User Reviews for Canon PowerShot SX50 HS Bridge Camera

Bought this camera in October from a reputed city store. I had been researching for a good bridge camera for about a month before that. nnThe other cameras that I had been comparing with this one were Sony DSC-HX200V, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200, Fujifilm FinePix HS25EXR/HS30EXR. After comparing hundreds of pictures online and personally testing the Fuji and the Sony in a store, here is my verdict. nnI didn't like the Fuji because of it's manual zoom. The camera is already very heavy and the manual zoom will set you up for extra hard work. I wouldn't want to do that when on a vacation. Manual zoom also means that if you are zooming in or out during a video then your videos will be somewhat shaky. nnHX200V has the best display and has a manual as well as motorized zoom. But there are features in it which I find useless, like the GPS, and I didn't want to pay for it, . Apart from that you can't do RAW photography with this one and neither can you take slow motion videos.nnFZ200 probably has the best picture quality among these 4 models and in my opinion this is the only camera that gives a serious competition to SX50. But considering it's price the zoom was very less. So I skipped this one. If a gigantic zoom is not all that important to you then this one would be your best bet. nnNow lets get to the technicalities of SX50 HS:-nnI am yet to learn all the functions of the camera but this is what my experience has been like with over a month of usage.nnPros:-nn1) Low light photography is beyond any comparison. I have seen pics of some of my friends' entry level DSLRs, And I can say without a second thought that this will beat some of those DSLRs hands down. The camera's outstanding performance at higher ISOs more than compensates for the relatively smaller aperture.n2) Wicked 50x zoom. World's first.n3) The image stabilization even at full 50X zoom is mind blowing. In fact I have taken some clear and sharp images even at 100x zoom. Videos at 100x zoom also turned out quite decent.n4) Very fast auto focus even at full zoom. The Auto Focus does a fantastic job even during video.nn========================================================nnCons:-nn1) The EVF could have been a lot better. n2) Auto mode didn't impress me much, so you will have to play a little bit with manual and other modes to get the best settings for your shot.n3) A high end bridge camera as this one should have had a more powerful battery.nnOverall, this camera is excellent if you want to play with the manual settings, and get really close to your subjects. We went on a vacation this weekend to a beach and took hundreds of photographs, mostly in Auto mode. While testing the zoom we took pics of some hot girls(in hot pants) who were at least 70 meters(230 feet) away from us. The photos turned out so well that it was as good as a close up from just a few feet away. Photographed a bird that was about a couple of inches long from about 10 meters away and even the eye of the bird was pretty clear, though I would have liked a little more colour here in the Auto mode. The craters on the moon were satisfactorily sharp at 100X zoom. Clicked pictures and took videos of some fishing trawlers that were miles into the sea and was quite surprised with the quality. The red evening sun looked elegant through the lens of the camera. nnIf this helps even one soul then I would feel that the review has served it's purpose :) nnThanks.

I have been using this camera for a month now. After extensively comparing with Lumix FZ200 I decided to go for Canon SX50HS. FZ200 has a fantastic high-speed lens, but falls shot on zoom range (24x) and image resolution. SX50HS is a very good camera in the bridge category for the price. I am impressed by its lens and the Image Stabilizer. The cons first: 1. The EVF is very small and low-resolution. The colour patterns sometimes is annoying. 2. The button below the thumb grip gets pressed while holding the camera, which is a bother. 3. Be ready to pay 2000 to 3000 rs. for the 67mm adapter and filters. 4. Battery longevity is poor. The CIPA rating is 315 shots, whereas in reality it is less than 200 per charge. Better to plan for a second battery. 5. At the tele end the AF hunts; sometimes it fails to focus in low light. 6. Continuous AF mode drains the battery out fast (only about 120 images per charge). 7. Image quality drops at the tele-end. Pros: ----- 1. Excellent lens with a benchmark tele end of 1200mm (35mm eqvt). 2. Very good macro capability with very little distortion. 3. The USM AF motor is very quiet and its noise is not a bother in video mode. 4. The user interface is friendly even though the camera has a plethora of settings. 5. In camera HDR mode is very handy for bringing out the details from subtle lighting situations 6. The Image Stabilization is superb. One has to use it to believe it! I could take hand-held pictures, at the tele end, of small subjects (a bird) at a distance of about 300 ft with almost no camera shake visible in the image. A tripod is essential for far away subjects. 7. Frame Assist feature (button on the lens barrel) is very convenient while focusing in the higher focal lengths. The camera shows a wide-angle view temporarily to locate the subject and then zoom in. 8. Storing RAW format is handy for custom post-processing of the images 9. Image quality is very good even though the sensor is small. Hardly any distortions and CA in normal screen sizes. Points to remember: An extra battery, tripod and UV filter (minimum to protect the lens) have to be factored as additional items to have for maximizing the utility of SX50HS. Overall, SX50HS is super-value for money.

I purchased a canon powershot sx50 hs on october20 2012 .though the camer was good enough.But it's lens stuck outside while zooming in and it did not come back, thus not zooming out. The camera became useless and the company refused to honour its warranty.

I bought this from a local shop. Must say it is an awesome camera - macro images crystal clear, zoomed images unbelievable - the image stabilisation is good enough that 50x pics (and using the digital zoom, even 100x) come fine in handheld mode (I have fairly steady hands, but not unusually so). I can only imagine what it would be like with a tripod....nnFrankly I thought 50x was madness when I heard of it - credit to them for having implemented it well. I haven't tried shooting in low light much yet, but what I have tried is satisfactory, more than I expected from a non-DSLR.nnEven my sister (who has a fairly good DSLR) was blown away. All in all it is a camera I could recommend to anyone who doesn't mind a little weight (just over 1/2 kg, not that excessive compared to a DSLR, but substantially larger than many other point and shoots). If weight is a criterion, then probably you should go for the SX240HS (or the highly spoken of Panasonic TZ30, if you're OK with the fact that Panasonic has very limited service in India) which lie in the 200 gm weight / 20x optical zoom /18-19 K price range I think. If price is an issue, then SX150 or 160 are excellent cameras in their price range (9-12 K), but no CMOS sensor, no raw mode, 12x-14x zoom are the compromises you will have to make...you won't regret any of them though I feel, I have been using Canon's cameras for 8 years and have been happy with every one I used (A75, A600, SX100, my sister's SLR, my friend's SX150 among others).nnNow to come to the one sore point of the SX50. Not a deal-breaker maybe but still something which was a disappointment to a longtime Canon fan. The sales package of this "high-end" camera does NOT include a cable to connect it to a computer. Yes, no USB cable. I have no idea what they were thinking of, but I will deduct 1 star for this as it is simply unacceptable. I have several compatible cables (owned 3 Canons before!) so I can manage without it. But someone who doesn't would have to buy that cable separately. (And it was not just a defect in my piece - I checked at the shop and they opened another piece and found that there is no cable).

had a lot of confusion over nikon p510 and sx50hs..in many reviews it was said that nikon p510's image quality is stellar and it has more megapixels..I've approached a professional photographer about the megapixel confusion and he solved my year long confusion..what he said was that, megapixel plays a main role of an image only upto a certain level..after that its only the quality of lens that determines the picture clarity..so dont go behind the camera which has got more megapixels..nthen he recommended me to go with canon..ni got my delivery within 2 days..ni just need to tell two things about the camera..nn* the image quality is stellar andn* the Zooming is so zooOOOOming..the picture never loses the clarity even at full zoom and it has also got 1080p fullhd video recording..n* you can capture both picture and video in raw format, which has the high clarity..nnI recommend this product 100% to everyone..go 4 it blindly..