A good shooter for amateur photographers

The super-zoom range of point and shoot cameras have been quite stagnant in terms of sale. Now, consumers have started shifting towards DSLRs and mirror-less cameras which is quite obvious as the sensor in almost all the super-zoom ‘point and shoot’ cameras is comparatively smaller. But then again, these cameras do have an advantage; a long range zoom lens in a compact body. And that’s about it.

Canon’s SX510 HS is a great looking super-zoom camera and quite frankly I was surprised to see the tiny size and the light weight of the camera. And surprisingly, it is Wi-Fi enabled. It did sound tempting, so I took it out for a spin.

BUILD AND DESIGN

The SX510 HS has a very compact design and seems much smaller than most of the super-zoom cameras are available in the market. It can fit easily in small carry bags and cases, but it won’t fit in your pocket due to the fixed lens. The whole body of the camera is plastic with a matte finish which is a good thing as it prevents the camera to fall out of the hands.

The in-built flash cannot pop up automatically, so you need to manually open it and the hinge on the flash mechanism seems pretty sturdy. The bulged-out grip is nicely made which has a rubberized finish, although it is a bit small and people with big hands might find it difficult to hold the camera. The lens is housed inside the main body and it comes out quite a long way when zoomed to the maximum focal length. There is a focus-light right next to the lens which helps to focus in low light conditions.

When it comes to controls, the function buttons, shutter release and the dial to control the modes are all quite smooth but they do feel a bit flimsy. On the top we have the shutter release button which also acts as your control to change your focal lengths from wide to tele. The power button does the usual; turn the camera on and change your camera modes. And yes, it has a manual mode as well. The top also houses two hinges (one on each side) where you can tie up a strap.

The back has a 3-inch display which is nice and crisp. Next to the display there are other controls that include the video recording button, the exposure control button (which also acts as the delete button), the playback button, the menu button and the display options button. There is a nice d-pad styled dial also which has a wheel on top which can be rotated. There is a set of 5 buttons in the d-pad to control various functions like flash, Wi-Fi, ISO, focus modes and self-timer. I personally love Canon’s rotating wheel feature as it makes it easy to glide through pictures and change your shutter speeds or aperture in a jiffy.

On the right side there is an A/V out digital port and an HDMI out port protected under a rubber flap. The bottom has a standard tripod socket and the plastic panel which opens to reveal the battery and the SD card slot.

Overall the camera feels very light for a super-zoom. But somehow I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t use it as a portable camera as it was too big to fit for my pocket and too small to tie it with a strap around my neck.

FEATURES

The Canon PowerShot SX510 HS features a 12.1MP CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 which is Canon’s latest imaging sensor technology. It has a 30x zoom lens which in terms of focal length is 4.3mm to 129mm (35mm film equivalent of 24-720mm). The aperture range is f/3.4 to f/8 on the widest focal length and f/5.8 to f/8 on the highest focal length.

Everyone loves to have high ISO levels on a camera to get a better low light performance and the SX510 HS offers a wide range of ISO (80 to 3200) which is pretty good. Usually we don’t see cameras offering ISO lower than 100, but Canon has made an exception here and added 80 ISO.

Apart from the various manual shooting modes and auto shooting modes, the camera comes with built in Wi-Fi. This makes transferring and sharing pictures easy as it can instantly transfer pictures to your laptop, smartphone, printer or almost anything connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

On the video front, the PowerShot SX510 HS is capable of shooting full HD videos. The camera also comes with a super-slow motion video recording feature which is actually quite interesting as the camera records a normal video and then processes into a video with a very slow frame rate.

PERFORMANCE

The auto-focusing system on the PowerShot SX510 HS is quite good and manages to focus quite well, even in low light conditions. The auto-focus takes almost the same time on the widest and highest focal lengths. Now when I say it’s good, I mean that it is good for a compact camera under Rs.18000. You have a manual focus option as well which allows you to focus with reference to distance. It can be quite handy when you are shooting still subjects, although the auto-focus is a better and a faster option any day.

The camera handles exposure quite well in bright conditions although I wasn’t fully satisfied with the contrast and colours and bit of softness in almost every picture. In low light conditions the noise reduction algorithms are put into good use, but images do have a certain amount of grain and loss in details.

The camera is primarily a super-zoom and proves itself thanks to its long ranged lens. At the highest focal length, the pictures turned out to be sharp but I did face a bit of a challenge to get the subjects in focus. Using high focal lengths in low light was a complete disaster as the camera was unable to focus and pictures turned out grainy and out of focus.

Here are some of the sample shots taken from the PowerShot SX510 HS. (Click to enlarge)

  

  

  
 

CONCLUSION

For everyday use, the PowerShot SX510 HS is a good investment, although the performance isn’t that great in low light conditions. The extreme focal lengths are surprisingly good, although I wish the focusing was a bit faster, or maybe I am being overambitious. The Wi-Fi feature is a great addition and I ended up transferring a lot pictures to my smartphone.

A great alternative could be Nikon’s latest super-zoom, CoolPix L830, which is slightly lower on price, but offers almost similar specs and features as the PowerShot SX510 HS.

Spyrus Reveals World's First 256 GB Windows to Go Flash Drives

If you want to be able to boot Windows from any computer, there's a really nifty asset in Windows 8 that lets you do it off removable storage devices. Removable media needs to be certified for it though, which is why Spyrus made sure to say loud and clear that its latest flash drives have this benefit.

Normally, for Windows, any operating system really, to launch, it has to be installed on the primary storage drive of a computer. That's not all that great when the OS fails somehow though.

Also, maybe you're the type of person that has to switch computers often, or travels a lot and would like to always have their own desktop settings and data wherever they go.

To allow that, Microsoft included the Windows to Go capability in Windows 8, which enables the OS to be installed on aflash drive, or USB HDD or SSD.

The removable media have to be specifically made with it in mind, though, to allow the BIOS to see them as boot drives and everything.

Sure, in theory, you could just fiddle with the BIOS and use Windows to make a bootable flash drive anyway, as long as there is enough space.

Nevertheless, when a flash drive is meant to be used as a Windows to Go device, companies usually mention it specifically. Like Spyrus did for the Portable Workplace, Secure Portable Workplace, WorkSafe, and WorkSafe Pro SSDs.

Which brings us to today's news: Spyrus has added the capacity of 256 GB to its collection. And don't let the “portable SSD” description fool you. These are flash drives, through and through. USB 3.0 sticks with superior security, layered hardware and software encryption.

How to use your Xbox or PlayStation controller on your PC

Using a mouse and keyboard is usually the most optimal solution for playing PC games, but sometimes a controller can make for an even more enjoyable experience. There are numerous controllers out there from a variety of different companies, but there is no need to purchase one if you already own one of the current game consoles. Here's how you can set up your Xbox 360, Xbox One, or PlayStation 4 controller to be used on your PC.

Xbox 360

Microsoft made it extremely easy to use the Xbox controllers for PC gaming. Head over to the company's website, select the operating system you are running, download the drivers, and install them. Then you can simply connect your controller to your PC and begin playing your favorite controller-friendly game.

The drivers officially support both 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, although the latter should also work for Windows 8.

To check which operating system you are running, open the Control Panel, select System and Security, and click on System. This information can also be viewed by right-clicking on My Computer and selecting Properties in the popup menu.

Xbox One

Microsoft's Larry Hryb, also known online as Major Nelson, last week released device drivers that make the Xbox One controller compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers. He noted that the drivers will come bundled with a future Windows software update, however they can be manually installed now.

To download the drivers, visit Major Nelson's website and choose the one that corresponds with your system -- x86 is for 32-bit systems, while x64 is for 64-bit systems. After you install the drivers and agree to Microsoft's Licensing Agreement, all you need to do is connect the controller using a microUSB cable and start gaming.

PlayStation 4

It's a little more difficult to use the PlayStation controllers with your PC. With the help of a program called DS4Tool, you are actually going to trick the computer into thinking that the PS4 controller is really one for an Xbox 360. The first thing you must do is download and install the Xbox 360 drivers from Microsoft. You will also need Microsoft .NET 4.0, Visual C 2010 Runtime, and the latest DirectX Runtime on your computer, in addition to having administrator rights.

Download the latest version of DS4Tool (at the time of writing that is version 1.2.2) and unzip it to your desktop. Open the folder titled "Virtual Bus Driver" and double-click the ScpDriver application to install it. If the program was installed properly, Bus Device and Bus Driver will be listed under the install summary.

Make sure to close any open games or software such as Steam before you connect the PS4 controller to your PC using a microUSB cable. Once the controller has been connected, open the ScpServer application located in the main DS4Tool folder. The program should automatically detect the controller, but if it doesn't there are two things you can do: click the Stop button, followed by the Start button to restart detection; or ensure the Xbox 360 drivers and ScpDrivers were installed properly.

The PS4 controller can also be used wirelessly if your computer has Bluetooth or if you purchased an adapter, which must be compatible with Bluetooth 2.1 or higher. The first thing you have to do is enable the controller's Bluetooth pairing mode. This can be done by holding both the Share and PlayStation buttons on the controller until the LED light begins flashing.

Open the Control Panel on your computer and, under Hardware and Sound, choose to add a new device. Select the game controller, and open the ScpServer application after pairing is complete. The software should automatically detect the controller.

BOOST YOUR SMARTWATCH KNOWLEDGE

Love smartwatches or at least you’re interested in them? Maybe you’d like to enhance your knowledge of this wearable category a little further and now you can by virtue of a new flashy infographic.

The Smartwatch Group has released the infographic in order to deliver some clear data and statistics related to the device, for those of you who are curious of this kind of thing (via Dream Chrono).

According to them, Samsung hold 34% of the smartwatch market, while Sony comes in at number 2 with 7% hold of the market. Completing the top 3 is Pebble with 6% marketshare.

Interestingly enough, I told you earlier today new research coming from the NPD group proclaimed Samsung as the champion of smartwatch sales in the US, followed by Pebble.

Anyway, going back to our infographic, it also reveals 3 million smartwatches were sold in 2013, which is a noticeable increase from the 0.3 million that shipped out in 2012. 

Puzzling enough, among the most popular smartwatch uses we find gaming. On such a tiny screen the gaming experience is greatly diminished, so it’s a little bizarre, to say the least. Other frequent uses include communication and fitness, which is basically what the devices are built for.

The infographic also points out Android Wear is expected to make a big splash, especially with the advent of Moto 360, which is one of the hottest upcoming products from the category.