Camera advice

[Scots_Charles_River]

Hi,

Any advice on this ? Capture a by overhead or a Kestrel in hover mode ?

Kodak PixPro AZ421 16MP 42x Zoom Bridge Camera - Black865​

Buy Kodak PixPro AZ421 16MP 42x Zoom Bridge Camera - Black | Bridge digital cameras | Argos

Buy Kodak PixPro AZ421 16MP 42x Zoom Bridge Camera - Black at Argos. Thousands of products for same day delivery £3.95, or fast store collection.

www.argos.co.uk

 

[Mesquite]

My bad, misread the question

 

[Broch]

On paper it will do the job and at a very good price: image stability, shutter priority, aperture priority, good resolution (pixel count) and a long zoom. However, I would need to see some photos using the high mag before answering your question. I've no idea how good the glass is on the Kodak cameras and at 42X mag that will be pretty important.

I would try and find some independent reviews but, again, at the price I suspect it's good value.

 

[Wander]

Don't be duped by megapixel count and high zoom values.
More megapixles does not equate to better picture. I've been told by more than one professional photographer that once you go over 5mp it's a waste (unless you're printing to go on a billboard or something).
What matters on a digital camera is the lens and the sensor. 16mp of rubbish will povide a rubbish image. So check the details about the lens and sensor and what software it has (e.g. image stabilisation, etc). Manufacturers use megapixel count as a marketing tool - 16mp is more than 10mp, so it must be better, right?
Ditto when it comes to zoom - a big number sounds better in the marketing, but if the image at that range is poor, then, what does it matter? No point in having a high zoom if the image is poor.
You want to make sure those pixels are good quality, so concentrate on the lens and sensor. That's where the image quality is defined and what you should be looking at. Admittedly, it's not as sexy as high sounding megapixel count or zoom, but that's what defines image quality and ability.

 

[Broch]

I agree with everything you've said Wander - but it's £125. If that's the budget it will probably do a 'satisfactory' job.

edit: just had a quick look and the camera does get very good reviews for picture quality and for its price range.

 

[brancho]

What do you want to photograph?
It will be better than a phone using the longer focal lengths (more zoomed in)it is not going be much better than a phone at wide angle stuff.

Here is a review

Kodak PixPro AZ521 Review | Photography Blog

Expert review of the Kodak PixPro AZ521 camera with sample photos, test shots, videos and more...

www.photographyblog.com

 

[Broch]

What do you want to photograph?
It will be better than a phone at the long using the longer focal lengths it is not going be much better than a phone at wide angle stuff.

Here is a review

Kodak PixPro AZ521 Review | Photography Blog

Expert review of the Kodak PixPro AZ521 camera with sample photos, test shots, videos and more...

www.photographyblog.com

It's the 421 the OP was looking at - 42x mag not 52x

 

[brancho]

It's the 421 the OP was looking at - 42x mag not 52x

The thing will perform very similar and you not find many tests of either

 

[Broch]

The thing will perform very similar and you not find many tests of either

True.
For a sub £150 camera it comes out quite well TBH.

 

[Paul_B]

How do you intend to use it? The higher zoom range might not be useful without a good tripod. Ever tried looking at the screen of a large range zoom compact or bridge camera? The subject is moving around so much you'll not get any usable image at full zoom without support.

I'd also suspect that well before full zoom image quality will cease to give good results. Zoom range is kind of marketing like high mp is.

Look at what zoom range you really need not want and perhaps see if there's something with that only. That's my opinion and tbh I've only used lower zoom ranges in the past and didn't really miss what I didn't have.