I have panasonic fz 200 and it compares to my Fuji hs50. Both work well
depending on the light and distance. I tend to use the panasonic when I
plan to do a lot of macro, but want a good zoom. The fuji when I'm doing
mostly zoom work(having a non motorized zoom lens is a big battery saver
and quicker focus - also has standard macro focus)
On Fri, Jul 15, 2016 at 5:17 PM, Lew & Marti Ligocki <
ligockisas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Focal Point, a camera store in Dallas, sells used gear and the owner is
very knowledgeable about what he sells.
We stepped down from our Canon 20D DSLRs to Sony DSC-H100, H200 and
finally the H400. We’ve been quite satisfied with the image quality and
the 10x optical zoom is a big help with distant and/or small birds. We
made the change because, as I neared 70, I could no longer carry the 20D
and lens for any length of time. The Sonys weigh about 1.5 lbs and do a
great job with video in low light.
Marti Ligocki
South Salem
*From:* Brandon Green <brandon.green18@xxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Friday, July 15, 2016 2:27 PM
*To:* OBOL <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [obol] Re: starter camera
My sub-$500 "bridge" camera is a Panasonic DMC-FZ300. While Panasonic is
not known as a big player in the camera industry, this is one of the better
of the "super-zoom" class of cameras and has a really nice Leica lens that
is f/2.8 throughout the zoom range. Thus, it is good for photographing
birds in less-than-optimal lighting and has a pretty decent autofocus
system. This is what I use when I may want to photograph an interesting
bird that I might encounter out in the field, but don't want to haul around
my Canon 7D SLR with its heavy EF-300 lens and teleconverter.
Speaking of SLRs, if expanding your budget is possible, you might want to
consider an entry-level SLR with a good lens that zooms to 300 mm. When I
first began doing bird photography, I considered going with one of the
super-zooms like the Panasonic, but ended up buying a Nikon D40x SLR and a
Nikon 70-300 mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR AF-S lens for about $800. I was glad
that I paid the extra money because the autofocus and image quality in low
light were better than what I would've had with one of the super-zoom
models. That 70-300 mm lens has built-in image stabilization and really
excellent optics for $500. If you're able to go this route, I'd recommend
pairing this lens with one of the current entry-level Nikon camera bodies,
such as the D3200 (~$350). You may even be able to save a few bucks by
purchasing a used camera body.
Wow, this current thread is really inspiring me to do some bird
photography! Too bad that adult responsibilities currently won't allow for
that. :(
Brandon
Eugene
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