(nicking) Mary's new camera

 

22nd Feb was a really great day. Not only was the sun shining but I realised my inadequacies. And when is that never a good thing?! Actually my camera's inadequacies. Up until now I have tried to use only compact cameras to capture the things I see when out running. For most subjects; landscapes and butterflies, this has been pretty successful. I can carry a fairly high end compact camera in my hand and if I see something worth recording, I can get a decent still or video with my Lumix TZ100. (The TZ200 is off being repaired.)

Recently though I have been thinking about getting a better, bigger, walking camera. I researched bridge cameras a long while back and found the best reviews were for models in the Panasonic FZ range and the Sony RX10 iv. Since the Sony is around £1500+ and the top end Panasonic less than half that, the Sony was not considered an option.

Also, people who spent about £700 on an FZ2000 were generally REALLY pleased with what seemed like all the bells and whistles and quality associated with a decent DSLR but none of the expense of having to buy four figure lenses and then carry them about in a bag full of heavy, expensive kit. However the people who bought the Sony seemed like they quibbled about stuff that wasn't absolutely perfect, which it kinda should be for that price. In short while the Sony bridge camera was higher spec, the Panasonic customers were more pleased.

I filed all this info away and let it percolate. I never rush into a major purchase whether it's a bike, a bit of tech, or camera gear. Often I'll be so slow to make a purchase that you can no longer buy the specific model I was considering. Which can be advantageous.

A year or 2 back, I had worked out that the right gimbal to buy (to record stabilised running videos) was a chinese model and cost around £375. Just the gimbal, no camera. Just recently DJI have put out a remarkable gimbal and mini video camera for way less, and it is really tiny. The DJI Osmo Pocket. Watch this space for a review soonish. Oh and it was MUCH less than the Zhiyun Crane M and requires no setting up to your specific camera. Running videos used to be unwatchably shoogly, now they are smooth as reduced fat spread.

Mary almost does the reverse. Seeing something she likes the look of (a new Garmin, a bike, a musical instrument, or a new camera) she has bought it before she has even read the reviews. Sometimes this works out fine, other times there can be a bit of marry in haste, repent at leisure. Between the 2 of us there is a happy medium. And a cracking camera...

In this case it was a Panasonic Lumix FZ330. She did run the idea past me first and I thought it was likely a decent camera and not a huge investment if she didn't use it that often. Probably too big to run with but I know one of the most prolific and successful butterfly and dragonfly photographers in the country uses this model or one very like it. And we trust the Panasonic brand after owning a number of the TZ (travel zoom) range. 

The 330 has been about for a while so has probably come down lots in price. On the 22nd Feb, Mary was working and I wasn't. For the trip to the cemetery, Mary allowed me to take her new camera and try it out. Four and half hours and 1100 photos later I was extremely reluctant to give it back, it was so much fun. And made me realise I had to get a bridge camera too. And now I really wasn't as sure I needed the FZ2000. Because the 330 took great photos and was lighter, less bulky and half the price.

But the step up in quality of image was such that I would now definitely be buying one before the butterfly season kicked off. I have half a suspicion this was Mary's game plan. Get me off the fence of indecision by putting one in my hands. Which was a risky strategy as I loved her camera so much it looked like I might be in danger of trying to absorb ownership of it. After I had borrowed it a couple of times I could see her wondering if she was on her way to losing her new toy. 

First stop was under the rail bridge tunnel at St Mark's Park to the Water of Leith where a meander above the weir often finds mallards and goosanders on the slack water. If the sun is in the right place you get the colourful reflections from the flats across the way. It wasn't really, and there was only a single female goosander but when I threw some bread she came over and cruised up and down the bank very near to where I was standing. Although some of the photos are slightly blown with overexposure of the white feathers, I was very pleased with the pics and know the compact camera would have struggled in that light. The larger diameter lens of the 330 lets much more light in.

I also noticed immediately that the grip for the right hand is reassuringly solid and rubbery and you feel confident holding the camera in just one hand, the zoom in/out button and shutter release workable with index finger and the whole lot balancing in a comfortable way so you don't really think about operating it, you just instinctively zoom in and out, and click away. I tended to use the viewfinder in preference to the screen on the back, except when shooting from a really low or high angle. It was really easy to use from the get go.

I then went past the clubhouse where the sparrows have set up home. The longer zoom (x24) of the 330 means you can stand 5 metres away and still get excellent sharp close-ups. The 2000 only has x20 zoom due to the larger sensor and this is a consideration for birders particularly. A lot of birds aren't keen on letting you get nice and close for a photo!

nest building materials

snowdrops in foreground, u-shaped vent in background

Then onto Warriston. I had a theory that there may well be overwintering butterflies in the crypts and the first day the sun warms the masonry up a bit they will appear and fly to the nearest flowers for a snack. So far this has not panned out, but I still think it is an excellent theory! Feb 22nd was the first really warm day of the year and I spent more time than usual below the u shaped vents, at the nearest snowdrops. The vents seem to recede into the chambers of the crypt but I have no evidence that there are chambers full of hibernating small torts and peacocks. Or even chambers. But what else is there to do when standing around in graveyards waiting for Spring?

I had been taking pics of honeybees on snowdrops the day before at Cammo and mistook this for more of the same. However someone with sharper eyes and better knowledge let me know these are common drone flies, Eristalis Tenax, a hover fly.

this was a much smaller hover fly 

nice to see lots of flowers out
in case any butterflies do appear

no shortage of things to enjoy and take pics of in the cemetery

no idea why this was left next to the crypts

This robin was great fun. (Not the East Gate friendly robin btw.) He was sat up a tree singing and I wondered if I might lure him down with some bread. He watched me put some out on the masonry at the end of the crypts. I put it there because it made a decent (photo) platform and was in direct sunlight. Mr robin ignored the suggestion and flew down to nearer where I was standing. To save having to get more bread out the bag I'd just put away in my back pack I removed the bits from the stone slab and threw them near the bush where the robin was now perched. A crow who had been watching all of this flew down to the slab and hopped about angrily, not able to believe there was no bread for him there. He checked and checked again but there was only crumbs. He looked gutted! It is the price paid for being stand-offish. If they were as interactive as the robins they'd get the same treatment. 

gutted!

The robin hopped over to the bread and was completely happy to eat it in front of me; actually too close for close-ups. I waited till it flew over to the another spot and then onto some bushes to get more composed shots. He really earned his salary and I was sure to thank him from my heart. It is impossible to know what he made of it, other than behaving in a way that would suggest very relaxed and not as wary as most birds appear to be. The dunnocks are my next favourite for singing loud (alerting me of their presence) then not flying off too quickly when I take their photos. But robins are the top dogs for modelling jobs!

2/3rds head on and profile below - what a pro!

I then went to the feeding tables. The birds are well aware that people put out food regularly here and it does seem to vanish absolutely. I was a little worried that putting out excess might be spilling over into mice and rat territory but having watched the brick towers for hours at a time, the birds seem to be fairly comprehensive in its removal. Which includes the stuff that gets flapped off the brick towers and onto the ground nearby. What doesn't get carefully selected by the garden birds, is later hoovered up by the squirrels, the rooks and wood pigeons. I doubt there is much left for rodent consumption. And the robins and dunnocks seem as happy hopping around the base of the towers as taking food from the bricks on top.

dunnock

The squirrel - and there seems to be more than a couple in this area - is quick to pick up on when there is handouts to be had. It will mosey about below the tables picking up all the spillage before bouncing off a nearby rosebush onto the top. Overcoming the squirrel proof black plastic sheeting. I thought it might limit its activities to the furthest tower. But as it realised I was only interested in taking photos and not eating squirrels it would come up to the nearest tower which it landed on from the handle of a nearby planter. If a dog suddenly appeared it could jump directly into the ivy atop the backdrop wall.

Sitting at the brick, like it was pulled up to a dining table, it looks just like it is saying grace, its jaws silently mouthing thanks in praise of homemade bread. Weirdly it prefers the bread to the birdseed I leave which I find quite flattering. It is baked full of pumpkin seeds and has a suitably nutty flavour.

Mrs. Blackbird (note wedding ring!) is also a fan of the bread

I was delighted to see the bullfinches come to the tables. The benefit of the 330 is not having to stand so close to get a decent photo. However I usually stand or crouch near a rail or tree I can lean on and so am mostly a similar distance from the action. Previously the bullfinch looked down from the trees nearby but didn't descend while I was there. Today m and f bullfinches appeared and hopped about for a good while, allowing loads of photos. They are fantastic colours in their current plumage.  The males a vivid vermilion with black grey and white, the females more subtle plummy colours. They have quite pleasing calling songs when gathered in trees in small gangs and would definitely be a favourite bird if only they didn't regularly choose the topmost branches of the tallest trees to congregate.

coal tit

bullfinch doing a decent impression of a parrot

blue tit

I left the secret garden area to return to the East Gate and see if I could get close to any wrens. They have been fairly flighty lately but I know their behaviour from previous years when I didn't seek out birds but would take their photos if they presented themselves, that they can be quite bold. They will stake a claim for territory by sitting on a prominence and bellowing out a tune, beak thrown open. Possibly in early Spring, as a precursor to nest building and starting a family. However up till now when they see me they give me a look then disappear into the undergrowth. The last few visits things have been improving but the great wren shot still eludes me. Soon though, soon! Each visit is a little more promising. And the wrens are becoming more obvious.

Quick chat with the friendly robin.
I didn't tell him I'd been chatting with his deadly rival!

lockdown hair blowing in the breeze

Someone (not myself) puts out snacks for the magpies on this flat-topped stone. You can hear them squabbling and cackling from the other side of the cemetery. I was going past and, having a zoom that reached further than usual, stopped to take photos. I am not a huge fan of the magpies although I suspect I might hold them in higher esteem if there weren't so many of them everywhere. I like the refracted bottle greens and blues of their feathers but not their voices or habits so much. Shortly after these photos I watched a squirrel jump from the nearest squirrel-friendly stone to this steep sided stone to access the feast. A leap of around 4~5 feet so no massive feat for the rodents who make bigger jumps from deathly heights across the tree-tops.

stills from a movie clip...

Not such a happy ending is the tale of this cup and saucer which seemed to house a tealight. A friend took a photo showing the handle and cat head had been snapped off. I have no real idea why it sits above the final resting place of Laura's remains but it does and I got used to it there. I took a tube of glue in next visit - this visit - and glued the ends back on. Unfortunately it was one of the victims of the big storm a couple of days later (that also dislodged a tree or 2). It blew on the South West wind and ended up on the North side in many pieces. I collected them up but left them there. If anyone fancies a 30 piece 3d jigsaw most of the bits will be there.

It was nearly 4.30 when I left. I said goodbye to the friendly robin and asked him to pose in front of the ¾s moon which had not long come up. He obliged but we couldn't work out any kind of depth of field that would show them both off at the same time. Fabulous day out with a great camera. I was out for about 6hrs and it took less than 1 to convince me this was a road I needed to go down. Superb day. Excellent camera.