Panasonic DC-FZ82 (1 Viewer)

[Derbyfella]

I've had this a little while now - but want to use it more when im birding particularily when in hides -but also when out and about. but im still getting used to it. - ive watched some but not all of the excellent videos on youtube by graham Houghton.

But im finding a couple of issues when birding for example - this blurring/softening on the kingfisher shot -i presume this was because it was at full zoom? ie using some digital zoom and the camera has done its job.....but not very well

where as the second image (which was actually the first on site - you can see speckles on wing feathers etc is just optical zoom?



Likewise this kestrel shot.....

How can i get better image quality please... also struggling to get photos because of the time take for the camera to focus. i'm guessing a lot of people use the burst facility? to get multiple shots?? but if they are all are out of focus that is still pointless.

thank you everyone

 

[njlarsen]

I've had this a little while now - but want to use it more when im birding particularily when in hides -but also when out and about. but im still getting used to it. - ive watched some but not all of the excellent videos on youtube by graham Houghton.

But im finding a couple of issues when birding for example - this blurring/softening on the kingfisher shot -i presume this was because it was at full zoom? ie using some digital zoom and the camera has done its job.....but not very well

where as the second image (which was actually the first on site - you can see speckles on wing feathers etc is just optical zoom?
View attachment 1617671View attachment 1617673View attachment 1617674


Likewise this kestrel shot.....

How can i get better image quality please... also struggling to get photos because of the time take for the camera to focus. i'm guessing a lot of people use the burst facility? to get multiple shots?? but if they are all are out of focus that is still pointless.

thank you everyone

When I used a bridge camera I started using burst shooting (3-4 per burst) and I still do that after having moved up to m43 format. I felt especially at long zoom the shutter time often became long so shaking was a problem, and air movements also vary. I often found that one shot in a series was better than the others.

The other thing I found was that using the smallest possible focusing area worked best for me.
Niels

 

[Derbyfella]

The other thing I found was that using the smallest possible focusing area worked best for me.
Niels

How do you do that please?

 

[njlarsen]

How do you do that please?

I have a different model from yours so cannot be sure it is exactly the same: open the screen in photo mode, touch the af box with a finger to select it, then you can use the wheel to change the size of it.
Hope this helps.
Niels

 

[MelospizaMelodiaFan]

Your AF could have been focusing on nearby branches. When I had a bridge camera, I would focus and recompose. As Niels recommended, use the smallest focusing point. Half press to focus on the bird, recompose your image, then fully press down to take the shot. Of course, this is simpler if you want the bird in the center.

Due to the telephoto focal length, any movement by you or the bird can cause blur, so always shoot in bursts. If 1 out of 4 is sharp, that is a good result. Also, make sure your lens image stabilization is ON. This was a switch on my FZ150.

Are you using iAuto, or one of the other modes? I would work towards using Shutter priority, Aperture priority, or Manual mode. iAuto may or may not choose the best settings for your lighting conditions. Once you learn more about photography, your keeper rate will increase.