For the last couple of months I've have Gaz's DSLR Canon EOS7 and assorted superb Canon lenses available to use. The reason was to help me decide whether I was going to continue using a bridge camera or go for a DSLR having abandoned the format when I started travelling so far away by plane where carrying a heavy DSLR with the lenses I would want just isn't practical. There are a lot of pros and cons for each format but for me it came down in the end to my principal use of the camera, its versatility and it's portability.
What few people seem to realise (because few read the small print) is that any camera and suchlike equipment carried in the hold of a plane is not insured either by the carrier (because most carriers forbid its carriage in hold luggage) nor by most travel insurance policies. Thus it has to be hand luggage. Gaz's camera bag is designed to meet international travel flight sizes. However it can't be carried on the FlyBe flights to and from the Island because it is too large and the weight limit is 6 kilos. International flights I use usually allow 7 kilos. Gaz's camera equipment weighs 14k and that's without his laptop etc.
My principal camera use is for my blogs and for photos of record. I don't want to print A3 size pictures. I do want to be able to photograph a landscape one minute and a buzzard flying above me the next. It goes without saying that I want a comfortable body (don't we all), a good lens and the ability to shoot in RAW. After that Versatility is everything.
So my latest camera is another bridge camera but this time, as Sony have dropped their main selling point (imprinted GPS positioning on the metadata), I've switched to Canon and their 1200mm equivalent lensed SX50 HS. So far I'm well pleased.
These shots were taken on a dull afternoon at full zoom with the camera hand held. The buzzard is 244 metres away from me. The images are not perfect by any means but they certainly serve their purpose for identification.
What few people seem to realise (because few read the small print) is that any camera and suchlike equipment carried in the hold of a plane is not insured either by the carrier (because most carriers forbid its carriage in hold luggage) nor by most travel insurance policies. Thus it has to be hand luggage. Gaz's camera bag is designed to meet international travel flight sizes. However it can't be carried on the FlyBe flights to and from the Island because it is too large and the weight limit is 6 kilos. International flights I use usually allow 7 kilos. Gaz's camera equipment weighs 14k and that's without his laptop etc.
My principal camera use is for my blogs and for photos of record. I don't want to print A3 size pictures. I do want to be able to photograph a landscape one minute and a buzzard flying above me the next. It goes without saying that I want a comfortable body (don't we all), a good lens and the ability to shoot in RAW. After that Versatility is everything.
So my latest camera is another bridge camera but this time, as Sony have dropped their main selling point (imprinted GPS positioning on the metadata), I've switched to Canon and their 1200mm equivalent lensed SX50 HS. So far I'm well pleased.
These shots were taken on a dull afternoon at full zoom with the camera hand held. The buzzard is 244 metres away from me. The images are not perfect by any means but they certainly serve their purpose for identification.
This picture of a robin taken through my kitchen window does show what the lens can offer in terms of clarity:
