Hunting with a Pany

[jcuknz]

My son sent me these two shots taken with his mother-in-law's camera Panasonic FZ70 which I think is one of the cheaper ones in Pany's line up... demonstrating the use of its zoom [x60] at both ends.
A hawk at around 1050mm reach and cropped/sharpened for here ....



and this cute little fellow taken at 20mm reach, also cropped and sharpened ....



He was on holiday in Florida with his wife and MiL

I am tempted to revert to a modern bridge camera on seeing these
edit .. added SOOC thumbnails

[Manfred M]

It's hard to judge based on such small images, but the bottom one is extremely noisy, so the crop and sharpening must have been rather extreme.

The top one is underexposed and when I look at it full-sized on my screen (and adjust the exposure), there is plenty of noise in the sky.

The metadata suggests ISO 100, so this would be the low noise end of the camera's settings.

[Shadowman]

The bridge camera can be a fun item if you master the image stabilization; on a tripod probably not so difficult.

[jcuknz]

What a lot of rubbish .. you guys write in your DSLR obsessed thinking.
It is a 'small image' simply because it is intended to be viewed here and was reduced to 700 pixels across from 4000 or so ... not for pixel peepers to dissect.
I enjoy photos for their content not their technical aspects

[Shadowman]

What a lot of rubbish .. you guys write in your DSLR obsessed thinking.
It is a 'small image' simply because it is intended to be viewed here and was reduced to 700 pixels across from 4000 or so ... not for pixel peepers to dissect.
I enjoy photos for their content not their technical aspects

Not sure what you mean about rubbish, I'm merely expressing my own experience with similar camera zoomed to the max. Handholding can create camera shake like any other camera and that is why I stated not an issue with a tripod.

[Manfred M]

What a lot of rubbish .. you guys write in your DSLR obsessed thinking.

John - as someone who owns a couple of bridge cameras as well as quite a few point & shoot cameras I know what they are capable of. Your two shots really surprise me as I would have expected less noisy results from a Panny. If I were to have a favourite brand, it would be Panasonic; I have one point & shoot, 2 bridge cameras, 1 mFT and two high end video cameras made by them. So please don't accuse me of being DSLR obsessed.


This shot is from a Point & Shoot 6MP Pany FX9





This is from a 5MP Pany bridge FZ20



Both images seem crisper and cleaner, even though they were taken with much older cameras. Both are unedited SOOC jpeg images (neither camera does anything other than jpeg).

[jcuknz]

I thought I would find the prices of a FF camera and 800mm was the nearest .. total$16500 and to all intents and purposes of blogging here The FZ70 is $325
I could indulge if I wanted but prefer to keep the money in my health account thank you
If I wanted another camera for my stable the FZ70 would be a serious contender.

My son echo'd Shadowman comment about OIS/tripod and I replied, yes indeed if you want 15x12 inch prints but for web use not needed unless you have a problem holding cameras steady.

[rpcrowe]

I have a Canon SX-50HS Bridge Camera which produces pretty decent results. My son in law took one to an African safari and his results combined with a Canon sale of refurbished SX-50HS cameras convinced me to get one...



No, I won't give up my DSLR collection and switch to the SX-50HS exclusively but, it is a capable little camera...

[inkista]

...
A hawk ...

Um.

Not a hawk. That there's an osprey.

[DanK]

Um.

Not a hawk. That there's an osprey.

Thanks for noting this. I think I would have recognized it as an Osprey from below (flying), but I didn't from the side.

[tao2]

I thought I would find the prices of a FF camera and 800mm was the nearest .. total$16500 and to all intents and purposes of blogging here The FZ70 is $325
I could indulge if I wanted but prefer to keep the money in my health account thank you
If I wanted another camera for my stable the FZ70 would be a serious contender.

My son echo'd Shadowman comment about OIS/tripod and I replied, yes indeed if you want 15x12 inch prints but for web use not needed unless you have a problem holding cameras steady.

Hi John,

The original 2 photos ye put up show, exactly, the severe limitations of bridge cameras. Poor IQ at both ends of the zoom. It will always be thus. Tiny sensor + huge lens + low lens brightness = image problems. A bridge camera is still a compact with a giant lens and will experience all the same problems.

Bridge cameras have leapt forward in the last few years but are still limited because of these factors (especially at the cheaper end of the range). Ah have an old Fuji S1500, which will take excellent photos in good light because ah know the limitations of the camera and don't exceed them. By the way, it has an excellent macro facility, better than some far more expensive cameras.

$16,500? Aye right. Ah have a Minolta XE (£25 used), Minolta XD7 (£50 used), Minolta 7 (£50 used), Minolta 8000i, had it since new,over 30 years ago. Already have a 2x Minolta converter (£30, used), could get a Vivitar Series1 400mm for around £75. Total £130-£155. Any of these combinations would blow away that bridge camera for IQ (and many much more expensive ones). Wouldn't dream of paying 16k for a camera even if ah could afford it.

Nae offence John, but when yer riding a one trick pony...it's a good idea not tae try and flog it tae death...


PS get 3 ornithologists together and one'll say an osprey's a hawk, one'll say it's a falcon, the third'll say " If the AF wasn't so slow on my bridge - I would've got that shot"

[Manfred M]

Um.

Not a hawk. That there's an osprey.

Agreed. They nest not far from where we live and the nest construction in the shot says "Osprey Built". The huge eyes and the beak; ditto.

[davidedric]

Should you really want to know..........

The osprey is the single member of the family Pandionidae, which sits within the order Accipitriforms, along with the family Accipitridae, which contains "hawks", kites, eagles, buzzards, and so on. New world vultures are the other separate family in the order.

Falcons are in a separate Order, the Falconiformes.

So there

Warning: these definitions may change without notice when the bird taxonomers have their next huddle.

Dave

[jcuknz]

It is a hunting bird with that curved beak so I call it a hawk

I still think the modern bridge is excellent value and like all things it has its limitations. If the FZ200 had followed the FZ50 I would still be shooting with the FZ200 but I wanted a bigger sensor permitting greater choice with ISO so I duplicated as close as I could to the bridge with MFT and x10 zoom ,,, one with knobs though it still has plenty of menus as well

I respect Tao as a geek but he has the attitude of one and quoting a line of cheap s/h cameras is hardly an argument since I guess none have the specifications of the FZ70 ... probably take pretty pictures but as a flexible working tools rather lacking But each to each's needs and bias's ... no offence taken Tao

As I have found over the years on blogs that not all bridge cameras are equal and some are quite lacking compared to what I used in the 'big' FZ range... The FZ70 is a trimmed down version of the 'small' FZ range at an attractive price, but obviously it doesn't appeal to folk here for reasons that have little to do with photography except in this circle

My wife's FZ3 is still working well a decade after I gave it to her and is one of the forerunners of the FZ70.

edit Back from Issie's flooded airport photos and looking at one I found it was a Nikon Coolpix9900 and it gives the FZ70 a serious challenge in the value for money stakes ... though it looks like a P&S it is perhaps a bridge in specifications ... should appeal to people here.

[jcuknz]

Manfred ... one has only to look at your photos to realise that you are a 35mm 'full frame' shooter whatever camera you have in your hands

[tao2]

Hi John,

Ye made me laugh, never been called a geek before.... Ah wouldn't write off ma cameras though, just because they're old. Have a look at the spec for the Minolta Dynax 7... eye opening for a 15 yo camera.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_...s/maxxum7.html

http://mhohner.de/sony-minolta/onebody/7

[Manfred M]

Manfred ... one has only to look at your photos to realise that you are a 35mm 'full frame' shooter whatever camera you have in your hands

I'm afraid I don't understand. Each different type of camera I use / have used has vastly different characteristics and abilities. The only commonality I see in my shots is that I try to get shots that are technically good and compositionally good. I can't do shallow DoF shots or action shots with the P&S or superzoom. The mFT starts to let me soften the background and I can get some decent motions shots, but I need the large sensor full-frame DSLR and fast lenses to pull off the shots of fast moving objects or shallow DoF.

[jcuknz]

I can't do ....... action shots with the P&S or superzoom. .

Since I can remember shots with both types of cameras where I did by understanding the limitations of the gear and picking the shots I took to suit so your reasoning simply doesn't hold water and is simply repetition of an incorrect belief common in the photographic world.

I agree that you cannot 'snap' with a P&S/Bridge but if you know the subject and your gear you can make it deliver the goods by not simply snapping but anticipating [ as we used to do with manual film cameras]. Though I also have a shot where I didn't anticipate in any way but my Nikon 5700 [ 2002 design] captured the action ... so it is just one of those photo myths.

edit ..I meant to say earlier the reasons why I like both shots irrespective of the technical defects .... firstly the imperious look of the bird and the fun marking of the spider. I look for gear with the ability to record such visuals without unduly bothering about technical excellence though I appreciate it for sure ... but meaning/message is what photography is to me.

[Manfred M]

Since I can remember shots with both types of cameras where I did by understanding the limitations of the gear and picking the shots I took to suit so your reasoning simply doesn't hold water and is simply repetition of an incorrect belief common in the photographic world.

I agree that you cannot 'snap' with a P&S/Bridge but if you know the subject and your gear you can make it deliver the goods by not simply snapping but anticipating [ as we used to do with manual film cameras]. Though I also have a shot where I didn't anticipate in any way but my Nikon 5700 [ 2002 design] captured the action ... so it is just one of those photo myths.

edit ..I meant to say earlier the reasons why I like both shots irrespective of the technical defects .... firstly the imperious look of the bird and the fun marking of the spider. I look for gear with the ability to record such visuals without unduly bothering about technical excellence though I appreciate it for sure ... but meaning/message is what photography is to me.

John - you are entitled to your opinion, but let's agree to disagree on this one.

I find I cannot consistently get "action shots", even with my mFT camera as the autofocus is too slow, whereas I can with the DSLR. Getting them with a P&S or superzoom can happen if everything aligns perfectly (i.e. one gets lucky). I have found that these cameras work best with relatively stationary objects. My experience with their slow lenses, slow autofocus and shutter lag are not well suited to action shots.

[inkista]

... I find I cannot consistently get "action shots", even with my mFT camera as the autofocus is too slow, whereas I can with the DSLR.

+1. QFT.

I have a photo of a butterfly in flight. There's no way I could ever have gotten that shot with any P&S/bridge or mirrorless camera I've ever used, no matter the amount of anticipation or quickness of my reflexes.

And my anticipation is good and my reflexes are pretty damn fast. I mean, I have a photo of a butterfly in flight.. What I took with a Canon XT + 135L.