Hi Bob and all other birding related photographers. As I teach photography,
mainly to birders, I'm quite often asked what to buy.
Whilst I'm not familiar with the cameras you mention, I'll hopefully make
the choice a bit easier if you are serious about a super zoom camera.
As they are trying to cover huge zoom ranges something has to be
compromised, or else DSLR's and big heavy hugely expensive lenses would be
on the scrapheap instantly.
So what's the compromise? Usually auto focus performance (usually very
sluggish and they tend to hunt around a bit) and their ability to work at
high quality at either end of the focal range, IE. full wide or full
telephoto. Also check the frame rate FPS Frames Per Second, usually way
behind their bigger brothers.
Don't ever use the digital zoom on these cameras either if you want a good
image, as it pixilates very quickly and so diminishes quality. Much better
to crop the image afterwards if you want it bigger/closer!
As for what brand to buy IE. the Nikon/Canon dilemma, well it's Holdens &
Fords, they each have their place in the market, but in my experience the
Canon gear is tougher and will take knocks that will leave others dead.
Now more megapixels doesn't always equate to a better image. The most
important factor is the output file size, the bigger the output file size
the better the quality normally for a given amount of megapixels. So work
out the ratio of megapixels to kb's. This will give a good idea of image
quality.
But the only real test is to take them in hand shoot a few frames and do
some trial prints. Now here is where buying from a store rather than on the
internet comes into its own. Go to a shop that stocks all your desired
choices, take them outside, yes they will let you do this, if they don't
keep trying until you find one that will (but most serious camera shops will
bend over backwards to get your business), check the focus performance and
the zoom capabilities on a given subject at a fixed point and then pay for
some prints (although a good store will oblige you with a few freebies). Let
this determine your purchase rather than gobbledegook performance figures
and endless acronyms. If you like the way it handles and performs, and fits
your budget and more importantly has ergonomics that suit you, buy it.
One last thing, if you wear glasses make sure it has a dioptre adjustment to
allow for the strength of your prescription glasses, most important.
But if you are really serious about birding photography, go for a DSLR and a
prime lens for the ultimate sharpness. My pick and what I use, even though I
have a Canon EOS 5D mkiii, is Canons EOS 7D, at 8 frames per second it's
pretty hard to beat at the price point, very reliable and tough as nails,
mines been dropped heaps of times. Combine this with a Canon EF 300mm f4L
lens and you've got a quality combo, need more reach add an extender either
a 1.4X or a 2X, remember though with the 1.4X converter you have centre
point focusing only and with the 2X manual focus only.
Hope this helps Bob, any more Questions drop me a line at
, Happy Birding from Happy Snappin' Darren J
Callesen (Elizabeth Shaw's partner in Birding & Photography, life and LOL
crime)
PS no matter what you buy, invest in some lesson to ensure you get the best
out of your camera, I usually recommend 10% of the purchase price as a
starting point!
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Dawson
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2013 12:47 AM
To: birding-aus
Subject: Canon SX50HS v Nikon P510 v Sony DSC-HX200v
Hi All
I am buying a camera, mainly for birding and have settled on these three
which seem to fit the bill and are all around the same price. I have gone
through the B-A archives and read all the comments on them but I am still
not sure what to get and would like to ask some specific questions of those
of you out there with experience on these cameras and/or subjects. I hope
some of you will send me some comments that can help me decide. (Are there
others I should consider? I have also considered and discarded Panasonic
DMC-FZ200, Olympus SP-820UZ, Fuji HS50EXR)
In regards optical zoom and megapixels, the Canon has the highest zoom at
50x and the lowest megapixels at 12.1, the Sony is the other way around. 30x
zoom and 18.2 megapixels. The Nikon is in between both with 42x and 16mp.
Is it better to go for the higher zoom (Canon), or higher megapixels (Sony),
or take the middle road with the Nikon? Am I right in thinking that the
higher megapixels will mean that I will get a much better quality of pic
which I can then blow up with less picture quality loss and so make up for
the lower zoom? But is this going to give a better result than the higher
zoom in the first place?
I have read that the Nikon can be difficult to focus at distance. Does
anyone know whether the Canon and/or the Sony are better at this or have
problems also?
Thanks in advance for any help given.
Cheers
Bob
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