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What’s the best bridge camera for birding? (1 Viewer)

Hi Neil,

To be honest,if your friend wishes to stick with bridge cameras,she will never get really great results from a bird photography perspective as they just have'nt got the performance that is required.

Out of curiosity, what is the type of equipment you consider suited for great results?

I admit that I wouldn't use a bridge camera if bird photography were my primary focus, but it's pretty similar in performance to my DSLR rig, which was fairly good (for amateur use) 10 years ago.

Regards,

Henning
 
To be honest,if your friend wishes to stick with bridge cameras,she will never get really great results from a bird photography perspective as they just have'nt got the performance that is required.

Really?......Lumix FZ1000 Bridge.
 

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A friend is seeking advice on a replacement for her c. 5-year-old Canon SX60 HS. She’s dissatisfied with its performance at full zoom and is willing to sacrifice some focal length for better image sharpness at maximum extension. She uses it almost exclusively for birding and wants to stick with the bridge camera format.

So, money not necessarily being an object, what would you folks recommend? I can’t help her myself since I’ve had zero experience with bridge cameras.

No need to sacrifice focal length just dont use it fully zoomed, you still have the extra length if you want it that way.
It would be interesting to see what they are dissatisfied with to give a better idea of recommendations.
Yes bridge cameras have their limitations but they also have their strong points.
Would your friend be happy with this.
 

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I said in my above post that the canon g3x was capable of great results in the right circumstances......you just do not get as many opportunities to take "great" bird photographs with a bridge camera full stop.
I've owned the g3x and taken some cracking photos with it in the right conditions.......i also own a nikon d7200 with a nikon 200-500mm lens and im afraid that there is no comparison.....the slr with its big bulky lens will better a 1 inch sensor bridge camera in every respect......thats what i was saying.
If you want the best quality an slr is the only option.......better autofocus,better low light performance,better noise control,more flexability etc,etc.
I'll say it again,the latest bridge cameras are capable of excellent results in the right conditions,as ive said all along,but if bird photography is your main interest and you want ultimate quality,a bridge camera is'nt a patch on a good dslr and lens.
How many professioal wildlife photographers make a living with a bridge camera!!!

Ps,
Ken,if you are satisfied with the level of quality in your sample photos,a bridge camera is all you need.
 
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I said in my above post that the canon g3x was capable of great results in the right circumstances......you just do not get as many opportunities to take "great" bird photographs with a bridge camera full stop.
I've owned the g3x and taken some cracking photos with it in the right conditions.......i also own a nikon d7200 with a nikon 200-500mm lens and im afraid that there is no comparison.....the slr with its big bulky lens will better a 1 inch sensor bridge camera in every respect......thats what i was saying.
If you want the best quality an slr is the only option.......better autofocus,better low light performance,better noise control,more flexability etc,etc.
I'll say it again,the latest bridge cameras are capable of excellent results in the right conditions,as ive said all along,but if bird photography is your main interest and you want ultimate quality,a bridge camera is'nt a patch on a good dslr and lens.
How many professioal wildlife photographers make a living with a bridge camera!!!

Ps,
Ken,if you are satisfied with the level of quality in your sample photos,a bridge camera is all you need.

This is the problem we face when questions like this are ask, unless example pictures are posted as to what the OP is unhappy/happy with we have no idea what to recommend.
No getting away from it a DSLR is the best but it can often be more than is wanted.
 
i also own a nikon d7200 with a nikon 200-500mm lens and im afraid that there is no comparison.....the slr with its big bulky lens will better a 1 inch sensor bridge camera in every respect.

The Nikon D7200 + 200-500mm costs Euro 2000. Do you really get better photos, say, of birds in flight than Thomas Stirr with the Nikon V2 (810 mm equivalent, 1 inch sensor) that costs only Euro 800 and weighs 970g? Also, the charm of the V2 is the simplicity of handling, I found it even easier to use than the Canon SX50.

Other DSLR problems: adjusting lenses, shutter breaks, high costs if you fall into a pond... ;-)

Edit: Sorry if the above sounds like trolling. I've seen phantastic shots with a D7200, e.g. this thread. In particular non-flying birds. The V2 with its AA filter has limits. - Still, it seems counterintuitive to suggest a heavy DSLR to a Canon SX60 user. It's not the "logical next step" as an upgrade. Just my 2 cents.
 
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Yeah I think derailing this with "what is best" misses the point of "they want what they want."

DSLR may be best photos, but weight-vs-reach requires a gym membership, for example. I've swung-around a D700 with a fixed-aperture NIKKOR 70-200 and while the photos are gorgeous it's really a challenge to go for a two hour walk swinging that beast around for birds in flight. And yes, we do that with some regularity, my girlfriend with her D700 + 70-300 and me with my SX60.

Bridge/superzooms have their place if you know your compromises well. You can get good, even great, photos but will generally require you to work outside the Auto mode. Now if you ask for everything to be perfect in auto mode and have long reach, I'm afraid then bridge cameras will disappoint.

My 2¢ worth for Fugl's friend is to learn to work outside Auto with the SX60 they have unless they have some specific issue that some other bridge camera can specifically solve. If they are looking for less range, there are likely are better bridge cameras.

You can check my gallery to see what the SX60 is capable of with even some basic, amateurish tweaking. Photos out to 50m, 80m, even past 100m including birds in flight are possible. It just depends on your friend's goals. Happy to share my settings and techniques, such as they are.
 
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It's not necessarily saying wonderful results can't be obtained with many different types of cameras, from superzoom small sensors to high-end bridge cameras to mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras to APS-C DSLRs to full-frame pro body DSLRs.

But if you had to decide overall based purely on the maximum diversity and availability of lenses, reach, focus speed and performance, tracking ability, low-light IQ, high-ISO performance, low-light focus ability, control over DOF, and so on, that the top system would be a full-frame DSLR with high res and advanced focus, followed by crop body DSLRs and APS-C sensor mirrorless cameras, then by full-frame mirrorless (only ranking below APS-C mirrorless because of less lens adaptability and focus only a match or exceeding on 1 current body), followed by Micro4:3, followed by 1" sensor cameras, followed by smaller sensor bridge cameras. Taking all into consideration.

In perfect conditions, perfect light, the right shooting distance, there's precious little difference in overall IQ between a wide range of cameras. And the photographer's skill and experience can make a massive difference - ie: an unskilled newbie with a D850 and top of the line 500mm lens can still get worse results than a highly-experienced birder with a 1" sensor camera.

I've settled on an APS-C sensor, mirrorless interchangeable lens camera as my absolute favorite birding and wildlife rig, having shot through various smaller sensor superzooms to larger sensor bridge to DSLRs over the years. I still have a DSLR system with lenses from 300mm primes to 150-600mm zooms. But my mirrorless system is the right size, right design, right sensor, right focusing ability and speed, right tracking, and right lenses to work for me 99% of the time. While I know I might get better results with a full-frame DSLR and top of the line lens in some conditions or situations, I can get good enough in those situations with the system I have now, excellent in all other areas where I most commonly shoot, and have a system that's relatively affordable and decently light and portable (relative of course to what you're used to), so for me, it's the best choice. For someone else, a bridge might be the best mix of compromise vs desires...others, only a full-frame DSLR with $10,000 lens will make them happy. It's all OK.
 
I think your order of preference is debatable. For general use I would not take a full frame with me if I had an apsc for bird photography (assuming top of the line of both). I would like to have a full frame also for certain types of bird photography but not if I had to do without an apsc.
 
Best is too subjective IMO as we all favor certain color palettes, focal lengths, looks/feel, etc. I have a few bridge cams including a Canon SX40, Canon SX50, Fuji X-S1, had/sold the Fuji S-1, had/sold a Nikon P530, but my favorites the past 3 years have been my Kodak Pixpro zoom cameras. Their recently released Kodak Pixpro AZ652 (65x optical) and AZ901 (90x optical) perform very well and are priced under the competition. I have a mix of images on my Flickr site below.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125889350@N03
 
...my favorites the past 3 years have been my Kodak Pixpro zoom cameras. Their recently released Kodak Pixpro AZ652 (65x optical) and AZ901 (90x optical) perform very well and are priced under the competition. I have a mix of images on my Flickr site below.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125889350@N03

Hi Jim - interested on your thoughts on the AZ901. Your Flickr images look pretty good to me. I'm intrigued by this range. The AZ901 was seemingly announced back in 2016 but in the UK at least it's never appeared AFAIK. The 90 x optical zoom sounds very compelling but of course that's only a number and it's all about the real world quality one can expect from such a massive zoom on a small sensor. Particularly like to see some low-light samples and your thoughts on the effectiveness of the image stabilisation at such monster zooms.

As yet, I can't find a UK retailer but judging by recent posts it does seem to be becoming available worldwide now and judging by the B&H dollar price should be circa £400...
 
Kodak has a new one that goes to almost 2000 mm and its less than $500 there are pics on DP Review's Kodaak forum.
Steve

Just a word of warning you can no longer have confidence in something just because it carries the Kodak name, it's a branding exercise most of the time and nothing to do with Kodak, not saying this is the case with this but check carefully.
 
A friend is seeking advice on a replacement for her c. 5-year-old Canon SX60 HS. She’s dissatisfied with its performance at full zoom and is willing to sacrifice some focal length for better image sharpness at maximum extension. She uses it almost exclusively for birding and wants to stick with the bridge camera format.

So, money not necessarily being an object, what would you folks recommend?
So Fugl, did your friend ever pick something?
 
Yes, she did, another SX60 HS. I tried to steer her towards one of the newer alternatives suggested here but she was adamant.
 
I'm biased, and had very, very specific needs when I purchased my SX60, but I've long since learned few share my specific needs and that honestly does put the SX60 farther down the list, generally.

What was her reasoning to get another?
 
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