I have a Canon SX50HS, I bought it on eBay a few years back for $100, probably because I was intrigued by its reach or I was drunk shopping.

For reference, it has a 24 - 1200 mm lens F3.4–6.5, yep that's twelve hundred. To put that in context with images, this -

photos.smugmug.com

and so you understand what I'm going to show you, I take a shot of a guy in the red circle

photos.smugmug.com

photos.smugmug.com

Neither photo is great from the 12.1 MP/ 1/2.3" sensor, these shots were taken 4 years ago.

Moonshots are ok?

photos.smugmug.com

I pulled it out of a box this morning and thought about selling it, what will I get $50, is it really worth the bother.

So I walked outside to take a couple of shots and its range still amazes me

photos.smugmug.com

...and the mailbox at the end of the road (*note 'outgoing mail' reasonably clear), and BTW these are handheld shots in auto mode straight out of the camera

photos.smugmug.com

So if this was in your camera bag what would you use it for besides average snaps or training to be a spy?

Wildlife ? Pair of hawks I have been trying to shoot for a long time ..

I think when I lived in Kenya this would’ve be great for wildlife. When the guides would point to things way in the distance

and if you are throwing it away - throw it this way! Happy to pay for postage and the $50!

Correct me if I’m wrong but the main thing that separates SLRs or big traditional type cameras are their lenses. Lenses are where photographers spend their money. This could be all about to change.

Ultra-thin camera lenses of the future could see the light of dayIn the future, camera lenses could be thousands of times thinner and significantly less resource-intensive to manufacture. Researchers now present a new technology for making the artificial materials known as 'metasurfaces', which consist of a multitude of interacting nanoparticles that together can control light. They could have great use in the optical technology of tomorrow.www.sciencedaily.com

I actually put it in my tank bag for a ride a few weeks back then took it out and replaced it with a 360 camera, which I never used, but a couple of times I did reach for it because the biggest lens I had on my Sony was a 105mm.

I think I might use as a walk around camera for sniping portraits

So for now I'll hold on to it, there are a bunch on ebay for less than $100 inc shipping

Wondering if this was the angle the guys from Light L16 were hoping would develop and they'd get there first as they already had some of the technology (it seems) in the works

Light L16 camera review: futuristic frustrationA fantastic piece of technology that's only slightly greater than the sum of its partswww.theverge.com

I really wanted this camera to be excellent because it would have fit my lifestyle so well

That’s interesting but a totally different approach. The new ultra thin lenses are able to simultaneously focus on near and very far objects at the same time. Imagine 1000 times thinner than current lenses. The applications will entail things we can’t even imagine right now (and of course things we can).

I'm all for smaller and lighter, especially if the quality is as good or hopefully better