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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

New Camera Advice (1 Viewer)

No problem, Paul. Always happy to help when I can.đź‘Ť

You make a good point about switching cameras and/or systems. Some inexperienced photographers think that buying a bigger, faster, more expensive camera will automatically result in better images, but that isn't necessarily the case. The best advice is to upgrade when you feel you've gone as far as you can with your existing gear. It sounds as if that's what you're doing.

I look forward to seeing your results with the P950, especially because, as I said, I considered buying that camera myself.

Malcolm
 
Post #39

Malcolm nails it here for me with “I'm a birder not a photographer”.

The Sony RX10 IV is the camera I’m going to have with me; my Canon 7D MKii & 100-400 MKii is going to be either still at home or in the car when needed!

If you’re commercially reliant on your camera for photography assignments for National Geographic your going to need to look elsewhere.

I’m not a photographer as I’ve said, but virtually all the photos on my quick and dirty birding blog over the last year are with the Sony. My next camera will be the Mk V if it materialises!

Good luck with your deliberations.
 
Post #39

Malcolm nails it here for me with “I'm a birder not a photographer”.

The Sony RX10 IV is the camera I’m going to have with me; my Canon 7D MKii & 100-400 MKii is going to be either still at home or in the car when needed!

If you’re commercially reliant on your camera for photography assignments for National Geographic your going to need to look elsewhere.

I’m not a photographer as I’ve said, but virtually all the photos on my quick and dirty birding blog over the last year are with the Sony. My next camera will be the Mk V if it materialises!

Good luck with your deliberations.

Cheers. I wouldn't class myself as anything in particular. I like the walks, watching the birds chase one another around on a nice day, and watching them singing and enjoying themselves; sometimes I'll take pictures and other times I'll watch. If I didn't have a camera I'd go out with my binoculars and watch, but because I have a camera and I have other things I want to do, then I'll pick and choose my days and it follows they will be nice days. I wouldn't travel to see a rare bird, but I would travel anywhere in the country to see a black redstart. I'd rather watch a skylark in the air on a nice day than bump into a very rare bird. That sort of thing. So for me, I want to improve my pictures for the challenge of what I'm able to achieve, but the core of my enjoyment comes from watching my favourite birds on a nice day, and at this point my favourite birds remain pretty much what they always were: robin, skylark, chaffinch, blackbird. I've seen a few new birds in the last year or so, but none of them have the all round quality of those I've mentioned in my opinion and I think part of that is due to what you saw in your childhood and what's ingrained in your mind as being synonymous with nature.


So, maybe I'm someone who just likes nature and this all probably lends itself towards buying a decent camera, which will give me the chance to take some interesting pictures of my favourite birds enjoying themselves, as opposed to the best camera around.
 
Cheers. I wouldn't class myself as anything in particular. I like the walks, watching the birds chase one another around on a nice day, and watching them singing and enjoying themselves; sometimes I'll take pictures and other times I'll watch. If I didn't have a camera I'd go out with my binoculars and watch, but because I have a camera and I have other things I want to do, then I'll pick and choose my days and it follows they will be nice days. I wouldn't travel to see a rare bird, but I would travel anywhere in the country to see a black redstart. I'd rather watch a skylark in the air on a nice day than bump into a very rare bird. That sort of thing. So for me, I want to improve my pictures for the challenge of what I'm able to achieve, but the core of my enjoyment comes from watching my favourite birds on a nice day, and at this point my favourite birds remain pretty much what they always were: robin, skylark, chaffinch, blackbird. I've seen a few new birds in the last year or so, but none of them have the all round quality of those I've mentioned in my opinion and I think part of that is due to what you saw in your childhood and what's ingrained in your mind as being synonymous with nature.


So, maybe I'm someone who just likes nature and this all probably lends itself towards buying a decent camera, which will give me the chance to take some interesting pictures of my favourite birds enjoying themselves, as opposed to the best camera around.
Dear Paul,

Judging from your gallery, you've already put your P950 to good use. What is your verdict? And how does it compare to your old camera?
 
Dear Paul,

Judging from your gallery, you've already put your P950 to good use. What is your verdict? And how does it compare to your old camera?

My verdict is that it's what I'd hoped for as a starting point.

In terms of versus the FZ330: much better in not so good light, 'can get a much higher shutter speed in not so good light, and the zoom does make a significant difference. Whether or not it's better value at twice the price is open to debate, but I'm not really thinking about that.

I would say: easy to use and full zoom doesn't impact image quality as far as I can tell.

The one drawback I have found is focus, but that only applies when at quite a distance or the background is hazy or cloudy sky. 'Easily overcome, take your pictures with trees in the background or something, and it's surprisingly good at 2000mm/400 shutter speed in low light, when aimed away from the sky, providing you have the camera steady.

All in all, 'happy with it, and my impression at the moment is that I can get significantly better quality images with this camera: it's down to me to make the most of it.
 
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