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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

83x anyone? The new Nikon P900 (8 Viewers)

I'd also like to try some kind of loupe or viewer over the LCD and use the LCD in place of the EVF which I find dull with poor eye relief

The Hoodman Loupe and the Neewer foldable viewfinder were two that were recommended earlier in the thread. I took notes as I'm right on the verge of getting the P900.
 
Poor EVF solutions and BIF settings?

Looking good. What type of settings/mode are you shooting in, especially for the BIF?

Thanks for the advice on the Neewer viewfinder and hoodman loupe. I do not like the cameras EVF, far too dull with no eye relief for spec wearers. I'll persevere for the time being but would love to hear anyone else's solutions to the EVF. Neewer a definite if odd looking solution...

For birds in flight against the sky, I've been shooting In S set for 1/800 sec ISO 100-800 Matrix metering wide autofocus Exp comp -0.3 VR Act. I find the birds in EVF with zoom at around 400mm zooming in as appropriate. I've only had camera a week so maybe I'm sure someone has better settings.
 
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Dave, if you hunt through the menu you can adjust the brightness of the EVF............if you haven't already done so :)

Den

Thanks Den. I've already turned it to the highest setting but still too dull for me I'm afraid.
Still loving the camera especially for record shots of distant birds 😃 tho ..
 
Batteries and charger

Starting to put together a bundle, and would welcome any recommendations on makes of batteries and chargers that do well for the P900.

Should I pay the extra for the Nikon brand?
 
Camera arrived and I charged it last night. Headed out this morning to a favourite spot and started taking single shots in different modes and at different ranges. Camera shut down after 15 mins and displayed "Battery exhausted".

I'd charged it for 3 hrs and 40 mins last night, from the mains. That is the time duration given to fully charge the battery. The indication is that the battery is charging correctly - on\off light flashing green one to two times per second.

I'm thinking that either I've missed something, or I've got a dud battery. Camera is charging again. I'm off to read the manual again.

EDIT - First photos. Very overcast overhead, but sun shining brightly from behind me as it rose.

I know Mallard photo is badly framed, but I like how it shows the camera can capture the water flowing from bill and the iridescence of the plumage.
 

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Could just be more charging cycles needed but i don't think so,i think you have a dud battery or charger,mine would stay on in the camera for maybe 3 hours while i walked around and still not be exhausted.

The camera makers annoy me a little with there only use our battery crap,they dont make batterys or chargers they will be bought in from the same place as sells none branded batterys.
 
A quick look online

When charging is complete, the power-on lamp turns off. It takes about
3 hours and 40 minutes to char
ge a fully exhausted battery.

The battery cannot be charged when
the power-on lamp quickly flashes
green, possibly due to one of
the reasons described below.
- The ambient temperature is not suited to charging.
- The USB cable or Charging AC Adapter is not properly connected.
- The battery is damaged.
2
Disconnect the charging AC adapter from the electric




Looks like a flashing light means no charging
 
I don't know your specific battery but it can take a few cycles through the battery to get it to hold a charge correctly.
Charge it fully
Fully discharge it ie watching the idiot box an taking pics of your foot will do.
Do this 3 or 4 times, watch how many shots you get each time.
If your still getting way less than the number of shots then its time to work out weather battery or charger is the prob.
 
Could just be more charging cycles needed but i don't think so,i think you have a dud battery or charger,mine would stay on in the camera for maybe 3 hours while i walked around and still not be exhausted.

The camera makers annoy me a little with there only use our battery crap,they dont make batterys or chargers they will be bought in from the same place as sells none branded batterys.

Only 36 photos taken, so there is a problem somewhere. I'm also thinking battery. This time I'm just going to charge it until it indicates full - Last time I had to take it off charge while it was still indicating as ongoing. Should have been long enough however.

I've got a spare battery and charger on order. Not arrived yet, so I'm stuck for now.

I've just added my first test photos to the post (#890) above. For what I need the camera for - ID at distance & record photos, it is looking good.
 
Looks like a flashing light means no charging

In the quick start manual, it states that the charging is correct if the light is flashing slowly, and not charging if flashing quickly. It then gives the reasons you quote if it is flashing quickly. I've got the Alexander White book, and that states that correct charging will have the light flashing about twice every second. That is what mine is doing, so indication is it is charging correctly.

I'm now wondering if for a first charge, I just took it off charge too soon.
 
This time I'm just going to charge it until it indicates full - Last time I had to take it off charge while it was still indicating as ongoing. Should have been long enough however.
Problem solved
Very few cameras would ever arrive with even a partially charged battery.
I'd be real "interested" in a cameras history if one arrived with a charged one.
Words in books mean little.
 
Round two

So with camera indicating fully charged, I headed out this morning for round two. I spent three hours shooting away with no battery problems. 210 shots taken, so looks like I never gave the battery enough of an initial charge.

Only problem I had today is that the lens movement failed a few times. I had a Neewer lens hood attached, and I know it is causing the problem, but I don't quite know how yet. The last time it happened, the hood was pretty jammed on. Once I took it off and left it off for the second half of the session, there were no repeats of the problem. I took a photo or two of a Yellowhammer without the hood, then briefly put the hood back on to take a couple more shots. I have had a look and can't see the difference, so hood stays off unless I get glare problems somewhere.

The problem leaving the hood off gives me is that I wanted it primarily as protection for the exposed lens. I have got a Hoya UV filter, so I think that I might try that as my protector, and see if it changes the camera performance at all.

A few photos from this morning below. Light was variable. All shot in bird watching mode. Only change I've made to the camera is set the NR to low. My plan is to test the camera initially by having it set in one particular mode for each session. Once I've got a grip of the performance in each mode, I may look at adjusting Exposure Compensation.
 

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There have been other reports here on BF of hoods causing problems for the P900. Perhaps a very light model hood might be more compatible.
I'm very skeptical of filters, as they often impact image quality. See:

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/05/yet-another-post-about-my-issues-with-uv-filters/

That said, if you expect salt spray or blowing sand, a filter will protect the objective lens. Of course, the rest of the camera will suffer as the P900 is not weather sealed, so that may not help much. A plastic bag may be a better makeshift solution.
 
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