Looking at downgrading

[Jackp93]

Hi all

My current set up is a Olympus m1 iii with 12-40, 40-150 & 75-300 lenses none are their pro grade though. I have recently bought an iPhone 15 pro and this has now become my day to day walk around and holiday camera so the Olympus has been relegated wildlife photography only. Which in all honesty I do about 12 times a year. So I'm looking at freeing up a bit of cash and getting a second hand bridge camera, I'm sure it won't be as good as the Olympus but will a bridge be good enough for the odd bit of wildlife and any camera recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jack

 

[ancient_mariner]

will a bridge be good enough for the odd bit of wildlife and any camera recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Assuming a 1/2.3" sensor, in bright light it will produce tolerable pictures that will be unsatisfying if you pixel-peep. They will look great if you only show them to others on your phone.

 

[woof woof]

A have a 1" sensor compact (Panasonic TZ100) and I think that's as small a format as I want to go. Small sensor cameras can give results which may look nice as whole pictures but when looking more closely or using the camera in demanding conditions things can deteriorate quickly. Even a 1" sensor can not IMO match Micro Four Thirds though.

So, my advice is to think carefully and maybe see if the budget could stretch to a 1" sensor camera.

Good luck choosing.

 

[realspeed]

I had a look at the TZ100 camera and that 1" sensor is worth considering. What put me of is not having the flip screen as in my TZ-95 version. If they made the TRZ100 with a flip screen tey would have an out and out winneerf

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Hi all

So I'm looking at freeing up a bit of cash and getting a second hand bridge camera, I'm sure it won't be as good as the Olympus but will a bridge be good enough for the odd bit of wildlife and any camera recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I use cameras up to full frame and I find bridge cameras entirely suitable for many of my needs.

The Panasonic FZ82 is my current favourite as the "go everywhere" tool of choice.

Assuming a 1/2.3" sensor, in bright light it will produce tolerable pictures that will be unsatisfying if you pixel-peep. They will look great if you only show them to others on your phone.

Other opinions are available on that.

I use several cameras with sensors of that size or even smaller. They're entirely satisfactory for many purposes.

 

[gman]

Would the Sony RX100 VII be too small as it can be had in mint used condition for £799 at LCE: https://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Sony-RX100-VII-*-MINT-&-BOXED-*_392211.html

1" stacked sensor with a full frame equivalent zoom of 24-200mm and a fantastic real-time autofocus tracking system including animal eye tracking (although I don't think it is bird specific).


Seems pretty decent for birds

 

[Mintchocs]

What sort of wildlife are we talking about? For birds I think you will struggle to get decent photos unless they are extremely tame or you are taking photos of deer in the parks. The light levels in the UK necessitate a higher iso to get decent shutter speeds in most cases.

 

[SimonH]

I'd highly recommend taking a look at the High End Bridge Camera thread here where you'll find some excellent examples of what a good bridge camera can achieve.
For what it's worth I've used both a 1/23 Panasonic FZ330 (excellent little camera with long reach) and still have a Panasonic FZ2000 1" sensor. Both are capable of excellent images if used well - although as others have said, good light helps the smaller sensor camera. I also have a 1" Sony RX100vi - only goes to 200mm but takes superb images.

 

[swanseamale47]

I've got the panosonic TZ80 and although it's not bad in good light, it's not fantastic once the light starts to go. The zoom is I think the equv of 24-720mm. I dont have the Olympus but I very much doubt my panosonic comes close quality wise.

 

[piper]

Probably above what you want but if the efl of 600mm is ok for you the Sony rx10iv is going to be hard to beat in terms of optics and AF.
I use 1 inch sensors most of the time ( Nikon 1 ) with long lenses. High iso performance is always going to be a challenge and m43 is going to give you 1 stop more however I assume that your 75-300 is about par with my pan 100-300 in which case you need to be careful to get the best out of it at the long end.

I cross shot a number of 600 mm lenses on various systems sone time ago ( not expensive primes ) the weakest was the 100-300 and the cx 70-300 on a 1 inch V3 was well ahead. I suspect that you may actually get better results with that bridge camera that with what you have. Might be the other way round if you had the oly 100-400.