Dear Reader:
Like all photographers I enjoy equipment. Every so often I can even justify buying a new camera. With an overseas trip to Italy looming I needed a light compact zoom that would fit easily into my pocket. In truth I had been thinking of getting the same kind of equipment to carry when cycling along the parkland trails that I enjoy each weekend. Too often, I had decided not to take my DSLR or super-zoom because thy were that bit too cumbersome or the weather looked threatening. And on nearly every occasion some exquisite little wildlife moment went un-recorded.
Small lake near McIntyre Rd; f3.3 @1 320 sec ISO100, click to enlarge all images on this page.
Australian grebe; f6.4 @ 1 200th sec ISO 400
A little compact would serve both purposes and popping a plastic bag in my bike pants (not the lycra variety I assure you) would take care of any wet weather problems. My camera of choice was a Panasonic TZ40, a pocket sized camera with a respectable 20x zoom. They were on special with a new model coming out and my old Pana’ FZ40 had always proved a reliable unit capable of producing some extremely sharp images.
Sacred Ibis reflections; f5.9 @ 1 320th sec ISO 100
Red flowering gum, f5.9 @1 200 th sec ISO 100
Armed with my new acquisition, I chose some familiar turf to see what the little camera could do. Tea tree Plaza is a large shopping mall on the north eastern fringe of Adelaide’s suburbs. There are some nice cafes to get an early morning ‘cuppa’ before you set off across the adjacent park to intersect Dry creek by the bridge over Montague Road. From there, a network of paths, trails and tracks wind south along the creek towards the coast or north into the foothills.
Rainbow lorikeets examining tree hollow; f6.4 @1 125 th sec ISO 250
Mudlark collecting nesting material; f2.9 @ 1 125th sec ISO 400
I decided to take the southern bike trail that follows the creek down to McIntyre road then work my way back to the bridge along the bush tracks that hug the other side of the waterway; a nice journey of around 3kms that includes several small lakes, patches of quite dense scrub and some towering old river gums.
Maned duck with chicks; f5.6 @ 1 80sec ISO 160
Black duck taking off; f6.4 @1 250th sec ISO 100
In this post, I will not describe each particular wildlife encounter, instead the pictures and brief captions can tell the story. There was a little post image tidying up through Photoshop but in my humble opinion the little camera did a good job as a backup and will certainly sit in my pocket on many a bike ride or travel adventure in the future.
Until our next chat
Cheers
Baz
Naturally South Australia 
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