Though criticized for its fuzzy images and halation, the camera comes with a 30x optical zoom, image stabilization, and a digital zoom that only crops some of the image instead of magnifying and interpolating. What I'm saying here is that it's like a telescope.
Last weekend was Cyndi's birthday, and we returned to the wonderful campsite we visited nearly a year ago, a little lake in the mountains at the edge of a burned area. Swimming, hiking, and birding fun was had by all (Cyndi's daughter, Emily, joined us.) OK, I swam and the others were not quite as willing to trust the waters. But we all hiked and birded.
More on that later. For now, I just want to share an example photo from the previous camera I've been using; and my new camera, to show how it magnifies distant objects. I had to ask for help to make these images. One person looked through my spotting scope and called out the bird's position relative to large landmarks, and told me if it dove underwater or not, while I tried my best to aim and shoot. "To the right of the dock," or, "By the dead tree," or, "In front of the cattails," my assistant would say ... and I'd take a photo of some water, and sometimes, the birds.
This was the first time I'd seen a Red-necked Grebe, a Life Bird! Can you see the pair of them there? That's what my old camera shows. One can't tell if they're loons, ducks, grebes, or what.
But, with the new camera ... hey, red necks and white faces; even a hint of a yellowish bill.
And, with Emily looking through the scope, proclaiming excitedly, "They're fighting or something!" I took this photo of some natural greeting behaviour on the far side of the lake.
So, considering that these birds could not even be seen with the naked eye, I'm satisfied with my birthday present. Thanks family, you're the best!
1 comment:
I look forward to the photos you will be taking with the new camera! You need to take a couple for the November photo competition.
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