A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity The Bird Lovers Forum Testing New camera on birds

Thanks Dodge and Shirley,,,,,,,
Dodge your right about the Zoom I wonder why camera's do that,, Seems the purpose of it is to get closer and still have a crisp picture,, I goes that's when One would have to buy a slr And all the lens that goes with as you need them for clear crisper pictures on long zoom??

Shirley Thorny will be arounds soon He'll be able to tell us if the red finch will still be here the end of May!

Digital Zoom is a big pile of *#$&! It's good for NOTHING! I don't even know why they put it on cameras. You always want to stay within Optical Zoom. When looking for a new camera look for the highest OPTICAL zoom you can get. High Optical Zoom is slightly more important than high Megapixels,although you want BOTH whenever possible. I use a Digital SLR which doesn't have Zoom settings. You buy different detachable lenses to get the different zooms and effects you want. I have 12 Megapixels and my current lens is probably about 20 - 30 X Optical Zoom or maybe more. Even with High Optical Zoom and Megapixels,the subject HAS to be between 6 - 30 feet away or you won't get a good picture. I like to shoot from a distance of 10 - 12 feet (3 - 4 meters, Terry). I get PERFECT results at that range. Of course, many times you won't be able to get within that "Perfect" range, especially when hiking, so you have to take the best shots you can, but whenever possible, I try to shoot within that range.

I agree with you Thorny !!!! Disappointing as it is,,,,,, I guess that's a good sales technique, to get those camera off the shelves,,

Thorn .

My impression exactly..Only you say it better.

Now am I thinking correctly, in saying in your SLR, the high optical does not take as good of closeups , say of flowers?

All these high Optical cameras, are usb up loaders , arent they?

And you cant get everything you want in one camera.. The further I go , the behinder I get.

I still use my cheap lil Fuji for the flower close ups ..
Another thing .. Both my fuji and canon .....has a problem with some colors.
Like purple and blues, or different shades of red......They do not present the color I see.. Just a few colors......

b

All cameras have a problem with getting flower colors accurately. Fur close-ups I have a Kodak point-and-shoot that takes unbelievable closeups, and actually takes some GREAT bird pics, too......and it fits in my T-shirt Pocket, too!!!

As for SLR close-ups, you have to buy a Macro lens. For My camera this lens costs about $400.00. Most point-and-shoot cameras have a built-in Macro Function. just look on your dial or menu screen for Macro, or it may show a picture of a flower. With Macro, you can make an ant look like an Elephant, or grains of sand look like boulders!!! I REALLY LOVE Macro!!! It is incredible what you can do with it.

Your House Finch should stay all year! They DON'T migrate.

The moral of the story is, dont throw any of the cameras out..LOL

I have macro on the fuji and no one knew the diffference......yep..
However , us fools will keep on buying for our own entertainment.

Yippee

Sun today an to go to 40 for a few days.. Then 32 again... What price success???????????

My son took about 300 bird pics yesterday with his Nikon D80 SLR. He got some INCREDIBLE shots! I will post some of the best later!

oh goody.

did the batteries go dead?lol

Nope. The batteries on a DSLR last for about 5 days of constant use. When they go dead, it takes about 2 1/2 hours to recharge them. Then, they are good for another 5 days. He and I have two batteries each. One in the camera, and a fully charged extra one just in case.

Each ready for 10 days of fun then...........

Is he a photographer for a living/
Or hobby guy?

I'm confused. What is an SLR and DSLR?

SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. That means that your camera is pro-quality and uses a variety of lenses. DSLR stands for DIGITAL Single Lens Reflex.

Dodge, my son is a hobbyist like me. We collaborate and help each other learn our cameras and photography.

Is Diane's SLR and that's why her pictures are great or is it just knowing how to use it correctly?

Diane's is Point and Shoot. She just has 18X OPTICAL Zoom and about 6 - 8 Megapixels. That enables her to REALLY zoom them in, Crop them, and enlarge the cropped parts without ANY loss of quality.

Addin to the mystery......
Do or dont do.

Thanks thorn/son.....

Yep it's 18Xzoom and 10.1 megapixel,, not that the .1 makes a bit of difference, My fuji that I sent Merme was 7. I wanted at least a 10 mpixel... as why I got this one with 10,, I just couldn't afford anything with higher zoom #'s or mp #'s
Dodge was right about the center being focused I know there's a way to open the bracket up for a wider field of focus,, I'll have to read the book AGAIN

Thats beautiful angelblossom.......Why worry of the backgrounds....It give the subject more added attention.........I love the 2nd one.

GO get a cardinal.

Nice Robin Pic!

thanks Thorny,,,,,,,, Hey I took your suggestion and used the flash outside, I found I have a setting called back Light,,, a message popped up on the view and told me I have to use flash with that setting, So I tried a few trial pictures this evening looking west and up in the tree
I think it made a huge difference,,!!!!!!!!!!!!






Compared to this Picture of the Wood pecker, This picture was taken BEFORE I remembered what you said,, and it flew away so I didn't get a second chance,,,,

You got the male AND female House Finch together! GREAT!!! You want multiple birds whenever possible and to get BOTH sexes of the same species in ONE shot is fantastic! That way you can show people quickly and easily the differences.

You also got the picture during the "Golden Hours" when the NATURAL lighting is ideal! These are the hours each day from about 7:00 AM until about 10:00 AM, and AGAIN from about 3:00 PM until about an hour before Sunset. These times give your pictures the BEST possible lighting!

very nice Diane. I've got to figure out how to turn on my flash. It only flashes in the dark.

There's a feeling you get,
When you look to the West,
And your Spirit is crying for leaving.
And the New Day will dawn,
For those who stand long,
And the forest will echo with laughter.

Diane

Excellent ..........


b

I guess I need to experiment with using the flash again. Most of my bird photo ops are out my south living room window. Not the best direction for sunlight, as the side of birds facing me is in shadow. But, what can you do about the flash lighting up the bird's eyes, Thorny?

Thorny, I thought you were going to keep me awake with the lyrics of that song running through my head, as I couldn't remember which song it was, but then it came to me--Stairway to Heaven.

In a tree by the brook
there's a songbird who sings


I've got to get my chair and sit there and get a picture with the flash on of that songbird Thornius.

One of the all time great songs.

The Rolf Harris version is the best!!

let's talk about Robert Plant shall we.

Yes........who are they??????????

More beautiful bird pictures...love looking at photos Diane!!!

Next to birds, MUSIC is my all-consuming lifetime passion. I have thousands and thousands of MP3's from ALL genres of music. My favorite genres?......Rock and Classical.

Thorn, I think we're about the same age and we grew up with the greatest music. I don't think 25 years down the road people are going to be looking at most of this rap music as great music and want to remake it. I listen to classical as well.

Okay, but only because it's a gardening forum!

Hi Dodge, that's easy, Rolf Harris is one of the world's greatest musical artists. Robert Plant... I think he was in some small band a long time ago...

(hope none of his fans ever get my address)!!

Oh .ok

I arent in the musical world...My favorites are western songs and Polish music.

Like Jimmy Sturr................Anyone know him?

I have all the Oldies, but I like the newer stuff as much or better. I LOVE groups like, Tool, Rammstein, Stone Sour, System of a Down, and Thermion Katilot. I am 56 years old.

Currently I like Usher, Nickelback, Clutch (not a new band but I can't help that I'm a Powerplayer), some of Kid Rocks stuff - some is so bad I can't listen to it.

A lot of the groups I listed above are European and/or Scandinavian rock groups.

What the h*ll happened to the birds here??

Subject to change,, we guess??????????