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

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

Very pleased with the video performance of this camera. White Stork and Glossy Ibis in Coto Donana. No tripod, but was able to rest the camera on the hide ledge, propped up by the strap to fine tune the aim.

https://youtu.be/keQovoCzMLc


quality can be increased to full HD for best results
 
Mine got as far as Perth on the 20th April at 16:15, but has apparently gotten no further.

It keeps changing from In Transit to Out for Delivery, then back to In Transit . . . . . maybe the tracking label has come off and is stuck to a drivers jacket . . . .
 
Thinking of ditching the sx60 and joining the 900 club. I continue to be frustrated by the IS of the sx60 and from my brief encounter with the p900 and other people's experiences I'm increasingly persuaded that it can produce decent stills at distance more often and more easily.

Nobody seems to be as troubled by the slow buffering (or at least haven't mentioned it recently) as early impressions might have suggested. How much of a problem are you guys finding it - or have you found ways round it?

The only other concern I have is the video quality, probably (for me at least) the best feature of the sx60. I've looked at all the videos shot with the p900 that I can find and it's really hard to say wether they are as good. It doesn't help that I have a pretty poor internet connection here and HD videos are prone to prolonged freezing while the buffer builds up.

I know that Neil has both sx60 and p900 - don't know if anyone else does? - but would love to know how they compare video wise.

Cheers,

Phil

P.S. Really enjoying the images you guys are getting - some really nice shots - thanks for posting them and looking forward to more.
 
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Would someone who has been using the P900 for a while be willing to suggest the most important settings to save to U for those of us anxiously looking forward to their much awaited back-orders to arrive? o:D o:D
 
Mine arrived this morning, battery charged up and I took some pics. Trying to compare the quality/sharpness with the ones taken thro my scope. Very disappointed at first, but D/Loaded the manual and changed a few settings i.e. from SOFT to FINE.....huge improvement. Pics of church 800mtrs away are (very nearly) as good as the digiscoped ones. Found the burst mode :) buffering not a problem for me.

Not used a still camera like this for some years, video has been my preferred type of camera, so taking a while to find my way through the menus and options,

All in all pretty happy :)

Den
 
peter.jones said:
Very pleased with the video performance of this camera. White Stork and Glossy Ibis in Coto Donana. No tripod, but was able to rest the camera on the hide ledge, propped up by the strap to fine tune the aim.

https://youtu.be/keQovoCzMLc


quality can be increased to full HD for best results
Click to expand...

Good job. The VR seems to work much better in this camera than previous Nikons. But I guess it has to at 2,000 mm - 5 stops they say.
I'm using it more and more for video. Just push record and it nails the exposure every time ( I have Centre Weighted set).
Neil.
 
How easy is it/would it be to take a single shot/frame from a video sequence ?

Mine has stayed at Out for delivery for over 9 hrs now - fingers crossed today is the day . . . .
 
Torchepot said:
Thinking of ditching the sx60 and joining the 900 club. I continue to be frustrated by the IS of the sx60 and from my brief encounter with the p900 and other people's experiences I'm increasingly persuaded that it can produce decent stills at distance more often and more easily.

Nobody seems to be as troubled by the slow buffering (or at least haven't mentioned it recently) as early impressions might have suggested. How much of a problem are you guys finding it - or have you found ways round it?

The only other concern I have is the video quality, probably (for me at least) the best feature of the sx60. I've looked at all the videos shot with the p900 that I can find and it's really hard to say wether they are as good. It doesn't help that I have a pretty poor internet connection here and HD videos are prone to prolonged freezing while the buffer builds up.

I know that Neil has both sx60 and p900 - don't know if anyone else does? - but would love to know how they compare video wise.

Cheers,

Phil

P.S. Really enjoying the images you guys are getting - some really nice shots - thanks for posting them and looking forward to more.
Click to expand...

Hi Phil, can't help with video as I never used it with the SX60.
As far as buffering speed goes, I'm not happy with it but it doesn't factor in too much with the way I'm using the camera. It's most disruptive when shooting in "continuous, high speed," but I don't find that setting to get me any more keepers than "continuous slow," so I'm not using it.
"Sports" and "Birdwatching" scene modes use continuous high, but neither one has worked well for me, so that's not an issue for me either.

Everything on the P900 is slower than on the SX60 and that is an issue, but will probably affect some users more than others. A lot of the slowness is inexcusable, since it's software based, but it does affect one's ability to go from one mode to another quickly. There's only one custom setting on the dial, and the only assignable button (Fn) doesn't cover as many functions as one would like.

That being said, the IQ, IS and reach is great, which is why I'm keeping the camera. But if Canon produced a camera with the snappy performance of the SX60, the IS of the SX50, and the zoom of the P900, I'd jump ship again in a heartbeat!
 
crazyfingers said:
Would someone who has been using the P900 for a while be willing to suggest the most important settings to save to U for those of us anxiously looking forward to their much awaited back-orders to arrive? o:D o:D
Click to expand...

Crazy, wish I had it down so I could advise, but I'm still experimenting myself. One thing I feel pretty sure of, is using AF-s as opposed to AF-f....haven't heard of anyone who's in disagreement with that.

Auto-focus square size and metering mode is another story. I always used spot AF with the SX50, but it seems like "normal" gives a lot of people better results with the Nikon.
Metering mode presents another conundrum....I used center-weighted with the SX50, but in some high-contrast situations the P900 seems to benefit from "active D-lighting," which automatically uses matrix. Right now I have the "U" mode set to use D-lighting and with digital zoom on....have it off otherwise, cause the zoom doesn't stop automatically at 2000mm.
 
crazyfingers said:
Would someone who has been using the P900 for a while be willing to suggest the most important settings to save to U for those of us anxiously looking forward to their much awaited back-orders to arrive? o:D o:D
Click to expand...

Crazy, thought of a couple of other things...

Using "Active D-lighting" slows buffering, so best to use "low."

The Program mode has something called "flexible P." You engage it by turning the dial above the thumb rest while in P mode, which then allows you to prioritize either shutter speed or aperture by using that dial and the ring on the back of the camera. The default setting assigns shutter speed to the upper dial, and since I find it easier to manipulate than the ring (and I'm often wanting to increase SS) I leave it that way.

On the SX50 I used Auto ISO, but on this camera I use "Fixed Range Auto," leaving the camera set to 100 to 400 for use with P and S modes, and setting it to 100 to 800 (with flexible P and D-lighting) for the custom U mode.
I set minimum shutter speed to 1/125 for general use and 1/60 for U. The idea is to get as close to optimal settings for IQ as possible, but have a back-up setting for more challenging situations readily available. For the same reason I leave the AF area set to spot, but have it set to normal for U. You might prefer to reverse that, since many people find the normal AF square to be more accurate for birds. I'm still undecided so I've also set the FN button to AF area, to be able to change the size of the square quickly, but stay in the same shooting mode.

Many people also like the "continuous high" (burst) setting, but I prefer "continuous low," which doesn't slow buffering. If you leave the "Scene" mode set to Birdwatching or Sports though, you can access continuous high fairly quickly with a turn of the dial.
The flash only appears to work when "single shot" is used, so that's another setting I've saved to U. Basically, if I want to use the flash, D-lighting, digital zoom or allow higher ISO and slower shutter speeds, I just switch to U.
 
Thanks MZ!

I'm making notes and noting which page in the manual each item it is located so that I can start quickly when it arrives. UPS is still showing tomorrow by 8pm, en-route from Indianapolis to my house outside Boston.
 
Chris B. said:
I think your shots with the P900 are exceptional! Lots of great detail with excellent color definition and sharpness!

Chris
Click to expand...

Thank you very much, Chris. The camera's able to deliver stunning results at 2000mm, but getting a lot of them requires a steadier hand than I possess. My percentage of keepers compared to rejects is still quite low, but I'm getting enough "good-uns" to keep me practicing. :-O
 
crazyfingers said:
Thanks MZ!

I'm making notes and noting which page in the manual each item it is located so that I can start quickly when it arrives. UPS is still showing tomorrow by 8pm, en-route from Indianapolis to my house outside Boston.
Click to expand...

Crazy, I'm sure you'll be whizzing through the P900's menu in no time, and will be able to help all of us choose the best settings.
BTW, be sure to try the Birdwatching mode....I haven't had a lot of success with it, but that might be something peculiar to me or my camera....cause I've seen a lot of great images taken with it.

PS...If light's not decent when you receive the camera, might want to start with Auto ISO, just to get a sense of what the camera's requirements are, metering-wise
 
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A couple more from today before the @#$%@^! SNOW squall came through.... Seriously?! It's SUPPOSED to be warmer than this... as I write this here in eastern PA, the air temp is 44 with a brisk wind.... GRRRR...

While the zoom range is quite astonishing with this camera, it really does require decent light to shine.

Chris
 

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Some settings etc on the following link

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55577911

Lots of other interesting stuff on this site.

Mine arrived yesterday, but I was back from work late. Enough time to charge the battery and fiddle around a bit indoors.

Out from dawn today working outdoors, so will take "The Beast" and my old SX 40 out with me.

Fingers crossed.
 
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