[hinnark]

Roy,

sorry my fault since my question was mistakable. I'd like to add the species name with the camera just after taken the photo while on the tour as long as the expert or guide could tell me the needed information.

Steve

[Sandpiper]

You could try shooting a few seconds of video and speak the name of the species as you record.

Mike

[Robert L Jarvis]

Hi Steve

It would be easier to add a title or caption when processing the image or editing the video. It cannot be done when you are taking a still but you can do a voice over when you are videoing. Problem is make sure you have the video settled, no wobbling or zooming when you speak because when you come to edit this part it may end up on the cutting room floor.

[crazyfingers]

I haven't had much opportunity to do much birding recently but I've been taking the kids to a lot of museums recently. I continue to be very impressed by the SX40's ability to take photos without a flash in a museum or in dark areas. Not much zoom of course but not needed.

Here's a model of a ship taken from about 3 feet away inside a museum. And a photo from down in the lower deck of a 200+ year old sailing ship the USS Constitution.

[MikeJenx]

I compared the Canon SX40 and the Nikon P510 head to head at a local store at full zoom. The P510 was smaller and easier in the hand. The additional zoom power of the P510 was suprisingly apparent in the few test shots I took.

I could not judge image quality based on looking at the lcd screen since the Nikon display has considerably more pixels. I did form the impression that the auto focus of the Canon was quicker and more reliable than that of the P510 but perhaps that was down to my handling.

Ultimately, I have opted for the SX40. I know that I will be aquiring a camera which many users are very satisfied with. I have also seen plenty of bird pictures and video which suggest that it will not dissapoint. I use a Canon ixus 300 HS for digiscoping which uses the same back lighing technology as the SX40.

Although I liked the look and feel of the P510, I was not prepared to take a punt on a product which has received remarkably little interest from BF users considering the fact that it has such a powerful zoom.

[woody66]

Originally Posted by hinnark

Does anybody know if it's possible to add a comment (voice or in written form) to a photo taken with the SX40? I'm asking because I try to learn the species at guided tours of plants and mushrooms and think it could be helpfull to assign the correct names to the images.

Steve

Just noticed on my SX40 on one of the Scene modes it says the camera takes a clip with each shot to make a days summary , i havent tried this but it sounds to be what your looking for .

[Marmot]

Just in case you may still be thinking about buying a Cannon SX40HS
The todays special value on QVC UK [shopping channel]
is the Cannon Powershot SX40HS for £311.88 or 3 instalments of £103.96.

This is until midnight tonight or until it sells out. With QVC you can use it for up to 30 days and if you dont like it you send it back to them and get your money refunded apart from the postage.
Here is a link

http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.as....KeywordSearch

NB the price has now gone up to £377.50 as it only is Todays special value for one day only, then after that is its normal selling price.

[woody66]

I have tried out one or two cameras from QVC and sent them back because they werent what i was looking for , ive now got the SX40 which is just what i was looking for , i bought mine for £309.99 so the QVC price is very good especially since you can use it , put it through its paces , and even pay for it in 3 easy payments , NO BRAINER !!

[Roy C]

The QVC price is very competitive as according to 'Camera Price buster' apart from Pixmania (£302) the cheapest UK price is Amazon at £317 post paid.

[punta]

4 gig card included as well - I am tempted, but the wife isn't

[roger1234]

Originally Posted by punta

4 gig card included as well - I am tempted, but the wife isn't

ditch the wife and get it NO BRAINER

[punta]

Originally Posted by roger1234

ditch the wife and get it NO BRAINER

Married 32 years and she will get a good pension - I will get nowt, so going to stick with her for the time being I reckon.

I still might sneakily get the camera and have it delivered elsewhere. hehe

[tdodd]

There is 5% cash back (not guaranteed, but likely) if you purchase online from QVC via the TopCashBack website. You need to be a TopCashBack member, which is free to join. I've been with them for 2-3 years and have received £300 in cash back to date.

[Marmot]

It always worth checking out QVC for cameras, they seem to have them as a TSV about every 6 weeks and always seems to be on a Saturday as well.

They had the Fuji HS30 as TSV in March when they were selling it for £359.

[woody66]

Walking around this morning , noticed loads of young swallow flying around , this one was having a rest , it was about 20-30 feet away , i zoomed in on it this is the result , no photo shopping just cropped , not bad eh ? this Sx40 is a great camera .

[Roy C]

Originally Posted by woody66

Walking around this morning , noticed loads of young swallow flying around , this one was having a rest , it was about 20-30 feet away , i zoomed in on it this is the result , no photo shopping just cropped , not bad eh ? this Sx40 is a great camera .

Pretty good result now lets see one in flight

[woody66]

Ha ha , believe me i tried , so i took the easy route and waited till one rested .

[Neil]

I had the SX40HS around my neck on a trip to the wetlands last week and grabbed these two shots.
The main advantage of the SX40HS over the Nikons is the Image Stabilisation. In the Canon it's excellent , in the Nikon it doesn't work as intended. It's amazing with the SX40 to hand hold at 840 mm and shoot a video and it's rock steady. With the Nikon I have to shoot it on a tripod.
Neil

[Malcolm Stewart]

Originally Posted by Marmot

Just in case you may still be thinking about buying a Cannon SX40HS
The todays special value on QVC UK [shopping channel]
is the Cannon Powershot SX40HS for £311.88 or 3 instalments of £103.96.

This is until midnight tonight or until it sells out. With QVC you can use it for up to 30 days and if you dont like it you send it back to them and get your money refunded apart from the postage....

And it was that QVC broadcast that grabbed my attention when they compared the max (apparent) zoom of the SX40 with Canon's current longest EF lens, i.e. an EF 800 F5.6L. My longest EF lens is the EF 500 F4L IS which I normally use on a 1D III or on a 50D, and supported by a heavy tripod and gimbal head.

So I did some research and found this thread, and then found a "used" model offered by LCE. It arrived two days ago, and I've been busy getting to understand how a Super Zoom Compact works. I've been very pleased with some of my results, (hand held at max zoom) and less so with the unfamiliar interface, which I'm gradually getting to understand. I've also tried the video and on general subjects, such as wind blown foliage, and ripples on the local pond, it's OK. However, it's quite disappointing on fast trains, and to my surprise, even slow moving canal boats show jitter - I'll stick to my camcorders for those sorts of subject.

I'll give it more testing this next few days, as I'm off to Norfolk & Suffolk, and hope to visit some bird reserves.

[Roy C]

Originally Posted by Malcolm Stewart

And it was that QVC broadcast that grabbed my attention when they compared the max (apparent) zoom of the SX40 with Canon's current longest EF lens, i.e. an EF 800 F5.6L.
.

I will be interested on what you think of it when using in the field Malcolm. BTW the 840mm includes (and is calculated by) the crop factor of the Camera so using a Canon 800/5.6 on your 50D would give you 1280mm reach when calculated in the same way (mind you the SX40 is even cheaper than a MKIII converter let alone the price of DSLR telephoto lenses).

[Robert L Jarvis]

Hi Malcolm

I did report some posts way back that video on the SX40 could not handle fast moving objects, they became blurs. Also this is not a fault, it is a failing recognised by Canon and is mentioned in the Sx40 manual. I do not think the Panasonic FZ150 has this problem. If the subjects are slow moving or still the video is excellent.

I rather think this may be something to do with the sensor used and may be fixed on the next incarnation of the SX40.

Robert

[woody66]

Wow , beautiful birdshot neil , well done .

[hinnark]

What I don't like with this camera is the flimsy small plastic wheel at the back one has to use for manual focussing. It's not easy to avoid accidental pressing of one of the four positions for other functions this wheel has.

Steve

[Malcolm Stewart]

Originally Posted by Malcolm Stewart

...

I'll give it more testing this next few days, as I'm off to Norfolk & Suffolk, and hope to visit some bird reserves.

I used the SX40 HS exclusively for around a week both on a tripod and hand held, and have now got round to doing some comparisons with my normal birding gear, a 50D attached to an EF 500 F4L IS. Quite a difference in size! There's simply no way that I would have been comfortable carting my normal gear around Orford Ness on a fully subscribed conducted tour, as we were last Friday, so the SX40 did well, and captured decent shots of a brown hare.

I've also included a screen capture showing that the angles of view are very similar. Of course, what is different is the depth of field, shown very clearly in the foliage behind the chimney. What is puzzling is that both shots show similar sharpness at the 100% pixels level, and I'm now wondering what magic Canon have incorporated into the lens of the SX40 HS so that fluorite elements aren't needed! (Or perhaps ED/UD glass has now been improved to quite a high level...?)

I'm still struggling with the "strange-to-me" camera interface, and I'll be surprised if I can do half-decent birds-in-flight with the SX40. But others do quite well, so there's a new challenge.

[AndyM]

Originally Posted by MikeJenx

Although I liked the look and feel of the P510, I was not prepared to take a punt on a product which has received remarkably little interest from BF users considering the fact that it has such a powerful zoom.

I've been using the P500 for a few months now and look forward to putting the 42x zoom of the P510 through its paces in a year or so when they are virtually giving them away ;-)

I'm no expert, but I can't really see why the Nikon's appear to have fallen by the wayside.

Seriously, the attached images were all taken with a P500, hand held using full zoom and I am more than happy with the results. Take a good look and tell me where Nikon are going wrong?

AndyM