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Canon G3X for Birding (1 Viewer)

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. |=)|

Hi Mzettie. I obviously didn't explain myself very well before. I meant the G3X menu is the same as I am used to from my SX40. My SX40 struggled at around a frame a second. The G3X will continuously shoot 6 frames per second. Apparently it will shoot at this rate until the card is full? I haven't tried that particular feature out.

It is much faster than an SX40.
 
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.

Chris, the Panasonic FZ1000 shoots at 12 frames per second and it's DFD autofocus is faster than many DSLRs. It's "only" a 400mm superzoom, though.
 
All bridge cameras compromise on some feature but provide you with another as their unique selling point. The G3X is the only 1" sensor with a 600mm lens at the moment. It has no EVF. To me, that is not a huge deal breaker. I reiterate, I am very pleased with this camera and the more I use it, the more I am sure I have made a purchase that suits my style of photography.

I feel that super zoom bridge cameras have seen their best image quality in the much talked about SX50. There were others that also did a good job. Now however the feature selling point seems to be how big the zoom is! This has obviously allowed us to "get closer" to the subject, but at the cost of image quality and poor image stabilisation.

I decided I would step away from the biggest zoom race and move towards a more modest (in terms of superzooms) lens in favour of better image quality. I am not regretting the move.
 

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All bridge cameras compromise on some feature but provide you with another as their unique selling point. The G3X is the only 1" sensor with a 600mm lens at the moment. It has no EVF. To me, that is not a huge deal breaker. I reiterate, I am very pleased with this camera and the more I use it, the more I am sure I have made a purchase that suits my style of photography.

I feel that super zoom bridge cameras have seen their best image quality in the much talked about SX50. There were others that also did a good job. Now however the feature selling point seems to be how big the zoom is! This has obviously allowed us to "get closer" to the subject, but at the cost of image quality and poor image stabilisation.

I decided I would step away from the biggest zoom race and move towards a more modest (in terms of superzooms) lens in favour of better image quality. I am not regretting the move.

I agree with everything you've said, and am still trying to find that "sweet spot" myself. Got spoiled with the super-super-zooms' reach, but would settle for substantially less in return for better low light IQ AND faster, more responsive performance. I don't think I'm the only one looking for this kind of bridge camera....hopefully somebody's listening and I won't have to wait too long to experience the happy relationship you have with the G3X.

In the meantime, I'm really enjoying the fruits of that relationship, hope you'll continue to post pics as you get them.
 
Hope you find your camera soon mzettie. I will keep you informed with how I am getting on.

I used the G3X for some very distant record shots the other day. Had to go into full digital zoom which usually with a small sensor meant the results were poor even for a record shot. I would say the distance was in the 200+ metre range.

This was in very poor light, raining and hand held.

Results are on my blog.

If you want to check it out look here.

http://moochersmoor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/staffordshire-birding_1.html
 
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I am still pleased with the Canon G3X and the quality of the pictures from this compact bridge camera. If you have one on your xmas list, I doubt you will be disappointed. One I took in low light at around 4pm this afternoon.
 

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I am still pleased with the Canon G3X and the quality of the pictures from this compact bridge camera. If you have one on your xmas list, I doubt you will be disappointed. One I took in low light at around 4pm this afternoon.

Very impressive shot.
The G3X is certainly performing well in your hands.

It seems a very attractive all in one travel camera, but the bulk is a concern.
How are you finding it as a birding accessory?
 
Very impressive shot.
The G3X is certainly performing well in your hands.

It seems a very attractive all in one travel camera, but the bulk is a concern.
How are you finding it as a birding accessory?

Hi Etudiant,

I suppose it all depends on what you want from a birding camera. It is more compact than the SX50, but a bit heavier.

It hasn't got the reach of the small sensor super zooms, but the pictures can be cropped harder due to the larger sensor and pixel count.

I loved my SX40 but I prefer thr Canon G3X. For me, it's the ideal walk about nature camera. They aren't cheap, so I would advise getting hands on with one and seeing if it can do what you want and meets your expectations.

Everyone wants different things and have different priorities for their photography,but the G3X suits my style of photography perfectly and gets a big thumbs up from me. :t:
 
Even though I have the P900, I am still intrigued by the G3X mostly because of the larger sensor and the slightly smaller size AND the ability to shoot RAW. The one downside for me is the lack of the built-in EVF and I'm wondering if people use the EVF and how good it is. I just cannot see framing a shot on the LCD... it would be awkward for me.
 
Hi Chris,

My first bridge camera was the Canon SX40, it had an EVF and an LCD screen. I had that camera for about three years. Initially I used it conventionally framing all pictures through the EVF, but within six months, all framing was done via the display.

I now find using the camera in this was much easier. I have toyed with the idea of purchasing and EVF to use with my G3X, however, I have not yet made the purchase and find framing shots is fine on the rear LCD display. I have taken BIF shots also, it becomes easier with practice.

Now I am not saying I won't end up purchasing an EVF, just that I have managed so for without one.

Just a word about shooting raw, the Canon G3X is very slow shooting in raw. In fact, I would estimate it's achieving about 1 picture a second shooting in raw format. I personally use high quality JPGs for my photography. If faster shooting rates are required by you when shooting in raw, or you can't bring yourself to shoot in JPG format then I would suggest the Canon G3X is not the camera for you.

Hope this helps Chris?
 
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Thanks for your response!

We have an SX-40 in our family... I purchased one for my wife back when they came out and in her travels to Alaska, Namibia, Kenya, and Australia/New Zealand, she has come back with fabulous images... it's a delightful little camera.

99% of my shooting is done with a DSLR so using the LCD for framing might be an adjustment so it's likely I'd get the EVF for convenience. Regarding the G3X and RAW, I figured as much. Canon had to be "creative" in including it and I suspect that the processing engine just doesn't have enough "horsepower" to make it any better. My guess is that the high IQ jpegs would be more than enough for me, and if necessary I can always convert them to tif in post-processing.
 
Very impressed with the quality of your pix Moocher.

I'm a big fan and two-year user of the SX50, but impressed by the IQ of your pix, which I'm not close to with the SX50 (especially when I post of BirdForum - for reasons unknown).

Could I ask if you (or indeed anyone else reading this) think the ability to crop pix is significantly higher with the GX3 that it compensates for the loss of reach of the super zooms?

Cheers
Mike
 
Hi Mike,

Thanks for the kind comments on my pictures.

I would say you can crop a little harder, but I wouldn't say significantly.

I too had a Canon superzoom, mine was the SX40. I loved it! However, as I got better at using it, I stopped going for maximum zoom shots and wanted pictures of a better quality.

The G3X has a fine digital zoom facility that is very good. I think the SX50 has the same function. You go into digital zoom and the zoom bar stays yellow to show you are in fine zoom mode. It goes up to x50 in this mode, and with the larger sensor returns very acceptable results.

The Fox picture above was take in digital zoom at x50.

I'm not sure if that has been of any help to you?

Regards

Moocher
 
Useful indeed Moocher - many thanks

I have rarely heard a good word about the digital zoom function so I am frankly amazed by your fox shot!

I will have to experiment further with the SX50 digital zoom, but the G3X is becoming a hot contender for an upgrade.

Cheers
Mike
 
I've recently got my hands on G3 X too and must say been very happy with it, although can't really compare with other modern 'superzooms' because don't have experience with those. I used to do some bird photography before the digital age and used SRL with 300mm zoom lens, compared to what I remember of those days I've been impressed with the range and image quality in G3 X. Even with the full optical + digital zoom (= about 100x) image is still ok for record shots, but when staying within the 25x optical zoom range the detail in photos is good.

Still early days and haven't got my head around with tuning all the various settings, but attached couple samples.

Pasi
 

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G3x

Great pic pph. I doubt you will have any regrets with your purchase. I certainly haven't.

Here is a shot from the weekend. Overcast conditions using digital zoom handheld.
 

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