The Canon SX-50 MegaZoom Camera: Image Samples
The Canon SX-50 is the most capable long zoom camera for the outdoors I've tested. Here's a more detailed look at what this unit can do, with a few example images.
In terms of image quality, the debate will never end. Technical comparisons rarely transfer to reality. VHS beat out BetaMax, 8mm, Hi8, Digital 8, Super VHS, and Laserdisc. Yet, despite the fact that all of the formats were superior to VHS, some vastly so, the majority of consumers resisted all of them, with VHS the standard until finally the DVD displaced it. I should well know, for I still have a generous collection of 8mm, Hi8, Digital 8, and Super VHS units. Jog-shuttle wheel S-VHS editing decks served their purpose for a time, but those times are long gone. A moment of silence, please, for the Amiga Video Toaster with the Fat Agnus chip, or perhaps a few tears if you are familiar with the process. Lab data and actual results are not interchangeable, but it is a good place to start. Here's how ISO 1600 JPEG images compare from the SX-50 versus a few recent offerings, using the interactive studio comparison tool from Digital Photography Review. If you hold a Bicycle (U.S. Playing Card) Queen of Hearts in your hand, you'll quickly see which camera most faithfully captured the image, shown as a 100% crop. The 24x FZ200 is still in production, while the Coolpix P510 is now the P520 and the HX200V is now the HX300B.
Above: Here's how ISO 1600 JPEG images compare from the SX-50 versus a few recent offerings, using the interactive studio comparison tool from Digital Photography Review. If you hold a Bicycle (U.S. Playing Card) Queen of Hearts in your hand, you'll quickly see which camera most faithfully captured the image, shown as a 100% crop. The 24x FZ200 is still in production, while the Coolpix P510 is now the P520 and the HX200V is now the HX300B.
Smart Auto Mode, 100x 430mm / 2400mm equivalent (with 2x digital zoom), 1/160 shutter speed, 6.5 aperture, ISO 320, handheld. Image was not cropped, the frame coverage is as out of the camera.
Program Mode, 100 times zoom (incl. 2x digital zoom), 1/160 shutter speed, 6.5 aperture, ISO 200. Shot handheld, this image was not cropped: the frame coverage is just as out of the camera.
Hand-held 1200mm shooting has been considered difficult by some with small-sensor cameras, impossible by others. Yet, the image stabilization of the SX-50 is such that usable images are the norm, not the exception. Digital zoom used to mean complete rubbish, a way to depict folks as nuclear holocaust victims or just take lousy pictures. Yet, the Canon has a surprisingly capable digital zoom. The above raccoon / planter scene, was taken on a cloudy day. You might rightly think, so what? That is until you learn that the image was taken handheld . . . at 100x zoom. You can effectively use 200x zoom as well, but that is strictly tripod territory.
This Plainfield bunny might think he is cleverly hidden, but not exactly. This image is just as it came out of the SX-50, with no cropping. Program mode, 1/160 shutter, 6.5 aperture, ISO 800, 183.5 mm focal length or about 42.67x zoom.
Shutter Speed Priority AE, 138.3 focal length, 1/60 shutter speed, 8.0 aperture, ISO 80.
Smart Mode nets you clear, blur-free images. Sometimes, that isn't the message you wish to convey, as is the case with this Plainfield waterfall. Just set the shutter speed to 1/60, the camera does the rest, and now you have a more appealing capture of moving water that emotes motion rather than freeze-frame.
In times past, including the "ancient" days of 2010, small-sensor cameras used as DSLR substitutes were attempted to be discredited due to notions of noise at base ISO (base ISO on the SX-50 is ISO 80), with digital artifacts, smearing, and loss of detail present at all ISO settings. Thanks to an assist from my Flowering Crab, it is apparent that this isn't the case with SX-50 images, even viewed at 100% crop. The first image above depicts the full image with the shooting information: ISO 400.
The second image, a 100% crop, shows that onboard Canon JPEG processing is so good, RAW image post-processing is generally a waste of time, although you do have that option if you wish to go that route and experiment. Brightness, color saturation, color tone, sharpness, chromatic aberration, and noise reduction where needed are all superbly controlled by the SX-50, not just at base ISO, but through ISO 1600 in most conditions.
This shot was handheld, the flowering crab berries were moving in the wind: the Program Mode did a fine job with automatic focus, automatic exposure, auto white balance, and selected ISO 400 and a 1/1000 shutter speed that all combined to produce a blur-free, pleasing image straight from the camera that holds up well even at the 100% crop "pixel peep" level.
Aggressive focal lengths (above, ISO 80, 1/250 shutter, 175.5 mm focal length or about 40.81x zoom) allows you to isolate the image of a feeding giant Canadian goose with the type of crispness and pop that lesser focal length cameras cannot easily achieve.
Program AE, 39.5 focal length, 1/400 shutter speed, 5.6 aperture, ISO 200.
Naturally, just because you have capability hardly makes its use mandatory. When your favorite horse trots over to greet you, you'll likely want a lot less than anything approaching extreme focal lengths. Versatility is part of the grand appeal of this camera, for it gives unprecedented composition options with clear, sharp results augmented by generally punchy, yet faithful color rendition.
From the above, handheld, yet high magnification continuous pan video, you should be able to get an idea of the SX-50's video prowess as well. It is substantial capability and versatility for one easily portable audio-visual acquistion device.
It is versatility of composition that makes this camers sing. Early evening, about 6:20 pm, a shot from the front of my home with no zoom at all. Handheld, ISO 800, 3.4 Av, 1/25 shutter:
Now, from the very same shooting position, with full optical (1200mm equiv.) zoom, again handheld. ISO 400, 6.5 Av, 1/160 shutter:
It is this type of composition range with usable handheld results near, far, and everywhere in-between that sets the SX-50 apart. This is a traveling / outdoors type of bridge camera that few one-unit image acquisition systems can compete with. It has been done by others, is offered by others, but never this well-rounded or this satisfyingly good . . . if you want a 1200mm focal length, and aren't concerned with the best HD video.
Copyright 2013 by Randy Wakeman. All Rights Reserved.
