the adapter and filter come off the camera together and you deal with separating them off camera. Just remember it is a low force quarter turn and with handling it might work its way off the camera while you're handling it. No bueno.

I think in this instance, AllFlawed is correct, and thus not "All Flawed" at all

There seem to be models designated SX5## that do have the lips a push and turn (bayonet) adapter would mount to, but zooming in on what I could find online, the 500 does not.

I ran into this teeth gritting myself with a Canon Vixia camcorder. They manufacture a long series of almost identical models in the same period but you miss one detail and you wind up without some feature they could have included on all of them for pennies extra.

Chaplain Mark,

I have had quite good luck using 42 mm Magfilters on a couple of my smaller cameras, including a G15, G7X II, SX220, and several others from Canon, Olympus, and Panasonic.  The adapter is a very thin adhesive backed ring that has practically no weight.  The CPL filter itself is very light, and held in place magnetically, so it's easy and convenient to mount and dismount.  None of the cameras I use the Magfilter on will fit back in their cases with the filter in place, so usage is limited to just a very short time to minimize wear and tear on the lens' zoom drive system.  Discipline is key.

You are correct in that if the camera lens has no provision for mounting a filter or even a hood, trying to make it use one is a recipe for future problems.  Further, the torque used to mount bayonet style hoods and filter adapters has caused problems for me with a Panasonic FZ200 where it screwed up the AF and OIS in the lens when mounting or dismounting the hood with the lens extended.  I learned the hard way to only mount or dismount the hood with the lens fully retracted and the camera powered off.  That's another story; but it does reinforce the fragility of the internal components.

GeraldW wrote:

Chaplain Mark,

I have had quite good luck using 42 mm Magfilters on a couple of my smaller cameras, including a G15, G7X II, SX220, and several others from Canon, Olympus, and Panasonic. The adapter is a very thin adhesive backed ring that has practically no weight. The CPL filter itself is very light, and held in place magnetically, so it's easy and convenient to mount and dismount. None of the cameras I use the Magfilter on will fit back in their cases with the filter in place, so usage is limited to just a very short time to minimize wear and tear on the lens' zoom drive system. Discipline is key.

You are correct in that if the camera lens has no provision for mounting a filter or even a hood, trying to make it use one is a recipe for future problems. Further, the torque used to mount bayonet style hoods and filter adapters has caused problems for me with a Panasonic FZ200 where it screwed up the AF and OIS in the lens when mounting or dismounting the hood with the lens extended. I learned the hard way to only mount or dismount the hood with the lens fully retracted and the camera powered off. That's another story; but it does reinforce the fragility of the internal components.

Jerry,

I appreciate the information, and most likely I will continue to refrain from attaching any non-Canon accessories to my PowerShot cameras.

Having had two PowerShots with lens errors, just not willing to chance it...