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Is there a 'best' bridge/superzoom camera for birders? (1 Viewer)

B

Ben Markham

Well-known member
I've been using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 for 2-3 years now, and the main problem I have with it is its small zoom, 12x optical to be exact.

So I've read into bridge/superzoom cameras and cannot decide which is best for me. It will mostly be used for taking photographs of birds, so I seek the help of other birders.

Which bridge camera should I buy then? I've narrowed what I consider the best and latest down to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150, the Nikon Coolpix P510, the Fujifilm FinePix HS30EXR, the Canon PowerShot SX40 HS and the Sony Cyber Shot DSC HX200V.

I've heard greats things of the Canon SX40, is it a cut above the rest for taking pictures of birds at long-range?
 
They are all good cameras, but I think the Canon and the Panasonic standout above the other two. I have the FZ150 and it is a great camera for birding, although it doesn't have the long reach of the Canon. I chose it mainly for its speed and ease of use ( I already have other Panasonic cameras and its controls are familiar). It has much faster burst rates than the Canon and supposedly faster autofocus, although I can't measure that factor. But the burst rates alone were enough to sell me on the camera. It will autofocus between burst rate shots at 2 and 5fps. The Canon can autofocus between shots at less than 1 fps. Also, I believe from what I've read, that the Canon can only do its 10 FPS for 8 shots in a "Scene" mode, which I think means you can't set shutter speed when doing your burst. With the FZ150 you can set the shutter speed on all the bursts including 40 and 60 fps. This means that you should be able to "freeze" motion, rather than getting a lot of blurry shots. On another matter, I don't know how the Canon performs in this area, but you should check. When shooting a burst with the FZ150 you can see what you are shooting as you take it, some superzoom's their viewfinders blackout during that process. With the FZ150 after you've taken a burst, you can immediately start shooting another lot. A lot of the other superzoom's make you wait 10-15 seconds while they process the shots. The FZ150 doesn't do that. To me, that means I can get more shots more quickly than on the other cameras. With fast moving birds that can be critical. I also use the extra optical zoom, which will take me out to 50x. It works quite well and helps in focusing on small subjects, although the Canon will do something similar.
 
If start-up time is a priority for you, get the Fuji as its manual zoom system (like a DSLR zoom lens) allows you to leave your zoom setting at the last selected option even if the camera is powered off.
 
I have come from a DSLR backround and have just bought a Canon SX40, considering the price and sensor size it is an amazing little Camera IMHO. Attached is a shot I took this morning in less than ideal light - hand held at full zoom (840mm) ISO 400 and 1/320 sec and cropped heavily This is the first so called 'super zoom' I have owned so cannot compare it with others but for the price of less than a DSLR converter (I paid £245) it is a great little walkabout IMO.
 

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Roy C said:
I have come from a DSLR backround and have just bought a Canon SX40, considering the price and sensor size it is an amazing little Camera IMHO. Attached is a shot I took this morning in less than ideal light - hand held at full zoom (840mm) ISO 400 and 1/320 sec and cropped heavily This is the first so called 'super zoom' I have owned so cannot compare it with others but for the price of less than a DSLR converter (I paid £245) it is a great little walkabout IMO.
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Great shot Roy! Does the SX40 have any setting that allows the camera to zoom to the last zoom setting or a preset one after you switch it off? Would be useful to get it to start up at 840mm the moment it is switched on. :t:
 
Hor Kee said:
Great shot Roy! Does the SX40 have any setting that allows the camera to zoom to the last zoom setting or a preset one after you switch it off? Would be useful to get it to start up at 840mm the moment it is switched on. :t:
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No I do not think it has. When you switch off it automatically retracts the lens in its parked position and when you switch back on again it goes to 24mm -takes a few seconds to zoom it out to 840mm. Mind you I have only had a the Cam for a few days.
 
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Hor Kee said:
Great shot Roy! Does the SX40 have any setting that allows the camera to zoom to the last zoom setting or a preset one after you switch it off? Would be useful to get it to start up at 840mm the moment it is switched on. :t:
Click to expand...

I believe it does actually, I have the SX40 and I think that you can set the start up zoom with the custom settings (C1 and C2) where you can also set your ISO and all other paraphanalia. I seem to recall I accidently set the zoom full on here and then wondered why when I next turned the camera on it shot all the way to 35x !!!!!
 
All interesting and informative posts. I may have to take a trip to Curry's, not to buy but to test out some of these cameras and compare their features. Tell me Roy, where did you purchase it for such a low price of £245? Also, is the audio on the video stereo or mono? It doesn't bother me too much but I've looked up different answers from different websites.
 
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Ben Markham said:
All interesting and informative posts. I may have to take a trip to Curry's, not to buy but to test out some of these cameras and compare their features. Tell me Roy, where did you purchase it for such a low price of £245? Also, is the audio on the video stereo or mono? It doesn't bother me too much but I've looked up different answers from different websites.
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Hi Ben, I got mine from digitalRev - ordered on Sunday evening and delivered to my house Thursday lunchtime, not bad from HK.
Not tried video I am afraid as I am only interested in stills.
 
Ben Markham said:
Also, is the audio on the video stereo or mono? It doesn't bother me too much but I've looked up different answers from different websites.
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It is stereo, according to Canon's website. I guess they should know.

It looks a very interesting camera and Roy's images are superb as always.

Ron
 
Thanks for the quick answer. This websites' offer seems too good to be true. The camera incredibly cheap plus a free bag, 18 month warranty with no import tax. I know the website is based in Australia and the product you receive only has to have an English setting, it may not be from your country. They make sure you have the correct charging cable for your country though.

http://cameraparadise.com/Canon-Pow...uxe-Soft-Case-PSC-4100-1179.html#.T-iahsURBpa
 
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Excellent image from the Canon. By the way the FZ150 does have a "lens resume" function which returns the lens to the zoom position it was set at when you turned it off.
 
Ben Markham said:
Thanks for the quick answer. This websites' offer seems too good to be true. The camera incredibly cheap plus a free bag, 18 month warranty with no import tax. I know the website is based in Australia and the product you receive only has to have an English setting, it may not be from your country. They make sure you have the correct charging cable for your country though.

http://cameraparadise.com/Canon-Pow...uxe-Soft-Case-PSC-4100-1179.html#.T-iahsURBpa
Click to expand...

By the time you add insured shipping and clearance fees (which seems to be import duty) it come out at ~£265 so not quite such a good deal. Also a 18 month warranty is all well and good but presumably you'd need to return it to them in Australia which woud be expensive and take some time.
 
Here is another one from the SX40 yesterday - I am sure the FZ150 or other 'superzooms' would do just as well. What has surprised me most with the SX40 is the noise level at ISO 400 and even 800 which are well usable although you do need to make sure you do not underexpose and try to bring back in processing.
This one was hand held at 840mm and 1/320 sec ISO 400.
 

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Roy C said:
Here is another one from the SX40 yesterday - I am sure the FZ150 or other 'superzooms' would do just as well. What has surprised me most with the SX40 is the noise level at ISO 400 and even 800 which are well usable although you do need to make sure you do not underexpose and try to bring back in processing.
This one was hand held at 840mm and 1/320 sec ISO 400.
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Impressive.

What is the macro function like? How do these cameras compare in macro mode?

Edit - I'd also be interested to see examples of flight shots (eg, perhaps of a gull ot two) from these cameras.

Cheers,

Andy.
 
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A couple more questions. Roy, if DigitalRev is Hong Kong based, was your camera UK spec or China spec? Also does it matter at all?

Finally, and this applies to any and all people, is the Sandisk Extreme a good SDHC card to buy or should I go with Transcend?
 
Ben Markham said:
A couple more questions. Roy, if DigitalRev is Hong Kong based, was your camera UK spec or China spec? Also does it matter at all?
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It did not really matter to me, the only difference I can see is the disc with the user manual on is not English but you can download it anyway (I downloaded a copy before I even bought the Camera)there is a Digital Camera Solution Disk which has multi languages inc English. The only thing that was not supplied is the power lead for the battery charger but I had a couple from my DSLR Cameras, it is the standard little moulded 2 pin plug that you get with all sorts of electrical equipment. The actual outer box is a standard one all in English with a small Chinese sticker on it. For some reason there was also a strange travel adapter supplied (still cannot work out what it is for!).
EDIT: I have just had a gander in the box and there is leaflet on the type of power supply plug that you need for the battery charger for each country.
 
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tittletattler said:
Edit - I'd also be interested to see examples of flight shots (eg, perhaps of a gull ot two) from these cameras.

Cheers,

Andy.
Click to expand...
So would I :-O In all seriousness I have not even tried flight shots but I would not have thought it would be fast enough focusing, it has a servo mode but again I doubt if it would be up to much for locking on flyers - there are several DSLR cameras and reasonably expensive lenses out there that are crap at BIF so I do not think this little £250 combo can be expected to be up to that myself but you never know.
 
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Hi Roy

Out of interest what would you say the zoom is compared to binoculars? I had a Fuji for a few weeks on trial about a year ago and found that by the time you had zoomed to what you would see with the naked eye the zoom was well below what was claimed.
Also is there any chance of posting one of your shots pre crop?

Regards

John
 
draycotebirding said:
Hi Roy

Out of interest what would you say the zoom is compared to binoculars? I had a Fuji for a few weeks on trial about a year ago and found that by the time you had zoomed to what you would see with the naked eye the zoom was well below what was claimed.
Also is there any chance of posting one of your shots pre crop?

Regards

John
Click to expand...
Hi John, my impressions are that the zoom focal length at the long end is similar to DSLR zoom lenses in that they only ever reach the advertised focal length when shooting at infinity (if ever, as there is usually a 5 or 10 percent tolerance anyway). With all these zoom lenses, the nearer you focus then the less focal length you get. Even with a Canon L lens like the 100-400 when shooting at 'normal' distances for birds I doubt if you would get more than around 375mm and near the MFD you will be lucky to get much more than 330mm - a lot of the Sigma zooms are worst still.
I have taken many shots with a 7D and Canon 400/5.6 prime (effectively 640mm) from the same spot as the shots I have posted on here (around 15 feet) and I would estimate the SX40 at full zoom at this distance is around 700-750mm at most. The longer the focusing distance then the nearer to 840mm you will get.
 
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