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

What do FZ18 users think of there Camera? (2 Viewers)

Cactusdave said:
When I say full zoom Emma, I mean full 8 megapixel optical zoom. I haven't used digital zoom and I wouldn't plan to. Several contributors have used the 5 and 3 megapixel 'extra' optical zooms to good effect, but I haven't tried those. I have the Pemaraal adaptor and step rings to fit both the old Olympus B300 X1.7 converter that I used in the past with an earlier digital camera, and the Nikon TC-15ED X1.5 converter that I got from Ebay. I haven't tried them in anger yet. The Nikon adaptor feels like it might be better balanced for hand held shots, It's certainly lighter. I have no experience with the Olympus T-CON 17, which is the more recent incarnation of the B300, but lots of people here use it to good effect. Don't forget to tell the camera you are using a teleconverter, see page 89 in the manual.;)
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Buddhist Vegan Birder said:
I have found that using the Sport - Outdoor setting can get good results (if you're quick enough to keep the bird in the viewfinder)... including managing a Swift and Barn Swallows being fed...

Lisa
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Thank you Dave and Lisa for your advice! I think it is going to be a case of trying the various settings and find which is best suited to the 'surrounds' of the photo I want to take!

I went to my local nature reserve last night and had my first proper attempts with my convertor, the light was starting to fade but I was pretty pleased with my pics and was even more impressed of the quality of the pics after I had cropped them! I have attached a before and after crop pic of a Snipe, I used P mode to take the photo! If anyone can give me a few pointers they will be most appreciated!!
 

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Not a bad shot at all given the light. The original is nice and sharp so the crop isn't half bad either. I would recommend brightening the original a little in your image processing software to compensate for the fading light and large areas of dark mud. I'm hoping to try my converter tomorrow if the birds oblige!
 
See my separate thread for a not too serious side by side comparison of digiscoping, a Canon dSLR plus 500mm telephoto and an FZ18 plus X1.5 teleconvertor.
 
I love the Lumix

I've had this camera about 5 months, and absolutely love it. It is so lightweight that I can take it on hikes and all outdoor activities--which was a prime criteria for not choosing DSLR and lenses. It performs beautifully. I mostly have it a full telephoto, with the pixels reduced to 5, which gives me a 22X telephoto. I am considering getting a teleconverter 1.7X, but for now, I am very happy with this camera. I have posted some of my favorite photos at:

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbsXLZm0cNGOi
 
Have only had mine for a month or so, so far, I love it.

Serious types will be busting down doors for better settings and the like, it can do what you want I gather if you know photography, still stuck on Ai mode myself, but it's good. Great, actually.
Pointed it at a flower-it recognised it was a flower, switched to correct mode!!
How does that work? I pointed it at a Pomeranian, and still said flower mode, but Pomeranians are like that.

Light, holdable, crazy zoom, it's great. Previous camera was a film Pentax, circa '94, 28-80 mm lens. That was awful, in so many ways, this is , IMO, miraculous, even as a point and shoot, which it isn't really.

Same as any digital I guess, have good light, will travel.
 
vortex said:
Have only had mine for a month or so, so far, I love it.
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Exactly. I recently bought a CanonEOS1000D to take serious photos through my TeleVue-85 scope. In practice it does not get used - I take pictures of ships (I overlook a huge harbour) but by the time I get the settings sorted the ship has gone!

If the subject will stand still for 2 or 3 minutes and fits into the fixed field of view of the scope then the Canon is perfect ...

You can see my full experience with these two cameras here (ie with FZ18 and the canon)

http://www.thingysoft.com/myblog/2008_week030.asp#7
 
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