- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How they compare
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Compare with...
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150
- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V
- Canon Powershot SX40
- Fujifilm FinePix SL1000
Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Mar, 2012)The three-inch rear LCD screen is much nicer to look at, thanks to its high resolution of 921,000 dots.
Rated 72% by by DPReview (Jan, 2013)First, the good news: the PowerShot SX50 can keep shooting until your (high speed) memory card fills up, even with RAW files.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Nikon Coolpix P510 compared to the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
MP15.9
1/2.5"
Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Mar, 2012)For its size, the P510's lens is also respectably fast, with maximum apertures of f/3 at 24mm and f/5.9 at 1000mm.
12 MP
1/2.5"
Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Oct, 2012)Read our detailed Canon PowerShot SX50 HS review complete with full-size JPEG, RAW and video samples to discover if it's the only camera you'll ever need... The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS is a brand new super-zoom camera sporting a 50x zoom lens which is equivalent to a focal length of 24-1200mm.
megapixels
| 0 MP | 15.9 MP   | 20 MP |
Coolpix P510 by GSFixit--GSFixit (Jul, 2012)With the 16 megapixel capability, you still get great pictures even when you have to crop heavily.
PowerShot SX50 HS by Photography Blog (Oct, 2012)The 12 megapixel images were sharp enough straight out of the camera at the default setting.
sensor size
Coolpix P510 by Crosswire--Crosswire (May, 2012)I knew that a super zoom would have a small sensor, it had to, because of the size of the lens.
PowerShot SX50 HS by Robert-Mougin (Dec, 2012)Combine small sensor size with a slow lens and bad programming and you get lousy pics.
wide angle lens
Coolpix P510 by pugged (May, 2012)A DSLR would provide more options for wide angle shots, but this camera is perfect for me.
PowerShot SX50 HS by John-Body (Dec, 2012)The photos are great, the zoom and wide angle all in one is amazing, and I love the video with the easy access button and view through the eyepiece.
aperture size
Coolpix P510 by DB (Nov, 2012)I highly recommend this to all of you that like taking pictures but not up for the apertures openings, shutter speed, calculations of setting the professional cameras up to snap a picture.
PowerShot SX50 HS by Joseph-W.-Szilagy--Joe-SzilagyRegarding complaints here and there about this and other similiar cameras having an aperture being above 2.8 or whatever at the low end, I could have sworn that even much more expensive powerful interchangable zoom lenses for DSLRs have higher apertures as well.
zoom range
| 0x | 50x | 50x |
Coolpix P510 by Vishui got this cam recently, no doubt it has amazing zoom capacity and can take great pictures HANDHELD at full zoom.
PowerShot SX50 HS by Rolla-Gravett--Rolla-GravettI like the big zoom, and it is fairly easy to take very detailed crisp shots at full 50X zoom hand held in daylight conditions.
body size
120 x 83 x 102 mm
123 x 87 x 106 mm
Coolpix P510 by c|net (Mar, 2012)And the lens is really the bulk of the weight, which makes the rest of the body feel lightweight and cheaply constructed.
PowerShot SX50 HS by Daniel (Jan, 2013)If you are looking for a very good quality, reasonably priced, upgrade to your pocket camera, this is a very good choice.
Performance Real world tests of Nikon Coolpix P510 vs Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
battery life
200 photos
315 photos
Coolpix P510 by Edward (Mar, 2012)Overall, this camera is very fun to use, and it's weakest points are bareable and are most regarding to battery life.
PowerShot SX50 HS by Alin-S.-Steglinski (Dec, 2012)If you are after LOTS of zoom and don't really care about attaching filters to your camera and extending the optical abilities, don't need to record lots of video, don't care if your AF lamp can light a whole room and dont care that much about battery life.
max continuous shooting
Coolpix P510 by DPReview (Jul, 2012)The P510's maximum framerate of 7 frames per second is unlikely to get much use, but it's nice to have, although the maximum 5 frames per burst greatly limits its usefulness.
PowerShot SX50 HS by c|net (Dec, 2011)Canon includes a full-resolution, eight-shot-burst scene mode that is capable of up to 10 frames per second.
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
| Significantly faster lens | f/3.0 | vs | f/3.4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than 10% faster aperture; Better in low light | |||
| Much higher resolution screen | 921 k dots | vs | 461 k dots |
| Around 2x higher resolution screen | |||
| Much higher resolution | 15.9 MP | vs | 12 MP |
| More than 30% higher resolution; Capture more detail, good for large prints | |||
| Create realistic 3D images | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; Create 3D photos to view on a 3D TV | |||
| Larger screen | 3" | vs | 2.8" |
| Around 10% larger screen | |||
| Includes a GPS | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; Records the location of your photos automatically | |||
| Automatic panorama | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; Stitches together multiple photos into a single ultra-wide view | |||
| More highly reviewed by consumers | 83.31% | vs | 81.46% |
| Almost the same | |||
| Significantly faster max shutter speed | 1/4000 s | vs | 1/2000 s |
| 2x faster max shutter speed; capture fast action | |||
Advantages compared to the Nikon Coolpix P510
| Larger zoom range | 50x | vs | 41.7x |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than 20% larger zoom; Great for sports or nature when your subject is further away | |||
| Has a flash hot shoe | Generic | vs | Fewer choices in how to light your subject |
| Very few cameras have a flash hot shoe; Connect a variety of external flashes for maximum lighting flexibility | |||
| Shoots RAW | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; Adjust white balance and exposure more easily in post production | |||
| Shoots video in 24p | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; For that film look | |||
| Significantly faster rapid fire | 13 fps | vs | 7 fps |
| Around 90% faster continuous shooting; Take photos in rapid succession to capture motion | |||
| Significantly faster benchmarked shot to shot times | 0.37 fps | vs | 7.77 fps |
| 21x faster shot to shot; Take multiple consecutive photos quickly | |||
| Higher light sensitivity | 6,400 ISO | vs | 3,200 ISO |
| 2x higher light sensitivity; Avoid blur in low light situations | |||
| Better macro lens | 0 mm | vs | 20 mm |
| Almost the same | |||
| More photos per charge | 315 | vs | 200 |
| 115 more shots; Longer battery life | |||
| Marginally more recently announced | Sep, 2012 | vs | Feb, 2012 |
| Announced date 7 months later | |||
| Longer long exposure | 15 s | vs | 8 s |
| Around 90% longer long exposure; Capture creative photos such as night sky movement | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Canon PowerShot SX50 HS | ||
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 | Rated by 272 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by SG (Jul, 2012) Rated 100% by by Steven-J.-Streitfeld--SJS (May, 2012) Rated 80% by by Arkansas-Traveler (Apr, 2012) | Rated by 220 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by Shannon (Jan, 2013) Rated 100% by by Shannon (Jan, 2013) | |
lens
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 100% by by ohitsyoubob (Sep, 2012)I have a Nikon D80 with AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm, 55-200mm, and 70-300mm lenses that takes excellent photos, but for everyday outdoor photography, it's very difficult to beat the little COOLPIX P510 because you don't have to change lenses to get that great telephoto shot.
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Mar, 2012)The Nikon Coolpix P510 is a new super-zoom compact camera that features an incredible 42x zoom lens with a massive focal range of 24-1000mm.
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Mar, 2012)Considering that with an SLR, you would need at least 3-4 lenses to cover the same focal range, the single, fixed-mount lens of the Nikon P510 can be described as remarkably compact, even if it does extend quite a bit when zoomed to full telephoto.
screen
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Mar, 2012)The 16 megapixel bridge-style Nikon P510 can also capture full 1080p high-definition movies with stereo sound, has a back illuminated CMOS sensor, 3-inch 921K-dot tiltable LCD screen, built-in GPS, electronic viewfinder and fast 7fps burst shooting.
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Mar, 2012)Recording movie clips is very easy on the Nikon P510 via the one-touch Movie Record button on the rear of the camera.
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Mar, 2012)The new Effects mode allows you to apply one of nine different special effects as you shoot with the Nikon Coolpix P510, with a live preview on the LCD screen showing exactly what the final image will look like.
zoom
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 78% by by c|net (Mar, 2012)But, regardless, the Nikon Coopix P510 is overall a very good full-size megazoom even if you never use the full zoom range.
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 75% by by DPReview (Jul, 2012)The 16 megapixel Nikon Coolpix P510 is a compact camera in the superzoom class, that sports a 42X optical zoom, covering a currently unmatched focal range of 24-1000mm (equivalent), compared to 38X (23-810mm) from its predecessor the P500.
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 100% by by CR (Apr, 2012)I researched DSLR's and other similar ultra zoom cameras, and I am happy with my choice of the Nikon P510.
GPS
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 100% by by John-Thomson (May, 2012)The P510 got a GPS fix (with an up to date A-GPS file) faster than my 4 year old hand held Magellan Triton pure GPS device, but not as fast as my Droid Cell Phone (which "cheats" by using the location the cell phone carrier provides as an initial guess of location).
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Mar, 2012)The P510 has a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) that records the exact location (latitude and longitude) where a picture was taken, recording it in the image's EXIF data.
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 100% by by northd_tech (Sep, 2012)I would prefer (and engineer: Hint Hint for Nikon engineers) an external button to toggle the GPS seeker radio on and off quickly and easily, but alas I don't engineer things for Nikon Corp.I also recommend doing an Amazon or other online search for "nikon p510 en-el5 battery charger" and seeing what charger/battery combos you find.
battery
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 90% by by Photography Blog (Mar, 2012)Note that recharging the P510 is a somewhat convoluted affair, with the battery remaining in camera and requiring the battery cover to be closed.
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 100% by by Joen-Wolfrom (Mar, 2013)I took the advice of several reviewers by also purchasing the following: an external battery charger, an additional battery, a small camera bag (I bought Zeik's), and very importantly, the book Photographer's Guide to the Nikon Coolpix P510 by Alexander S White.
Nikon Coolpix P510 | Rated 100% by by Kelly-L.-Chase (Sep, 2012)The p510 takes a lithium ion battery whereas the p810 requires 4 AA batteries.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 Most detailed video recording mode |
 | 3 | Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V 3-way tie: Includes a GPS |
Popular Questions
November 6, 2012
Image quality, sports, family photos
Hi, I am particularly interested in which is the better of the 2 cameras for photos of my kids as they play their football, rugby and hockey matches (so I guess I am looking at zoom, variable as...
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2
Answers December 10, 2012
Wife wants zoom + good low light, would love a red camera, which one?
Wife loves to take family stills as well as nature shots
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1
Answers November 3, 2012
Wildlife and bird images, in the field?
Does the Canon flash popup automatically, when needed? and the same question for the Nikon?
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Answers Unanswered Questions
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January 18, 2013
What canon or Nikon camera would be best for Taking portraits of kids
Im looking for a camera that will take great professional looking photos of kids like a dslr but isnt a dslr dont want all the lens changes and such big camera. also want a camera take good of my...
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0
Answers January 2, 2013
Zoom capability is important as well as burst mode
Upgrading from Canon PowerShot120 IS. Do I have to go to the size of the two cameras above to get a view finder in addition to the screen?
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Answers December 26, 2012
Image quality,greater zoom
I want a camera with great auto focusing technology.. I'm unable to choose one of these two..
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Answers Nikon Coolpix P510
Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
Kim-Field 
Beginner I
I fell for that nice looking red camera trick as well. Looked great. Only had it a week and sent it back to the shop for a swap with the sx50 and love the camera. I had a sx40 first but did not a... View Kim-Field's recommendation
- 0 comments
- December 13, 2012
- Reply to: Wife wants zoom + good low light, would love a red camera, which one?
Jan-Vieira 
Beginner II
I love Canon SX50 HS, if you want to take pictures of kids playing, you can use the rapid fire, and the camera will take several pictures at a very short interval, and you can sort after that the... View Jan-Vieira's recommendation
- 0 comments
- November 11, 2012
- Reply to: Image quality, sports, family photos
Jan-Vieira
Beginner II
Hi Felicia, I just bought a Canon SX50 HS, the flash doesn´t popup automatically, but if you want flash, you just leave it open, and it flash if needed. I do not like flash, so I keep it down in... View Jan-Vieira's recommendation
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- November 5, 2012
- Reply to: Wildlife and bird images, in the field?
