New canon SX50 Does not to zoom as well as YOUTUBE videos show....

[photoman17]

Hello!

SX50 HS

     I've been seeing Youtube videos of people shooting the moon, but even with my lens all the way to 1200mm, Digital zoom on to 2x, I'm still not getting as close to see the craters as some people can get...what am I doing wrong?

Should I also be concerned that when I zoom onto a subject..like the moon, and track right on top of it, the lens seems to FLOAT all over the place...would the image stabilizer help this?

Thank you!

[optics_bokeh]

What do you mean with "lens floating"? Do you mean that the image looks like a jelly? If so then a tripod and image stabilization should help.

Considering the low resolution of HD video when compared to the 12.1 mega pixels of the SX50 it's also possible that the images in the videos you've seen are cropped.

By the way the digital zoom of the SX50 goes up to 4X so that can also make a difference.

[photoman17]

Hello and Thanks, Optics,

On the 4x zoom...I went to the following shooting modes (C1, C2, Manual, and Av) and saw only these choices: OFF, 1.5, 2.0, STANDARD.

On these modes, (PROGRAM,SPORTS,PORTRAIT,and VIDEO)  I only see "OFF", and "STANDARD".

How do I get the Zoom to 4x, or more?

...And the 'Floating' I'm referring to is not like jelly, but rather like when you zoom in on something, everything in the LCD screen seems to slightly move around.  It's hard to describe. When I was testing this SX50 Model at a few stores like Target, Best Buy and Fry's, the same thing happemnd , and all stores told me this was because it was a 
FLOOR" model and has been abused, and when I buy a NEW one, that wouldnt happen.   thanks

[TCampbell]

The SX50 has an max telephoto focal length of 215mm, but when expressed as a "35mm equivalent" it works out to 1200mm

At that focal length, the narrow direction of the viewfinder (vertical direction if camera is held level) is 1.1 degrees wide.  The moon is approx. .5 degrees wide -- which means it will occupy slightly less than half the height of the frame.

If you switch to 2x digital zoom while fully zoomed in via optical zoom the moon will just about fill the height of the frame, but not the full width.  

If you swtich to 4x digital zoom then the frame should be completely filled as you may have seen in the YouTube videos.

The 'floating' may be the image stabilization.  The camera attempts to counteract for the inability of a human to hand-hold a camera without motion.  This is normal and not a defect -- all image stabilization systems do this.  When you are really zoomed in, you either have to use a very high shutter speed -OR- you should use a tripod (image stabilization is never as good as using a tripod... but tripods are not as convenient because it's more gear to carry around.)

[photoman17]

The issue here, is that I start out with 2x Digital, and then try to zoom in on the moon, and can get so far, but not to the point of viewing 'CRATERS', like some SX50 YouTube samples....I can not see anywhere in the Menu, the 4x, but only 1.5x, or 2x, not 4x anywhere, unless I missed something. Thanks

[TCampbell]

It's a bit confusing because Canon has two different features... one called "digital zoom" the other is called "digital teleconverter" in the manual... but the menu system label for that same feature says "digital zoom" (but is not the same digital zoom.)

See page 55 of your manual for instructions on how to use digital zoom.  Briefly... you use the zoom level to perform optical zoom until the lens stops moving.  THEN... release and push the zoom level again and it will add digital zoom to the optical zoom.  

On page 132 they explain "digital teleconverter" via the menu system... but then go on to say that you cannot combine digital zoom and digital teleonverter at the same time.  Digital teleconverter (labeled "digital zoom" on the menu) will only offer 1.5x and 2x.

Not the most straight-forward user interface, I agree... but now that you know, hopefully you can get the camera to do what you want.

Good luck!

Incidentally... if you don't have your owners manual, you can download it here:  http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/digital_cameras/powershot_sx50_hs#BrochuresA...

[optics_bokeh]

There should be the following options for the digital zoom: "Off", "1.5x", "2.0x" and "Standard". The "Standard" option allows for up to 4x digital zoom, on this option the digital zoom will be enabled automatically when the optical zoom is fully extended.

Disclaimer: this post is based on the menu of a similar camera (SX510 HS) so it might not be accurate.

[waxace]

Here is a pic of the moon I took with my SX50 without Digital zoom in effect.  Just used the optical zoom and it is quite a good shot ....

[photoman17]

Great shot is right! Can only imagine what Standard 4x woul look like. Can I ask if you used Prgram, or Auto, or Manual?