Thread: canon sx60

Ok after reading peoples thoughts on here comparing lower - mid priced spotters and cameras, the camera seemed the way to go. I'm not chasing trophy's as a priority but have seen the odd animal that my 10x42's are on their limit of identifying. Also I shoot steel out to 650 but can go out further so wanted something that would show hits. Was looking at the smaller spotters like the kowa 20-40x 50 as most of it's use would be range work but light enough to carry in the field without say bugger this it's to heavy and leave it at home. So I purchased the sx60 and are thinking of leaving it at home. Why you ask? Will from the few times I've used it it appears to be on a par with the binos and definitely not better than my scopes 16-18x if as good at magnifying what I'm looking at. What am I doing wrong? the camera says it's out to 65x and also to it's extreme digital but you certainly don't see any more detail than the binos or scopes. It appears I've gained nothing. Even at 300yards yesterday spotting a steel plate for my mate it was just as big and clear through the bino's and scopes and I ended up using them? any help or advice would be much appreciated

Turn off the digital zoom, just makes things pixelate. Presume you are using it on a tripod?

Have found that a phone camera held up to my leupold spotter produces better pictures than my sx50....

The advantage of the camera is being able to play back.
Here is some footqage I took the other day with an SX-50
Blaser K95 practice by Stu Gerritsen, on Flickr

Not knowing anything about the sx60, is it a wide angle lens? I have a Samsung wb2200f which has a 60x optical zoom and is a great camera but due to the wide angle lens objects at the same distance can appear smaller on the screen at 60x than my mate using his sx50 at 50x

Yep using a tri pod. I've tried stopping at the 65 optical range but that isn't getting me closer to what I want to see. I'm getting nothing like what you are Stug. My plate is 400mm square at 650 and the view through the camera makes it look way smaller than the rocks you were shooting at.Thers's no way id see hits like in you video. Nice shooting by the way. I get a feeling there's a setting or settings that aren't right somewhere?

When watching through the view finder everything does look pretty small. I tried taking photos of the plate and then zooming in on the photo but couldnt see a lot. Probably something to do with screen resolution. The video is 1080p but I'm not sure if the screen is.

So what you're saying is unless i down load to a big screen etc then a spotter will be better in the field to give an instant close up of what I want to see? The video you shot didn't look anywhere as good on the camera as it does now it's been put on the computer? Sounds like I need to look through both side by side

You can see where the projectile impacts and sometimes the bullet trace, but looking at a bullet strike on a plate (after it has hapened) can be hard.

As with any zoom lens you must always zoom and then focus. Because of the difficulty of finding your distant target if zoomed up, go to wide angle so you can find the target, then zoom up and refocus. Auto focus will always happen at any zoom so don't worry about that. I do wildlife photography with an SLR and quality lens which you really notice the difference after zooming. Try setting your camera on P (program) instead of AUTO if this is what you use for photos.Just alter the ISO rating to suit the light. Probably best to stay on AUTO for video. Play around with different settings under different light conditions. Only takes the push of a button to delete if you not happy. Know a few people who use SX60 and like them. Hope this may help.

Yeah something is not right there mate, i run a SX-50, Mate has a SX-60, and ill likely upgrade to the 60 soon.

You can also take a photo of the target/stag whatever, then when reviewing the photo you can zoom up on it further, good for checking out heads etc.

Use mine heaps for that purpose. Turn off digital zoom. Get a tripod, zoom in, set 2 second timer, let it focus and hit the go button. Then when you play back you can "zoom" in on the image to assess a bit more clearly. Their video capability is very good for a point and shoot camera and I use mine a lot for filming shots and replaying in slow motion in the field. It's not going to be better than a decent spotter, but its cheaper, lighter, and in my opinion - when backpacking through big country its alot more versatile. You should definitely see "more detail" than your 10x40's or riflescope. At the end of the day, if you see a decent sized animal you generally know its big without needing to have a closer look through optics!

Exactly. I use a spotting scope for detail.
You know no matter what animal you are looking at with binos whether it needs more attention.

Thar and Fallow take me just a little bit longer to assess as minute things can make the difference between average and a trophy.

Have always been interested in a camera instead of a scope purely for the weight issue.
Have had a go with an SX60 and it was pretty good but didn't look at anything much further than 6-700m.

Havent seen it used on Thar yet.

I am heading to overseas guiding in July and can't decide if a camera like the SX60 would do the job better than a scope.
I have to take all my own gear and weight will be an issue. I don't own a decent camera but would buy one duty free or on arrival.


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Every video I've seen of guides assessing animals have been using spotting scopes, usually swarovski, probably a reason for that. Trying to count the rings on a sheep or assessing the last few inches needs the best optics possible.
Unless you are going to look at the pic/video on a tablet or laptop the little screen is too small for fine detail.

I got a sx60 to replace my sx30. To be far the sx60 is better but not twice as good. Only thing i find like this weekend went out in heavy rain and didnt take my camera as i knew i wouldnt get it out of the pack. If i had a spotter i would of had it out a couple of times.
A Couple of pics i put up in the stag thread where at about 800m on auto no tripod.

Originally Posted by stug

Every video I've seen of guides assessing animals have been using spotting scopes, usually swarovski, probably a reason for that. Trying to count the rings on a sheep or assessing the last few inches needs the best optics possible.
Unless you are going to look at the pic/video on a tablet or laptop the little screen is too small for fine detail.

My employer over there mentioned using a camera as well, that and weight issue for travelling is the only reason I am considering it.



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