Canon PowerShot SX50 HS Review

October 10, 2012 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star Half rating star

Introduction

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS is a brand new super-zoom camera sporting a 50x zoom lens which is equivalent to a focal length of 24-1200mm. Replacing the previous SX40 HS model, the SX50 HS features a 12 megapixel back-illuminated sensor, DIGIC 5 image processor, 4.5-stop optical Image Stabilizer with Intelligent IS technology, full manual controls, ISO 80-6400, 12-bit RAW format support, full 1080p HD movie recording with stereo sound and a HDMI port, 10fps burst shooting, a 2.8 inch vari-angle LCD screen, a range of Creative Filters, external flash hotshoe and an electronic viewfinder. The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS is available in black priced at £449 / $479.99.

Ease of Use

Like most big zoom bridge cameras, the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS is a chunky beast that's not much smaller than the entry level digital SLR that it takes its styling cue from. However it is, after all, the whopper of a 50x optical lens that is the main selling point, boasting a comprehensively and creatively broad focal range stretching from 24mm to 1200mm that would be otherwise hideously unaffordable or impractical for the average DSLR user. What is lost in quality compared with a DSLR is made up for in terms of versatility - with the photographer being able to rapidly switch from wide angle framing to candid close ups from afar - and, all things considered, fair value, though the SX50 HS is not an inexpensive purchase.

Indeed, with a £449 suggested UK price tag, there's the obvious 'ouch' factor to get over when considering the SX50 HS. Considering, that is, the fact that for a similar outlay you could purchase an entry level digital SLR, albeit one admittedly with a standard 18-55mm lens (3x zoom), rather than 50x. Still, if compared with the similar Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 at a suggested £439.99, which in fairness has a lens with a constant aperture of f/2.8 throughout its 24x zoom range, the Canon seems comparably reasonable on paper at least.

Considering the zoom range on offer here, a bulky body and some added weight courtesy of the chunky 315-shot rechargeable lithium-ion battery in the handgrip (a total weight of 600g when the SX50 HS is 'loaded') makes perfect sense if we're going to be able to achieve anything approaching critical sharpness when shooting handheld towards the maximum telephoto setting. Image stabilization is of the lens shift type, offering a claimed 4.5 stop advantage. Like its predecessor the SX50 HS again offers an Ultrasonic Motor along with a Voice Coil Motor to deliver not only relatively swift but also smooth and silent zooming - crucial when capturing video in particular, for which a dedicated thumb-operated record button is provided. Maximum aperture of the lens is f/3.4 at 24mm, slowing to f/6.5 at the full 1200mm, a little slow to start with but not bad considering the massive focal range on offer.

From the front, apart from the change of model number the SX50 HS (for 'High Speed') looks more angular and DSLR-like than the SX40 IS, with a bigger hand-grip, and further protruding pop-up flash. There's a large AF illuminator/self timer porthole to the right of the gargantuan lens, the pop up flash hiding just above, and a deep sculpted plastic grip to the left. Offering a slightly roughened surface that is practical in preventing slippage but not all that comfortable, we managed to squeeze three fingers around said grip without scraping any knuckles on the adjacent barrel.

Canon PowerShotSX50 HS Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Front Rear

On the side of the lens barrel are two new buttons to help make using the 50x zoom easier. The uppermost Seek button quickly zooms back out of the scene, useful when you want to reloacte the subject that you had zoomed in on, and then automatically zooms back to your chosen focal length when the button is released. The lower Lock button locks onto and automatically track your subject, keeping them in the center of the frame until you take the shot. New to the SX-range is an external hotshoe on top of the camera, which accepts an external Canon Speedlite EX flashgun, greatly expanding the capabilities of the SX50 HS in low-light situations.

The SX50 HS features the company's high speed Digic 5 image processor which offers a host of quick fire continuous capture of up to 13 frames per second for up to ten shots and 120fps or 240fps slow motion video replay options at 640x480 or 320x240 pixels respectively, along with the now expected regular Full HD 1920x1080 pixels video recording capability at 24fps. If you want 30fps this means a resolution drop to 1280x720 pixels.

The lens shift image stabilization, again also a feature of the SX40 HS forebear, offers the equivalent of 4.5 stops, with the camera detecting and choosing the 'correct' type of stabilization depending on the shooting conditions and the subject. The SX50 HS has purportedly seven options to select from: Normal IS, Dynamic IS, Powered IS (utilising camcorder technology to ensure the ability to record footage at a long zoom range), Panning IS (deployed in one direction and useful for recording racetrack action), Macro IS, Tripod Mode (image stabilizer automatically deactivated) or Dynamic macro IS.

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS has 12.1 effective megapixels courtesy of a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor that is back illuminated to enhance its light gathering properties; enhanced as wires don't get in the way of the sensor and so the light's path. The Digic 5 processor offers noise reduction performance claimed to be a whopping 75% better than the old Digic 4. Less noise also gives the opportunity to avoid using the flash at various focal lengths - which incidentally has to be manually raised rather than automatically popping up - and bump up the ISO instead whilst shooting handheld. Here ISO runs from ISO 80 to ISO 6400.

Canon PowerShotSX50 HS Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Top Side

Multi area white balance maintains a natural colour balance for faces and backgrounds at the same time when the flash is used under tungsten lighting. The camera detects that there are two different light sources and so takes area specific readings. However, though there is face detection and AF tracking on board, the number of AF points is notably less than on even an entry level DSLR: we get just one-point AF.

This is a camera that is far easier to pick up and start shooting with than most DSLRs. Buttons and controls are well placed (and spaced) on the SX50 HS, with a shooting mode dial the size of a ten pen piece and a dime-sized shutter release button encircled by a lever for operating the zoom located at the top of the handgrip where it automatically falls under the forefinger of the right hand. This is a power zoom for those with larger hands who normally bemoan the small, precise buttons on most digicams, with the only the scroll wheel surrounding the control pad at the back being occasionally fiddly to operate with the thumb. Like most of its ilk, we found it easy to slip back and forth between settings when using it. Though most super-zooms offer the chance to merely toggle back and forth through the focal range using a lever, we missed being able to manually twist the lens barrel to quickly get the framing we wanted.

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS' shooting mode dial offers 12 settings, ranging from scene and subject recognising smart auto mode through the usual program, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual settings through to movie digest, sports mode, scene mode, more unusually a digital effects mode where the likes of miniature mode and HDR are discovered, plus there's a dedicated video setting from where the aforementioned slow motion movie capture options can be implemented; useful if you're shooting sports.

Stills capture is now JPEG and/or RAW, a welcome development which brings the SX-range into line with key competitors, and makes perfect sense on a camera that aims to replace a DSLR. There are two customizable settings on the shooting mode dial for those who do like getting more hands on. Despite there being a dedicated video control on the shooting dial, you don't actually have to set it at this position to begin recording (it's a means instead of adjusting the aforementioned video settings from regular speed to slow mo via a press of the 'function set' button). Simply hit the dedicated record button no matter which alternative stills mode you're in and the a second or so later the screen display will narrow from the regular 4:3 to 16:9 to ape how the video will look when replayed on your flat panel TV. There is, as we'd expect, a mini HDMI connection provided under a rubber flap at the side for this purpose, though unsurprisingly no lead comes bundled with the camera. The new 2.8-inch screen now offers an improved resolution of 460k pixels, again matching the SX50's rivals.

Canon PowerShotSX50 HS Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Pop-up Flash Top

Press the obvious on/off switch next to the shooting mode dial and the camera powers up in just under two seconds, which is respectably swift. The lens barrel visibly extends to the maximum wide-angle 24mm setting as the rear LCD bursts into life. We know the setting as it's marked atop the lens barrel, as usefully are the incremental settings all the way up to 1200mm, which gradually reveal themselves as the lens extends outwards from the body.

Since this is a bridge camera as well as a power zoom, at the back we have both vari-angle LCD monitor and a fixed electronic viewfinder just above. This automatically comes into play if you've twisted the LCD screen to face inwards to the camera body. There's no eye sensor beneath or above, nor is there a dedicated button for swapping between the larger screen and smaller EVF, so it would be very easy for most users to regularly bypass this facility completely. As it is, EVF resolution is a so-so 202k dots, and being able to twist and rotate the rear screen means that even if light reflections do render visibility momentarily tricky, a quick tilt and it's rectified.

Give the zoom lever a toggle with your forefinger and the lens slides from maximum wide-angle to extreme telephoto in all of four seconds, the minimum and maximum (infinity) focus ranges provided via small text top of screen and rapidly changing as the lens moves forward or back. There is a noticeable mechanical buzz as the lens makes its adjustments, but it's not distracting. Switch to recording video however and the zoom action slows so that the transitions are even smoother, with the lens taking 10 seconds to move through its focal range. In this setting the mechanics of the lens are less noticeable, which is exactly as we'd want.

At the back of the camera the LCD screen dominates, sitting squarely central below the EVF, which feature a hard rubber surround to the eyepiece and dioptre wheel for adjustment of visibility alongside. Above left and right of the EVF are a direct-print button, this being a Canon model, plus a Playback button.

The rest of the controls are ranged to the right of the screen, the uppermost allowing users to immediately start recording a video. The next one down allows the single AF point to be expanded/contracted or moved with the aid of the multi directional control pad underneath - as long as you're in one of the creative shooting modes that is. Otherwise in smart auto mode, subsequent presses will turn face detection on or off, while in playback mode this multi-use control usefully doubles up as a Delete button. It requires a degree of playing around to discover this as unhelpfully once again the full manual is provided on CD only, with only a cursory quick start booklet in the box which doesn't cover any more than the already self explanatory basics.

Canon PowerShotSX50 HS Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

The four way control pad at points north, east, south and west variously offers a means of adjusting exposure compensation (+/- 2EV), self timer (off, two seconds, ten seconds or a 10 second option that fires three consecutive shots), selecting from the ISO options (ISO100-3200), and finally adjusting focus, with switchable settings between normal, macro and manual options offered if required. The latter allows use of the scroll wheel to dial in distance settings from 0cm to infinity, with an enlarged central square on screen giving a rough idea of whether the picture is properly sharp enough.

A press of the Function / Set button in the middle of the scroll wheel/control pad brings up the regular L-shaped menu that will be immediately familiar to any Canon compact camera user and presents essential functions at a glance. In program mode for example, from the top of this toolbar we get the ability to adjust dynamic range correction, white balance, select from the various 'My Color' options which include our favourite vivid saturation boosting option alongside the ability to specify darker or lighter skin tones or shoot in sepia or black and white in camera. Next down the list is a bracketing option, with either three shots automatically taken at three different exposures or three different focal distances, plus the option to switch from single to continuous capture, again adjust exposure compensation to +/- 2 EV, or swap metering between evaluative, centre weighted and spot. Image aspect ratio can be swapped from the factory default of 4:3 to 16:9, 3:2 or more unusually even 1:1 and 4:5. It's via this L-shaped toolbar that PowerShot users can also specify large, medium or small files and even adjust video resolution on the fly, from 1920x1080 through 1280x720 and down to 640x480 pixels. Alternatively if the camera has been set to its smart auto mode then only image aspect ratio, file size and video resolution can be adjusted. The other options do not appear at all.

The final two buttons on the camera back are for the self-explanatory display and menu. Subsequent presses of display will call up a nine zone compositional grid, or turn off the LCD entirely at which point the EVF above automatically illuminates and comes into play. A press of 'menu' meanwhile brings up three easy to follow folders on screen; a capture folder, set up folder and my menu folder for quicker access to your more frequently used settings, should you choose to pre-set them. Interestingly among the usual suspects in the capture folder the microphone level can be adjusted, as can a wind filter be turned on or off. These menu options can be tabbed with via a thumb press of the four-way control pad or of course scrolled through faster using the surrounding wheel.

If still viewing the camera from the back, further points of interest on the SX50 HS include the covered HDMI, AV and remote control ports on the right flank, and a single speaker located on the left, which also features the hinge about which the variable angle LCD screen pivots. The bottom of the camera features a metal off-centre screw thread for a tripod next to which is a sliding plastic door that protects the battery compartment and adjacent slot for the SD memory card. So, incidentally, if you place this PowerShot on a tripod you'll have to unscrew it first to remove the memory card.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 12 megapixel SuperFine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 4Mb.

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS produced images of good quality during the review period. Noise is well-controlled until ISO 1600, which exhibits some artifacts, blurring of detail and slight colour desaturation. The noise and loss of detail get progressively worse as you go from ISO 1600 to the fastest 6400 setting, which isn't really very usable at all. The Dynamic Range Correction and especially HDR options squeeze more detail out of the shadows and highlights, although they're not available if you shoot in the new RAW mode.

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS handled chromatic aberrations fairly well with well-controlled but widespread purple and green fringing effects appearing in high contrast situations. The 12 megapixel images were sharp enough straight out of the camera at the default setting. Macro performance is a stand-out highlight, allowing you to focus as close as 0cms away from the subject, although there is a lot of lens distortion and shadowing at such a close distance.

The built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 15 seconds allowing you to capture enough light for most situations. The 4.5-stop anti-shake system works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the huge zoom range, although it's still best to use a tripod or other stable support if possible given the huge focal length on offer.

Noise

There are 8 ISO settings available on the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting, with the JPEG version on the left and the RAW on the right.

JPEG RAW

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are sharp enough at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   

Focal Range

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS's 50x zoom lens has a massive focal range of 24-1200mm, as illustrated by these examples.

24mm

1200mm

Chromatic Aberrations

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS suffered from chromatic aberrations, with purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, particularly at the edges of the frame, as shown in the examples below.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

File Quality

At full 12 megapixel resolution, there are two JPEG quality settings available - SuperFine and Fine- plus a RAW setting.

SuperFine (4.68Mb) (100% Crop)

Fine (3.15Mb) (100% Crop)

   

RAW (13.3Mb) (100% Crop)

 
 

Macro

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS allows you to focus on a subject that is just 0cms away from the camera. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot

100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Canon Powershot SX50 HS are Auto, Manual Flash On / Off, and Slow Sync Speed, with Red-eye Reduction options available in the main menu. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (24mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (24mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (1200mm)

Flash On - Telephoto (1200mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On or the Red-eye-Reduction settings caused any red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
   

Red-eye Reduction

Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Canon Powershot SX50 HS's maximum shutter speed is 15 seconds, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 80.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Canon Powershot SX50 HS has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length Anti-Shake Off (100% Crop) Anti-Shake On (100% Crop)
1/5th sec / 24mm
     
1/2nd sec / 1200mm

Dynamic Range Correction

Dynamic Range Correction captures more detail in the highlight areas of the image, with Auto, 200% and 400% settings available.

Off

Auto

   

200%

400%

HDR

The HDR mode takes three photos at different exposures and effectively combines them to produce a single image with greater detail in the shadow and highlight areas.

Off

On

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel SuperFine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Canon RAW (CR2) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 15 second movie is 65.8Mb in size.

Product Images

Canon PowerShotSX50 HS

Front of the Camera

 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS

Front of the Camera / Turned On

 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS

Front of the Camera / Flash Raised

 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS

Isometric View

 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS

Isometric View

 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS

Isometric View

 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS

Isometric View

 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS

Rear of the Camera

 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

 

Canon PowerShotSX50 HS

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Rear of the Camera / Function Menu
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Rear of the Camera / Main Menu
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Tilting LCD Screen
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Tilting LCD Screen
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Tilting LCD Screen
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Top of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Bottom of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Side of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Memory Card Slot
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Front of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Front of the Camera
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Memory Card Slot
 
Canon PowerShotSX50 HS
Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The jaw-dropping 50x lens may get all the attention, but the PowerShot SX50 HS' other new features are what makes this Canon's best super-zoom camera yet.

It's impossible to review the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS without focusing on its 24-1200mm focal length - after all, it would be very costly and indeed difficult to replicate that range on a DSLR system, not to mention bulky and heavy too. We found that we got a surprising number of keepers at the 1200mm focal length, even when using the camera handheld, although most of the photos taken at the longer reaches of the zoom were inevitably shot at ISO 1600 when ISO Auto was on, not great considering the high levels of noise.

What you gain in focal length, you lose in lens speed, with the maximum aperture of f/6.5 forcing the camera to use a higher ISO to maintain a fast enough shutter-speed (and often not achieving that). Still, you don't have to use the full telephoto range all the time, although we suspect that some users won't be able to resist, and mounting the camera on a tripod is essential if critical sharpness is required in anything but good light. Of more concern than noise is the obvious chromatic aberrations which rear their purple and green ugly heads wherever there's an area of high contrast in the image.

Alongside the world's biggest zoom on a compact camera are a number of other, arguably more important, features that bring the SX-range up to speed with its main competitors. Chief amongst these are the welcome inclusion of the RAW format,  a hotshoe for an accessory flash, a bigger handgrip, and a higher-resolution LCD screen. These improvements add up to make the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS much more of a viable alternative to a DSLR, and to its super-zoom rivals too. We are disappointed that the electronic viewfinder still only has a resolution of 202k dots, especially considering that it's imperative to compose your photos through the viewfinder given the huge focal range, and there's no automatic switching between LCD and EVF either when you hold the camera to your eye.

Whereas the previous SX40 HS felt predominantly like a fun tool for amateurs, the more DSLR-like Canon PowerShot SX50 HS with its improved image quality, new prosumer features, better handling and inevitably that 50x zoom lens make it a real alternative to a DSLR or compact system camera and a bag full of lenses.

4.5 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 4.5
Features 4.5
Ease-of-use 4.5
Image quality 4
Value for money 4

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS from around the web.

neocamera.com »

The Canon Powershot SX50 HS is a 12 megapixels ultra-zoom that features the most powerful optical zoom lens ever made into a digital camera. At 50X, the lens of the SX50 HS has a reach equivalent to 24-1200mm, going from ultra-wide to well-beyond telephoto. Not only can this lens frame the moon tightly, it can also focus down to 0cm at wide-angle, which is only matched by a handful of other SX-series cameras
Read the full review »

Specifications

IMAGE SENSOR

Type 1/2.3 type back-illuminated CMOS
Effective Pixels Approx. 12.1M
Colour Filter Type Primary Colour

IMAGE PROCESSOR

Type DIGIC 5 with iSAPS technology

LENS

Focal Length 4.3 – 215.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 24 – 1200 mm)
Zoom Optical 50x.
ZoomPlus 100x
Digital Approx. 4x (with Digital Tele-Converter Approx. 1.5x or 2.0x and Safety Zoom¹). Combined Approx. 200x
Maximum f/number f/3.4-f/6.5
Construction 13 elements in 10 groups (3 UD lenses and 1 double-sided aspherical lens)
Image Stabilisation Yes (lens shift-type), 4.5-stop. Intelligent IS
Ultrasonic Motor (USM) Yes, zoom

FOCUSING

Type TTL
AF System/ Points Face Detection, 1-point AF (Any position is available, fixed to centre or Face Select and Track)
AF Modes Single, Continuous, Servo AF/AE¹, Tracking AF
AF Point Selection Manual selection using FlexiZone AF/AE, Size (Normal, Small)
AF Lock On/Off Selectable
AF Assist Beam Yes
Manual Focus Yes
Focus Bracketing Yes
Closest Focusing Distance 0 cm (W) from front of lens in Macro

EXPOSURE CONTROL

Metering modes Evaluative (linked to Face Detection AF frame), Centre-weighted average, Spot (centre or linked to Face Detection AF or FlexiZone AF frame)
AE Lock Yes
Exposure Compensation +/- 3 EV in 1/3 stop increments
Enhanced i-Contrast for automatic dynamic range correction
AEB 1/3 – 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments
ISO sensitivity* AUTO, 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000, 5000, 6400

SHUTTER

Speed 1 – 1/2000 sec. (factory default)
15 – 1/2000 sec. (total range – varies by shooting mode)

WHITE BALANCE

Type TTL
Settings Auto (including Face Detection WB), Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Flash, Custom1, Custom 2. Multi-area WB correction available in Smart Auto. White Balance Compensation.

VIEWFINDER

Viewfinder EVF (0.20 type), 4:3 aspect ratio, Approx. 202,000 dots
Viewfinder / Coverage Approx. 100%
Dioptre Correction Yes

LCD MONITOR

Monitor Vari-angle 7.1 cm (2.8”) PureColor II VA (TFT), Approx. 461,000 dots
Coverage Approx. 100%
Brightness Adjustable to one of five levels. Quick-bright LCD

FLASH

Modes Auto, Manual Flash On / Off, Slow Synchro
Slow Sync Speed Yes. Fastest speed 1/2000 sec.
Red-Eye Reduction Yes
Flash Exposure Compensation +/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments. Face Detection FE, Safety FE, Smart Flash Exposure
Flash Exposure Lock Yes
Manual Power Adjustment 3 levels with internal flash (up to 19 levels with external EX Speedlites 270EX II and 430EX II. 22 levels with 580EX II, 600EX and 600EX-RT¹)
Second Curtain Synchronisation Yes
Built-in Flash Range 50 cm – 5.5 m (W) / 1.4 m – 3.0 m (T)
External Flash E-TTL with EX series Speedlites¹

SHOOTING

Modes Smart Auto (58 scenes detected), Program AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, Custom 1, Custom 2, SCN (Portrait, Smooth Skin, Smart Shutter (Smile, Wink Self-Timer, FaceSelf-Timer), High-speed Burst HQ, Handheld Night Scene, Snow, Fireworks, Stitch Assist), Creative Filters (High Dynamic Range, Fish-eye Effect, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Soft Focus, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Color Accent, Color Swap), Movie Digest, Movie
Modes in Movie Smart Auto (21 scenes detected), Standard, Program AE, Portrait, Miniature Effect, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Color Accent, Color Swap, Snow, Fireworks, iFrame Movie, Super Slow Motion Movie
Photo Effects My Colors (My Colors Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color)
Drive modes Single, Continuous, Continuous with AF, Self-Timer
Continuous Shooting Approx. 2.2 shots/sec., AF: Approx. 0.8 shots/sec., LV: Approx. 0.9 shots/sec., High-speed Burst HQ: Approx. 13 shots/sec., up to 10 shots. High-speed Burst HQ with AF: Approx. 4.1 shots/sec., up to 10 shots¹²

RECORDING PIXELS / COMPRESSION

Image Size 4:3 - (RAW, L) 4000 x 3000, (M1) 2816 x 2112, (M2) 1600 x 1200, (S) 640 x 480
16:9 - (RAW, L) 4000 x 2248, (M1) 2816 x 1584, (M2) 1920 x 1080, (S) 640 x 360
3:2 - (RAW, L) 4000 x 2664, (M1) 2816 x 1880, (M2) 1600 x 1064, (S) 640 x 424
1:1 - (RAW, L) 2992 x 2992, (M1) 2112 x 2112, (M2) 1200 x 1200, (S) 480 x 480
4:5 - (RAW, L) 2400 x 3000, (M1) 1696 x 2112, (M2) 960 x 1200, (S) 384 x 480
Resize in playback (M2, S, XS)
*XS is half the length and width of S
Compression Superfine, Fine
Movies (Full HD) 1920 x 1080, 24 fps, (HD) 1280 x 720, 30 fps, (L) 640 x 480, 30 fps
Super Slow Motion Movie (L) 640 x 480, 120fps, (M) 320 x 240, 240fps
Miniature Effect (HD, L) 6fps, 3fps, 1.5 fps
iFrame Movie (HD)
Movie Length (Full HD & HD) Up to 4 GB or 29 min. 59 sec.¹
(L) Up to 4 GB or 1 hour²
(Super Slow Motion Movie) 30 sec.

FILE TYPES

Still Image Type JPEG compression (Exif 2.3 [Exif Print] compliant) / Design rule for Camera File system and DPOF ver. 1.1 compliant), RAW, RAW+JPEG
Movies MOV [H.264 + Linear PCM (stereo)]
iFrame

DIRECT PRINT

Canon Printers Canon SELPHY Compact Photo Printers and Canon Inkjet Printers supporting PictBridge (ID Photo Print, Fixed Size Print and Movie Print supported on SELPHY CP & ES printers only)
PictBridge Yes

OTHER FEATURES

Red-Eye Correction Yes, during shooting and playback
My Camera / My Menu Start-up image and camera sounds customisation. Menu customisation
My Category Image tagging feature
Intelligent Orientation Sensor Yes
Histogram Yes, live histogram
Playback zoom Approx. 2x – 10x
Self Timer Approx. 2 or 10 sec., Custom
Menu Languages English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Greek, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Spanish, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Simplified Chinese, Chinese (traditional), Japanese, Korean, Thai, Arabic, Romanian, Farsi, Hindi, Malay, Indonesian, Vietnamese

INTERFACE

Computer Hi-Speed USB (MTP, PTP) dedicated connector (Mini-B compatible)
Other HDMI Mini Connector (HDMI-CEC compatible) A/V output (PAL/NTSC)

MEMORY CARD

Type SD, SDHC, SDXC

SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEM

PC & Macintosh Windows 7 SP1/ Vista SP2/ XP SP3
Mac OS X v10.6 – 10.7

SOFTWARE

Browsing & Printing ImageBrowser EX
Other PhotoStitch
Image Manipulation Digital Photo Professional for RAW development

POWER SOURCE

Batteries Rechargeable Li-ion Battery NB-10L (battery and charger supplied)
Battery life Approx. 315 shots¹
Approx. 420 min. playback
A/C Power Supply Optional, AC Adapter Kit ACK-DC80

ACCESSORIES

Cases / Straps Soft Case DCC-850
Lenses Filter Adapter FA-DC67A (Compatible with Canon 67mm Filters: Circular Polarizing PL-C B, Protect Filter)
Flash Canon Speedlites (including 270EX, 270EX II, 320EX, 430EX II, 580EX II¹, 600EX, 600EX-RT), Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2, Speedlite bracket SB-E2, Off-Camera Shoe Cord OC-E3
Remote Controller/ Switch Remote Switch RS-60E3
Power Supply & Battery Chargers AC Adapter Kit ACK-DC80, Battery Charger CB-2LCE
Other Lens Hood LH-DC60
Canon HDMI Cable HTC-100

PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Operating Environment 0 – 40 °C, 10 – 90% humidity
Dimensions (WxHxD) 122.5 x 87.3 x 105.5 mm
Weight Approx. 595 g (including battery/batteries and memory card)


Zoom ¹ Depending on the image size selected.
AF Modes ¹ Some settings limit availability.
Manual Power Adjustment ¹ Not all functions of the flash are supported.
External Flash ¹ Not all functions of the flash are supported.
Continuous Shooting ¹ Under conditions where the flash does not fire.
² Depending on memory card speed / capacity / compression setting.
Movie Length ¹ The following Speed Class memory cards are required for maximum record time: (HD) 1280 x 720 Speed Class 4 or above. (Full HD) 1920 x 1080 Speed Class 6 or above. (iFrame) 1280 x 720 Speed Class 6 or above.
² Depending on memory card speed / capacity / compression setting.
Battery life ¹ Using the batteries and memory card format supplied with the camera (where included), except where indicated.
Flash ¹ Not all functions of the flash are supported.
  • *Standard Output Sensitivity / Recommended Exposure Index.
  • According to ISO 12232:2006 (20th April 2006) which specifies the method for assigning and reporting ISO speed ratings for digital still cameras.
  • All data is based on Canon standard testing methods (according to CIPA Standards) except where indicated.
  • Subject to change without notice.

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