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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)

2 more impressions:

1. Due to its weight and length when fully extended, the lense seems to jiggle a bit in its casing. Anyone else find this?

2. This camera shoots fantastic videos. I shot a video on the weekend of fast-flying ducks and was surprised at the quality considering how fast I was moving the camera trying to keep up with them.

With the SX50, out of desparation I have in the past tried to shoot videos of birds that refused to be photographed (those skittish grass-land birds that get flushed easily), but found the video quality lacking, or at least not enough for ID purposes.

Will the P900 be enough to ID those stubborn birds? We'll see later in the summer...but one thing is for sure, it'll be a lot closer.
 
I'm still trying to figure out how to get consistent results from this camera. It seems to over-react to some light situations (both light and dark) which requires constant juggling....not exactly what I want to be doing when birding....BUT... the zoom is phenomenal, so I'm determined to make it work. I put some pics in a flickr folder here; https://www.flickr.com/photos/127980272@N06/sets/72157651601750306/

I haven't tried video yet, will try to do that soon if the weather cooperates.
 
I'm still trying to figure out how to get consistent results from this camera. It seems to over-react to some light situations (both light and dark) which requires constant juggling....not exactly what I want to be doing when birding....BUT... the zoom is phenomenal, so I'm determined to make it work. I put some pics in a flickr folder here; https://www.flickr.com/photos/127980272@N06/sets/72157651601750306/

I haven't tried video yet, will try to do that soon if the weather cooperates.

Thank you for taking the time in writing this up. One does wonder, where will Nikon go from here. Perhaps a larger sensor and RAW for the next generation monster zoom. Please do keep posting.
 
Thought those thinking about getting this camera might like to see an example of it's zoom power. These 4 pics were all taken from the same location, I'm guessing about a half mile from the truck in the last shot.

Very impressive. I might have to get one.
Neil.
 
With all the good results shown here I new I had to get one. Picked it up today after playing around a bit with Bob's.
I hope to get out in the field with it tomorrow.
This is one of my test photos at 2,000 mm.
Neil.
 

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I got a few results from Pennington Marshes, Hants..

https://plus.google.com/109037229823351410961/posts/HUashoC6cdC

Little Grebe was about 8 metres away, Finches about 10metres, Rest were at the back of Fishtail Lagoon (~30metres?) Snipe was further away again. Weather was sunny.

Also tried the video, again at about 30 metres distance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnGEGHtoQUk&list=UU4CeryaPxtehYozPgn9-G1A

The settings can be improved to 720hd. Also, that is a Blackbird alarm call which sounds very robotic! Wondering if the zoom microphone was distorting the sounds. Will be interesting to record a singing bird and see if zoom or regular microphone works best.

I've no previous experience with Bridge cameras, coming from a DSLR, but it seems to work well. I was finding I needed to rest the camera for sharpest results at the long end, and "Birdwatching" scene mode gave me the best results. I was unable to replicate the birdwatching settings in aperture priority mode.

Peter
 
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Took my new toy out to the local park this afternoon and shot a few stills and video. Battery only lasted about 1.5 hours so I'll need to get another one. Camera is easy to handle and feels good in the hand. Buffer could be a bit bigger. I shot this video of the parakeet which would have been difficult to get without digiscoping. I had two guys next to me, one with a Canon 100-400 and one with a Sigma 170-500 and they were getting nothing.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7892550@N03/16999273821/
Neil
ps taking it with me to Sydney tomorrow.
Hong Kong Park,
Hong Kong,China.
1st April 2015
 
Took my new toy out to the local park this afternoon and shot a few stills and video. Battery only lasted about 1.5 hours so I'll need to get another one. Camera is easy to handle and feels good in the hand. Buffer could be a bit bigger. I shot this video of the parakeet which would have been difficult to get without digiscoping. I had two guys next to me, one with a Canon 100-400 and one with a Sigma 170-500 and they were getting nothing.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7892550@N03/16999273821/
Neil
ps taking it with me to Sydney tomorrow.
Hong Kong Park,
Hong Kong,China.
1st April 2015

WOW, that's gorgeous....the bird and the video! I'm so glad some experienced bird photographers have joined the P900 club. As a novice, I'm looking forward to seeing more of your expertise at work and getting feedback about the camera and your preferred settings.
 
Forgot to say, re battery...video must really sap it. I've been impressed with battery, but then I use strictly viewfinder and keep LCD off, except for reviewing.

Buffering speed (actually, lack of!) is my main gripe, and I wish it had a button to assign digital zoom (and other functions) to, cause the lens doesn't stop automatically at 2000mm. You can turn off digital zoom but then you have to go into the menu to get it back. Probably won't need it much though, cause the reach is awesome!
 
I got a few results from Pennington Marshes, Hants..

https://plus.google.com/109037229823351410961/posts/HUashoC6cdC

Little Grebe was about 8 metres away, Finches about 10metres, Rest were at the back of Fishtail Lagoon (~30metres?) Snipe was further away again. Weather was sunny.

Also tried the video, again at about 30 metres distance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnGEGHtoQUk&list=UU4CeryaPxtehYozPgn9-G1A

The settings can be improved to 720hd. Also, that is a Blackbird alarm call which sounds very robotic! Wondering if the zoom microphone was distorting the sounds. Will be interesting to record a singing bird and see if zoom or regular microphone works best.

I've no previous experience with Bridge cameras, coming from a DSLR, but it seems to work well. I was finding I needed to rest the camera for sharpest results at the long end, and "Birdwatching" scene mode gave me the best results. I was unable to replicate the birdwatching settings in aperture priority mode.

Peter

Hi Peter, very nice images and videos, hope you continue to be happy with your new camera.
I come to the P900 from other bridge cameras, which makes it a little easier for me to accept it's limitations, I think. You probably won't get the image quality you've come to expect from your DSLRs, but I expect you'll love the portability.

Lots of superzoom users prefer shutter priority to aperture, as keeping speed high helps to reduce the effects of shake at very long focal lengths. Of course a mono/tripod will also do that, if you're willing to carry one.

I need to try the Birdwatching mode again. I used it early on and got a lot of slightly out-of-focus shots, which I attributed to it's not choosing a high enough shutter speed (and my shaky old hands.) Strangely though, I'm now wondering if the "spot" focus that scene mode employs was to blame. I preferred a pinpoint focus with my previous camera, but based on the experiences of other early P900 owners, I just switched to "normal," and am getting better results. That could be just an idiosyncrasy of my camera or technique, but it's easy enough to experiment with.

Hope you'll post more images and you get them, and let us know what you discover about the camera.
 
Got my P900 today but didn't have time to do anything other than load a battery and set the time/date before I was due to get picked up to go birding. Wasn't impressed with the image quality until I realised that I was in the digital zoom range. Tried a few shots when I got home and am impressed with the image quality on Fine setting in less than perfect light (dusk and into the light). Photo has been cropped slightly, and lightened/sharpened a bit.

Will give it a proper workout tomorrow.
 

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Come on Stonefaction - its been light nearly three hours up here !!

Teetering on the brink of buying one of these to replace my Canon SX 40 - any help in pushing me over the edge would be gratefully recieved.
 
Come on Stonefaction - its been light nearly three hours up here !!

Teetering on the brink of buying one of these to replace my Canon SX 40 - any help in pushing me over the edge would be gratefully recieved.

Sometimes you gotta take a risk and see for yourself. I think every individual human being perceives an object differently. Some notice its weight, some its shape, others its colour. Same goes for this camera...some aspects of it may turn you off while others make you very happy.

All I know is that there were 3 points that this camera needed to excell in:

- Zoom - this was a given, at 83 x this camera blows my Canon SX50 out of the water

- IS - the IS is simply incredible...at full 83 zoom I can hardly believe how stable it is (all handheld). It destroys the SX60 which was supposed to be the next gen superzoom but failed miserably largely because of a useless IS.

- IQ - simply amazing. I've already gotten detail and colours out of this camera that I know would have been impossible with my SX50.

Now mind you I'm not a hardcore user and some might accuse me of not fully exploiting the SX50's abiliites. But I'm a birder first and a photographer second. I don't go out there to take pictures, I go out there to bird and if I see something I like or something that needs ID'ing, well that's why I bring my camera along.
 
Bird_Huszar,

I prefer others to take the risk first . . . . ;)

Was going to upgrade to the SX 60 but sat and waited and watched for a while - glad I did now.

I am a birder first and a photographer second - sounds like we have similar approaches/needs when it comes to photography.

Have seen some photos of birds in the middle of bushes taken by the 900- pin sharp.

Time to get the credit card out I think !!
 
Come on Stonefaction - its been light nearly three hours up here !!

Teetering on the brink of buying one of these to replace my Canon SX 40 - any help in pushing me over the edge would be gratefully recieved.

I agree with BH, in that people's needs and perceptions are very different. Some love the SX60; I had a miserable time with it, even though I'm a long time SX50 user. That makes it hard for me to tell someone else to take the leap; all I can do is tell you what my experience has been so far.

The camera's big, but comfortable to use. I have neck problems so I wear it on a harness that distributes the weight on my shoulders....can bird all day like this.
I went from the SX30 straight to the SX50 and that was a "WOW" moment for me, cause speed was so improved on the new camera. The P900's auto focus is fast, but in every other way it's performance is sluggish compared to the SX60. However, the zoom and quality of the lens is so good it's worth working around. (IMHO)
Unlike BH, I prefer my Canon's color, but this too takes a back seat to reach and image quality. Color can be manipulated in PP, and there may be "pictures" settings that could tweak it in-camera....haven't gotten that far yet.
I don't like the layout of the camera much either. Why would you put "night scene" on the dial, and bury "sports mode" in the menu.....which one is more likely to necessitate quick access.....? Grrr.
Another gripe is that the zoom doesn't automatically stop at 2000mm, making it easy to go into digital zoom without meaning to. You can turn off digital zoom, but then you have to go into the menu to retrieve it.

I could bellyache about small things all day, but the bottom line is I'm getting better pictures than I was with my SX50, despite it's slowness and my ineptitude. Maybe these sorts of functional issues would matter a great deal to you, maybe not. That's why at some point you'll have to decide for yourself. ;)

I put some more pics (birds and others) on flickr, here's a link to the photostream;https://www.flickr.com/photos/127980272@N06/with/16365836573/
PS, SX50 pics start with the bluebird with the ugly bug in it's bill.
 
Thought I should clarify one thing. Sports mode is a "scene," so if it's the only scene mode you use, you can leave the camera set this way and get to it via the dial. If, however, you use the "birdwatching" scene most of the time, you can't make the switch quickly.
 
Another gripe is that the zoom doesn't automatically stop at 2000mm, making it easy to go into digital zoom without meaning to. You can turn off digital zoom, but then you have to go into the menu to retrieve it.

.

Have you tried turning on the zoom memory? You then use the switch on the shutter to skip thru the saved focal lengths, might improve the situation for you, albeit losing a bit of flexibility.

Mine is set at 300mm, 1000mm, and 1800mm. If I walk round with it at 1000mm, then the zoom-back takes me all the way back to 300mm, and the telephoto switch nudges me to 300mm or 1800mm. However, I've just noticed with this config, that I can't go higher than 1800mm (in aperture priority mode) (my side zoom button is set for manual focusing!).
I'd need to go into the birdwatching scene mode to quickly go into the digital range.

It's certainly a camera packed with features
 
Paul....I was out from 8:30 in the Spring sunshine up here, testing the P900. Took over 300 photos and was surprised by the quality. The light was very good, but even so the performance surpassed expectations for me. Battery lasted for over 300 photos too, so have ordered a second one (and a stand-alone charger). Had it on birdwatching mode, with some exposure compensation dialed in at times.

https://www.facebook.com/stonefacti...78021.1073742097.591318020&type=1&pnref=story

Hopefully this link will let you see all the photos that were in focus.... all unedited in any way. (shot some video too and the quality wasn't bad).
 
Have you tried turning on the zoom memory? You then use the switch on the shutter to skip thru the saved focal lengths, might improve the situation for you, albeit losing a bit of flexibility.

Mine is set at 300mm, 1000mm, and 1800mm. If I walk round with it at 1000mm, then the zoom-back takes me all the way back to 300mm, and the telephoto switch nudges me to 300mm or 1800mm. However, I've just noticed with this config, that I can't go higher than 1800mm (in aperture priority mode) (my side zoom button is set for manual focusing!).
I'd need to go into the birdwatching scene mode to quickly go into the digital range.

It's certainly a camera packed with features

Thanks for the suggestion Peter. I've used zoom memory only briefly and found it distracting. I need to try it some more because the way you're using it sounds useful.
Would be really nice if digital zoom could be assigned to the function button, or better yet, if there were two assignable buttons. It really is a camera packed with features.....just wish they were all the features "I" want. 3:)
 
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