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

Canon SX50 Specs (2 Viewers)

Thanks

I want to thank all who have written in this thread. I buy the camera in march after reading two dozens pages of the thread. I have not been here since then. I was using the camera. My experience is very positive. I was taking photos with a skywatcher 600 ed in primary focus and a canon d5000. It was good for harens or ducks in a lagoon, but not so good for small birds in constant movement from a branch to other. Too slow. It is large easier walk and see birds now. I only have bad results still with flying birds of prey.
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http://birdingmanzanares.blogspot.com.es/
 
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Tele-converter

There has been some discussion on this thread about why the tele-converter works better than digital zoom. I have not seen this response so forgive me if it is a repeat. I just discovered this statement in the manual, (I'm sure you have all read every word of the manal:=),

"This can reduce camera shake because the shutter speed is faster than it would be if you zoomed out digitally to the same zoom factor." interesting.
 
Just a couple of pics

Since everyone else has posted some results, here are some of mine. Again, most are pretty soft but so much better than my previous digiscoping efforts that I am really happy with the SX50.
 

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A couple shots for the other day and today.

First what I believe is a cooper's hawk. It was in the shadows against a bright blue sky and I had to make large adjustments to brightness and contrast to be able to get the colors out. Not great but good enough for ID.

The other is a rare visitor to my yard. Eastern Towhee. They are not rare in my area but I have never seen one in my yard. This one appears to be getting ready to go south as they are listed as summer only residents of Massachusetts.
 

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A couple shots for the other day and today.

First what I believe is a cooper's hawk. It was in the shadows against a bright blue sky and I had to make large adjustments to brightness and contrast to be able to get the colors out. Not great but good enough for ID.

The other is a rare visitor to my yard. Eastern Towhee. They are not rare in my area but I have never seen one in my yard. This one appears to be getting ready to go south as they are listed as summer only residents of Massachusetts.

Cool stuff. Really like the sharpness on your Towhee shots. My SX50 should arrive tomorrow to replace my dreadful FUJI Finepix S2500HD (aka the AA battery drainer... argh).
 
Keep trying various settings,but don't quite seem to be able to get the same sharpness as some other users.
 

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Zoom setting

There has been some discussion concerning setting the zoom on C1 or C2 and some have indicated that they want it to zoom out to be ready. I have set mine to zoom to 600mm thus giving enough telephoto to see the bird good so I can get it centered and then zoom the rest of the way manually. I think this works better because if it goes all the way out initially I have difficulty finding the bird. I have found that zooming in and out manually is easier than using the buttons on the side, for some reason I can't seem to find those buttons quickly but my finger is always on the shutter/zoom button.

For those who are new, to set the zoom, turn the mode dial to the mode you want to shoot in, I am currently using Av. Be sure all your menu settings are set the way you want them to be during your photo session, zoom to what ever you want the lens to zoom to when you turn the camera on, in my case it would be half way out ie 600mm, then toggle the menu down to save settings and save them to whichever custom setting you want them on by selecting either C1 or C2 and pressing the set button, I use C1.

Hope this helps.

Here are some resent shots from my morning walks. It's that time of year for sparrows around here and here are three of the four North American Zonotrichias. The Red-necked Grebe is a fairly rare inland bird, currently spending time on a small pond in Ashland, Oregon and a county lifer for quite a few folks. I threw in the Junco cause I love blackberry leaves in the fall. I love my SX50
 

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"I have set mine to zoom to 600mm thus giving enough telephoto to see the bird good so I can get it centered and then zoom the rest of the way manually. I think this works better because if it goes all the way out initially I have difficulty finding the bird."

I agree it's tough to find a bird if the lens starts at maximum (or minimum) zoom. I've set mine to 200 and that seems to work for me.

Jeff
 
The Merlin and the Chickadee

I was out for a walk again this afternoon when a Merlin shot past over my head and landed in a distant tree. I guess he was in attack mode and snagged some lunch before landing. The camera continues to impress me, the pictures are quite grainy but again, the camera comes through and despite the distance of at least 600 feet, I can tell that this is a Taiga Race Merlin and he is feasting on a chickadee. I zoomed out to 100 mm to give a perspective of distance.
 

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Those demos are always fun.

Here is a new demo of the reach from my trip to Maine last weekend.

A common aider. Same bird zoomed out and in the center of the photo. My kid to my right with me on top of the cliff.
 

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"I have set mine to zoom to 600mm thus giving enough telephoto to see the bird good so I can get it centered and then zoom the rest of the way manually. I think this works better because if it goes all the way out initially I have difficulty finding the bird."

I agree it's tough to find a bird if the lens starts at maximum (or minimum) zoom. I've set mine to 200 and that seems to work for me.

Jeff

You know about the zoom-back button (top one on the side of the lens front of camera)? I use it all the time. With the lens at full zoom it pulls back to 300mm quickly enabling rapid framing. Releasing it zooms back to full zoom again equally quickly.

If you tap the shutter while holding the button it stays at 300mm when you release.
 
You know about the zoom-back button (top one on the side of the lens front of camera)? I use it all the time. With the lens at full zoom it pulls back to 300mm quickly enabling rapid framing. Releasing it zooms back to full zoom again equally quickly.

If you tap the shutter while holding the button it stays at 300mm when you release.

Ya it would be nearly impossible to get some shots without that. Soaring hawks for example but handy most of the time otherwise as well.

I also use it all the time.
 
Finally getting in some practice with the zoom. Still not getting the IQ that some others are getting, though.
Jeff
 

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Jeff do you have AF Frame set to "flexzone" I find that that's the single most important setting to get the focus on a bird as it will only focus on the center of the frame (unless you move it) where presumably you have the bird centered.

In a photo like that I'd first center on the eyeball to focus with the shutter button half pressed and then shift the camera to get the whole bird in.
 
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