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Canon Powershot SX50HS


Ladyaruba
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this is the camera I use.

What would be the best settings for taking wildlife pics on an Alaska cruise?

I usually just put it on auto but do fool around at times. I would like to get some good pics to make into larger prints and also get some close ups!

 

Specifics would be good. Thanks

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this is the camera I use.

What would be the best settings for taking wildlife pics on an Alaska cruise?

I usually just put it on auto but do fool around at times. I would like to get some good pics to make into larger prints and also get some close ups!

 

Specifics would be good. Thanks

Shutter priority highest shutter speed you can get. Assuming you’re shooting towards maximum lens length.

 

Or Auto will probably be fine.

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Not sure about the 50 but I have a Canon SX and it takes good photos. If you are OK with techie stuff, or have a youngster who could assist, have a look at http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

 

This is not for the faint hearted as a lot of the stuff is "geek speak". However it is worth the effort as it enable your camera to save in RAW as well as JPEG. So what you say? Well all digital cameras shoot in RAW but only the expensive ones let you save in RAW. RAW has bit depth of 12, JPEG only has a bit depth of 8, (more geek speak). It doesn't matter what this means, the important thing is that there is more information (quality) in a RAW image than a JPEG. Certain assumptions and compromises are made when the camera converts from RAW to JPEG, and since camera makers know what they are doing this is usually pretty good. However a skilled photographer using Photoshop can often do better. There are sliders that you can adjust on the raw converter which enable you to bring out the best. However it takes a while to develop Photoshop skills but the important thing is to have RAW available when you take the photos, you can't add it later. Photoshop is pricey but you can get Photoshop Elements at a reasonable price or Photoshop CS2 for free. I won't go into this further as it is getting off topic and should have its own thread to take further.

 

If all this is too daunting just shoot in auto as GUT2407 said. Have a look through the scenes sub menu to see if there is one for snow scenes. In the arctic you will be more affected by Ultra Violet light which can give a blue cast. I am not sure you can put a UV filter on this camera, but the blue cast is appropriate for the arctic anyway as it makes the picture look cold. There is a scene mode on my camera for "shooting through glass" which compensates for the loss of contrast, useful if take pictures from the coach on an excursion (get close to the window to reduce reflections)

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I also have an SX and find the scenes and menus fairly straight forward. They even show up in the viewfinder when I use that. I like the long zoom in something that is fairly lightweight. When I went to AK I carried this along with my DLSR.

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Not sure about the 50 but I have a Canon SX and it takes good photos. If you are OK with techie stuff, or have a youngster who could assist, have a look at http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

 

This is not for the faint hearted as a lot of the stuff is "geek speak". However it is worth the effort as it enable your camera to save in RAW as well as JPEG. So what you say? Well all digital cameras shoot in RAW but only the expensive ones let you save in RAW. RAW has bit depth of 12, JPEG only has a bit depth of 8, (more geek speak). It doesn't matter what this means, the important thing is that there is more information (quality) in a RAW image than a JPEG. Certain assumptions and compromises are made when the camera converts from RAW to JPEG, and since camera makers know what they are doing this is usually pretty good. However a skilled photographer using Photoshop can often do better. There are sliders that you can adjust on the raw converter which enable you to bring out the best. However it takes a while to develop Photoshop skills but the important thing is to have RAW available when you take the photos, you can't add it later. Photoshop is pricey but you can get Photoshop Elements at a reasonable price or Photoshop CS2 for free. I won't go into this further as it is getting off topic and should have its own thread to take further.

 

If all this is too daunting just shoot in auto as GUT2407 said. Have a look through the scenes sub menu to see if there is one for snow scenes. In the arctic you will be more affected by Ultra Violet light which can give a blue cast. I am not sure you can put a UV filter on this camera, but the blue cast is appropriate for the arctic anyway as it makes the picture look cold. There is a scene mode on my camera for "shooting through glass" which compensates for the loss of contrast, useful if take pictures from the coach on an excursion (get close to the window to reduce reflections)

 

Thanks. I did take a photography class years ago and do understand about RAW. I do know you can only get a certain amount of photos when using RAW versus other settings. I do have a bunch of cards so I should be good.

Will check out the link and also look at what scenes I have on the camera. I also have Photoshop Elements!

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I do know you can only get a certain amount of photos when using RAW versus other settings.

 

Yes I forgot to say that if you save RAW + JPEG you only get about 25% of the number of images but cards are cheap so have a few spares. You get a few more images if you save RAW only but the JPG is useful to see what you got while still on the camera. CHDK gives some other benefits such as script shooting, grids etc. It is also non destructive. You keep your original firmware and load the modified one when you boot the camera so you can choose whether to use CHDK or not (controlled by the file protect slide on the card) The easiest way is to have 1 card with it on and 1 without it. If you use RAW you don't need to bother with white balance, except to get the JPG right, as you can choose any white balance when you load the RAW image.

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