[jackloganbill]

I have the Pentax K-50 and the Canon SX50 HS. Preparing for another Euro trip and trying to decide which camera to take. In every online comparison test (i.e., DP-Review) the K-50 test images blow away the Canon SX-50, as they should. But this is not my experience. I have spent hours lately in all light conditions, comparing the two and 80% of the time the Canon images look better, better exposure, focus, etc. I have tried a zillion K-50 setting combinations, P mode, AV, TV, M, adjusted the EV compensation, and the Canon simply out performs the K-50. I am using K-50 kit lenses (18-55, 50-200) and a Tamaron 18-200.


Has anyone else had this experience?


I am sure it is just me, but I feel I have tried the most common settings...


Jack

[jayman_1975]

What are you viewing the images on? I used to have a SX50 and my K5II would crush it every day.

Maybe upload a few comparative pics from each along with the camera settings.

[jackloganbill]

Viewing on a relatively inexpensive Dell 22" LCD monitor...

[Alex645]

Technically Jack, the K-50 is a much more capable camera than the SX50 HS. 16MP vs. 12MP, low light/higher ISO, max shutter speed....in fact the Canon doesn't shoot RAW. The main advantage of the SX50 HS is portability and the one huge FF equivalent 24-1200mm zoom. If 80% of your shots are better with the Canon, then you should take it on your Euro trip.

But know that the K-50 left at home does have a greater potential than what you are able to do with Canon (albeit the long end of that zoom range) and the reason is probably a combination of the jpeg settings in the menu on the two cameras and your knowledge and skills as a photographer and with photo editing software. Your two kit lenses are excellent and should be giving you results (in terms of IQ) that exceed both the Tammy 18-200 and the Canon 4.3-215mm zoom. The Canon, and most superzoom hybrids, are designed for people that rely on mostly auto settings. A colleague of mine went to Africa but was unwilling to invest time in mastering a DSLR, so I recommended a Nikon P900 (a bit more advanced than your Canon) and she loved it. Mostly point, zoom, and shoot.

The best way we can help you is if you post a couple side-by-side examples from the Pentax and the Canon, include the metadata EXIF file, and detail every setting in your menu...if it isn't on the default.

[jimr-pdx]

Have you tried raw images viewed in something simple like Picasa? You could have the best SX50 ever made but the K-50 sensor should do better especially above iso800. If nearly every shot on your trip will be in daylight or with flash, the smaller camera could be all you need. All the facts in the world should not change how you feel about your images.

[thazooo]

It happens .
The P&S straight out of the box will produce excellent images for the masses. That's how they sell them.
Lots of Pop and Wow and make nice prints.
To get the same with a K50 you need to do some processing or set your camera settings to what you like.
That's the fun of a Dslr.
My Optio A40 and Oly E-PL1 give great images straight from the camera. After processing my K50 images,
they beat the others hands down.

[Oakland Rob]

The Canon SX 50HS DOES do RAW. I had one, and I have a K-50. I had the SX 50 largely because it was a sorta cheap way to get long telephoto shots, and I kept it a while so I could compare with K-50 shots cropped so the subject size was the same. The K-50 was noticeably better in terms of sharpness and contrast. So I gave away the Canon and got a longer Pentax lens (BTW, I was comparing with the kit 18-55 and the 200mm zoom, not one of Pentax's strongest offerings by any means).

You can get some great results with the SX50; I liked it. But I like the Pentax much better. In addition, the viewfinder experience is SO much better with the Pentax. I do a lot of outdoorsy stuff, and although the Pentax is heavier, that ability to better see what I am photographing made a big difference.

[Alex645]

The Canon SX 50HS DOES do RAW.

Thanks Rob...I stand corrected. According to Canon's own official site, it states two levels of jpeg only:

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/cameras/p...ershot-sx50-hs

But dpreview.com confirms that it has a RAW uncompressed option. Is the OP shooting RAW or jpegs?

[Senko]

I used a Canon SX40 Bridge (model before yours) as a vacation/beater camera before getting back into a DSLR and it was great for shooting jpegs to view on a computer or for small prints.

Its great vacation camera. There is something to be said for a small camera with 35x zoom, 4mm to 150mm range and a tilt screen. You can shoot a ton of photos and not have to worry about PP. Your K-50 is obviously a better camera but for versatility and fun shooting the bridge is pretty good.

Here are a couple of pics from with Canon sx40, these are just jpegs straight out of the camera, nothing fancy - first one is at 6mm second while pic of deer is 150mm.

[pathdoc]

When it comes to the crunch, take the camera you trust the most. I wanted a compact film camera alongside my DSLR on my most recent trip, and almost up to the time I was due to leave, my ME (which I wanted to take for its convenience) was playing up. Almost reached for the MX instead. But the ME came good, shot a roll without issues, and ended up making the trip (where it performed brilliantly).

Don't feel bad about admitting to us that you left the Pentax behind - if it's not performing to spec when the photographic chips are down, you use something that works better. End of story.

[jackloganbill]

I included several images from both cameras. I used P Mode for each, basically the same settings... I included two additional from the Canon a neighbors soccer ball and another neighbors lantern. The Pentax even with the 18-200mm lens cannot zoom enough to compete... First three from Pentax, remaining from Canon SX-50. Exact time of day, same position.

[jackloganbill]

And just to throw a wrench into the works, here are a few pictures from my cheapie Nikon s7000....a true point and shoot. These were taken a little later in the day...

[PJ1]

I have travelled with a bridge camera (Fuji) and was happy with it. I now have a Panasonic P&S with a 1/1.7" sensor and which can give me RAW. It is great in most situations. I don't want 30"x20" prints and as long as I don't want to crop too close for wildlife it does the job very well. For light weight travel I would go for the smaller option unless I had a specific need for a DSLR. Bridge cameras and upper range P&S can do a great job as long as we remember that what they can give is a subset of what a DSLR can give.

[Alex645]

Jack, Are the examples all jpegs? In some of the examples, the Pentax 18-55mm lens seems to be taking in a lot of flare. Are you using the lens hood? Is there a filter on the lens?

Flare aside, because the hybrid is intended to be shot mostly in auto mode, the default settings are probably with much greater color vibrancy, sharpness, and probably noise reduction as well.

If you don't want to shoot RAW and work in post processing to improve it, you can go into the K-50 menu and increase the color saturation or vibrancy, sharpness, and turn on noise reduction to get images like the Canon examples.

[jackloganbill]

First of all, thanks to everyone for your helpful tips and thoughts...


Yes, they are all JPEGs. No lens hood. When I went out this afternoon, the sun was directly in front of me (fence shot). There is a filter, but I believe it is clear. Noise reduction is set to On.