Re: FW: [canberrabirds] Re: [Birding-Aus] Advice on first camera

[David Rees <>]

Geoffrey is right, it depends on what you are going to do with your images.  Most of us will look at them on full HD panels - ie 1920 by 1080 pixels, unless you have lots of money or a high end mac. Most of us do not need $20K worth of gear that weighs something between 5-10kg.  Another thing to remember is that sensor technology (cheap) is moving faster than the business of making optics (expensive).  I would try something inexpensive first, such as one of those ultrazooms. While I do mostly video I do take some stills.  I have recently been amazed with what a little Lumix TZ70 can do in the way of bird photography, so much so I'm thinking of starting a web page with images just from it. Its a compact point and shot with a difference - a 30X zoom with an small but usable electronic view finder (not just the back LCD)  and optional manual focus in a package not much bigger that a packet of fags.  Cost in the $400-450 range.  Bought it mainly for location shots, plants etc. and just tried it on birds and was very surprised.  A sample is provided - great bird!!

David 

On Mon, Sep 21, 2015 at 8:09 AM, Geoffrey Dabb <> wrote:

There are many possible answers to this question.  The first point is:  what do you expect of your photos?  If you want to take 'the best possible picture' you should probably get the best possible equipment.  If you merely want to take an 'acceptable' picture you will find many views on what 'acceptable' is.  Noting that ominous word 'first', I would say:  start anywhere.

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Shute [
Sent: Monday, 21 September 2015 7:31 AM
To: Sonja Ross
Cc: Steve Read; COG List; Birding-aus
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Advice on first camera

I've found that looking at other people's photos is often a source of frustration because people rarely say how far away they were from the bird, so you don't know how much they've cropped out, and therefore don't get an idea of the capabilities of that lens and camera combination. You can't tell how much the equipment has contributed to the sharpness of a very sharp photo compared to the photographer's ability or luck in getting very close to the bird.

With DSLRs, I feel it's frustrating to have anything less than a 400mm lens, and I've noticed that more and more people are using 500mm and even 600mm lenses. All of those lens sizes will cost several times the price of an ultra zoom compact camera, many of which will give you focal lengths equivalent to well over 1000mm.

I feel you should at least investigate the ultra zooms like the Canon SX series. The SX50 has a huge following if you can still get one. The SX60 seems to have a smaller following - it has a longer zoom, but many seem to think it doesn't give any better photos. I've tried neither. Apparently the SX70 will be announced this month.

The compacts have many disadvantages - frustrating in low light, hard to follow birds in flight, hard to manual focus, controls harder to manipulate quickly - but win easily on price and lightness. Unless you or he know exactly what type of photography he'll be doing - and if you did then you might not have asked the question - they might be a cheaper way to find out than upgrading through a series of bigger and bigger DSLR lenses till you do.

Peter Shute

Sent from my iPad

> On 20 Sep 2015, at 8:47 PM, Sonja Ross <> wrote:
>
> Hi Steve,
>
> That’s a difficult question to answer.   One idea is to look at the BirdLife Photography Gallery http://birdlifephotography.org.au/index.php <http://birdlifephotography.org.au/index.php>.  If you click on the image, many of them will have details of the cameras and lenses that people use for bird photography, and then you can check what’s available and what it costs.  Generally with photography, you get what you pay for!
>
> If you, or your son, have a Facebook account, you could try looking for a group on bird photography and see what they say.   It did come up recently on one I look at, but I don’t think it was resolved.   You do need to consider his height and physic too, as if he’s slight and short, a really long lens at this stage might not be practical!
>
> I hope whatever decision you come to, your son continues to enjoy his birding, and break into bird photography.
>
> Sonja
>
>
>>
>> Hi all
>>
>>
>>
>> My 14-year-old son, a pretty good bird-watcher, would like to get
>> into bird photography.  This would be his first camera, and I'd like
>> some suggestions on good camera-lens combinations for him.  I'm happy
>> to go the DSLR route but don't want to break the bank.
>>
>>
>>
>> Happy to receive suggestions or commentary off-line if preferable
>> (and then will provide a summary of any consensus).
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>>
>>
>> Steve
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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