These are a few years old, but interesting shots I think...

Great Falls, MD


Niagara Falls

Just stand right upgainst his stepladder, and let the crowd jostle you every time he gets set to take a shot! I had a recent case very similar. My handbell choir was playing in the town square for the lighting of the Christmas tree, and I had a friend who was going to take care of my camcorder for me. I had it set up just inside the 'crowd control barrier', so nobody could get in front. The 'security' guard came and made her move it behind the barrier. Just before we were getting ready to play, someone - I assume a parent - of the group performing before us came and stood inside the barrier, right where my tripod had been. I watched for the security guy moving her on, but he didn't react at all.

Some people are just ignorant...

I love the second one! Just walking off...

I got one for my sx50, but I have the conversion ring to 67mm. I used it for some shots of my church, but was disappointed. With a wide angle setting, it darkens *part* of the sky, but not the rest. I don't know how to fix these, so if anyone has a clue I would be grateful...

It was visible before dawn on its way towards the sun. Surely, then, it should be visible in the evening after going round the sun? Assuming it survived, of course! It just seems like it should now be on the other side of the sun, from our viewpoint.

I like it as is. The photographer, while not the main subject, does seem to give a point to the shot, in some way. Without him, it would be boring. The only crop I would do is perhaps some of the water in the foreground. Really not sure if it needs that or not, but I wouldn't crop out anything else.

I have to admit that this was my first reaction to the picture. Even if not a minor, it is still a rather 'personal' picture. While I wouldn't say it was illegal, it is probably not a photo that the lady in question would want made public. How would we feel if this were our wife, or daughter?

Not trying to be a killjoy here, I just think that this is sailing a bit close to the line, that's all.

If you are looking for a remote, check amazon. There are *hundreds* of them out there - but you need to make sure that you get the right connection. Most of them list a whole range of EOS cameras that they are compatible with, but don't mention the SX. There are wired remotes, wireless remotes, intervalometer remotes.

Like I said, be careful of the different models. The SX50 uses RS-60E3 according to the manual, and I found quite a few different models which claim to be equivalent to that.

Yep, I already have it. It was in the mail when I had Staples print out the manual for me. Looking at it when it first came, it is very difficult to understand without having read and understood the relevant sections of the manual. Looking at it again last night, it now makes a lot more sense. Definitely something worth having, to stuff in the gadget bag. It isn't a substitute for the manual, though - in case anyone is thinking of getting one instead of, rather than as well as.

Given the state of the manual, I am surprised that someone hasn't come out with a 'dummies guide to' book on the SX50... You know, the "missing manual..." kind of thing. I scoured amazon, and if there had been one there, I would have had it like a shot! Nope, nothing even close.

I agree about the manual. I am also unhappy that I had to pay to get it printed before I could find out how bad it was - I cannot work with a manual on screen, I need a book in my hand. Normally, when I get something complex like this, the first thing I do is sit down with it and the manual, and figure it out.

I don't use auto mode at all. I understand the normal functions well enough to get by. A lot of the time it is in P, switching to Av or Tv when I need that extra bit of control. Most of the 'extra' functions that don't work with RAW, I will never use anyway. It is just nice to know that I *can* get at them if I need to, by switching to jpeg only.

Two thirds of the manual are taken up with all that stuff... Does anyone really do all that B&W/HDR/assign colour/ stuff in the camera these days? When there are a gazzillion programs to do it all on a computer - and *not* to lose the original shot...

Maybe Canon figure that 'real' photographers won't buy a camera like this, and aim the manual squarely at the beginner crowd? I downloaded the manual for the 5D when the mark III came out - wishful thinking! - and that is a *proper* manual. I would hope that - at that price - it comes with a proper book, too!

Thanks. I had read that page, but managed to miss the little blurb at the end there. It would have been nicer if they had mentioned 'cannot be used with RAW' on the page/sections that deal with each of those capabilities.
If you were looking up how to use digital zoom, for example, how would you know that you had to check the RAW page to find out they weren't compatible.

I thought that I had turned off digital zoom, in fact I probably did on day 1, when it was still in auto. I couldn't figure out how to turn it back on later, because it was greyed out - of course, by that point I had it in a different mode.

I want to try an experiment. I want to see if the image quality is the same with 2x converter, as opposed to optical only and blown up in PS. Logic says that it should be the same, but I guess it depends on how good the processing is in the camera vs. what PS can do.

It is something that I would only use on a tripod in any case - it's difficult enough keeping the frame still at 1200...

Yeah, I didn't take too much notice of the back button stuff just yet. I want to learn how the basic stuff works first - that's how I hadn't come across these problems before.

This forum is a *huge* resource for us beginners! When I think back, I used to do a lot of PR stuff for the regiment when I was in the military, using my trusty A1, and Kowa Super 66, and in fact before them, something called a Chinon Memotron! The Kowa was fully manual only, and the 2 slrs shared similar features - you set the ASA/ISO, picked the mode, chose your aperture or shutter speed, and manually focused the lens. That was it. These digital beasties are incredibly powerful! I mean, this thing is no 5D, but it has more power than my first computers did...

I spend a couple of hours a day browsing through here, and I am learning a whole lot...

Thanks again...

Thank you very much!!! I was really starting to worry that I had a dud here. I tried that out and you are correct.

It is a bit disappointing, though, that some of those features are not available when shooting raw mode - especially the 'tele-converter'. Is there some intrinsic limitation which prevents this? It doesn't seem so, logically - but then, logic doesn't always rule, does it?

I eventually got to the end of the manual, and it lists these options as being available in most modes, but I didn't find anywhere in there that mentioned they couldn't be used in RAW.

I should have worked through the pdf file before getting it printed, since about 75% of it is for stuff I have no intention of ever using - the various edit and special effects and stuff. If I want anything like that done to a picture, I will do it in PP.

Thanks again for the help, guys...

I finally got myself a printed manual, courtesy of Staples and $35, and I am spending some time working through it with camera in hand. I have come across some things which do not appear to work the way the book says, and I wondered if anyone else had tried to do these.

Firstly, the digital zoom is only available when shooting in full auto. The book doesn't say anything about this, but in any other mode, when I go to the menu, that setting is greyed out.

On the same option, looking at the digital tele-converter (P 132). The book says that you go the digital zoom setting, and select either 1.4x or 2.0x. When I go there - in full auto mode only - the only choices are standard and off. It also says that this option is not available when digital zoom is on, so it seems a bit strange to select it via this menu choice.

Changing noise reduction level (P 118). This option is greyed out in the menu in all shooting modes. It cannot be accessed.

Dynamic Range Correction. (P 120). This option is also greyed out in my menu in *every* shooting mode. It is not possible to access it at all.

All of these are in the section of the manual for shooting in 'P' mode, so I do not understand why some only work in full auto.

Have I got a dud here? I am still working through, but I thought I would post these straight away, and avoid a huge long list later...

Thanks in advance...