Camera zoom for wildlife photos

Lotus-eater

I need some advice about buying a camera for taking wildlife photos.
I really don't know what sort of zoom I should be looking at having not had a large zoom camera before.
The one I am thinking about is the Sony HX1, it has a 20x zoom, which seems alot to me after the 3x zoom I've had before, yet up to 26x zoom is available in cameras about the same price.
I like the Sony as it has rapid a 10 shot feature and it will also take over the job of video shooting for us.

So will the 20x zoom do the job of shooting distant animals and is there anywhere on the web that has a library of photos for the different zooms, so I can see the difference between them?
I have had a look, but I can't find anywhere. Or is it not that simple?

kwikbreaks

With a zoom that big you are going to need a tripod for sure and the faster the lens the better (small F number).

peter_the_piper

Most birders I have seen use a dedicated scope with camera attached. My Fuji has an 18 optical zoom, quite good but gets a bit grainy at maximum. I assume that the difference is that with a scope you are magnifying the picture before the camera see's it and with a zoom camera its magnified in its own lenses. Having said that I've taken some quite good closeups with the fuji.

mr_fishbulb

Lenses measure their 'wide angle' (zoom out) and 'telephoto' (zoom in) by the focal length in mm.

The wider the angle, the more you can fit in the frame, and the lower the mm. Typical wide angle mm for non-dSLR cameras is 28 or 35.

Conversely the further you can zoom, the higher the mm. The multiple between the wide angle and the telephoto extremes of the lens is referred to as Nx (where N is a number).

For example a lens starting at 28mm and going to 280mm is 10x.
But a lens starting at 35mm and going to 350mm is also 10x, so you cannot directly compare.

Also the more the zoom, the more vibration it will pick up (it will be magnified) and the image can be blurred. The solution is a good tripod and a fast shutter speed. It is recommended that you have a shutter speed of at least 1/focal length. I.e. if you have a 300mm lens, you should have a shutter speed of 1/300th of a second or faster.

Image stabilisation of the lens can help in this case, but you still need a faster shutter speed for a longer zoom.

For wildlife photography, a zoom going to 400mm is generally recommended. But you need more for birds as they are a lot smaller.

That Sony HX1 has a 28mm wide angle so the telephoto would be 560mm.

A 26x zoom starting at 28mm would zoom to 728mm.
A 26x zoom starting at 35mm would zoom to 910mm.
You would need a lot of light to be able to get a sharp photo at those zooms.

I'm not recommending the Sony here, as I don't know of the other options available. Just trying to show you what is behind a 20x or a 26x zoom.

Have a read on dpreview at some reviews of super-zoom bridge camera's (super-zoom means 10x or more zoom. Bridge means it's got lots of features of dSLRs but the lens is fixed).

Here is there review of that Sony - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydschx1/

totalsolutions

Well put mr_fishbulb.


Trying to say x20 of what?? myself , well done sir!

Lotus-eater

Right thanks for that, I had to read through all that a few times to get it into my thick skull, but I think I get the idea.
I have a decent tripod already and guessed I would have to use one to get the best long distance shots.
From what I can see then, this suits me nicely, with everything up to doing what I want, I'm not (obviously) an expert, so decent quality normal shots is what I'm after and will probably leave it on auto for much of the time.
This does seem a simple point and click, together with some decent features that seem to either do better or equivalent to other camera options with that high sized lens.

kwikbreaks

The other thing you'll need is a remote release (cable or IR - check that the camera supports it) to avoid shake from pressing the shutter release even with a tripod. You can get away with using the self timer on some subject but wildlife ain't one of them for obvious reasons.

Those wildlife pictures you see on TV and in books look great but there was a lot of expensive kit plus blood sweat and tears involved in getting them in the can.

darich

Pretty much agree with everything said before me.

All I would add is that when I put 800mm of lens on my SLR (which is around 22x 35mm) I can still only get small shots of blue tits and sparrows on the bird table approximately 6m away.
They're small birds but I'd need a longer lens to really fill the frame.

Taking shots of the cat is completely different - even on 400mm it's sometimes too big because I don't often want the cat to completely fill the frame - I normally want a bit of space for the cat to "look" or "move" into.

kwikbreaks

Is that an SLR or a DSLR?

My biggest zoom is 300mm (on a DSLR so 480mm equiv on true 35mm camera) and that will give pictures of birds at 6m but certainly way way off filling the frame.

MX5huggy

Remember on a DSLR image sensor size effects how much zoom you have. ie for a Nikon DX sensor 200mm looks the same as 300mm on FX (or 35mm film) sensor.

moonrakerz

Tripods can be a bit of a pain in the Alpha Sierra Sierra. Argos do a very good monopod, which is compact and pretty robust - and a lot more agile than a full tripod. Got one myself !