Howard,

I spent some time with the camera today. I posted some pictures in the Gallery.

As expected it is slower than a dslr, but the capability in a relatively small package is impressive. I didn't get any BIF shots but did practice on some distant geese. The issue of the lens hunting through the whole range when you lose your subject is easy to overcome. Turn off the prefocus. It seems to be designed to focus on the closest thing to the camera whether you press down of the shutter button or not.

I tried 'silent mode' and wound up shooting way to many shots of the same thing. The camera is fast, and so quiet, I had no idea how many shots I was taking. I turned the shutter noise back on and left the rest of the sound effects off.

I think it will reside in a cooler in the back of the Jeep so it is always handy.

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After my week using the Sony a7R2 with Sony SAL70400 and Tamron 150-600 G2, I decided to rent a Sony RX10 III. Thanks to Carolina Wings and many others for such useful feedback on it.

I have used it about 4 days and it'™s so good I bought one which will arrive the day I have to send the rental back.

Is it as sharp as the Sony lens? No, of course not. But all such products are a compromise with design choices baked in. This one works for me. Factors I considered include size, weight, handling, speed in real life use, image quality and some features.

Features include being able to quickly start taking 4K video while keeping shutter priority active and then being able to capture a frame as an approx. 8mb png either in-camera or with VLC on the computer. For birding, that's a winner. The autofocus is not only very fast, it'™s very accurate.

I really wanted the A7R2 and a really sharp super zoom. The RX10 3 has a zoom that gives a field of view almost as long as the Tamron (specs can be very approximate). For video, the 2x additional zoom that Sony provides works very well but for stills, the clear view zoom is not quite as good as just cropping the un-boosted picture.

I am getting many more excellent shots with this bridge camera than I was getting with the full frame rig. I'™m getting shots I would not have gotten with the more expensive, bigger, heavier rig and they are darn good IMHO.

I'™ve included one still and one frame capture to illustrate my point.

As always, this is just my view and my requirements. I offer it only as data for those who may want it. If anyone has questions (as opposed to simply contrary opinions, arguments, etc.) I will be happy to try to answer them.