Not sure where to actually ask this but, can anyone recommend a good started camera for taking photographs of birds in the garden?

Thank you for the reply! After having a look at the bridge cameras, I have to agree that the zoom on some of them is really good and I have to agree with you on the DSLR quality too :) This is proving to be a very difficult thing to decide on :) I do really like your point of trading in my camera, if I decide to change to a DLSR in the future so, I will definitely keep that in mind!

Thank you for the lens specs! That has given me a good idea to go researching with! Although, I doubt I'll need 1200mm to take photos in my garden :) I do tend to get a lot of birds in the evening time so, I will take into account the potential for grainy pictures, thank you for the info on that. Ah, of course, "Bridge" makes perfect sense to call it that :)
You are 100% right there! :) I think I'll need it, Thank you!:)

The FF equivalent focal length of the SX50 at full stretch is 1200mm IIRC, so you've plenty of reach. Bridge cameras manage these large equivalent lengths by having a relatively small sensor - a true1200mm lens on FF would be very large. If the sensor is half the size of a FF one, it is said to have a "crop factor" of 2 and you'd need a 600mm lens on such a sensor to give the equivalent field of view as 1200mm on FF. A 4x crop factor needs a 300mm lens for the same field of view and so on. 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 :-)

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?

Hi

as usual I recommend the LUMIX range of bridge cameras- often to be found used on ebay etc.
i use a FZ300 SERIES:

S

I think it does, thank you :) I feel quite proud that I've sort of understood that although, I'm probably gonna have to read this whole chat thread again tomorrow :) If there are more people like me with no clue, then I'm sure lots of people would appreciate it! Thank you again!

Hello,

I did have a read about that range and they seem pretty good! Are there any specific cameras from that range, you would recommend for taking photos at10m?
Thank you!

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 

Thank you!
It seems like Panasonic Lumix is a very popular choice :) That's good that it can take a beating cause it means it will last a long time and survive any potential clumsiness from myself :) Considering it's 100m and reduced, it's great photo! I really like the two moths(?) too!

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.