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

83x anyone? The new Nikon P900 (2 Viewers)

Looks pretty amazing specs although it also looks something of a beast - then again a bit of heft may make it better at the long end. Not sure though even in the best of conditions that you can hold a "x83" camera. Ideally my money would be on a camera with a 1" sensor and, say, x40/50 magnification .... but this has got to be worth a look!
 
This could get interesting. According to the Nikon site the P900 has a special scene mode for bird watching: "Hard-to-shoot subjects like the moon and birds become easy to capture with Scene auto selector enabling simple focusing and settings, so you’ll always get exceptional results."

But it doesn't have RAW, only jpeg.
 
I bit, pre-ordered one yesterday from Adorama. It's supposed to ship Mar. 19.
My better half has the P600 and the image quality is great, better than my SX 50.....but autofocus and buffering is just too slow for shooting birds.
If the P900's IQ is equally good and it's performance is snappier, this will be an awesome camera for many bird nerds. Nikon has given it a 921k-dot EVF (drool!) and a "snap-back" zoom function that sounds similar to Canon's "zoom assist" function, something I'd have a hard time doing without.
Fingers crossed.......
 
Come a long way since Oly E-100RS

Definitely looking out for reviews on this one. Certainly in Digiscoping range.
 
Mzettie you are really well placed with experience of P600 SX50 and SX60. Really looking forward to your impressions. Do you shoot video at all? I've been enjoying the sx60 for video and some of the results are very useful for getting details of distant birds. If this beast delivers there will be a lot of interest.

Good luck,

Phil
 
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Mzettie you are really well placed with experience of P600 SX50 and SX60. Really looking forward to your impressions. Do you shoot video at all? I've been enjoying the sx60 for video and some of the results are very useful for getting details of distant birds. If this beast delivers there will be a lot of interest.

Good luck,

Phil
Hi Phil, just yesterday I took the P600 out for a little while to try to get more comfortable with it. I've never been able to make myself use it much, cause the auto-focusing and buffering's so slow. I'm going to force myself to use it more though, to try to reduce the learning curve when the P900 gets here.

Getting frustrated with the P600's slow autofocus yesterday prompted me to try manual focus, something I never use on the SX50 because it's an exercise in futility. I actually found it doable, and although I wasn't real happy with the results, I think with some practice it could be a very useful function. I'm also hoping the better EVF and larger size(ergonomics) of the P900 will make MF even more user-friendly.

I haven't used video much, really should try it more. I know some SX50 users are crazy about being able to shoot stills while videoing, but I just don't think to employ it very often. Will definitely put that on the list of things to trial when the new camera arrives.
 
. Image stabilised spotting scope

. Would the Nikon P 900 make a good image stabilised spotting scope, or at least show more detail than seen through a binocular?
I wonder if it could equal the details seen in image stabilised binoculars?
 
It isn't so hard to beat a binocular regarding detail. A few days ago I was out with my sister-in-law and her Steiner 3.0 Skyhawk 8x32 binocular. My SX50 proved to be just as good for identification of birds as the bino, for some birds it even did a better job - e.g. a Goldcrest hovering in a tree 20 meters above the ground. I was able to identify the Goldcrest already when I took the shot, zooming into the photo afterwards to show it to her was just a welcome extra.

That said, a fine binocular like the Steiner gives an amazing view if you look through it, ten times as good as the SX50. Being able to look with both eyes simultaneously, the relaxed, broad view, the depth of field, the colours, is a lot more pleasant than using the camera's evf (the P900's EVF may be a little better, hopefully). At the end, it's a matter of priorities, and the day may come when I give up taking photos and will use only a first-class bino on my daily walks. It may be a high-magnification Canon IS with its image stabilization - if the next generation of these binos has cured some of the flaws of the recent ones.

Back to the P900, I am also eager to hear mzettie's opinion on the new camera.
 
Hi Binastro,

I've been using the SX60 like that and certainly can see far more detail than is possible with 10x binoculars. In difficult circumstances - with distant perched raptors - I often pushed the zoom all the way to 260x resulting in very noisy video - but got some very interesting shots of eagles taking off. This had the advantage of leaving me free to use scope and bins but to leave the camera running, locked off on the subject sometimes for 20 minutes or more and not miss the crucial moment. It's fairly easy to then edit the video down to the important few seconds in camera. The other huge advantage is that being able to play the footage back frame by frame it's possible to see details that would be otherwise invisible. The magnification is huge so any heat haze or wind causes havoc and some form of mount is essential. I was told that the max magnification using the digital zoom equates to somewhere around 109x. With the P900 the magnification at max optical I think should be around 40x and at full digital maybe 160x.

Handheld is a different story though, the IS on the Canon is fickle and binoculars are so much easier to use. I intend to try a resolution test of camera, bins and scope, with the camera handheld and tripod mounted. In a couple of weeks I should be able to test it against some 10x Canon IS bins.

If the IS on the P900 really works it could replace a scope in many situations - with some serious advantages. The SX60 doesn't quite get there for me - but to get the most out of it carrying two tripods (one for the scope) or constantly changing over is not an option for most people.

Cheers,

Phil
 
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I've id'd birds with the SX50 that I couldn't see well with bins or even a scope, but usually it's after the fact (reviewing the photo) not in "real time." An EVF would have to be pretty awesome for me to give up my bins.

I adapted a harness to carry both bins and camera, to minimize the time it takes to switch from one to the other. Even so, the bird's often gone by the time I get the camera up and on the target. I've wished for good bins that could snap pics a million times but never considered the reverse scenario. Auto-focus would have to be especially good, otherwise one might not get a good look OR a photo.

The type of birding one does has a lot to do with tolerances....I wouldn't even consider carrying a monopod for my camera. But when the P900 gets here I'll use one of my husband's tripods with it, to try to make a comparison for those who do.
 
Personally, I would never give up binoculars for a camera with an EVF, not least of which because in my opinion seeing a bird on an EVF isn't really seeing the bird--it's watching the bird on television (this is my "photon hits retina" standard of seeing a bird).
 
Some birders combine a binoculars (e.g. 8x32) for finding the birds with a spotting scope for a closer look. Replacing the spotting scope with an SX50 or the P900 may save a little weight. You can prefer binoculars for the "real view", and still take a bridge camera with you. No conflict here imo. Equipment still below 1 kilogram - though this may become more difficult with the P900.
 
Some birders combine a binoculars (e.g. 8x32) for finding the birds with a spotting scope for a closer look. Replacing the spotting scope with an SX50 or the P900 may save a little weight. You can prefer binoculars for the "real view", and still take a bridge camera with you. No conflict here imo. Equipment still below 1 kilogram - though this may become more difficult with the P900.
I agree, probably a better substitute for a scope than bins.....not only less bulky, but image stabilized, affordable.....and you get (hopefully!) an image to study/submit later.
 
That is instructions for the old Coolpix 900 different Camera.. (I had one years ago was great at the time and the CP4500 is still a great Camera to Scope camera) :)
 
That is instructions for the old Coolpix 900 different Camera.. (I had one years ago was great at the time and the CP4500 is still a great Camera to Scope camera) :)

No, that's the new camera. Mr Jaworski writes:
"Taken on the new Coolpix P900, hand held at 83x Optical Zoom. Amazing sharpness."
http://cre-arts.net/tag/coolpixp900
He is a Sales Manager of Nikon Australia LinkedIn (but maybe not so experienced in taking attractive bird photos).
 
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