I would love to start taking good quality photos of all the beautiful birds in my garden so, would like to buy a camera. Can anyone recommend a good quality (not mega expensive) camera that can take photos up to 10 meters away? Thank you! :)
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Unknown said:The true focal length of the lens on a typical Bridge is probably around 150mm, but with a crop factor of 8 or so, the equivalent field of view is 1200mm. Hope that makes sense! I might have to do a special GoA thread on this subject :-)
I think you may have to WJ. For those of us in the terminally bewildered category it's probably very necessary. For what it's worth the EXIF data on the photos from the SX50 it says the focal length is 215 mm. Does that make sense?
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Tony
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For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides, binoculars, scopes, tripods, etc - put 'Birding Tips' into the search box
I use a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000. It's coping with the abuse it gets. It works well for what I want even if I am hanging my nose over a canon - The pro for me is not having to change lenses. I can be a little clumsy and the the thought of dropping an expensive piece of kit brings me out in a cold sweat, it was bad enough when I dropped this one a few weeks back
Lens pushed to it's max - the subject was about 100mtrs away in shade on AF - I tend not to come off AF as I don't have time to set up shots.
I have also had to reduce it's size to be able to post it
Macro
Cin J
Unknown said:the EXIF data on the photos from the SX50 it says the focal length is 215 mm
It does indeed - that makes the crop factor 1200/215 = 5.6
You do have to be careful with advertised statistics on Bridge cameras, manufacturers are a bit notorious for picking and choosing how they represent their hardware to the public. I once had a chap proudly explain to me his Bridge was a 600mm f/2.8 at a fraction of the size of my DSLR & 600 f/4. I didn't have the heart to explain it was actually around 100mm with a crop factor, nor how the crop factor affected the depth of field available to him - his shallowest depth of field (at f/2.8) would be roughly the same as my big lens closed down to f/16. The greater depth of field is handy with macro pics of course, but it does make it harder to get that nice blurry background that isolates your subject nicely.
It's why I always ask people how deep they wish to get with any camera purchase - Bridge will give you savings in cost and weight, together with a simpler experience, but something with an interchangeable lens will give you more capability, provided you're willing to invest the money and time to learn how to get the best from it.