Paul says he’s not taking me shopping with him again! We went to Camera house to look at a Lumix FZ300. However, a few questions later, and a bit of a look at the Lumix FZ2500, and we had it (the FZ2500)  bagged up, along with a starter kit, and a tri-pod, ready for us to be on our way. Of course, it was me asking the questions, so the bigger, better camera is my fault……

So why the FZ2500: Firstly, from what I’m told, it’s a pretty good little Bridge Camera. What’s a Bridge Camera, I hear you ask (I know I did). Apparently it’s a camera with lots of capabilities that are normally associated with the big cameras that come with lots of interchangeable lenses (the full Monty) – only with a Bridge Camera, the functions are built in, and the camera is still relatively light weight and portable. They’re not as good as the Full Monty, but they’re not a bad step down. The zoom on the FZ2500 is particularly good. It has good light sensors. And setting it to 4K, it’ll take a burst of photos, which will apparently be good for action shots.

Six days later and so far so good, but it’s a bit of a learning curve.

Although the photos I’m displaying here are by no means particularly good photos, they will demonstrate a bit of what the camera is capable of – the photographer though still needs some experience to get the best out of it.

Paul took the first group of photos at a bay nearby, Point Picquet (pronounced PeeKay). Point Picquet is famous for whales. They come in to within around 15 metres from shore. Despite their massive size, our usual little camera (Lumix DMCTZ 65) wouldn’t have been up to capturing a photo of them at all.

We were in luck. Two whales were heading south, and only about 20 metres off shore. Unfortunately, they didn’t stop as they sometimes do, nor were they having a frolic as they also sometimes do. The only chance of getting a photo was to be zoomed in on them as they surfaced fleetingly for a breath.

As you can see, it was a dull day, so not the best of days for photography. Despite the lack of natural, bright sunlight, the light sensors have clearly let enough light in to allow a clear photo, even if the whales are only two tiny specs on the horizon (about a third of the way from the left hand side).

Zooming in, Paul managed to get a shot of one of the whales as it surfaced to breath. It wasn’t the photo we had hoped for, but it demonstrates the zoom ability of the camera.

Next, some photos of some birds on a rock.

 Zooming in, the birds become clear.

And on another rock.

The next photo was taken at Bunker Bay. A dog was standing guard on his owner’s fishing line. He didn’t take his eye off the line, clearly ready to sound the alarm should a ‘bite’ have become obvious. If you look closely you’ll be able to see the fishing line across the top, right hand corner of the photo (follow the dogs line of sight). We were impressed that the line showed up. Any photos taken with our normal camera on this particularly dull day would most likely have ended up too dark, and would have been discarded. Certainly, the fishing line wouldn’t have been visible.

The next two have been taken of Mr Tilly. Until the new camera Paul had been frustrated trying to photograph the little ratbag. Tilly’s dark colouring doesn’t lend itself to good photographs, and any photos we’ve taken in the past have required a lot of editing to lighten them up. This first photo was taken in the lounge room in the late afternoon. No lights were on, Paul didn’t use the flash, and it didn’t require light editing. The light sensors within the camera did the work, and the auburn lights in Tilly’s chocolate coat are shining through.

The second photo was from a burst of photos taken on the 4K setting. Tilly was jumping for a ball – and yes, I know it’s a long way from being a great photo, or in fact, even a good photo. Despite Paul’s many attempt to get the Tilly facing the camera as he jumped, he always managed to get the ball on the wrong side of the camera, and turned his back as he jumped. The only reason I’ve included the photo here is because it’s the first action shot Paul’s  taken with the camera that has been kept.

I’m sure one day in the not too distant future we’re going to look back at these photos and think, why on earth did we publish those terrible shots. And that’s exactly why I have published them – to create a record.  It’ll be such a pleasure to see the improved shots as Paul familiarises himself with the new camera, and it’s functions, and gets some experience behind him. Watch this space to see the progress……