I took a bird walk with my local club this morning and realized I'd really like to try bird photography. Not with expectations of magazine-quality shots, but just to share what I'm seeing with family and friends. I got home and did a little reading, to see if a superzoom-type camera could deliver decent results and saw enough fine examples online to believe that it can. I narrowed my choices down to the Canon SX50, Nikon P600, Fuji S1 or Panasonic FZ70. They all have features I liked and things I probably won't like....what made me take the plunge was finding a refurbished SX50 direct from Canon USA with 1 year warranty for $230.
Did I do good?
Below are my thoughts on the various models, based on my quickie research....this review figured heavily in my decision, but it wasn't really written for birders so maybe weights the wrong factors:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2014/10/25/best-superzoom-2014-8-competitors-2.5-clear-winners
Since the refurb only has a 14 day return period and I might not get to test it thoroughly within that time, I'm still open to suggestions.
SX50 - popular with birders, good image quality, shoots RAW and offers good JPEGs. I want good JPEGs for quick sharing with friends and would like to have RAW to play with, too. Has a quick-zoom feature to help find your subject, which sounds handy.
Nikon P600 - longest zoom and great JPEG quality but no RAW. Not sure how important that is - I am only just starting to play with RAWs in my travel photography. Reportedly long delay when writing images to the SD card, as long as 30 seconds after shooting a burst....how important is that in a birding camera?
Fuji S1 - Great build quality and good optic. But max zoom is only actually ~1100mm. Shoots RAW but JPEGS out of the camera look over-processed and lacking fine detail (like feathers?). Would I see the difference between these JPEGs and, say, the Canon's when just sharing online? If the slightly shorter zoom and JPEG quality aren't really huge issues I like this camera, not least because it's weather resistant - I don't usually plan to go out in the rain but sometimes nature brings her surprises.
Panasonic FZ70 - I am a Panny loyalist, having shot their compact and m43 cameras for years, so had to include one of their models. And the menus on this camera would probably be most familiar - not a small thing for this old dog. But I don't think image quality quite matches the 3 leaders. Should I give it another look? It can be got cheaply, especially as a refurb.
Any thoughts?
Did I do good?
Below are my thoughts on the various models, based on my quickie research....this review figured heavily in my decision, but it wasn't really written for birders so maybe weights the wrong factors:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2014/10/25/best-superzoom-2014-8-competitors-2.5-clear-winners
Since the refurb only has a 14 day return period and I might not get to test it thoroughly within that time, I'm still open to suggestions.
SX50 - popular with birders, good image quality, shoots RAW and offers good JPEGs. I want good JPEGs for quick sharing with friends and would like to have RAW to play with, too. Has a quick-zoom feature to help find your subject, which sounds handy.
Nikon P600 - longest zoom and great JPEG quality but no RAW. Not sure how important that is - I am only just starting to play with RAWs in my travel photography. Reportedly long delay when writing images to the SD card, as long as 30 seconds after shooting a burst....how important is that in a birding camera?
Fuji S1 - Great build quality and good optic. But max zoom is only actually ~1100mm. Shoots RAW but JPEGS out of the camera look over-processed and lacking fine detail (like feathers?). Would I see the difference between these JPEGs and, say, the Canon's when just sharing online? If the slightly shorter zoom and JPEG quality aren't really huge issues I like this camera, not least because it's weather resistant - I don't usually plan to go out in the rain but sometimes nature brings her surprises.
Panasonic FZ70 - I am a Panny loyalist, having shot their compact and m43 cameras for years, so had to include one of their models. And the menus on this camera would probably be most familiar - not a small thing for this old dog. But I don't think image quality quite matches the 3 leaders. Should I give it another look? It can be got cheaply, especially as a refurb.
Any thoughts?