Before you spend $2000 for a zoom, check the Powershot SX40hs

Yesterday I was looking at migrators birds near my home, and on that island I talk to a ornithologists, well he proclaimed himself this way.
He's more of a older men who know's about birds....

He got himself a new Canon SX40 that has a reach of 800mm
So It might not be perfect for everyone, but believe me, you can see the birds
that are far away,you just need a tripod to take the pics, it has also the IS so it takes the birds clearly.
You could see the heron feather's nicely detailed. maybe nut as nice as a $4000 lens, but hey, IT DOES MAKE THE JOB for someone on a tigh budget, you might check it out for yourself.

And it's easy to carry that little bugger!

I often wonder about doing something like that....

sega62 wrote in post #13324346
you can see the birds
that are far away,you just need a tripod to take the pics, it has also the IS so it takes the birds clearly.

If it's on a tripod (any lens or camera) IS has no effect. The shutter speed is going to be the key factor getting a sharp image of birds/wildlife.

Actually it may be worth a look at that camera.

I got fed up of carrying around a whole load of Canon 1DIII kit and lenses quite a while back!
The trouble is I've never really found a lighter alternative that reacts quickly enough. Shutter lag, slow AF and so on rule most of them out. Probably this one too, but I will have a look...

Bill Roberts wrote in post #13324387
Actually it may be worth a look at that camera.

I got fed up of carrying around a whole load of Canon 1DIII kit and lenses quite a while back!
The trouble is I've never really found a lighter alternative that reacts quickly enough. Shutter lag, slow AF and so on rule most of them out. Probably this one too, but I will have a look...

Take a look, because my friend has the sx 20 and it's really nice, for the price....or invest $3000 on a lens and converter hahahah,

ct1co2 wrote in post #13324362
If it's on a tripod (any lens or camera) IS has no effect. The shutter speed is going to be the key factor getting a sharp image of birds/wildlife.

What I meant is if it's windy, and your lens is a the longest reach, the camera the image shake's...believe me.
So it's a plus to have the IS......i'm sure of that!!!!

Bill Roberts wrote in post #13324387
...The trouble is I've never really found a lighter alternative that reacts quickly enough. Shutter lag, slow AF and so on rule most of them out. Probably this one too, but I will have a look...

I don't know how much of an improvement the SX40hs is over the SX10is, but I have the latter and the shutter lag and slow shot-to-shot time are the major downers for me. I use the SX10 for casual macro shooting, and for snapshots when I don't feel like carrying my DSLR kit, but it's at a distinct disadvantage for:

Sports (or anything moving)
Low light / High ISO situations
Anything where you want to deliberately create shallow DOF
Anything which requires shots in rapid succession

I'm not a birder so I haven't tried it for that purpose, but my experience tells me it would be okay for slow-moving or stationary birds - but you could pretty much forget about any success with BIF or anything which was moving around at much more than a crawl speed. Unless the SX40hs has changed greatly, I'd guess it would be an exercise in frustration for most people.

Veemac wrote in post #13324584
I don't know how much of an improvement the SX40hs is over the SX10is, but I have the latter and the shutter lag and slow shot-to-shot time are the major downers for me. I use the SX10 for casual macro shooting, and for snapshots when I don't feel like carrying my DSLR kit, but it's at a distinct disadvantage for:

Sports (or anything moving)
Low light / High ISO situations
Anything where you want to deliberately create shallow DOF
Anything which requires shots in rapid succession

I'm not a birder so I haven't tried it for that purpose, but my experience tells me it would be okay for slow-moving or stationary birds - but you could pretty much forget about any success with BIF or anything which was moving around at much more than a crawl speed. Unless the SX40hs has changed greatly, I'd guess it would be an exercise in frustration for most people.

VERY TRUE, that is the main ''problem'' with this lens, but if you are shooting birds that are on a wire or big birds that are not flying like crazy swirls, you can have plenty of fun.
But usually people that want a sport lens, will invest big dollars, it's the only way.

Thanks for that Mac, and indeed sega62

I suspect that the camera I really want just doesn't exist yet... something of the size and quality of the Olympus OM1 but with all the response of a 1D mkIV ! Oh... and affordable too

Bill Roberts wrote in post #13324627
Thanks for that Mac, and indeed sega62

I suspect that the camera I really want just doesn't exist yet... something of the size and quality of the Olympus OM1 but with all the response of a 1D mkIV ! Oh... and affordable too

Hahahaha. Hey, if they invented such a camera, how are they going to survive?
They want different models, to make money, what you think.
But it's capitalism that drive's companies, not our interest in the end, we spend money like crazy!

No matter where I look, I can not find a good quality "zoom" photo taken with any of these super-zoom cameras. Can anyone share any if they have them?

http://www.flickr.com/​groups/1741755@N24/poo​l/

Birds ans squirrels looks good, the rest is typical P&S IQ, IMO.

It looks like it doesn't have RAW support...

FujiFilm has model HS20EXR with 30X zoom, 16MP, 12800ISO, RAW and it is less expensive.

enrigonz wrote in post #13326595
No matter where I look, I can not find a good quality "zoom" photo taken with any of these super-zoom cameras. Can anyone share any if they have them?

crickets...

enrigonz wrote in post #13326595
No matter where I look, I can not find a good quality "zoom" photo taken with any of these super-zoom cameras. Can anyone share any if they have them?

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1001476
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=975759

Candor wrote in post #13326701
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1001476
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=975759

Great job and awesome shots, but you know somebody is going to pixel-peep one of them at 732% and complain about softness in one of the corners or something.