Review: The Canon EOS 6D & PowerShot SX50 HS

Recently JOE got our hands on two of Canon's slickest cameras to take pictures of animals, but only the manly ones that have big teeth and claws for taking care of business.

By Adrian Collins

It's been a while since JOE headed off to Dublin Zoo to check out the sights and sounds of one of Europe's best zoological parks, but we found ourselves there one morning recently to learn the ropes of photography from the lads at Canon.

We were handed two cameras, the EOS 6D, an incredibly slick Digital SLR and the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS, a great bridge camera that still delivers high quality images, but is compact enough to carry around without much hassle.

First, let's take a look at the EOS 6D, as it really stood out for us, having not used an SLR (single-lens reflex) camera in quite a while. The images we captured really were spectacular.

Now, at €1,999 we're not about to say that the EOS 6D is a budget camera, but neither is it an expensive option for what you're getting. It wasn't long ago that a digital SLR would bankrupt you and your children, and your children's children for three weeks, but this model is much more friendly on the pocket.

if you're looking for a seriously good camera, this will be worth forking over the cash for. It made JOE look like a professional photographer, and the quality of the shots we got pretty much speak for themselves.

The SLR option also gives you a huge amount of variety that you can add to your shots, and being able to change lenses will also make sure that this is a camera that you won't be parting with for a very long time indeed.

The bridge camera was also an impressive unit. Smaller and more compact than the full SLR, it still gives brilliant quality and in particular, can capture some pretty vivid colours, as you can see on these two lads.

In terms of value for money, the SX50 will be very hard to beat at €599. Canon's latest range continues their tradition of making the best technology available right from its budget range cameras up to the top, and they've managed to pack a 50x optical zoom into this neat little package, which is nothing short of astounding.

JOE did consider sticking the EOS 6D and the SX50 HS up our jumper on the way out, but it might have looked pretty suspicious, what with having a giant lens poking out and all. Still, when we need to pick up our next camera, we'll more than likely be heading for one of the two we used.