Sneaking around the reeds, Part 2 (inspired by Richard)

[JonFZ300]

 

[Fujidave]

Well spotted and taken shot.

 

[WesternGuy]

Nice capture.

WesternGuy

 

[JonFZ300]

Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.

This is the first time I really tried out the "pinpoint" focus setting on my FZ300. This is also the first time I locked it on f5 or smaller for a whole day's shooting. I'm trying to break my f2.8, 1/2000 second habit. I also made a point of not going full 600mm EFL on these, which is another bad habit I need to break. They are sharper at 500-550 and I can crop. I'm very happy with the shots from this session. They are as sharp as you can get with a superzoom and a small sensor. Here's a full crop of the same pic with the pinpoint focus on the beak tip. It's definitely not tack sharp like some stuff on here, but for a $400 camera, I'll take it.

 

[Fujidave]

As long as you are happy then that`s the main thing, some nice detail in the crop too.

 

[JonFZ300]

As long as you are happy then that`s the main thing, some nice detail in the crop too.

Someday I'll join the big leagues lol. I'd like to have a nikon D5200 with that 200-500 but that just ain't happening at this station in life.

 

[MSnowy]

Nice one!

 

[Richard Hutchings]

Great shot! This could have been the same bird and reeds. I love my DSLR but miss the ability to take shots like yours on my Canon SX30. I still have it so...

 

[Jeff1582 82]

Nice one.....

 

[K9Kirk]

Nice capture!

 

[RowdyRay]

Pretty nice bridge camera. Glad you're stepping outside of your comfort zone. That's how you learn. Practice on things that aren't real important. By that I mean, everyday objects. Change the settings and see how it affects the image. Then when you stumble onto something really cool, you'll have a better idea of what the settings should be. That's what I've been doing and it's helped a lot. Not that I'm any expert, but trying really hard. Lol.

Not too bad with the crop. Are you using any editing program? A decent one could maybe clean that up a bit.

 

[Photo Lady]

love it.. great photo

 

[JonFZ300]

Thanks everybody for the kind words!

Pretty nice bridge camera. Glad you're stepping outside of your comfort zone. That's how you learn. Practice on things that aren't real important. By that I mean, everyday objects. Change the settings and see how it affects the image. Then when you stumble onto something really cool, you'll have a better idea of what the settings should be. That's what I've been doing and it's helped a lot. Not that I'm any expert, but trying really hard. Lol.

Not too bad with the crop. Are you using any editing program? A decent one could maybe clean that up a bit.

Oh yeah I do all that. I've been shooting a long time and generally know how it all works. I just got into a rut thinking you had to have a blistering shutter speed for birds and you really don't. I've found anything faster than 1/250 should be able to stop motion. As for the crop, I purposely left that SOOC to show the quality at full size and untouched. I know it's not great but that's at almost full zoom on a small sensor bridge camera. I pretty much never fully crop something for that reason. It's decent but pretty soft. The full image looks pretty sharp to me though. Thanks for your comments.