Ed,
Just saw this thread and wondering how you're doing. I had the FZ300 and liked it a lot. It's quite a powerful camera but also a bit complex. Graham Houghton is a British photographer/tinkerer and FZ300 guru who I found when I was looking for some help with mine. Here's a
basic tutorial that you can check out. If you like it he has a lot more helpful information on YouTube and his
webpage.
Cheers,
Steve
Hi Steve,
I have the FZ330 with the Panasonic 1.7 extender.
There is a wide spectrum of quality across the pictures depending upon the light, but that's fine because we get enough nice days to make the camera a worthwhile purchase.
I've had the camera for 6 months now and have taken some decent pictures, although not on the level of many on this forum, and the reason for saying that is I believe I'm qualified to give a beginner's view of the camera.
In terms of it being complex, my view is it is as complex as you want to make it. I've settled on aperture around 5/5.6, ISO200 when in the open and it's sunny and ISO400 when in the open and there's a bit of cloud or when in wooded areas and the sun is shining through. In any of those circumstances I don't need in-camera noise reduction nor photo-editing noise reduction, which is part of the purpose given that noise reduction will go towards destroying detail. Shutter speed will vary between 640 and 2500 in those situations. So, for me, not much to mess about with really.
I think it's important to have a basic understanding of the technical aspects of the camera but at least equally important is developing a knack of getting close to birds and having a technique for keeping the camera still.
I always use mine handheld because I like the walk in nature also and you don't really read much on how to hold the camera still when the experienced are giving advice, but in my limited experience the latter will make or break your picture much more than say going from 800 to 1500 shutter speed for example.
I was out the other day and had the luxury of being able to rest my arms on a bridge. The difference in the sharpness in that picture was stark when compared with other pictures I take, and I think generally I'm not bad at keeping the camera still when not resting on something although I think most times there will be a little bit of movement when handheld.
I suppose what I'm saying is that my beginner's advice would be to not get lost in the technical aspects of the camera. A basic understanding is essential but in the event you can't get close to birds and you can't get keep the camera pretty still, then technical genius won't help you one bit.