London Tower Bridge (usually mistaken as London Bridge), is one of the most important Tourist destinations of London, which is built across the River Thames - this is in operation from 1895. Bright blues and grey colours, large steel structures, huge grey stones along with the two tall neo-gothic towers give the Bridge, a real “Neo-Gothic” look.
Whereas London Bridge is simple in look & is said to be the oldest bridge, across the River Thames on record (not very far from Tower Bridge) - this bridge reminds us of the famous nursery rhyme “London Bridge is falling down”.
A powerful alternative to DSLR & much better than Point & Shoot (prosumer) cameras - very cost-effective & portable - Bridge camera provides large Optical Zoom and provides the most of the Controls of a DSLR; the largest zoom available is 125X from Nikon Coolpix P1000, which gives 24 to 3,000mm (Aperture f/2.8 to 8).
Even at a moderate quality, a DSLR needs at least 3 lenses to reach 24 - 600mm zoom, where the lenses alone will cost much more than an excellent Bridge Camera.
However, mainly due to the SMALL SENSOR size, the image quality will be lower in Bridge Cameras.
In simple words, (today) Bridge cameras are very versatile and affordable alternatives to DSLRs and are Mirrorless too - Many newcomer photographers buy DSLR and may not use at all. But, nowadays, many of the professionals keep a bridge camera because of its all-round capabilities.
The following is a shot which was taken in a Bridge Camera (Nikon Coolpix P1000), at Yercaud (within our residential Villa Complex). This shot will be explained at a later post.
Most bridge cameras are mirrorless today and are probably better described as a fixed lens camera - the term bridge is somewhat old fashioned @TravellerG . They are a different type of camera to the DSLR and yes many find them to be a more comfortable use device than a interchangeable lens camera. Unfortunately the lenses on this type of camera are often trying to be everything for everyone which isn’t physically possible so their quality will be ok at one end of the zoom with artefacts at the other end. The background bokeh in large aperture shots (f2.8 and better) are usually pixelated with patterns and not smooth and creamy the way most photographers prefer.
Thanks for your valuable company & response, dear friend @PaulPavlinovich ,.
“…Most bridge cameras are mirrorless today…” - All cameras in production are only Mirrorless.
“…the term bridge is somewhat old fashioned…” - I do agree with you; however, to me, this is Country/ State/ area sensitive - many of my disciples still use this terminology (in India) - just used the conventional ‘name’ that is all.
“…trying to be everything for everyone which isn’t physically possible…” absolutely true - however, the new generation FL (Fixed Lens) Cameras have improved a lot, I should say. Between 2010 to 2020, the improvements are amazing.
I am personally own Nikon Coolpix P1000 (24 - 3000mm), Sony RX10 M2 (24-200mm) & M1V (24-600mm), etc [Fixed Lens Camera]. Sony RX 10 M4 gives 24 Shots in a second, with an amazing auto-focus speed of 0.03 secs. - of course, quality may not be anywhere comparable to 7R M Series with full-frame at 42/62 Megapixels for Pro shots - but for general purpose photography, I enjoy Bridge Cameras.
“Bokeh …not smooth and creamy…” I agree - but not that bad - kindly review the 2nd photo (flower) in this post.
My intention was to introduce a place + one Photo & introduce different Photographic Terminologies to LGs. Also, try to explain shots with EXIF, so that interested LGs can pick some ideas, from repeated shots of different places.
Once again thank you…
Hi @TravellerG I think the Coolpix is actually pretty decent. I know a couple of people who own them and what it does for astro photography is quite astounding. If you use it within its limits you’ll be happy.
A pro doesn’t need 40 megapixels even if you’re printing on billboards (each pixel on a billboard is about 1cm square). Even with the biggest prints I have to do for events my 21 megapixels is more than adequate. My favourite body quite happily purrs along at 60fps continuous until the card is full. We need to be careful to not encourage people to buy more expensive gear than they need. Many people hang on our words and will go and buy hardware on our say so. Anyone using a 40 megapixel camera without any experience will get awful shots. We need to be considerate in our position of authority .
Nice capture @TravellerG sir! Yes, people do call it the ‘London bridge’ but it’s actually the ‘Tower bridge’. Thanks for sharing this information with all!
“…Coolpix is actually pretty decent… …what it does for astrophotography is quite astounding…” I do agree.
“…A pro doesn’t need 40 megapixels…” this I may not agree with you, dear friend - I do a lot of shoot with these cameras & enjoy ‘cropping’ on many occasions - it depends upon individual taste.
“…not encourage people to buy more expensive gear…” - if you have noticed, I council against costly Gears & Lenses, although I use it. I understand what you say: “Many people hang on our words and will go and buy hardware on our say so” - I too am deadly against brand selling comments & proposing hardware/gears. Comparison & analysis, I do.
“…We need to be considerate in our position of authority…” I do respect this - thanks.
