bridge cameras: I have a nikon d4 that is superb but heavy with lenses. I have been playing with sony bridge cameras that give you 90% of the performance for 20% of the cost and am...

Lance Pearson Loc: Viriginia

I have a nikon d4 that is superb but heavy with lenses. I have been playing with sony bridge cameras that give you 90% of the performance for 20% of the cost and am most pleased with my sony rx10 miii which I now carry everywhere with me..24-600mm f 2.8-4.0 lens (20.1 mp, 1" cmos stacked and backlit rexmoor sensor) Capable of very good images and quite multipurpose. A value tho probably not for Nat Geo shots or truly fast action sports. None the less, the Nikon now sits on the desk at home save for special purpose shoots such as the national borzoi specialty show I am shooting in Gettysburg in May. Biggest borzoi only show in North America annually. (I live with my pair of borzoi here at home) .

I'll include some recently taken images from the Sony bridge camera all hand held, often out the suv window and all compressed somewhat in post. if you download them look at them on a good resolution monitor such as an ipad or samsung tab s3 tablet and they pop out with amazing clarity and color. You need a good monitor resolution to catch up to the sensor and camera's ability at least at my house. A normal laptop is way behind the cameras nowadays. The pro women's beach volleyball shot was my mii...same sensor just shorter lens.

As a value it is every bit of that. I buy used very good quality cameras one technology back so having several is manageable. I have a panasonic lumix bridge fz1000 as well and am selling shortly on ebay the sony rx10 mii which is 200mm lens and keeping the rx10 miii plus the nikon and selling a canon m3 and a nikon d7000 dslr as well. The bridge camera weakness is autofocus speed. Up to human running it is fine but faster than that for sports action photo it is a tad slower than a top end dslr still. They can do it but so far in cameras I own the camera makers have not put those systems in them. There are also more recent rangefinder models that do have the systems but at top end dslr prices which is out of my budget range.

The power shovel shot was 900-1000' away, hand held again. The last shot is the camera with the added directional stereo mic to minimize when filming high quality movies with it getting my own breathing into the sound...It is not small like a point and shoot but this camera type is very versatile.

this is about a value for convenience versus cost. Any observations are welcome.

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R.G. Loc: Scotland

I wonder how closely you have to look before you see the improvements from the more expensive cameras. Personally I satisfy myself with looking at NVD.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Your photos look great, Lance. I tirelessly promoted the Canon SX50 for several years. I don't think you'll find the "regulars" in FYC as obsessed with gear as those who hang out in main discussion forum

No one should ever apologize for the tools they use create their art or capture their personal memories. The result is all that is important.

Lance Pearson Loc: Viriginia

the pixel peepers, so called look for the sixth sigma of difference on massively enlarged and the average good camera now does a really good job with the vast majority which will never be blown up that large anyway. What does NVD mean? My ignorance asks!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Lance Pearson wrote:

....What does NVD mean?..

Normal viewing distance.

Lance Pearson Loc: Viriginia

Thank you. The average higher level type cameras are getting to be really something special nowadays aren't they? If you look at these images on an ipad or samsung tablet s3 which have really good resolutions you will see amazing color and clarity. the big difference between this excellent sony range finder bridge camera and my professional nikon d4 is the speed of autofocus first and second the full frame sensor versus the small bridge camera excellent sensor. the full frame lets you do a much better job at speed in indoor poor lighting by jacking the iso way up and not seeing any apparent effect on normal sized photos. For normal carefully composed photos or videos these bridge cameras along with other range finder full frame or mid dslrs are all just amazingly good cameras. My Panasonic lumix fz1000 bridge camera is good but the sensor is a shade not up to the amazing sony Exmoor stacked, backlit sensor and only has a 400mm lens but I am keeping it as a backup. It takes some really good photos as well with the same limits on speed of autofocus. They do that to protect their upper end camera sales investment. this is one from the panasonic bridge camera that is now a backup here. This is a local Belgium draft horse who is beautiful. the 1941 packard is my neighbor's car...anyway, you get the idea. You can do pretty well with these. I buy used very good quality cameras and in 99% of the cases they are like a car with 10,000 miles on it...just barely broken in at half the price.

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R.G. Loc: Scotland

With good lighting the small sensor cameras will give the larger format cameras a good run for their money. The down side is those limitations will increase your failure rate.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

R.G. wrote:

... The down side is those limitations will increase your failure rate.

Only if you insist on doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. I learned early on to not attempt low-light, low-contrast shots with my sx50. Or if I felt compelled to take the picture, it was with the knowledge it would look terrible

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Linda From Maine wrote:

Only if you insist on doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. I learned early on to not attempt low-light, low-contrast shots with my sx50. Or if I felt compelled to take the picture, it was with the knowledge it would look terrible

I would describe "Failure to attempt" as one form of failure. Plus, with a small sensor, how often did you end up with blown highlights in the sky? It doesn't take exceptional circumstances. My memory of it is that it happens all too easily.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

R.G. wrote:

I would describe "Failure to attempt" as one form of failure. Plus, with a small sensor, how often did you end up with blown highlights in the sky? It doesn't take exceptional circumstances. My memory of it is that it happens all too easily.

OK, I cheated

I owned a dslr at the same time as my bridge camera, so the sx50 was primarily for far-distant eagles and bighorn sheep. Those photo ops were usually in a canyon with steep walls, so I could avoid including the sky.

A bit of luck was involved when I took only my sx50 to Seattle to visit the locks:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-414306-1.html

It was mostly sunny that day!

Lance Pearson Loc: Viriginia

I tend to agree with you on nvd. After all, I am not shooting for 7 color high speed printing press separations for Vogue or National Geographic! I don't think there is a more oversupplied market in the world than that of photographs!

Lance Pearson Loc: Viriginia

Nice images of Seattle. For my "art" camera I have a sony rangefinder full frame a7 that I shoot one of 8 35 year old canon fd lenses (in effect full frame since they shot 35 mm film) manually on and get some outstanding treatments of light with. I was in Colorado on the way to estes park up the canyon when a group of bighorn sheep were right there and I shot them with a nikon rangefinder p7000 from 35' away...got some good photos of them as well like your Seattle shots. All of these cameras have moments where they do well nowadays.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

Lance Pearson wrote:

I have a nikon d4 that is superb but heavy with lenses. I have been playing with sony bridge cameras that give you 90% of the performance for 20% of the cost and am most pleased with my sony rx10 miii which I now carry everywhere with me..24-600mm f 2.8-4.0 lens (20.1 mp, 1" cmos stacked and backlit rexmoor sensor) Capable of very good images and quite multipurpose. A value tho probably not for Nat Geo shots or truly fast action sports. None the less, the Nikon now sits on the desk at home save for special purpose shoots such as the national borzoi specialty show I am shooting in Gettysburg in May. Biggest borzoi only show in North America annually. (I live with my pair of borzoi here at home) .

I'll include some recently taken images from the Sony bridge camera all hand held, often out the suv window and all compressed somewhat in post. if you download them look at them on a good resolution monitor such as an ipad or samsung tab s3 tablet and they pop out with amazing clarity and color. You need a good monitor resolution to catch up to the sensor and camera's ability at least at my house. A normal laptop is way behind the cameras nowadays. The pro women's beach volleyball shot was my mii...same sensor just shorter lens.

As a value it is every bit of that. I buy used very good quality cameras one technology back so having several is manageable. I have a panasonic lumix bridge fz1000 as well and am selling shortly on ebay the sony rx10 mii which is 200mm lens and keeping the rx10 miii plus the nikon and selling a canon m3 and a nikon d7000 dslr as well. The bridge camera weakness is autofocus speed. Up to human running it is fine but faster than that for sports action photo it is a tad slower than a top end dslr still. They can do it but so far in cameras I own the camera makers have not put those systems in them. There are also more recent rangefinder models that do have the systems but at top end dslr prices which is out of my budget range.

The power shovel shot was 900-1000' away, hand held again. The last shot is the camera with the added directional stereo mic to minimize when filming high quality movies with it getting my own breathing into the sound...It is not small like a point and shoot but this camera type is very versatile.

this is about a value for convenience versus cost. Any observations are welcome.

I have a nikon d4 that is superb but heavy with le... (show quote)

You don't have to convince me that you don't need the "latest greatest" stuff to create nice images. I'm spending January with my Nikon FM and having a blast with it. I've decided to use one of my older cameras each month this year as my main camera. None of them are digital; but they are all a pleasure to use. Thanks for all the information in this post. You've got me scratching my head about some of the possibilities.
Erich