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83x anyone? The new Nikon P900 (1 Viewer)

More reviews:
http://blandfordstudios.com/camera-and-photography/nikon-coolpix-p900-review/
https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-coolpix-p900
http://psnp.lightshedder.com/ This review contains comparisons with the Canon SX50.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/hands-review/nikon-p900-new-king-super-zooms

Very tempted to buy this camera, in particular since sx50 owner mzettie likes it. Battery capacity isnt quite like sx50, so to be on the safe side i"d need 6-7 reserve batteries for a day trip. Price is already down to euro 549 from 619. Still, the well-rounded, smooth-operating sx50 remains a strong rival...

HermitIbis, thanks for the links to reviews. I hadn't seen the one from PhotographyLife....it's very complete and pretty much sums up my take on the P900. His two big beefs are my big beefs; the camera's lack of speed, and how difficult it is to coax good images out of it in high contrast situations. I very much appreciate your vote of confidence re my opinion of the Nikon, but want to emphasize that the reason I encourage people to buy from vendors with good return policies is that others may find one or both of these things intolerable. I'm willing to work around them because I just can't deal with the SX50's EVF any more, and.....the incredible reach of this camera seduced me.

In a perfect world, I'd be buying a Canon with the P900's lens in it. I really prefer the speed, layout and processing of the Canon cameras....but Canon's not delivering what I want, so they're losing my business to Nikon. Others though, might want to wait and see what the release of this "big gun" inspires other companies to come up with. Nikon and Canon both have a large DSLR and lens market to protect. Sony and Panasonic don't, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the next extraordinary superzoom come from one of those two companies. I suppose a lot depends on whether or not one can wait.......patience isn't one of my virtues! |^|
 
I have some concerns about the slow processing speeds. I will also have to see about the different color rendering vs what I'm used to on the Canon but I don't really think that that will be a problem.

One drawback I read in one of the reviews is how far one needs to be to get a focus. I am used to using the Canon SX50 to photograph snakes, dragonflies, in the 6 foot away range. 16 feet on the Nikon might mean sometimes not getting the photo or having the SX50 handy.

But, Amazon does have a great return policy if I really don't like it - if I do get it. But I think that I probably will.
 
Thanks! Interesting that all my Googling didn't find those 4 reviews. The third one down was most useful because of the comparison to the SX50.

Crazy, the Lightshedder review is a good one too. I didn't place too much emphasis on it though, because Ingraham prefers the SonyHX400 to the SX50.
This indicates to me he prioritizes differently than I do, since I tried the Sony and was not impressed. Different strokes.......

Did you note this paragraph?

QUOTE: And, for reasons I can not quite fathom, the view on the LCD and in the EVF during framing is among the most stable I have ever seen, even at 2000mm equivalent. There is none of the distracting (not to say debilitating) jitter you see at high power in the viewfinders of the Canon SX50HS for instance. This extra stability and ease of framing makes an excellent lens a joy to use! END QUOTE

I find that perplexing, since my SX50 is rock-solid, stabilization-wise. But the two SX60s I tried were like mexican jumping beans...go figure.
Seems no two cameras are alike, just as no two people are, and we're all looking for the one that's "just right."
 
Crazy, the Lightshedder review is a good one too. I didn't place too much emphasis on it though, because Ingraham prefers the SonyHX400 to the SX50.
This indicates to me he prioritizes differently than I do, since I tried the Sony and was not impressed. Different strokes.......

Did you note this paragraph?

QUOTE: And, for reasons I can not quite fathom, the view on the LCD and in the EVF during framing is among the most stable I have ever seen, even at 2000mm equivalent. There is none of the distracting (not to say debilitating) jitter you see at high power in the viewfinders of the Canon SX50HS for instance. This extra stability and ease of framing makes an excellent lens a joy to use! END QUOTE

I find that perplexing, since my SX50 is rock-solid, stabilization-wise. But the two SX60s I tried were like mexican jumping beans...go figure.
Seems no two cameras are alike, just as no two people are, and we're all looking for the one that's "just right."

I didn't see that comment. What is interesting though is that I have never experienced that jitter with my old SX50 that I got the end of 2012. However, my second one that I got a couple months ago does do that sometimes and I have to half press the shutter button several times to make it stop. This pops up in maybe 1 out of 300 shots so it has not been a big problem. Also you know how the SX50 will time out after about a minute of inactivity but it will wake up fast with a push of the zoom button. The new one on occasion has not woken up. This is also maybe 1 out of 300 times but the old one has also not shown that problem either.

By the way, does the P900 require a crazy expensive/proprietary USB cable like my old P100? or does it fit the standard mini or micro cables out there?

Nikon makes dire warnings about not using their expensive cable but their expensive cables are usually proprietary rip offs, at least from my experience with the old P100.
 
More reviews:
http://blandfordstudios.com/camera-and-photography/nikon-coolpix-p900-review/
https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-coolpix-p900
http://psnp.lightshedder.com/ This review contains comparisons with the Canon SX50.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/hands-review/nikon-p900-new-king-super-zooms

Very tempted to buy this camera, in particular since sx50 owner mzettie likes it. Battery capacity isnt quite like sx50, so to be on the safe side i"d need 6-7 reserve batteries for a day trip. Price is already down to euro 549 from 619. Still, the well-rounded, smooth-operating sx50 remains a strong rival...

Forgot you mentioned battery; I haven't had any battery issues, knock on wood, and have been impressed with how long a charge lasts, although I haven't counted shots per. Sherman did in his review though, saying he got 725! But he also says he didn't use the LCD much.....so like me, he probably turned off the function that automatically toggles between LCD and EVF when you raise the camera to your eye.
 
I didn't see that comment. What is interesting though is that I have never experienced that jitter with my old SX50 that I got the end of 2012. However, my second one that I got a couple months ago does do that sometimes and I have to half press the shutter button several times to make it stop. This pops up in maybe 1 out of 300 shots so it has not been a big problem. Also you know how the SX50 will time out after about a minute of inactivity but it will wake up fast with a push of the zoom button. The new one on occasion has not woken up. This is also maybe 1 out of 300 times but the old one has also not shown that problem either.

By the way, does the P900 require a crazy expensive/proprietary USB cable like my old P100? or does it fit the standard mini or micro cables out there?

Nikon makes dire warnings about not using their expensive cable but their expensive cables are usually proprietary rip offs, at least from my experience with the old P100.

Are you asking about a cable for loading pics into your computer? If so, I can't answer, since I load straight from card.
 
Micro USB...it's the same cable that I charge my phone with. It's great actually because as I look at my pics, the camera is charging.

Good! Thanks. I don't want more different and overpriced proprietary USB cables. Last time I had a Nikon a second proprietary cable was $30.

By the way, does Nikon supply an easy utility to copy new/untransferred photos to the computer easily like the Canon software? Just launch and copy uncopied photos automatically without having to manually scroll the Sd card?
 
I guess I have read enough positive reviews here and those above to get the camera once Amazon has stock again. I want to buy from Amazon because, just in case I don't like it I can return it for free, easily and for any reason unconditionally if I submit a return request in 30 day. Besides they often offer useful bundles like adding a charger, extra battery and a fast SD card.
 
Good! Thanks. I don't want more different and overpriced proprietary USB cables. Last time I had a Nikon a second proprietary cable was $30.

By the way, does Nikon supply an easy utility to copy new/untransferred photos to the computer easily like the Canon software? Just launch and copy uncopied photos automatically without having to manually scroll the Sd card?

I don't know, I try to avoid "bloatware"...just give me a drive I can access and I'll do the rest.
 
Good! Thanks. I don't want more different and overpriced proprietary USB cables. Last time I had a Nikon a second proprietary cable was $30.

By the way, does Nikon supply an easy utility to copy new/untransferred photos to the computer easily like the Canon software? Just launch and copy uncopied photos automatically without having to manually scroll the Sd card?

Sorry, I don't know either, but Nikon has a toll-free number for customer service/tech help.
 
... In a perfect world, I'd be buying a Canon with the P900's lens in it. I really prefer the speed, layout and processing of the Canon cameras....but Canon's not delivering what I want, so they're losing my business to Nikon. Others though, might want to wait and see what the release of this "big gun" inspires other companies to come up with. Nikon and Canon both have a large DSLR and lens market to protect. Sony and Panasonic don't, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the next extraordinary superzoom come from one of those two companies. I suppose a lot depends on whether or not one can wait.......patience isn't one of my virtues! |^|

You said exactly what I've been thinking... I've been shooting Canon DSLRs since the September of 1998 when I got a DC2000 with a whopping 2 MP sensor!! Now that I've committed to them and their interfaces and their glass, it seems like sacrilege to go to Nikon for anything but the fact is that this camera appears to vastly superior to Canon's latest offering, the SX60 which I tried but was not impressed... I'll be placing a pre-order for the P900 tomorrow, more than likely from B&H or Amazon. My local dealer has several in stock but he has a lousy return policy.

Chris
 
Thanks to Neil and mzettie, so the power consumption seems similar to the SX50 where I found that three batteries always suffice for a full day out. - When I buy a P900 in six months or so, it will be mainly to cure my winter frustration with the SX50. For my own practice with little songbirds, from a short distance in the local park, the Canon is still sufficient. But it is great to watch how companies keep developing technology which make birding more fun. One reviewer painted a rosy future when we finally get a camera based on the latest and fastest chip technology - including the ability of pre-shooting. Will be sheer paradise for someone with my slow reaction.
 
Thanks to Neil and mzettie, so the power consumption seems similar to the SX50 where I found that three batteries always suffice for a full day out. - When I buy a P900 in six months or so, it will be mainly to cure my winter frustration with the SX50. For my own practice with little songbirds, from a short distance in the local park, the Canon is still sufficient. But it is great to watch how companies keep developing technology which make birding more fun. One reviewer painted a rosy future when we finally get a camera based on the latest and fastest chip technology - including the ability of pre-shooting. Will be sheer paradise for someone with my slow reaction.

3 batteries a day? With my SX50 I could typically get over 400 shots on one battery. Once I took 450 on one battery. That's on vacation when I would charge it each night. You take that many photos?
 
3 batteries a day? With my SX50 I could typically get over 400 shots on one battery. Once I took 450 on one battery. That's on vacation when I would charge it each night. You take that many photos?

I can go through three with the SX50 if I spend an entire day birding. In my case, it's not so much the number of photos taken but how I use the camera; I never turn it off, don't use any energy saving features and think nothing of holding the zoom assist button in for extended periods when waiting for a bird to reappear.
 
I can go through three with the SX50 if I spend an entire day birding. In my case, it's not so much the number of photos taken but how I use the camera; I never turn it off, don't use any energy saving features and think nothing of holding the zoom assist button in for extended periods when waiting for a bird to reappear.

That s exactly how I am using my SX50s. There were reports in the early days of the camera that some sx50s suffered a defect with the zoom freezing/not zooming out. So I thought by myself that the zoom, as a mechanical part of the camera, should better not be overused. I developed the habit of never turning it off during a walk. In 3.5 hours today I shot 980 photos, the battery ran out just when I returned.

I love continuous shooting. The reviews describe that the P900 would best be used in 2fps mode, that would be a little slower, I guess.
 
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