Canon PowerShot SX50 HS

Bottom Line

The longest super-zoom you can buy, the 50x-zoom Canon PowerShot SX50 HS is a technical marvel, reviews say: You can extend the lens, snap a photo of something two miles away, close up the camera and toss it into your shoulder bag. And it's not just a pretty zoom. It's got serious enthusiast chops, with full manual controls, RAW file support and a hot shoe to help it beat other 40x-plus digital cameras in reviews.

Ease of Use

'A chunky beast," but generally easy to use. Thanks to its monster zoom, the Canon SX50 hasn't a prayer of being pocket-sized. It's nearly as big and heavy as a compact digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera.

"A chunky beast" that looks like a DSLR but is "far easier to pick up and start shooting with" says Mark Goldstein at PhotographyBlog.com. Beginners can simply point and shoot, Jeff Keller at DCResource.com says: "Simply set the mode dial to the Smart Auto position and let the camera do the rest. It'll select one of fifty-eight scene modes for you, with the ability to detect when you're using a tripod, or whether the baby in the frame is sleeping or smiling."

Advanced photographers will appreciate the full manual controls. "Buttons and controls are well placed (and spaced) on the SX50 HS," Goldstein says. "This is a power zoom for those with larger hands who normally bemoan the small, precise buttons on most digicams."

There's even an electronic viewfinder -- a rarity at this price -- but "It's pretty lousy," Keller says. Goldstein says the resolution is "so-so," and Christopher Snow at DigitalCameraInfo.com finds it small and uncomfortable to peer through, with "severe lag" that won't keep up with fast-moving subjects.

Experts unanimously prefer framing their shots on the LCD screen. It flips out to the side and rotates, especially handy when you're using a tripod.

Performance

Surprisingly good -- but not perfect -- photo quality. Super-long zooms usually spell crummy image quality, experts say. But the SX50's 12-megapixel photos mostly impress testers. "We got a surprising number of keepers at the 1200mm focal length, even when using the camera handheld," thanks to a fantastic image stabilizer, says Goldstein at PhotographyBlog.com. Still, for best full-zoom results -- like the crater-filled moon shot in EPhotoZine.com's test -- you'll need a tripod.

Low light is a weakness, as is usual for ultra-zooms. Grainy image noise pops up around ISO 800, DCResource.com says, although Daniel Bell at EPhotoZine.com says shots still look good at ISO 3200. Purple and green fringing (another common failing of this class) shows up around high-contrast edges in Goldstein's test. At DigitalCameraInfo.com, Snow complains of "forged sharpness" that leaves unnatural-looking white halos and black lines around subjects.

Despite these flaws, all of these experts recommend the SX50, saying its image quality is impressive for a super-zoom. Speed is respectable, too: Everything moves along smartly, with no shutter lag problems in tests. If you want to shoot rapid-fire bursts, the SX50 can rattle off 10 full-resolution frames per second (fps).

Video shoots in full 1080p HD. It's good quality, and you don't hear the zoom noise on your soundtrack, Bell says. But Keller at DCResource.com wishes for more video features. "There are no manual controls available, aside from a wind filter and mic level adjustment," Keller writes. "It would be nice if Canon brought their cameras into the 21st Century and increased the frame rate and offered some real manual controls!"

Battery life is rated at 315 shots per charge. "We managed this and more [on] just one charge during testing," Bell says.

Durability

Plastic body seems sturdy, reviews say. Although it's made of plastic, not metal, the Canon SX50 "feels extremely well made," says Bell at EPhotoZine.com. Snow at DigitalCameraInfo.com finds one build-quality quibble: "We just wish the rubber cover was a little less flimsy" over the USB/HDMI/wired remote ports.

None of the 100 or so owners at Amazon.com reports any durability problems. One says the SX50 feels cheaper than his previous Canon ultra-zoom ("They used a plastic which, although lighter, feels and looks cheaper"), but two others disagree, saying the SX50 seems sturdier than their old ultra-zooms.

Features

Best-in-class 50x zoom, plus features like RAW capture. With its outrageous 50x zoom, the Canon SX50 is "a spy-cam that MI6 would be proud of," says Snow at DigitalCameraInfo.com. At DCResource.com, Keller manages to "capture vast landscapes at wide-angle and ... also fill the frame with subjects two miles away."

"This camera doesn't just reach 50x, it flies down to 50x in only two or three seconds," Snow points out. Keller times it at 4 seconds (10 seconds if you're shooting video, to make it smoother and quieter). Digital zoom can quadruple it to 200x, but -- as usual -- it degrades image quality, says Bell at EPhotoZine.com. Still, he posts his 200x-zoom shot of the hands of a faraway clock, and it looks clear and sharp to the naked eye at about 2.5 inches by 3 inches.

Unlike most ultra-zooms, the SX50 offers two must-have features for enthusiasts: RAW image capture and a hot shoe (so you can add external flashes and other accessories). There's a built-in flash, too, but you have to pop it up manually.

Two high-tech helpers prove particularly helpful in Keller's tests. DR Correction reduces highlight clipping (another common flaw on ultra-zooms) by boosting ISO. High Dynamic Range does the same thing by shooting three different exposures of the same scene and layering them, which has the added bonus of unearthing detail from black shadows.

Otherwise, the SX50 enjoys the usual array of fun and helpful features – such as creative filters and scene modes -- but no GPS, and no in-camera panorama. Canon instead bundles software with the camera to help you stitch panoramic shots together on your computer.