>>1205738Yeah, one good thing about recording HD video is you can get decent quality stills of events like this.
So I purchased a Canon Sx720 earlier this month as an upgrade for my Panasonic camcorder, and today I was finally able to test it out. In the right conditions and settings, it's definitely an improvement over the camcorder, although I am still getting the hang of it in terms of the best settings. I stayed within shutter priority mode for all of the images, but varied in terms of the shutter speed and the ISO (I tried in Auto ISO, then 400, then back to auto ISO). It seems like a shutter speed of between 250 and 500 was fast enough for most action, and those higher values definitely need sufficient sunlight to produce decent pictures. They also require higher ISOs, which explains the higher ISO values seen in automatic mode (pic related is 1600, hence the the significant grain). Still, I am pleased with the camera, it does a decent job of quickly focusing on the birds, although problems with AF led to some missed opportunities. The 40x optical zoom also often seems to be pushing itself to the limit and max zoom, so I often found myself wishing I had another 10x for some shots, like with my 50x camcorder. Still, its zoom capabilities are quite impressive considering the small size and light weight of the camera, it can easily fit into a pocket unlike those other high zoom cameras like the Nikon P900 and Canon SX50/60. I think this camera will work sufficiently for bird photography for now, I don't want to upgrade again until I have sufficiently mastered the camera I already have. Battery life is pretty weak, it died after about 400 shots, so I think I will probably have to invest in another battery for it.
Special thanks to the anon who recommended this camera!
Compare this shot to this
>>1205079 to see the difference in quality possible.
