Canon PowerShot SX60 HS for Birding?

Lots of birders use the Canon SX50 superzoom bridge camera. However, its replacement, the SX60 is not getting a good reception from birders (who want the long focal length) or the amateur photographic press which doesn't have a clue what birders or other wildlife photographers want a superzoom bridge camera for. The 1365 mm focal length, in 35 mm terms, is tempting since it is length that birders crave. One of the problems is that noise is evident at low ISO settings and that the resolution is relatively low. More pixels have been crammed on the small sensor, (although the sensor is now a CMOS type) so it is not surprising there are problems with noise. Users have reported problems with the image stabiliser and very slow focusing in poor light at longer focal lengths.

All these problems are inherent in the design of bridge cameras aimed at a price band in the camera market but so far I have not been able to find a real comparison with the available competition as models come and go at a great rate. Judging from the birders' comments online though, the Canon SX60 is getting the thumbs down on both performance and price.

I still don't know what I would replace by Nikon P510 with. In superzoom terms it is getting long in the tooth and I suspect that another Nikon or perhaps Panasonic would be in the running if I were forced to choose.

ColorMunki Display Software. What a Hassle

I bought a ColorMunki Display from WEX the other week. What a hassle it was to install the software on my iMac. As expected, the software on the cd would not install. Even finding the download version for Yosemite was not easy (the website was out of date and referred to Mavericks being new). After installation, the software did not recognise the usb-connected device and this together with the other problems that arose in trying to get the thing to work were only found by searching the Xrite website. All it needed was a proper set of instructions from the outset with a flow diagram showing what to do if such and such happened. What should have been a simple job turned into a 90-minute saga of trials, complete reboots, crashes, more looking up etc. Xrite are clearly not Xright. They need to get a grip of their software, their updates and their website. Eventually I got the thing installed, and by leaning the iMac back as far it would would go, I got a profile; an excellent final result but what a hassle—a back-to-the-1980s installation job.

I still have not been able to register the device with the manufacturer. The option to do so is greyed out in the software and via the website there is no way of knowing what the code is for the software. Impasse.

I wonder if a Datacolor Spyder might have been a better buy.