Canon Powershot SX50 HS

[bmpress]

I couldn't agree with you more about this camera, Bob. I got mine about four months ago and have been using it more than my 7d with expensive lenses. Although my experience with optical viewfinders has always led me to rely on them 100%, I now find that the swing-out lcd panel on the sx50 offers some clear advantages especially shooting 1200 mm tele shots. By leaning the camera on my ample stomach and looking down on the LCD display there are two advantages. First of all the camera is held very steadily, and then I find it makes it easier to compose a shot. In fact, at low light levels, the led display automatically brightens up which adds to this technique.

I also have been using this little camera at ISO 3000 for high contrast images that can be sharpened and chroma noise removed in Lightroom. You could not tell the difference viewing my 8x10's.

Canon has a winner here. And I no longer lust for Canon's 600mm L...........

[Bob Atkins]

The Canon Powershot SX50 HS - and similar "ultrazoom" cameras from FujiFilm and Panasonic - could be the start of an interesting development. None of them are yet perfect (and probably never will be), but there is certainly room for sensor improvement (maybe going from 1/2.3" to 1/1.7") and lens speed improvement (Panasonic have a 24-600 zoom with a constant f2.8 aperture). Frame rates could be higher and buffers larger and the available shutter speeds/ISO settings could be more flexible. The SX50 could also stand to have an EVF with better optics and higher resolution.

Of course all these things would add to the cost, so there's a tradeoff fhe manufacturers. There's probably a price point at which sales would drop even if performance was better. You may be able to sell a lot of cameras for under $400, but a "DeLuxe" version costing $800-$1000 might be a tough sell in the mass consumer market, which is where profits are made.

It will be interesting to see what the SX60 brings to the table when it arrives, but that probably won't be for another year or so.