A bridge camera is the best gift for birdwatchers - and this one's a bargain!

Panasonic FZ82 deal
(Image credit: Panasonic)

If you are looking for a present for the birdwatcher in the family, then we have just spotted this great deal that could just be perfect for them. The Panasonic Lumix FZ82 is one of our favorite budget bridge cameras - but now that Amazon has knocked £50 off its regular price, it now its best price ever.

Bridge cameras aren't for every one - and the very best can be eye-wateringly expensive. But what this one does is offers an amazing 60x zoom lens range - which gives you enough scope to crop in really close into small birds in a distant tree or hedgerow. This allows a birder to record the species that he or she has spotted - or have a means of helping to identify it at a later stage.

Panasonic Lumix FZ82 was £309 now £249.99Save £59

<a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=8430&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.co.uk%2Fdp%2FB01N4M8FIF%2F%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-21%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-21" data-link-merchant="Amazon UK"" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">Panasonic Lumix FZ82 was £309 now £249.99
Save £59 This is the best-ever price we have seen on this compact camera with a tremendous 60x zoom lens. 

It doesn't have the absolute image quality of a DSLR or mirrorless camera with a big telephoto zoom - but what this does give is a very portable package, all for just £249.99. What's more with 4K video shooting and an 18 megapixel stills capability, there is plenty of detail in the images for identification purposes. 

The 60x zoom gives the equivalent focal length range of 20-1200mm - so that is capable of zooming in much closer than most photographers are capable of. And it is this telephoto performance is not just useful to ornithologists - it can be a great benefit for other wildlife, for sports or for photographing the night sky.

A great bonus of this particular bridge camera is that it has a noticeably wider wide-angle setting that some other rival models, meaning that it can also be used for images of landscapes and architecture.

Check out other holiday camera deals available now.

Read more
Best bridge cameras
Best zoom cameras
Best camera for wildlife photography
Best lenses for bird photography

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Chris George

Chris George has worked on Digital Camera World since its launch in 2017. He has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making and technology for over 30 years – and has edited numerous magazines including PhotoPlus, N-Photo, Digital Camera, Video Camera, and Professional Photography. 


His first serious camera was the iconic Olympus OM10, with which he won the title of Young Photographer of the Year - long before the advent of autofocus and memory cards. Today he uses a Nikon D800, a Fujifilm X-T1, a Sony A7, and his iPhone 11 Pro.


He has written about technology for countless publications and websites including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, Dorling Kindersley, What Cellphone, T3 and Techradar.