Bridge camera: I am an elderly gent and my Nikon D7000 which I love is getting a tad heavy with a long lens. I am vaguely thinking perhaps I ought to go to a bridge. It has to have a...

viscountdriver Loc: East Kent UK

I am an elderly gent and my Nikon D7000 which I love is getting a tad heavy with a long lens. I am vaguely thinking perhaps I ought to go to a bridge.
It has to have a 50x reach, be capable of raw and not too worried about price.
Any suggestions and will I lose much in quality?
I have a tripod and a monopod but they are not practical at air shows which is my favourite.

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

viscountdriver wrote:

I am an elderly gent and my Nikon D7000 which I love is getting a tad heavy with a long lens. I am vaguely thinking perhaps I ought to go to a bridge.
It has to have a 50x reach, be capable of raw and not too worried about price.
Any suggestions and will I lose much in quality?
I have a tripod and a monopod but they are not practical at air shows which is my favourite.

I recently made a similar change-over and now use the Canon SX-50 with great ease and comfort. No heavy gear to carry around. I'm retired and older than Methuselah, but still enjoy taking decent photos. Just don't want to lug all that stuff around any more. The SX-50 satisfies me.

amehta Loc: Boston

viscountdriver wrote:

I am an elderly gent and my Nikon D7000 which I love is getting a tad heavy with a long lens. I am vaguely thinking perhaps I ought to go to a bridge.
It has to have a 50x reach, be capable of raw and not too worried about price.
Any suggestions and will I lose much in quality?
I have a tripod and a monopod but they are not practical at air shows which is my favourite.

Have you also considered interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras? They may operate faster, which is important for air shows.

viscountdriver Loc: East Kent UK

amehta wrote:

Have you also considered interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras? They may operate faster, which is important for air shows.

Yes but I don't want to lug around extra lens.

viscountdriver Loc: East Kent UK

Papa Joe wrote:

I recently made a similar change-over and now use the Canon SX-50 with great ease and comfort. No heavy gear to carry around. I'm retired and older than Methuselah, but still enjoy taking decent photos. Just don't want to lug all that stuff around any more. The SX-50 satisfies me.

Did you lose any noticeable quality?

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Just released...
http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/digitalcameras/long-zoom/sp-100.html

amehta Loc: Boston

viscountdriver wrote:

Yes but I don't want to lug around extra lens.

I understand. Any camera, including a cell phone, can take decent pictures in the best conditions. If it's low light or fast action, moving "up the scale" matters. Hopefully people can say if they've had good success with a camera like the SX-50 for situations like air shows, then you know that's far enough on the scale. But without that information, your specific interest may benefit from the next step, mirrorless ILCs

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

viscountdriver wrote:

Yes but I don't want to lug around extra lens.

Not sure that lugging is the word I'd use, especially with m4/3 lenses...Don't think of them as traditional DSLR lenses. But you are correct, you will have to change them, unless you go with something like a 14-150mm lens.

James56 Loc: Nashville, Tennessee

Surprisingly Kodak seems to be the current front runner with their new camera in the superzoom field (as far as reach goes anyway)...

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/kodak-releases-details-on-az651-23827

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

James56 wrote:

Surprisingly Kodak seems to be the current front runner with their new camera in the superzoom field (as far as reach goes anyway)...

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/kodak-releases-details-on-az651-23827

But at this point I would stay with the proven quality of the Canon SX50 or the Sony HX300.

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

viscountdriver wrote:

Did you lose any noticeable quality?

Depending on your demands. I'm no longer 'aiming to please' (the Public), only myself, and I'm totally happy with my results. It all depends on what you were getting previously. Will it compare equally to a four or five thousand dollar system? No.

Elliern Loc: Myrtle Beach, SC

viscountdriver wrote:

I am an elderly gent and my Nikon D7000 which I love is getting a tad heavy with a long lens. I am vaguely thinking perhaps I ought to go to a bridge.
It has to have a 50x reach, be capable of raw and not too worried about price.
Any suggestions and will I lose much in quality?
I have a tripod and a monopod but they are not practical at air shows which is my favourite.

There is a gentleman on another forum site who shoots lots of air shows with his sx50. He also posts many of his photos of various planes flying.

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

A few years ago I used my Lumix FZ18 bridge at my first and only air show - dang it worked fine - the zoom in and out plus the burst mode caught every thing I wanted - I can only imagine what I would get with a SX50.

amehta wrote:

Have you also considered interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras? They may operate faster, which is important for air shows.

Almost missed him
Almost missed him...

Fry's Patriots fly by

Wing walker
Wing walker...

Small landing pad

A slow one for a change
A slow one for a change...

haroldross Loc: Walthill, Nebraska

viscountdriver wrote:

Did you lose any noticeable quality?

There is a noticeable difference.

I have attached to photos, one from a 5D MK III and one from an SX50. They are taken from different directions and perspectives but if you download them and look at them closely you will notice the difference. Both are JPEGs straight out of the camera. I have made no corrections or cropping.

I rarely carry both cameras at the same time when walking around DC. The SX50 is good when I visit the Capitol Building and Congressional Offices because of it's size and the constant security checks at the entrances.

5D MK III

(Download)

SX50

(Download)

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

For a proper comparison they should include the same view as well.

Unless you have them labeled backwards, I think the SX50 version is best.