I'm considering buying a digital camera (1 Viewer)

HouseFinch · Oct 17, 2005

Whilst I do love my Olympus Stylus 120 so far as a traditional camera goes, through experience I've found that it is insufficient for photographing wild birds, mainly due to me not being able to get close enough to the subjects before they fly away!

I have taken pictures of domestic birds, and those I am proud of, but I'd love to be able do the same closeups for wild birds.

I have heard that 200mm and above is good for wild birds, and due to the increasing popularity of digital cams, I searched online and found one that appeals to me. It's a Panasonic, and has a 12x optical zoom, equivalent to 35mm-420mm in a film camera, which would be more than enough for me to photograph the birds I seek, and the relatively inexpensive $250 price is attractive: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ4 4MP Digital Camera with 12x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom

However, I'd like a second opinion. I have no experience whatsoever with digital cameras(except for the little 35mm Kodak my sister has), and I'm sure you all could tell me if this would be a good choice. It's not the complexity of learning the ropes that bothers me: I have more than enough time for that. I'd just like to know if this particular model would be sufficient for a hobbyist photographer like me to upgrade, and expand her horizons. |8)|

One more thing: could someone enlighten me on what a 'megapixel' is? I know about regular pixels, and that the more you have, the higher resolution you'll have. My sister's digital camera is 3.2 megapixels at it's highest, and the above camera I'm looking at is 4 megapixels.

Thanks for reading,

HouseFinch

alan_rymer · Oct 17, 2005

HouseFinch said:
Whilst I do love my Olympus Stylus 120 so far as a traditional camera goes, through experience I've found that it is insufficient for photographing wild birds, mainly due to me not being able to get close enough to the subjects before they fly away! I have taken pictures of domestic birds, and those I am proud of, but I'd love to be able do the same closeups for wild birds.

I have heard that 200mm and above is good for wild birds, and due to the increasing popularity of digital cams, I searched online and found one that appeals to me. It's a Panasonic, and has a 12x optical zoom, equivalent to 35mm-420mm in a film camera, which would be more than enough for me to photograph the birds I seek, and the relatively inexpensive $250 price is attractive: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ4 4MP Digital Camera with 12x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom

However, I'd like a second opinion. I have no experience whatsoever with digital cameras(except for the little 35mm Kodak my sister has), and I'm sure you all could tell me if this would be a good choice. It's not the complexity of learning the ropes that bothers me: I have more than enough time for that. I'd just like to know if this particular model would be sufficient for a hobbyist photographer like me to upgrade, and expand her horizons. |8)|

One more thing: could someone enlighten me on what a 'megapixel' is? I know about regular pixels, and that the more you have, the higher resolution you'll have. My sister's digital camera is 3.2 megapixels at it's highest, and the above camera I'm looking at is 4 megapixels.

Thanks for reading,

HouseFinch

Housefinch

The site has digital camera basics ( including pixels )
www.digitalcamerabasics.com
But quickly, a picture is made up of dots, these are called pixels. A million dots is a megapixel (more or less ( 1024x1024 ), dont ask). So the more pixels the beter quality the picture. If its a rubbish picture ( like many of min ) its a better quality rubbish picture!.

As to the camera, http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/fz4_pg5.html says its a good camera ( the conclusion is the last page of his review ).

HTH
Alan

mcapper · Oct 18, 2005

Image quality will generally increase with the number of pixels. As you have more pixels, you can print bigger images or crop (chop out a section) an image and still be left with a good detailed picture. But once you get to a high number of pixels, the size of the sensor on which they are housed is also important. A very small sensor with lots of pixels means that each pixel is very small and this can result in image problems. There are lots of other factors too - that it why the quality increase is just a generalisation. People do seem to get hung up on the pixel number as the be all and end of a camera. There are lots of other factors.

So, you shouldn't have a problem with a 4 megapixel camera and by all accounts the zoom on the Lumix range is excellent. I'm perfectly happy with A4 prints from my 4 megapixel camera. All the Lumix cameras have generally received very good reviews and I know a good number of photographers on here use them - particularly the FZ20.

If you search other threads in this forum, you will see plenty of opinion on this range of camera. I'd also read a few other reviews as suggested in the thread in abve. Go to the Gallery and do a search for pictures taken with the FZ4 (and other Lumix cameras). It helps to be able to see the quality of others photos when choosing a camera. And lastly, make sure you go to a shop and actually hold/try the camera before you buy it. It has to be something you will get along with.

Hope this helsp

Matthew

HouseFinch · Oct 18, 2005

Thanks, your info has helped a lot. I read the review on Steve's Digicams, and also looked at sample pictures, which really impressed me. I also found an image of the camera sitting on a compact disc, so now I have an idea of it's size, which seems perfect for my rather small hands.

I did other research around the net, and decided to go ahead and order it. The print sizes I'll be making are simple 4x6 prints, to fit in a standard photo album, maybe slightly larger prints for favorite photos.

To say the least, I'm really looking forward to receiving this camera: it won't completely replace my traditional one, as I'll still use that for things like vacations, since then I won't always have access to recharged batteries. Also, I don't have to worry about zooming in on people much: they don't fly away. :-O

tswill2 · Jan 16, 2006

Panasonics are fine

HouseFinch said:
Thanks, ..............
To say the least, I'm really looking forward to receiving this camera: it won't completely replace my traditional one, as I'll still use that for things like vacations, since then I won't always have access to recharged batteries. Also, I don't have to worry about zooming in on people much: they don't fly away. :-O

I would recommend that you buy a spare battery or 2 via ebay so that you have plenty of power for it, and also a couple of 512 Mb SD memory cards. What comes with it is OK for trying it out but no good for real shooting. Have a look at my galleries at http://tswill2.smugmug.com/ for an idea of what it can do. I have a FZ30 now, but had a 10 and 20 earlier. All good but I wanted better manual control. I have 3 batteries and a 1Gb card now. Also a TCON17 teleconverter, and a polarizer filter. I keep a Hoya UV filter on the lens all the time. Cheap glass insurance. :t:

I'm considering buying a digital camera (1 Viewer)

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HouseFinch

Self-proclaimed Birdbrain

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mcapper

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HouseFinch

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tswill2

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