Shots of birds, taken with your pocket camera (2 Viewers)

[MiddleRiver]

Sony RX100III in Patagonia
Chiloe Widgeon
Rhea
Kelp Gulls

 

[MiddleRiver]

Tikal. Was not birding but glad I had the little RX100III!
Ornate Hawk-eagle.

 

[YuShan]

I used to take some pictures with a sony cybershot with 3.2 MP and a memory card that was around 24 Mb (not kidding).

3.2 MP is perhaps a bit low, but I prefer low pixel count in pocket cameras. They are less noisy, so images need less processing by the camera. The old pocket camera I'm using now is 12 Mp which is low by today's standard, but in terms of sensor I preferred my previous camera that had 10 Mp (but unfortunately lacked super zoom). Nowadays pocket cameras have 20 Mp, which is insane and gives worse pictures. And resolution in these pocket cameras with super zoom is limited by diffraction anyway, not by the sensor, so I rather have a sensor with lower pixel count and higher dynamic range.

 

[YuShan]

Btw, this was taken with a Pentax Optio S (3.2Mp - tiny, 115 grams camera). But arguably very close up


Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher, Sabah, Malaysia

 

[YuShan]

This was the day I decided I needed a superzoom on my next camera!


Snowy Owl on my Kungsleden backpack in Sweden, with Canon Powershot S95 (10Mp, 3x zoom)


Also: Arctic Fox! (on the same trek)

 

[temmie]

3.2 MP is perhaps a bit low, but I prefer low pixel count in pocket cameras. They are less noisy, so images need less processing by the camera. The old pocket camera I'm using now is 12 Mp which is low by today's standard, but in terms of sensor I preferred my previous camera that had 10 Mp (but unfortunately lacked super zoom). Nowadays pocket cameras have 20 Mp, which is insane and gives worse pictures. And resolution in these pocket cameras with super zoom is limited by diffraction anyway, not by the sensor, so I rather have a sensor with lower pixel count and higher dynamic range.

I remember the cybershot always produced clean shots. But even though it is often said that small sensors have too many pixels, I have also read that the bigger, full frame cameras still benefit from more pixels (e.g. the canon R6 vs. R5), as you can squeeze a bit more detail out of every picture, taken in the same circumstances...

 

[YuShan]

I remember the cybershot always produced clean shots. But even though it is often said that small sensors have too many pixels, I have also read that the bigger, full frame cameras still benefit from more pixels (e.g. the canon R6 vs. R5), as you can squeeze a bit more detail out of every picture, taken in the same circumstances...

Yes that makes sense because 1) they have larger objective lenses and are therefore not limited by diffraction like pocket cameras with super zoon are, and 2) their pixels are larger, so they already have more dynamic range/ less noise and therefore need less noise reduction (=loss of detail) to get decent pictures.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Tikal. Was not birding but glad I had the little RX100III!
Ornate Hawk-eagle.
View attachment 1577300

One of my favourite birds of prey.

 

[YuShan]

After a Masked Flowerpiercer topic somewhere else on this forum, I couldn't resist posting this pocket camera shot (Lumix TZ70) I made in Ecuador. Lucky shot, because most of the time these small birds are too fast for pocket camera shots.

 

[YuShan]

A few more! . All photos with Lumix TZ70 pocket camera:


Tit-like Dacnis, while camping in Cajas NP, Ecuador


Inca Jay hunting for moths in the early morning near San Isidro, Ecuador


Sunbittern, Mindo, Ecuador


Ecuadorian Hillstar near my tent, while camping at ~4100m elevation in Cotopaxi NP, Ecuador


Ptarmigan while crossing a mountain pass near Glencoul on the Cape Wrath Trail, Scotland


Tawny-crowned Honeyeater encountered on the Bibbulmun Track, South West Australia


Pink Cockatoo encountered when hiking the Larapinta Trail, Northern Territory, Australia


Gilded Flicker on the Arizona National Scenic Trail (Sonora Desert)


White-tailed Ptarmigan on the Pinchott Pass, Sierra Nevada, California when hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Breaking my own rules as to target group but as there were literally, no, photograpable birds today, barely any birds in fact, here is the first Cleopatra that has given me the chance of a shot, they usually just fly past.

I can't always get quite as close as I'd like when using macro function but I can use the zoom, ever so slightly in that mode which is what I did here.

 

[MKinHK]

A couple of night birds picked up on my iPhone during after-dark dogs walks near my home in Sydney in the last few months:

Tawny Frogmouth x 2, Australian Boobook, Powerful Owl



Cheers
Mike