Can any one answer this one for me

pepi1967

pepi1967

Suspended / Banned
Messages
4,856
Name
scott
Edit My Images
Yes
Got asked this question today from my sister but i dont have enough camera know how to give an informed answer.

The question was..Im looking at two cameras one is a Nikon Coolpix P510 Digital Bridge camera and its got a 42x zoom and the other is a nikon D3100 and i quite like the idea of that because i can add more lens and stuff BUT to get the same zoom as i would get off the P510 what lens would i need to buy?

I had to be honest and tell her i had no idea but i would ask so thats where you guys come in. Had a look on a few sites for her and found out that the bridge cam has a 4.5-94.5mm :1.3.1-5.8 lens if thats any help.

Unfortunately im a bit :cuckoo: when it comes to working out all the math so if you guys can help save my reputation that would be cool. :thumbs:
 
The sensor on the compact is 6.17x4.55mm on the DSLR it is 23.1x15.4. So the zoom on the compact is equivalent to a 15 to 330mm zoom on the DSLR.

Thats the advantage of a compact or bridge camera. The pay off is in image quality.
 
I believe the Nikon Coolpix P510 has an equivalent focal length (in 35mm terms) of 24 - 1000mm. To get the same focal length with the D3100 would cost quite a bit of money. I would suggest that a maximum focal length of around 300mm would serve most, although if you're into birds/aviation/sports (and others interests) then you might want longer. Also bear in mind that the D3100 has a crop factor of 1.5 which would mean a 300mm would be effectively a 450mm focal length lens.
 
So if she had the standard 18-55 kit lens with the dslr plus a 70-300 she wont be to far off what she wanted would she?
 
No one lens will even come close to matching the P510 zoom range.

The P150 has a zoom from 24mm - 1000mm, to get that on a D3100 you'd need a combination of lenses from 18mm - 500mm because of the crop factor of the lens.

A common big zoom people get is the Nikon 18-200mm, which is an 11x zoom. Some manufacturers also do a 18-250mm 13.8x. Nikon themselves do a 18-300mm, 16.6x, but that is close to £800. :eek:

There are so many compromises to make a lens with a big zoom range that people tend to get lenses which cover smaller ranges to try and keep the quality. A Bridge camera may give the versatility of the zoom range, but may not give the quality. :shrug:

It would be lot easier to carry, and a hell of a lot cheaper though. ;) :lol:
 
with the recent thread regarding people pushing DSLR for no good reason. i think in this case, a bridge camera or even a good point and shoot might be better


however, do ask her, why does she need 42x zoom?

it is a meaningless number and doesn't actually represent anything. see how every single reply post has converted to the more sensible full frame equivalent? those focal length numbers are more relevant. as said, 300mm on a crop sensor is more than enough.
 
wuyanxu said:
with the recent thread regarding people pushing DSLR for no good reason. i think in this case, a bridge camera or even a good point and shoot might be better


however, do ask her, why does she need 42x zoom?

it is a meaningless number and doesn't actually represent anything. see how every single reply post has converted to the more sensible full frame equivalent? those focal length numbers are more relevant. as said, 300mm on a crop sensor is more than enough.
Click to expand...

Shes what people would call a twitcher loves bird watching and taking pics of them so i gues thats why she wanted the long zoom. so would you say she would be better off with the dslr and the 70-300 and crop and keep the quality higher?
 
wuyanxu said:
with the recent thread regarding people pushing DSLR for no good reason. i think in this case, a bridge camera or even a good point and shoot might be better
Click to expand...

Or it may not. :shrug:

wuyanxu said:
300mm on a crop sensor is more than enough.
Click to expand...

Until you know what the potential subjects will be, and at what distance, who's to say what is enough. :shrug:
 
pepi1967 said:
Shes what people would call a twitcher loves bird watching and taking pics of them so i gues thats why she wanted the long zoom. so would you say she would be better off with the dslr and the 70-300 and crop and keep the quality higher?
Click to expand...

redhed17 said:
Until you know what the potential subjects will be, and at what distance, who's to say what is enough. :shrug:
Click to expand...

there you have it. taking photo of birds is the lens requirement here.

i guess a D3100 kit lens for all other occasions, then a nice telephoto lens for bird watching will do the job. won't be cheaper than a bridge camera though, you are paying for the picture quality and that flappy mirror.
 
Has there been any mention of what budget is available? If the budget is tight then the bridge camera may be the only option and she'll have to live with its limitations.

If she is really keen on getting some good quality photos and has the money to spend on it then a D3100 plus 70-300mm lens would be far better.

Don't get her spending money unnecessarily though.
 
Without spending £1000's then yes get a zoom with around 300mm to give 450mm equivilent. Can then crop to emulate the 1000 zoom but will a crop of that magnitude be better than the uncropped bridge camera - who knows?

Using a 1000 lens outside of bridge cameras is pretty extreme though isn't it?
 
well i guess her budget is enough to cover the dslr and the 70-300 well i would presume so as she asked about those two cameras so from what im reading from the answers is if she uses the 70-300 and crop it would be better than using the bridge as you would get better results quality wise from the dslr and wont lose to much zoom because you can crop the image and make it larger and still keep the quality.
 
Well a 600mm lens on the DSLR will come close to the max length on the bridge camera - no zoom so she'll need some other lenses - but it's a bargain at just over £7000.
 
:gag:
 
Most Bridge cameras are not too good at focusing at at close maximum zoom in good light, nevermind possibly into shadows under trees. :shrug:

A D3200 would give more cropping options, being 24Mp. But if the subjects are normally closer, then pixels and cropping room is not as important.
 
I was in the same position a few months ago, but I already had a bridge camera with a 15x zoom. I done a couple of short courses on photography and much prefered the obvious better image quality of the DSLR's.

So I bought one that came with a 18-55 and a 70-300.

So for what its worth, here are my pros and cons.

First is price, a high end bridge is comparable in price to an entry level DSLR with two lenses.

You wont have to buy any extra lens for a bridge, and lens aren't cheap.

Bridge cameras are usally smaller and more practical to carry, no big bag to carry camera and extra lens.

When I was researching what to buy, the main advantage of DSLR's over bridge cameras were the better low light capabilities, frames per second shooting and being able to use RAW.

I tried some bridge cameras, mainly the HS20EXR, and at full zoom the shutter lag was terrible. You have to use Image Stabilisation on bridges and the focus hunts for what seems like for ever.

My DSLR with its 70-300 at 300 is as quick as my 18-55 at 18mm. So if you want to photo small birds flitting about in the garden the DSLR better IMO.

But it still wont produce the pictures of the same quality you see in the Bird section, photos like that cost alot of money.

Here are two examples of birds that I have taken, the Starling with a DSLR, the Robin with the Bridge.

crop1.jpg

robin1.jpg


The starling picture cost me £500, the Robin £120. Was it worth it the extra money :thinking:

The DSLR takes fantastic pictures of my kids and stuff, way better than my bridge camera, but birding is a whole hobby in itself, and unless you're prepared to spend big bucks on a big lens then I dont think that one camera would be better than the other. :)
 
Thanks to all the replies. its helped lots. Mike that was a great explanation thank you:clap:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top