Panasonic Lumix FZ300 A day at the zoo 4 January 2022

 

Sydney’s Taronga Zoo occupies a commanding position on a hillside looking out over Sydney Harbour.   I spent several hours there recently on a hot sunny summers day.

The zoo houses many species although homo sapiens is by far the most frequently seen, often with adult, immature and juvenile family member in the same group. Feeding time for this species appears to continue throughout the day at designated locations.

The most difficult creatures to photograph are the birds. They fly about in their aviary and when not in flight refuse to sit still for more than a second or two.

Birds are a bit of a challenge for the FZ300. The autofocus is very good for a small sensor bridge cam but not in the same class as for instance a Canon EOS R5 or R6 with a good lens mounted.

An additional challenge in an aviary setting is that the birds are often backlit from above and of course there is always that pesky wire netting lurking in the near background.

So a bit of perseverance is required and acceptance of a low keeper rate.

I use P mode which gives a good firing solution most of the time. I set the maximum sensitivity to ISO 800 and use single shot, 1 Area AF and AFS. In the low light of the aviary shutter speeds can get very slow which adds to the fun and to the number of not-really-sharp frames. But some are OK.