Good Morning Hoggers,

About 2 months ago a bear demolished my bird feeder. Based upon animal control recommendations, I'm now ready to reinstall a new feeder and need a recommendation on a trail camera so I can monitor the feeder at night. I haven't felt the need for a trail camera before so I have no idea what features I need, or what the options are (color/B&W, mounting options, storage capacity, how to download images, angle of view, etc).

I would intend to mount the camera on one of the posts on my front porch and the feeder will be about 20 feet away. I've attached a couple of photos of the demolished feeder if that helps you.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

We all talk about how a picture should tell a story. The story, however, may be personal to the observer or universal to all who see it.
I remember a photo, perhaps even on this site. It showed a blind woman striding confidently from left to right across a bridge over a body of water. With her right hand she was holding the harness of a guide dog. In her left hand was a slack leash to another dog, who was walking with her nose-to-knee. The picture was taken from the other side of the roadway, and the critique was: "so what. Just another snapshot." Now, I know only a little bit about the blind, and slightly more about how guide dogs are trained and selected. What I saw told a wonderful story. It told about the confidence a guide dog gives a blind person. How the dog makes a difference in their lives. But the other dog on the left? Guide dogs usually retire at about age 8. So my interpretation includes the love and respect that the blind person has for her retired dog. To me the photo told a story of disability overcome, and love and trust. I just got a warm, fuzzy feeling viewing that photo. Would anyone without my knowledge also react to that story? Or is it just another snapshot?
How about a section here on the hog devoted to story-telling photos? I see very few of them.

Requirements:

1) EASY TO USE: Ans: Phone

2) Viewfinder and DSLR shape: Ans: Silly-I. The larger LCD display of the phone is far superior. Silly-II. The shape of a camera has nothing to do with the images it creates. Silly-III. What is the purpose of this 'camera', to impress other people in the gardens and parks or people on the cruise boat?

3) Single zoom lens, not interchangeable: Ans: Is the purpose to create better images or impress people on the cruise? If they desire an SLR shape, get the SLR benefit of a zoom like a DX 18-140mm.

4) Good picture quality: Ans: Is that before or after the images are processed by this photography novice?

5) Easy to download, post to social media, etc: Ans: Can't be easier than the internet-connected phone

6) No price limitations: Ans: Any new equipment will be more expense that just using the phone already onsite.

From my research, a camera like the Lumix DC-FZ80 would seem to meet the criteria, but I can not speak to the EASY TO USE qualities. I would appreciate hearing from Hoggers who have these same general criteria for their impressions and recommendations.

Ans:

Sony has similar models the Lumix, such as the Sony RX10 Mk IV (24-600mm equivalent). The pocket models are even more portable for the opportunistic photographer, such as the Sony RX100 MK VII, or the various G-series Canon PowerShot models.

You might be more of a 'friend' in trying to steer your friend away from this idea; and rather, help them be a better phone photographer. Or, help them 'see' a smaller pocket model is a significant step-up from the phone, in both capability and complexity to use. Anything beyond the phone will add complexity to usage, even the simple step of getting the image files off the camera (card).

A fast shutterspeed won't help if you're forced to up the ISO over a lower value you could have used instead, at a minimally fast shutter as needed for the situation.

Sharpening and noise reduction are discussed in these two posts (applicable to most software, especially Adobe flavors):

Basics of noise processing

Basics of Lightroom Sharpening

Your sharpest images come directly from the camera, using techniques discussed in this post:

How to obtain sharp images in digital photography