considering move from Superzoom (Panny FZ18) but to what?
Hi all,
My name's Jo and I'm from Norwich in the UK and new to this forum. :D I love birds and wildlife and in the past few years have had the opportunity to travel for at least two or three weeks of the year to places such as Africa, India and the Pantanal in Brazil.
Since 2007 I've been a Panasonic FZ18 user for most of my photography and have generally been happy with the results. However, recently I have been wondering what more I could achieve by stepping up to a DSLR. In particular, I have always found getting birds in flight a challenge with the FZ18 and my holiday this coming year will hopefully include a pelagic birding trip off the coast of South Africa as part of a three week safari cum road trip. So something which is more responsive could be a real bonus here. Plus I've also joined a local camera club (most of whom use Nikons or Canons- there's no elitism but I'd like to be a bit more creative with my photography). That said, I really enjoy the light weight of the Panny and do not want to be carting around something much bigger (or rather heavier) than what I already have, (my FZ18 normally has a TCON-17 attached).
My partner has a Canon 30D but with his Sigma 170-500 (permanently) attached it is really much too bulky for me to want to use. I'm a birder who likes photography rather than a photographer who likes birds!
This leads me to consider either,or just living with what I have, or investing in a lighter lens for my OH's canon (and any advice here would be most welcome), or looking at buying into a new system like Olympus four thirds (I'm not yet convinced that the M4/3rds has a good birding lens in its line up).
With Olympus I'm currently considering the E-620 either with a single lens or twin lens kit with the addition of either the 70-300 or 50-200 oly lens or the E-30 with the same lens combination. I've had chance to play briefly with the E-620 and 70-300 in store and the weight was not that off-putting compared to the FZ18 with its TCON.
From looking online theres maybe 100 to 200 quid in the difference for the bodies but significantly more for the lenses. Would you say the E30 is much better for what I need and worth the extra (I can probably afford it)?
Any thoughts on the benefits or otherwise of either of these two systems and/or getting something more manageable for OH's canon) would be most welcome. I've plenty of time to consider this as my trip isn't until October.
Another point for me to consider is that when we are out locally we tend to do photography together, so having our own cameras would probably be a good thing so I can practice before I go, but OH is not coming on this big trip and so I could borrow his 30D. Incidentally, the person I'll be travelling with is a Nikon user (though I have no idea what lenses she has for her camera). I suppose we could get a second canon body and share the lenses if need be.
Sorry for the rambling post- lots to think about I know. Any help would be most welcome.
Here's some examples of my work to date:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8773601@N03/
All the best
Jo