into pretty much any position to the side of the camera or stowed screen-in for protection. We used it a whole lot in our testing and it coped well in bright sunlight too. If the sun does get too much then there is a 0.2-inch electronic viewfinder also built in, although it's a small window on to the world and therefore not the most comfortable to the eye. Viewfinders tend to be short of the mark in any given superzoom camera, as is the case here, although the SX50's offering is no worse than the similar competition and it still has plenty of use when trying to steady up those longer focal length shots. So in many respects it's an essential. Shooting modes also cover a broad range: Smart Auto heads up the point-and-shoot options, but the mode dial on top of the camera also comes equipped with the usual array of manual shooting modes. These can be controlled using the rear d-pad which doubles up as a rotational dial. The lack of a second thumbwheel to the front of the camera is a bit of a shame, and we'd also like to see some function buttons added as the camera's layout is somewhat sparse. Unlikely to be purchase-breakers, but these more DSLR-like controls would help the SX50 HS feel more complete. Performance When we first saw the SX50 HS the huge zoom range got us a little worried. A 1200mm equivalent is massive, which introduces issues with hand-holding the