digitalbirdy said:Dave your squirrel photos show the oly550 certainly has potential. - and Micks Long Tailed Tit (I think ?) show that with an add on teleconverter, this could be the setup to go for (for those who want to spend less than £2000/$4000).
I have seen some really good photos from the oly550 using a raynox2020pro 2.2x tele (equivalent of about 1200mm zoom - and with auto focus!) - and when used at iso100 the feather detail is really quite good - and more importantly, the image noise quite acceptable.
With practice you will find that your photos will get better and better and being small and light, no doubt you'll always have the camera with you ;o)
Adrian
David Smith said:Hi Mick
Big improvement. So long as we realise it's limitations, with some practice, we will improve. Like you I went out today but it was raining and quite dark. Took some of birds but they're only any good for i.d. Got some decent ones of a squirrel which shows camera is good so long as we don't expect too much.
David Smith said:Mick
I visited there late last year-couldn't believe the price. As you say, for 2 (or even a family group) it's expensive.
Are your photos with the 1.7 TC ?
I attach one I took at week-end on full zoom. I'm quite pleased with it.
I was surprised at the bad press this camera has had! I have no experience with any similar camera but I think it's amazing to get so much zoom into such a small package.
I have always found p&s cameras difficult/slow to focus and the shutter lad is bad (never understood why they can overcome it in DSLR but not p&s)-the technology must be there and people would galdly pay the extra.
I'm away for 1 week in April and will do some digiscope & some telephoto-see what the results are.
For some reason I can't attach the photo-will try later.
Mick Sway said:Hello
Took a trip out to Martin Mere last Sunday.
Attached a few photo's from there.
Most taken at 15 - 20 m distance, some on High Shutter Setting.
The cost of getting in was a bit of a shock @ 2 x £7.90, I know that they do good work but that's a bit expensive I think.
Also wasn't impressed with the lack of protection for a Moorhen's nest
with a large clutch of eggs, within yards of the path.
Lovely day out though.
Best
Mick
David Smith said:I think its attached now-I can't get the hang of downsizing, how do you do it ?
digitalbirdy said:Wow Mick I am really impressed with the first photo you have here from Martin Mere - awesome.
Looks like the camera really has promise for birding.
By the way regarding adapters for conecting the oly550 to add on lenses. I did see somewhere on the net last week that specialist firms are selling them.
Oh and I think oly does a tube too, but it will proably need a step up, or down ring to connect the Raynox2020pro.
Mick, don't be too discouraged by its inability to focus on a moving bird in the sky. This is a problem with just about ALL superzooms, and even with a DSLR it takes a lot of practice. How does the camera focus under regular conditions? Is it as problematic as the Dpreview review says?Mick Sway said:I regret too confirm the Camera's slow focus and inability to latch on to
flying birds, particularly when set agianst a blue back sky.
Arubalisa said:These were taken with my oly550 set on auto. All were taken through my sliding glass door with the camera on a tripod except for the squirrel on the ground.
You can stop it from doing this by using Spot Metering (at least that's what it is called on my older C-750), instead of the default metering. Spot metering affects both the focus and the exposure and forces the camera to focus and take an exposure reading off the center of the screen - where the ( ) remains stationary. I don't know why Olympus makes that other metering mode the default (the one where it jumps around), but it is REALLY annoying.David Smith said:1) To focus there is a ( ) in the middle. When I depress the button this ( ) jumps around and is very 'off putting'