Long distance photograpy/ digiscoping?

[Ronayne88]

Hi,

I've been using a kodax dx7590 for about 7 months now. I'm thinking of upgrading my camera to a fuji s9500. I've read the reviews and it seems pretty are impressive. The zoom lens isn't much of an increase on my own. But the camera has 9 MPs whereas my own has 5MPs. This camera will cost me about €800 euro. But i am eventually going to move to a camera with changeable lenses. THe reason for this is because i really like taking pictures of what might be rare birds epecially gulls and waders. Alot of the gulls will be on pier supports abit away, or in the middle of a lake. So it is important to get a camera that can take identifiable pictures at distance, but at a reasonable price. I suppose i would be looking at spending €1500 (camera and lens) I know this is a mouth - full, but any advice?

Thanks in advance

[IanF]

I'm not familiar with the camera but a couple of things to consider are -

Suitability for digiscoping - it may not be the best choice as it has a pretty wide lends which will lead to a lot of vignetting. Likewise the 10x zoom. You can zoom out the vignetting but the images will be very soft and grainy.

Sensor size v MP - lots of MP don't neccessarily mean sharper photos - just as important is the sensor size and this camera has a small sensor with an awful lot squeezed onto it. A DSLR has a larger sensor size and even if fewer MP even 6 MP there's a good chance the images will be far superior.

The camera on it's own has a 10x zoom which equates to a 300mm lens. Not exactly massive for birding photos. It will likely produce good quality photos but for birding 10'-12' will be about the maximum useful range without adding a teleconverter which may take it up to 20' max. More distant identifiable photos will be possible but I'd be dubious about the quality.

Photos of distant (20+yds) birds really is for digiscoping which needs a decent scope and a small compact camera of 4-5 MP.

Higher quality photos of birds 20-30 yds is DSLR+decent long lens (400mm+).

Birds c.20' then a 10x zoom or preferably a 12x zoom plus teleconverter (e.g. Pansonic FZ20/30).

Personally from my experiences then digiscoping with a compact camera (such as the Nikon CP4500, Canon A95 or Olympus C7070 etc.) is the way to go for wader photos due to the distances involved.

[christineredgate]

I did actually purchase the Fuji 9500,specifically for taking quick bird shots when I was walking the dog,but I was not very impressed,and traded in the cam for a used 300F/4 lens .I already do have the camera for the aforementioned lens.If it was me,I would look around for a used SLR,eg 300d ,or Nikon equivalent,and then find a used lens which zooms up to at least 300mm.There are bargains to be found,Ring around your local optic dealers,keep your eyes on the for Sale,here on BF.For the price you will pay for the Fuji you could for perhaps slightly more buy a good second hand deal.If you already have a scope,then why not follow Ians suggestion and by a compact suitable for digiscoping.

[bill lord]

I did actually purchase the Fuji 9500,specifically for taking quick bird shots when I was walking the dog,but I was not very impressed,and traded in the cam for a used 300F/4 lens .I already do have the camera for the aforementioned lens.If it was me,I would look around for a used SLR,eg 300d ,or Nikon equivalent,and then find a used lens which zooms up to at least 300mm.There are bargains to be found,Ring around your local optic dealers,keep your eyes on the for Sale,here on BF.For the price you will pay for the Fuji you could for perhaps slightly more buy a good second hand deal.If you already have a scope,then why not follow Ians suggestion and by a compact suitable for digiscoping.

If you go the route of looking for a canon Eos 300d have a look on ebay, there is a canon outlet on there where you can get a new one for approx £350 including the 18-88 kit lens. It's good deal and the service from them is superb.

[christineredgate]

Ron,the set up I use to replace the Fuji 9500,is the 300/350 with the Canon 75(70)-300 IS zoom lens.Not the expensive DO model.the size and weight of the combined cam and lens are similar to the fuji 9500,so it is a easy carry around set up.If you can find a bargain in a used set up,I think you will find it okay.You could then always add a better lens,as you do have the camera.