3. If you bought the Canon SX 60, some of my tips for the SX 50 will help you. The Canon SX 60 does not product as sharp photos at full telephoto extension and Sports Mode does not work as well as with the Canon SX 50. See my review of the SX 60 here. I'm Lillian Stokes, prominent American bird author and photographer who, along with my husband Don, have written 35 best-selling books on birds and nature including the best-selling and one of the most comprehensive photographic field guides ever written, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. News Flash: My new book, The Stokes Essential Pocket Guide to the Birds of North America was recently published! It has fantastic large photos and covers 250 North American bird species. At just the right size, you can slip it in your pocket when you go out to photograph birds. Get this book, it is perfect for beginning and intermediate birders. Amazingly, two of the main photos in this book were taken with my Canon SX 50!
Here they are, this Western Kingbird and this House Wren.Reading this blog post could cost you money. I just got the new Canon SX 50 HS point and shoot super-zoom camera and I love it. It's in my right hand, my Canon 1D Mark IV with the 300mm lens and 1.4 teleconverter is in my left hand. The SX 50 HS has a 12.1 megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor, DIGIC 5 image processor, image stabilization, ISO 80-6400. The focal length when optical and digital zoom are combined is as follows (35 mm equivalent) 24-4800 mm (24-1200mm with optical zoom alone.) It can shoot RAW. Here are some of the reasons why I like the SX 50 HS. Our newest book is The Stokes Essential Pocket Guide to the Birds of North America, available now BUY Now! So handy you can slip it in your pocket. The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North AmericaThe Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North AmericaThe New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern RegionThe New Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region
Visit our network of sites: Canon PowerShot SX40 HS Review: A Formidable Ultrazoom Design / Ease of Use7 Rating 1 to 10, top score 10 35x optical zoom Impressive stabilization Full complement of features Quirky AF No RAW Bulky for a point-and-shoot The Canon SX40 produces sharp, high quality images in most conditions. However, it isn't immune to the limitations of a smaller lens and sensor. The Canon PowerShot SX40 HS is the newest of Canon’s all-in-one ultrazoom compact cameras. About the same size as an entry level DSLR, the SX40 offers a lower price and the added convenience of a single built-in lens. Unlike most other compacts the SX40 has an incredible effective zoom range of 35x, from 24mm to an amazing 840mm. Its extensive feature set also includes full 1080p video and various high speed shooting modes for both capturing action and slowing it down. The big news with the introduction of the SX40 is the addition of Canon’s new DIGIC 5 chip – the same one used in the just announced $6800 Canon EOS 1D X – under the hood, adding state of the art speed and image performance to the SX camera line.
The DIGIC 5 chip allows for a high speed shooting mode where the SX40 can capture 8 frames per second. Canon is to be commended for using this additional performance for speed and image quality instead of a race for higher resolution, by including a 12.1 megapixel sensor – just about the highest resolution that is reasonable for a 1/2.3-inch sensor before image quality starts to go downhill. A 1/2.3-inch sensor is about 1/5 of a 35mm film frame in each dimension – providing only 1/25th of the total sensor area of a full frame camera, so to keep image quality high the resolution can’t increase much beyond the 12 megapixels of the SX40. Canon has also included an improved 2.7-inch adjustable LCD, and full 1080p HD video with stereo audio capture – easily triggered by using a dedicated Movie button – along with an upgraded Image Stabilization system. A variety of manual modes allow for impressive control for advanced photographers, although the lack of a RAW image capture option will definitely disappoint avid hobbyists.
Slightly limited manual control 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor 8-shot high speed Burst mode 1080p 24fps video recording Getting serious about photography is not a cheap endeavour. Buying a basic DSLR setup isn’t so painful, with decent models like the Nikon D3100 now available for under £400. But once you start adding the cost of the additional lenses needed for anything approaching all-purpose flexibility, you can expect to spend at least double that. If this is beyond your budget, then the Canon SX40 HS could be worth a look. It’s a super zoom bridge camera that gives you a hugely flexible focal range and plenty of potential for manual control – if not quite DSLR-rivalling image quality.The Canon SX40 HS represents a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the SX30. It offers much faster performance, full HD video recording and improved light sensitivity for improved low-light performance. The effective resolution of the SX40's sensor is lower at 12.1 megapixels (instead of 14.1), but the sensor type has changed to a 1/2.3in CMOS type instead of the CCD type used in the SX30.
Fingers crossed, this should result in better image quality. We’ll find out whether it does later.The build hasn’t changed drastically, however. The Canon SX40 is made of hard matt black plastic, and while it doesn’t feel quite as immaculately constructed as one of Canon’s metal-bodied cameras, like the 60D or G12, it is tough and creak-free.Some care and attention has gone into making it feel great in-hand too. The front side of the right hand grip has a lightly rubberised finish, giving it greater friction than the rest of the body, which is otherwise very smooth. Although smaller than standard SLR size, this hand grip feels comfortable and gives you a good sense of mastery over the camera’s position for one-handed shooting. It also gives you confidence that you’re not going to drop it.The flip-up flash mechanism is wholly manual. There’s a thumb rest on the back too that's textured with embossed dots, giving the SX40 a bit of added purchase. If you’re used to handling a compact camera rather than a DSLR, the Canon SX40 will feel pretty chunky - it’s a lot bulkier than a regular compact.