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Canon G3X for Birding (1 Viewer)

Moocher

Well-known member
I would be interested to know if anyone else has had the opportunity to use the new Canon G3X with its 1" Sensor and 600mm lens for birding. I have used one and rather than go through my thoughts again, they are here along with more pictures in my blog. I would be very interested to hear opinions and thoughts from anyone else that has used this camera.

http://moochersmoor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/the-hunt-for-new-walk-about-camera.html
 

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I would be interested to know if anyone else has had the opportunity to use the new Canon G3X with its 1" Sensor and 600mm lens for birding. I have used one and rather than go through my thoughts again, they are here along with more pictures in my blog. I would be very interested to hear opinions and thoughts from anyone else that has used this camera.

http://moochersmoor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/the-hunt-for-new-walk-about-camera.html

Moocher, I'm impressed by your results with the G3X and like you, am intrigued by this camera and wanting better low light performance and IQ than the "superzooms" provide. I'm using the P900 in lieu of a scope/cell phone, and it's only recently I've begun to think of possibly buying a second birding camera. Hope some early adoptees will weigh in.....
 
Moocher, I'm impressed by your results with the G3X and like you, am intrigued by this camera and wanting better low light performance and IQ than the "superzooms" provide. I'm using the P900 in lieu of a scope/cell phone, and it's only recently I've begun to think of possibly buying a second birding camera. Hope some early adoptees will weigh in.....

Hi mzettie. Thank's for your kind words. I now have a replacement G3X. I will post my progress.
 
Lovely. Are you finding the autofocus to be reliable at 600mm?

I have found the auto focus to be pretty good. It is sometimes a little slower and can on occasion search for focus in lower light conditions at 600mm especially with the 1.6x or 2.0x digital converters enabled.

To be honest, I'm very pleased with this camera.

Many reputable camera dealers have a no quibble returns policy if you are unhappy with your purchase, especially online retailers such as Amazon for example. Maybe you could take advantage of this is you fancy giving the camera a go? I even downloaded a PDF user manual so i didn't have to open the original in case I decided to return the camera.
 
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Here was an attempt to get focus on a bird surrounded by foliage and twigs. Auto focus snapped straight onto the birds head.
 

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I have found the auto focus to be pretty good. It is sometimes a little slower and can on occasion search for focus in lower light conditions at 600mm especially with the 1.6x or 2.0x digital converters enabled.

To be honest, I'm very pleased with this camera.

Many reputable camera dealers have a no quibble returns policy if you are unhappy with your purchase, especially online retailers such as Amazon for example. Maybe you could take advantage of this is you fancy giving the camera a go? I even downloaded a PDF user manual so i didn't have to open the original in case I decided to return the camera.

Thank you, glad to hear you're happy with the AF. I do find myself contending with low light conditions a lot, that's one reason I'm considering a 1 inch sensor camera, even though the reach is substantially less than the superzooms. The P900's AF is quite good, but in low light it has to raise ISO and/or slow the shutter speed so much, the image gets degraded anyway.

Interesting that using the teleconverter affects the AF negatively. On my SX50, I used to engage digital zoom when the camera was having a hard time finding focus and it usually helped.....even though the focus square would revert from pinpoint to normal size. Go figure.

I guess you're right, in that I'll probably have to try one to determine it's usefulness for my needs. I just hate to get all enthused about a camera and then have to send it back. Did that with two SX60's.

Thanks for the feedback, looking forward to seeing more pics as you get them.
 
Taken yesterday. Poor light, raining, using the 1.6x teleconverter. Autofocus was fast acquiring the subject.
 

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Taken yesterday. Poor light, raining, using the 1.6x teleconverter. Autofocus was fast acquiring the subject.

Honestly, your photos are a danger to my wallet.
I will have to look at the GX3 more closely, despite its size, because it clearly delivers so much better shots than my pocket zoom.
 
Is your wallet in imminent dander? :-O

I am enjoying the G3X. It's a case a weighing up if it will do the things you want it to. I am finding it it an ideal walk about camera for me.

One from this mornings walk.
 

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Taken yesterday. Poor light, raining, using the 1.6x teleconverter. Autofocus was fast acquiring the subject.

Sweet! IQ in low light is obviously much better than that of the small sensor cameras. Like Etudiant, I'm drooling.

Autofocus is probably much like that of the P900. Both use contrast detect, so it's not just low light that affects AF accuracy, but a lack of definition between the subject and the background. I find myself trying to photograph hummers and other small birds against very busy backgrounds a lot (in low light AND at long focal lengths |:S|) so this does concern me.

Another thing I would hope to improve upon with a new camera is BIFs. The P900 is dismal.....I actually had more success with my old SX50 set to "sports mode," even though that camera didn't have a particularly fast burst rate. Any impressions yet about how the G3X might handle moving targets?
 
Sweet! IQ in low light is obviously much better than that of the small sensor cameras. Like Etudiant, I'm drooling.

Another thing I would hope to improve upon with a new camera is BIFs. The P900 is dismal.....I actually had more success with my old SX50 set to "sports mode," even though that camera didn't have a particularly fast burst rate. Any impressions yet about how the G3X might handle moving targets?

I really haven't done much at fast moving targets so far mzettie. Bridge cameras are not ideal for this really. I had some limited success with the Canon SX40. The user interface on the G3X is pretty much the same.

I have popped the G3X into sports mode once since owning it and had a go at BIF.

These results are straight out of the camera and to be honest, I didn't try that hard. The Tern was the most difficult as it was distant and fast. The drawback with the G3X is it has no viewfinder, you can purchase one, but it bumps the price up.

I found that if you have Servo AF turned on, the Shutter rate is too slow. I had the camera set to single focus. I think with a bit of practice results would improve.
 

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I really haven't done much at fast moving targets so far mzettie. Bridge cameras are not ideal for this really. I had some limited success with the Canon SX40. The user interface on the G3X is pretty much the same.

I have popped the G3X into sports mode once since owning it and had a go at BIF.

These results are straight out of the camera and to be honest, I didn't try that hard. The Tern was the most difficult as it was distant and fast. The drawback with the G3X is it has no viewfinder, you can purchase one, but it bumps the price up.

I found that if you have Servo AF turned on, the Shutter rate is too slow. I had the camera set to single focus. I think with a bit of practice results would improve.

Thanks mucho, Moocher. I don't expect to get National Geographic quality BIFs from a bridge cam, but I do expect to be able to see most of a bird's features on a fairly high percentage of shots.
I don't understand why the G3X is so slow. The SX50's speed improved over the SX40's, and the SX60's improved over the SX50's, so.....if the G3X is comparable to the SX40, that means Canon went backwards in this regard. The FZ1000's autofocus and burst speed is actually faster than many DSLRs, so I think Canon's dropped the ball here.......

The lack of a viewfinder doesn't really bother me, since I'm using a Hoodman Loupe anyway. If I did a lot of manual focusing I'd probably want better resolution than it has. But if I was going to spend 300 dollars to get it, I'd buy a Zacuto LCD adapter that would be useful on other cameras down the road.

Well, your still images make me want to impulse buy (like I did with the P900!) but I'm going to have to ponder this one some more. Thank you very much for all the input. |=)|
 
I, for one, am glad that someone else bit the bullet on the G3X... mostly so that I didn't have to... While the 600mm is nice to have, and the 1" sensor as well, I'm really not at all surprised that Canon might have "dumbed down" some functionality of it as to not compete with their own bridge cameras. In terms of BIF, I really don't know of a good option in the Super zoom category. Good tight AF as well as fast enough burst mode requires a lot of processing power which frankly these cameras just are not capable of... Because they are all designed by a design team with a direct link to marketing, it's no wonder something has to suffer... like BIF.

I have yet to even try shooting BIF with the P900... That's the reason why I have a DSLR which shoots 10 fps and a 500mm prime.
 
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