This little fellow posed very nicely for me. There were lots of photographers up at RSPB with very flash cameras with huge lenses, etc. and I was tickled pink that one of them asked me whether I took photos for a living! With my bridge camera??? Mind you, I find this camera to be amazing with what it can manage. I keep thinking about buying a DSLR, one half of me says get one and see what you could do with that and the other half says why do you need another camera when you can get pics like this? What would you do? I could afford to buy a nice camera but would I cope with changing lenses or the weight of a DSLR? Weight is my biggest concern as I do need to hang about sometimes waiting for the right shot and I would have to have a long lens. I do have a tripod but I must admit I never use it! It might be easier if I bought a really super duper one because I would need to carry it around fields, etc. Any advice would be welcome
Like you I have a tripod and hardly ever use it only if I have my husband with me then I might use it. I was in our RSPB hide and a man next to me had a telescope and he put a camera up to the eye piece and took a photo only problem it did cost a lot, you are taking fantastic photos with what you got, may be you could hire one to try or borrow one
Very nice shot of a Siskin, Most of the shots of the birds I have up loaded have either been taken with a Tamron 70-300mm f/3.5-f/5.6 or a Canon 400mm L f/5.6 When using the 400 I need to use a mono pod or tripod as it as no image stabilizer , I find the tripod a bit cumbersome when using in a bird hide having to move the bench out of the a bit for the legs I do like using the 70-300 as it is not to heavy to carry around but at times I have not got the reach I would like, and carrying the two lens round is heavy. I have not used a bridge camera, but I would think that with a Dslr you would ofmore control with iso and aperture? you do take some very good picture with your camera. Also think when you got used to using a |Dlsr and a suitable lens for bird photography you would enjoy the results,, though the lens are very exspensive and heavy see if you can try out a camera and lens in a shop to see how heavy they are and how comfortable it is in your hands
hope this helps
As I've said, I think you do brilliantly with your bird shots! Do you know a book 'Our Garden Birds' by Matt Sewell? A friend gave it me for my birthday and it has slightly quirky illustrations and information.
Excellent capture. I have more control over my settings with a dslr, but if I need to capture that opportunity in a second and I happen to have the wrong lens on, I'm basically buggered, whereas you aren't with your camera!
I sometimes get my tripod out in the house to take a close up of a flower, and I have used it for the occasional night or moon shot. I set it up the other day by the open conservatory window, so that I could creep in ad get a good bird shot in the garden. However, I never saw another bird after I set the tripod up! I think you take some fantastic shoots without the dslr.
Lovely siskin. My mother saw one in her garden yesterday too. They don't call often! I have a similar dilemma to yours. Have a bridge camera, which pleases me on the whole (some annoying dust in the lens at the moment) and I always have it with me in my hanbag. If I bought a dslr, (I occasionally use my son's Canon EOS) with lenses it would be too bulky and heavy to take everywhere. So don't know what to do either!
A very nice shot of a birdie! I also like to take shots of them and I use my expensive cam for that. It doesn't mean you should have it for this purposes and your picture here is the proof for it. But still I think it will give you more flexibility in achieving even more satisfactory results. For shooting birds I use a universal 70-200mm lens - it is not too heavy but it has an image stabilizer and so the shots are nearly all in good focus. Minus is that it is not too fast enough and I use it only when it is a bright day. Sure, if you are really going to take shoots of birds a good dslr is a must for you. Hope this info will help you in your decision and thank you so much for your kind comments on my shots.
@esox Martin my bridge camera allows me to change ISO and aperture, shutter speed etc which is really useful and allows for manual settings although it's not very easy to focus manually. I'm really grateful for your thoughts on lenses, etc. and also for your kind comments on my pics. I shall have to go and have a look in a camera shop but now that Jessops is closed, I will probably have to travel to Cambridge to try something out.
@quietpurplehaze I used to have a book (not sure what it was called) but I will google the book you suggested. I have got bird books and I should get them out and have a look but time has been quite limited this week but thanks for the suggestion and all your kind comments on my pics
@anden Thank you for your information about cameras. I'm not going to have a look at DSLRs for a few months until the weather is a bit better and I will travel to another town to have a look in a good camera shop. I enjoy looking at your pics and thanks for all your kind comments and favs for mine.
February 8th, 2013
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hope this helps
@carolmw I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't be bothered with a tripod