Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 50x Wide-Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

I hauled off & bought a Nikon L810 in January 2013. I got the Nikon & was okay happy about it until I used the Video & discovered the blurry + zoom it had. I also noticed that the Shutter Button wasn't "acting right" & all of a sudden, it stopped working altogether. So back in the box it all went, I sent for a Refund & good ol' Amazon was MORE than willing to give me a full refund. The next day it left my home & when I went back to look at other models, I decided I was NOT going to limit myself to a mere $200-250 price tag. I stepped up my budget and BOY am I ever glad I did! I saw this Canon SX50 & went to You Tube, looking at all the Reviews and demonstrations of the camera & it's 50X zoom. I splurged and put this SX50 on my Amazon.com Store Card. Believe me now & hear me later, I looked at EVERY single bridge camera out on the market in the span of a month and the SX50 is THE best deal going....could it have a 16MP on it, sure; but you'll not miss it, the pixs on this camera are just fine. I got the camera yesterday & I am ALREADY thrilled and can't WAIT to get to CA in March and try it out on the Auto Club Speedway!! This zoom is INCREDIBLE, the camera is sturdy, the functions are MANY but almost idiot-proof....I hate having to "study" a manual on anything, but this camera's functions are straight forward and almost make sense the way they are programmed into the camera and set up to guide the owner thru taking pictures or videos. No more dragging the manual out EVERY time you go to take an unusual picture or video,.....the instructions make it pretty safe to bet your pix will be good. If you're curious about the bridge cameras, go to You Tube, you find out ALL you want to know about this little gems. I paid $403 for mine, it's already gone down to $399 and might go down more, I have probably already sold at least 3 of these for Amazon! The filters, hood, adapters, accessories and cases are cheap enough here, or on Ebay...you do not have to be rich to HAVE a good bridge camera. You don't have to be a semi or pro photographer, this camera will walk you thru everything. The CD w/ apps and manual is easy to read and the manual is easy enuff to pull up anytime. I used to take LOTS of photos for my work & personal use with my old Yashica FX-2 & this Canon is the closest thing to my old faithful 35mm I have found yet, unless I wanted to spend the megabucks for a DSLR. Don't hesitate, if you want a good bridge camera and have $400, this is the best one to date. There's only Pros on my Review; I guess if I just HAVE to gripe about something, it would be that you don't get a USB cord in the box. I'm a happy camper, this is gonna be it for awhile, it's all I'll need unless I leave it on the roof of my car someday. ;) JK! Not gonna happen, love this camera.

My wife is quite the photography enthusiast and owns a couple of DSLR cameras. I wasn't willing to invest that kind of money into a high end camera when I've never even taken a photography class. But I do have an interest in photography, and thought it would be fun to have a camera that could produce something better than my iPhone! The Canon PowerShot SX50 turned out to be the perfect beginners camera. First off you can just set it on auto and use it like any old point and shoot. It has a massive zoom which allows for some pretty incredible pictures. You can zoom optically by 50x and then 4x more digitally for a 200x zoom. Obviously if you zoom to the max you will compromise the picture quality somewhat, but it is still surprisingly good. Once you have decided to take off the training wheels you can experiment with some of the cameras more advanced features. You can set the camera to shutter priority which allows you to take the great action shot or freeze water droplets flying through the air. You can use aperture priority and get those nice depth of field images where an object is in focus and the background is not. There is even a full manual mode if you want to get very technical. There are also guided auto settings for action shots, night time and various other scenarios. I have attached some pictures taken with the camera. All freehand, no tripod. Even the zoom in on the moon was just taken standing in the back yard one night. I've read articles to suggest that even serious photographers like this camera because unlike their fancy DSLR, this camera is very lightweight. And to get a zoom as good as this one on a DSLR would set you back thousands of dollars, and would weigh a ton. If you want to take more serious pictures than your iPhone can, then this is a great camera to play around with. I've taken mine on various trips and have managed to take some good pictures with it. Of the attached images you'll see three animals taken at a zoo, which illustrate the powerful zoom (clearly I am not all that close to these dangerous animals!). A moon shot, showing not even the max zoom. It was taken during a 'honey moon' that's why it's not the usual color. And there's a fountain image, you can see how the water is frozen mid stream with high shutter speed. I think that this camera is well suited to both beginners and more seasoned photographers. Definitely worth a closer look this one.

Let me start by saying that you are buying this camera for the zoom, plain and simple. The 50X zoom is incredible. You can get a lot of shots that are impossible with other point and shoot cameras. The quality at full zoom is excellent. You can get detailed pictures of objects that you normally couldn't with other point and shoot cameras. The image quality remains good even when you throw in the digital zoom although it starts to deteriorate after you get past 100x. A lot of users have complained that the SX50 does not take good pictures in low light. This is true to some degree. When the camera is set in automatic mode it tends to take dark grainy pictures. It often sets a high ISO and a low shutter speed. This is a especially problematic if you are taking pictures of moving objects. I have found that if you set the camera on manual and adjust the settings to your liking you can take significantly better pictures than the auto mode. This however does not need to be done in better lighting situations as the cameras auto mode works much better than in low light ones. I do recommend that if you intend to use this camera indoors that you invest in an external flash that allows you to bounce the light off the ceiling to get better quality pictures. Again if you are taking the pictures in an outdoor environment the camera performs wonderfully. For those of you that are looking to take wildlife pics you wont be disapointed. How else could you get great closeups of wildlife without having to move close enough to scare them off? I have had no problems with the speed of the zoom and the time it takes to focus on your target. Sometimes it requires you to take your hand off the button and let the camera refucus but that usually only happens in low light situations and at extreme zooms. I have also been able to take a number of close up macro style photos of various objects while blurring the background for that proffesional look. I had to drop off 1 star for the lack of quality of the auto mode in lower light situations but again you can remedy this with a flash or going into manual mode. Other than that this is a great camera especially for those landscape and wildlife photos that most people looking for a 50x zoom are expecting.

I'm an amateur who has long been curious to learn more about photography. I bought this particular camera for two reasons: (1) to help promote organizations of which I'm a member by taking photos of our events, often in low-light conditions and (2) to teach myself more advanced photography through its manual controls, such as ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Surprises: Although the zoom certainly seemed nice when I bought the camera, I had not realized how useful its 50x zoom would be. (With digital enhancement, the zoom can reach 200x, but with heavy digital zoom, the image quality suffers.) I can sit in the rafters of a sporting or singing event and easily photograph the faces of the performers across a crowded gym or auditorium from me. As long as the images are with the optical zoom, they are good enough quality to be used in a newsletter or on Facebook. The zoom has also been useful to photograph wildlife. For example, I went to a lake, and while there, I was able to isolate ducks as they swam and even when they reached land. I also was able to be closer to the ducks without causing them to alter their routine. I've since learned through research that obtaining equivalent zoom functionality with a DSLR would require lenses that could cost 3-4 times as much as this camera. Various reviews, particularly on professional websites, had commented that a tripod was necessary to capture the benefits of the SX50's zoom, and I now agree. At 50x zoom, very small movements of the camera can cause you to go from watching a bird in a tree to staring a random, out-of-focus leaf on another tree. A tripod usefully reduces such opportunities for human error. I was also pleasantly surprised by the self-timer. It's not a reason to buy this particular camera, but I had not realized how useful self-timing 3 shots in a row would be, especially when I'm gathering the family for a photo on the sofa. Pros: So many of these reviews have "Pros" and "Cons," and my thoughts won't differ from those to any great extent. The biggest pro is that this is essentially a very advanced point-and-shoot camera that gives you customization options akin to a true DSLR. In this way, it is a "bridge" between the two camera categories, but you may alternatively encounter "superzoom" as describing its category in professional reviews. The photo quality is solid and the auto focus is adequate. Unlike other point-and-shoot controls that I've encountered, the on-screen controls treat you like an adult, In fact, the scroll wheel and function button are quite easy to manipulate while staring at the image through the viewfinder. Cons: The biggest con is that this is not a DSLR camera -- though it's still a very good camera. The auto focus and shutter speed can be slower than ideal when I'm trying to photograph a speaker using Auto mode, but when I switch to the Sports mode and take bursts of photos, I'm often able to capture the images that I strive for. When I read reviews, a line like that will sometimes cause me to pause and over zealously think "Oh no, I need a camera that has a faster or better X feature!" Still, provided that you aren't trying to be a professional photographer at a college football game, it's pretty good functionality. Various reviews state that the viewfinder is inadequate, and I agree that the viewfinder is subpar, especially when compared to the SX50's beautiful optical screen. Nonetheless, as a practical matter, the weak viewfinder does not cause me to take bad photographs. That is, when I photograph an object by viewing it through the viewfinder, I tend to believe that the image has some flaw in it, but often, when I look at the photograph on a computer or through the screen, the image looks quite good despite the sometimes unclear quality displayed in the viewfinder. I credit the auto focus with making me come across as a better photographer than I actually am. Fulfilling My Motivations to Purchase: Earlier, I mentioned my two primary motivations to purchase. As to photographing events, the camera does so well. I've even discovered that the zoom, particularly at a setting like 75mm-100mm equivalent, has a nice effect of flattening the image and improving the appearance of the subjects (though that's not a phenomenon unique to this camera). In low light, the camera distinguishes itself from a typical point-and-shoot camera. Again, it's not going to create miracles and I've seen DSLRs do better, but for an amateur photographer like me using it for promotion of my organizations and family photos, I'm satisfied with the results. As to teaching me more about photography, it really is a fun camera to use because it has a serious side that treats me like an adult. I've gone the EasyShare route with two cameras that used icons to suggest particular functionality, and the Canon SX50 has similar icons for preprogrammed functionality without being limited to those. I really like how the camera has hands-on features that let me bypass those preprogrammed settings. In particular, I have experimented with ISO and shutter speed settings. The scroll wheel in combination with the menu screens is fairly intuitive to use. As a result, I have a much better understanding of digital photography than before I bought the camera. Conclusion: In reviewing, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between my own ineffectiveness with photography and true limitations with the camera. Nonetheless, it's clear that this is a good camera that satisfies my needs, and I'm able to take better photographs than friends who have DSLRs but don't know how to use them. When I some day buy a new camera, it must, at a minimum, have the functionality present in this camera. More likely, I will purchase a DSLR and will research that purchase based on what I have learned from using the SX 50 during my ownership of it.

------------------------------------------- Update #2 July 23, 2014: I still love this camera but have discovered one flaw. The life if the battery is not that good. So, order you a spare battery, or two, as they are not that expensive. This way, you will not be caught with a dead battery at the most inopportune time. ------------------------------------------- UPDATE #1 July 10, 2014: I am really starting to love this camera even more. I've been tinkering/playing with it for two days now and a lot of my first worries have been dismissed as I am indeed learning how to properly use this camera. As some have stated in their reviews, focusing can be a "pain in the butt", but I have figured out that if you keep half-pressing the shutter button, and slightly moving the view finder, you can, almost all of the time but not always, find the focal point you were after. I'm old, hardheaded, and have only read a handful of books my entire life, so manuals are OUT of the question for me. ;) I know that with time and trial and error, I usually figure out most things that I am trying to accomplish. Another, and the most important reason that I am updating this review is that the size of the camera is allowing me to get awesome shots that I would not have been able to achieve with my very large, very long DSLR camera. My passion is photographing small critters like hummingbirds, butterflies, bees and the such. With my EOS60D, with a 400mm lens attached to it is a monster! Just the act of raising it to your eye to aim at your subject scares off the most skittish critter. With this camera, you keep the camera close to you, use the LCD screen for aiming, and slowly zoom in on your object of photography. They don't see the sudden movement that is with a huge camera and more often than not, not scared away by you. Another thing I noticed is that the neck strap is not a good thing. It is in the way more than it is useful. I did attach the lens cap to the camera, but that is easy to keep in tact in one hand while shooting. My next update will be with my 430EX II speed lite attached to it. If that is possible. Oh yeah, I forgot one more very important thing. The camera viewfinder, eye piece, is almost useless. It's like looking at your object from 100 yards away. maybe it's just me. Use the LCD display for viewing. ------------------------------------------- I own several DSLR cameras from Canon. Some may ask, then why did you buy a "point and shot" camera? With this camera, the answer is easy; 50X OPTICAL zoom! With my DSLR cameras, buying glass can and is getting very expensive. The 50X optical zoom is equivalent to a 1200 mm lens. If I put a 1200 mm lens on my Canon 60D, it would weight a ton, stick out a yard, and have set me back more money than my truck cost. Yes, I'm not exaggerating. No, this will not replace my DSLR camera, just accent them. I love photographing wildlife, birds mainly, and sometimes, reaching out that extra 50 feet is out of the reach of my lenses that I currently have. Yes, I can take a picture, but the further out, the less detail you get. While the MP is less than my 60D, at a long range, it's a no brainer as I don't have to crop an image to death to see the image I was after and lose a ton of detail. The auto focus is a bit different, ok, a lot different than the canon DSLR's but with time, I will learn how to aim. The focus is fast, and if you have one of those fancy new/super fast SD cards, taking pictures is super fast. I am not one to write a review and then let it sit. I often update my reviews as time goes by. Sometimes I report bugs, sometimes I up my rating, and sometimes I lower my ratings. The reason is always given in all of my reviews. If you are new to photography, and only want a Point and Shot camera, this could be expensive for a first time buyer. If you are seasoned, and know what you want, then this is a super camera from a reliable manufacture. Also, if you are like me, tired of taking out a second mortgage to keep buying new glass, then this is the perfect camera to get that extra reach without the expense of buying new glass.

I just got my Canon Powershot SX50 HS from Amazon.com. This camera is totally awesome. I have the predessor SX20is and I was very happy with my old Canon. The compliments I got for the pics I took with the SX20is were multiple due to the outstanding quality of the photos. I took my new Canon out for a test drive today. I am blown away by my new Canon. I was speechless when I saw my 1st pics. Total ease of use is incredible. The zoom is just plain miraculous. I can see objects in my pics that were not visible to the naked eye. The only negative comment I have to say regarding this incredible camera is that Canon should have kept the use of AA batteries as opposed to the propriatary Canon 10L Lithium Ion battery. I overcame this handicap by purchasing 2 more stand-by batteries. I would not want to be out on a shoot and run out of juice. I doubt this is going to happen with a total of 3 batteries on board. I have decided to keep my old Canon as it is still a gr8 camera and a nice back-up to my New and totally awesome SX50 HS. I've been into photography for a long time. I remember having a mirrored Rokor 300mm fixed focus lens and I thought it was awe inspiring. My Canon SX50 HS with its incredible ZOOM of 1000MM is out of this world !!! I'm a very happy camper with my new Canon.. Of course I will tell all of my friends about this new & wonderful camera from Canon :) Yesterday 8/24/14 my friend and I went on a PM shoot on a pedestrian bridge here in Salem, Oregon. We belong to a photo club right here in Salem. I took a few shots of a distant pooch about 2 city blocks away. He was running and swimming around, in & out of the river retrieving balls & stick thrown by his master. I took a couple of still images and a short 30 second video of this pooch. I then shared them with some of the members of our photo club. My friends & fellow photographers. After the ooo's and awe's I believe I sold two of the Canon SX50 HS cameras. The images were bright, vivid and great. One of our fellow members asked if my camera supported lens changes and I answered NO. I then let them know I did not feels as though I needed to change lenses with the zoom capabilities of my Canon. I absolutely love my Canon. The bottom line is the images I take with my Canon are amazing !!

My wife and I are birders and are always on the look for a camera with great zooming ability that is still sufficiently light to carry. We have owned Canon's prior model, the SX40, for just 2 months and loved it. When the SX50 came out, we were tempted, but skeptical about the faster auto focus and the additional zooming ability. We decided to give it a try. The verdict: Canon managed to noticeably improve on an already excellent product, and we bit the bullet and bought the new model. Here are our observations: General impression: the camera is light, has a nice grip, and takes amazing bird pictures even with free hands. The image quality further improves with the aid of a light tripod. When it comes to landscape pictures, the image is less ideal (less sharp) comparing to those taken by Canon S95, a compact camera we own. So our solution is to carry both cameras (both are so light) if we want to have excellent pictures for birding/wild life and landscape. Below is a direct comparison between SX50 and SX40: Auto focus: It really is much faster and more reliable than the SX40's. This is a big deal, particularly for taking pictures of birds. 1200mm zoom: This sounds too good to be true for free-hand shooting with a compact camera and in a way it is. At some point cropping yields better results than zooming. So I was skeptical whether SX50's extra zooming ability would really add any value compared to the SX40. Some extensive testing revealed that the SX50 performs equally well as the SX40 at the same (840mm) zoom level. When zooming in further, there is some additional resolution (sharper image) compared to cropping. However, the added value is small and disappears in all but at the very best lighting conditions. Aperture: The aperture numbers are less than stellar: 3.4W-6.5T. Keep in mind though that at 1200mm poor aperture numbers are simply a fact of life. Also worth mentioning: At around 840mm, the aperture is the same as the SX40's, so no loss there. That being said, I would not recommend using this camera except for its amazing zooming ability. In the standard or wide angle range most any compact camera will deliver better results than the SX50. In summary, the SX50 is an amazing camera if used for the special purpose that it is good for. This includes birding, wild life photography, and anything else that really needs zooming in to the max. However, this is not an all-purpose camera. If your main need is to take amazing landscape pictures, other compact cameras would be a better option. (For higher quality images, we use Canon S95 or 5D depending on weight restrictions). Worth mentioning: Before we purchased our SX40, we also tested Nikon P510. SX40 outperformed P510 in auto focus (speed & reliability) and picture quality (sharpness). Useful accessories to greatly improve image quality: - Sirui T-1204X: ultra lightweight and super sturdy tripod, essential to keep the ISO low. SIRUI 4 Section Pro Carbon Fiber Tripod T1204x with Professional Travel Bag - Sirui G-10 ball head: lightweight and smooth. Total weight with the T-1204X is about 2.5lb SIRUI G-10 29mm Ballhead with Quick Release, 40 lbs Load Capacity - Canon remote switch: to avoid shaking caused by pushing the shutter release button. Canon Remote Switch RS60 E3

i don't usually use such descriptive words for products, but this camera is simply and truly amazing. My background: An amateur/hobby photographer for 35+ years. Do mostly landscapes and birds/wildlife. Started with a Pentax film camera years ago, then went to Nikon. So I am very familiar with adjusting F-Stops, shutter speed, etc., to get a good pic. Took many courses on photography over the years. Traveled around, years of some pretty great photos. Fought the change to digital, but finally gave in about five or six years ago. The digital Nikon SLR I have now is about five years old, and the auto focus always gave me problems with birds. Bought a Nikon "advanced" P&S (similar to this) about three years ago. Same problem, plus the quality of pictures were never quite up to snuff no matter what I tried. Though I have a 400mm lens with the SLR, still isn't enough for birds much of the time. Along the way, bought three Panasonic P&S. Fabulous pictures every time! Was set to buy latest Panasonic like this Canon....then they took away Leica lens, and build them in China. That was the end of that. This is one terrific camera. I've been taking loads of shots the last three weeks. I purposely have not even done anything in the way of making "adjustments" other than to adjust the exposure, just to see how good it is, or where it may be weak. That's it. The 1200mm lens is unbelieveable. No camera shake whatsever....although, I will have to say that if you are not steady, you may want to use a tripod at that length. It IS possible to get a great handheld shot at that length, but you must be steady enough to do it. Where I live we have high winds almost all the time, so it's a bit of a challenge! But I managed to get some fantastic shots despite it. (And mind you, I'm very particular about what is acceptable vs. what has a real "wow" factor.) Adjusting the exposure, which is easy to do quickly, allowed me to get terrific closeup shots of many birds (think always-on-the-move palm warblers and hummingbirds, goldfinches in flight!) in low light conditions and on overcast days (of which we have had far too many lately). The macro is also terrific. I always had a hard time getting good closeup shots of flowers with any of my other cameras. This one is right on. I'm really impressed with the results, with no lenses to change out! The crispness and clarity of the shots I've taken is amazing beyond belief. Color is right on. I am still in awe of this camera. I may never buy another SLR! I can take this birding with me, too, and not have to lug around a heavy SLR. That way I can watch the birds and still hope to get a few good shots along the way! I have medium size hands, and the camera feels very good to hold and manuever. The moveable LCD screen is great. I've not had one before. You can use it to shoot (I prefer the viewfinder....a big reason why I got this type of camera), or it works really well to review a shot. The viewfinder has a diopter, so you can adjust it to your eyesight. You can actually see the LCD screen very well outside (unlike any other digital camera I've had before). Only drawback is that I worry about the card/battery latch at the bottom of the camera. It is not a rigid/tough plastic, and I'm not sure why they cheaped out on it. Though, in reality, if it should pop open or break off for some reason, the battery and card will not just fall out (they are secured). Also, I do wish it had a Landscape setting. My Panasonic has that, and it's great. Not a big deal; I simply put it on Landscape and adjust the exposure accordingly. I have more flexibitiliy in getting the shot I want that way anyway. Canon has a new fan! I've been told by my photographer/birder friends for years Canon was the way to go. Why didn't I listen? Be sure to always have an extra. fully-charged battery on hand. I have been shooting a lot of pictures lately over a span of a few hours, and the battery usually does go out during that time and I have to change it out. But this is not necessarily any different than with other cameras I've used.

Excellent camera, excellent service, fast shipping, all is perfect

I am a birdwatcher and find this an excellent camera for wildlife photography. Love the 50X zoom !

As new - pity no manual

I love this camera. Thanks

I returned this camera. It was defective and I could see the zooming lens was glued to the camera. This was sold by a third party