FZ20 and Olympus TCon17.

[tim11]

This is my first decent galah photo. I thought a got 4 or 5 (out of about 20 shots) but only one comes good enough.
I find it extremely hard to hold the camera steady at the max zoom; is that normal or is it just me? I used to think I was quite steady.....
Anyway, this type of birds would never let me come closer than 15 meters and I found out that 12x is not enough to capture all the details I want.


Another shy and tiny bird.

[BonjiB]

Excellent work. For this type of photography i personally need at LEAST a monopod. A tripod would be better. Even with the remarkable IS the fz20's lens packs it's still not enough to hand hold 714mm effectivly (for me anyways.)

[Honest Gaza]

Nice shots Tim.....how are you finding the TCon ?

[tim11]

Thanks BonJib and Gaza.
Yes I suspect I need a real 'trippod', with my cheap one I end up trying to support the tripod as well since the long lens tips it off balance. In many cases, even 1/100sec is not enough to keep the camera steady at full zoom hand held. I have to squat or sit down and rest my hands on my knee...
Gaza, I don't know how this Tcon17 compared to others since it is the first tele converter I have but it doesn't disappoint me. Besides, FZ20 and all accessories I bought for it are just my learning tools, so when I finally have the time to go DSLR, I will already know what to expect.

[Mike63]

If a camera and lens setup causes a tripod to tilt then there is potential to damage the camera from the wieght of the attachment lens alone. My long lens for my 35mm setup has its own tripod mount built in. There is a device made just for this purpose, it screws into the camera tripod mount and the tripod screws into the mount. They are adjustable for different length lenses. Being balanced will also help eliminate blurry pictures.

Something like this.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

[genece]

Your photos are very nice......I Just wanted to comment on the ability to handhold......even with the IS it is extremely hard to handhold at 700mm.

You need to get the shutterspeed up to 1/250 second, or faster would be better....
One way to do that is raise the ISO....I know many do not like that approach but I would rather have some noise than a blurry picture.
Another thing, IMHO the Tcon 17 worked better on the FZ20 at F5.6 than wide open ...again less light -- equals longer SS.... another reason to boost the ISO.
Experiment and see if that may help......it does help me but maybe not you.

[tim11]

Mike63,
Thanks for the tip re. the tripod. For obvious reason, I never use the tripod I have. Yes it makes perfect sense that damage can be done to the camera in the long term, even if it doesn't fall on the lens to the ground first.

Genece,
Someone pointed out to me how most shots using TCon17 is 'soft' at the edges. So I assume F5.6 will make for greater DOF hence reducing that 'soft corner' effect?
I realise that I need pleny of light to get long distance shots. In Sydney, to get shutter speed of 1/250 or more, it's like between 10 am to 3 pm; which is hardly a time for taking photos. Maybe I need monopod/tripod...

PS. I saw the purple fringe on the tree, but that's not my concern yet at this stage.

[tim11]

I have a couple more queries regarding auto focus mode.
I used 1 area center for these shots and was amazed how the camera knew I focused on the eye of the bird and not the branched beside it. I guess ideal mode is SPOT, is that correct?
If I used spot focus, will that lead to soft edge? And will F/5.6 suggested earlier by Genece compensate for it?
Thanks for your attention.

[Riley]

yep spot mode Tim

thats a New Holland Honeyeater you have there in frame 1
cant tell if the next is a garden sparrow or a female fairy wren
and of course the pink galah

Riley

[tim11]

Thanks Riley.
You are an expert on birds?