Camera for birds or distance

[wendyl]

As usual vhg has useful advice on previous post re camera, perhaps i might ask for some too
I have a FujiFinepixE550 which I am very happy with. I looked into adding a telescopic lens to this but quite expensive and not as readily available as a wide angle lens it seems. Is it worth the expense or would I be better to obtain a different camera and which - thanks

I live by the sea and would like to take pictures of sailing boats etc and birds

[vehelpfulguy]

I dont want people to think I am a camera expert, I'm not !.

Anyway. it seems many people who want to take pictures of birds use a combination of a camera and a telescope. This is called digiscoping (found out about this on the RSPB site).

There is a web site dedicated to it here.

http://www.digiscoping.co.uk/

I guess the other option is to buy a camera with a HUGE built in zoom.

Here is one from Panasonic with a 12x zoom built in, and a good quality Leica lens. It also has image stabilization to reduce camera shake.

It is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8. Hunt around and you can get it for less than �200.

I have not got one of these cameras but plan to buy one in a month or so after my holiday.

More here:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/ review/2007/05/05/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-FZ8/p1

[jno]

http://www.cameras.co.uk/camera-reviews/panaso nic-dmc-tz1.cfm

those are good, though best in good lighting - the pictures look rather speckled when taken in lower light. But they're very light and with a great zoom. Depends if they're in your price range

[wendyl]

thanks for that I believe somebody on this site was recently also recommending this camera I did start to look it up the other day but there were several similar models and I was not sure which one it was. Have to go and feed my hubby now but will follow up your link later

[fo3nix]

Your current camera won't cut it with the zoom.

You're probably going to want a good long lens, and then either somewhere steady to rest it (maybe a tripod), or image stabilisation.

With a digital SLR, you'll get great results, but because the lenses are interchangeable, you can run into some complications.

There also exist power zoom cameras, such as the Panasonic models as vhg suggests (I'd also suggest them), that have quite large zoom lenses, with image stabilisation.

I'd suggest you visit a camera shop and try out one of the panasonics.

If the 12x zoom is enough to get you close enough to the birds, you may well be happy with the Panasonic. However, the beauty of an SLR is that you can always go out and buy a larger lens.

[wendyl]

Thanks all of you I'll probably settle for the Panasonic it seems a good buy and more compact and less expensive than SLR