Hi guys
Being new to photography, can anyone advise me on the best settings to use for general bird/wildlife photos. I use a Fuji HS20 EXR Bridge camera which has a manual 30x zoom which goes from 28mm wide to 720mm telephoto. It also has the ability to use manual focus. There are a number of settings the same as a DSLR, Programme auto, Aparture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual and EXR auto etc. It also is capable of RAW shooting as well as jpg.
I have tried most of the programmes available and Programme Auto is giving me the best results. However, I feel that if I knew how to set the camera in the other modes the results would be better.
Also, I have read that when using a tripod you should switch off image stablisation. Is this the case?
The reason I opted for this camera was even though it looks like a DSLR, it is a lot lighter and you don't have to carry any extra lenses. It's great for ID shots and has a really good macro setting which allows you to get as close as 1cm from the subject.
Below is an example shot taken on max zoom at about 150 feet away using Programme Auto.
Regards
Steve
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Last week we had snow across much of the country, Everyone was turning up with photos of grey , muddy looking snow , and dark featureless birds. The culprit ? Aperture priority. It had underexposed due to the overall brighness of the scene. You get the same effect with birds against sky.
Aperture priority has a purpose but you have to know when it isn't suitable. I merely want people to learn about their cameras and the various functions so they know which is the right one for a given situation instead of blindly sticking to AP.
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Checkout the forums' Community HOMEPAGE for lots of interesting posts from other members.
Been playing with switching my IS off and also shooting at f6.3 over the weekend (my 100-400mm has 5.6 max aperture) and the results seem to be significantly better. You live and learn :-)
if thats a canon 100-400 i have found good results shooting at f8
For those of you asking about DSLR techniques there is currently a free and comprehensive ebook available on Amazon. I've read a bit of it so far and it is very good.You can use it on your Android phone or any other Kindle device or download the free PC Kindle reader which is excellent. Just put this in the Amazon search engine.
"Tony Northrup's DSLR Book: How to Create Stunning Digital Photography [Kindle Edition]".
Dave