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

Hey Moocher, I just got a reply from the waiting list at Nikon UK, stock arrived with them yesterday, I had already sourced one from my pal in Hong Kong, so try Nikon online.

I asked in Jessops today & they report having 338 on order, but not yet in their warehouse ...

Not very helpful I know but I was talking to a birder yesterday whilst waiting for the boat to Skomer, and he was expecting his within the next few days. Perhaps it shows that is becoming available though?

mzettie said:

I called Precision camera today to find out why my P900 repair is still "on hold, waiting on parts." Was told they are waiting on a new lens, which won't be available until 6-24! I shipped the camera via Fed-ex on 5-13, so that means by the time they receive the part, repair the camera and return it to me, I'll have been without it for at least two months! In the meantime, people are buying new P900s online and receiving them in a couple of days. What that says (loudly and clearly) is that lenses are available, but Nikon is more interested in selling more cameras than they are in making things right for early purchasers.

After calling Precision, I called Nikon "customer service." HA, what a misnomer that is! Their response was ...."Oh well, if Precision says it's back-ordered there's nothing WE can do." My response was...."YOU COULD SEND THEM A LENS!"....but it fell on deaf ears, didn't even get a measly "sorry."
Others have mentioned Nikon's poor treatment of their customers and now that I've experienced it myself, they could come out with a 5000mm eq lens and I wouldn't buy it. I'm sure there'll be a worthy competitor on the market soon....probably before I get the P900 back.

So all I can say is, BUYER BEWARE. You might get lucky and get a good copy, but if your camera fails after the return period provided by your retailer, don't expect Nikon to give a $%*!

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MZettie, given your experience with Nikon, wonder what you make of this ?

On P19 of the July 2015 issue of UK Consumers Assn magazine, Which? ranks Nikon the "Best of the Best" amonst camera brands.

"When it comes to Best Buy cameras, Nikon takes some beating. The top scoring digital and DSLR cameras over the past twelve months were from Nikon. We tested 24 (Nikon) models and nine of these went on to become Best Buys.

"With Canon and Panasonic, Nikon shares the top spot for customer score. Owners speak highly of the brand when it comes to reliability, too, with an impressive score of 92%."

So whilst not specifically mentioning after-sales care, the impression given is that Nikon's all round package including customer care is the best overall.

A friend of mine who has only recently taken up up birding (having caught the bug off me) is on the point of buying the Nikon P610, so it will be interesting to see how it works out for him.

wotcha said:

MZettie, given your experience with Nikon, wonder what you make of this ?

On P19 of the July 2015 issue of UK Consumers Assn magazine, Which? ranks Nikon the "Best of the Best" amonst camera brands.

"When it comes to Best Buy cameras, Nikon takes some beating. The top scoring digital and DSLR cameras over the past twelve months were from Nikon. We tested 24 (Nikon) models and nine of these went on to become Best Buys.

"With Canon and Panasonic, Nikon shares the top spot for customer score. Owners speak highly of the brand when it comes to reliability, too, with an impressive score of 92%."

So whilst not specifically mentioning after-sales care, the impression given is that Nikon's all round package including customer care is the best overall.

A friend of mine who has only recently taken up up birding (having caught the bug off me) is on the point of buying the Nikon P610, so it will be interesting to see how it works out for him.

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I've only had good experiences with Nikon over the last 30 years in Hong Kong and Sydney. With repairs often the part has to come from Japan. With a new model especially this may take more time. Up to two months. I've experienced this recently with a repair on my D800 ( AF problem) which took about 6 weeks. I understand the frustration when it's a new camera.
In Hong Kong I take my Nikons in for cleaning and they do it while I wait and it takes about 20 mins.
Neil.

Neil said:

I've only had good experiences with Nikon over the last 30 years in Hong Kong and Sydney. With repairs often the part has to come from Japan. With a new model especially this may take more time. Up to two months. I've experienced this recently with a repair on my D800 ( AF problem) which took about 6 weeks. I understand the frustration when it's a new camera.
In Hong Kong I take my Nikons in for cleaning and they do it while I wait and it takes about 20 mins.
Neil.

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Seems Nikon HK sets the pace for service in Asia.
Judging by other comments earlier in this thread, service in Europe (and in the US) is less speedy.

wotcha said:

MZettie, given your experience with Nikon, wonder what you make of this ?

On P19 of the July 2015 issue of UK Consumers Assn magazine, Which? ranks Nikon the "Best of the Best" amonst camera brands.

"When it comes to Best Buy cameras, Nikon takes some beating. The top scoring digital and DSLR cameras over the past twelve months were from Nikon. We tested 24 (Nikon) models and nine of these went on to become Best Buys.

"With Canon and Panasonic, Nikon shares the top spot for customer score. Owners speak highly of the brand when it comes to reliability, too, with an impressive score of 92%."

So whilst not specifically mentioning after-sales care, the impression given is that Nikon's all round package including customer care is the best overall.

A friend of mine who has only recently taken up up birding (having caught the bug off me) is on the point of buying the Nikon P610, so it will be interesting to see how it works out for him.

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Wotcha, I'm probably not the best person to ask about Nikon's customer service, since this is my first experience with them and it coincided with the release of a new camera that they were obviously having problems with.

I did get my P900 back from Precision Camera. Haven't used it much though, in part because it was returned to me with the old firmware installed. I was reluctant to try to download 1.1 again because the first time around I did it incorrectly, and subsequently, when my computer did an automatic update I lost stuff that I was never able to retrieve. Ended up buying a new computer since the old one was getting pretty long in the tooth.

Anyway, my better half managed to get the new firmware downloaded and installed correctly, so I waited til he was able to do it this time too. So far it seems ok, fingers crossed.....

mzettie said:

Wotcha, I'm probably not the best person to ask about Nikon's customer service, since this is my first experience with them and it coincided with the release of a new camera that they were obviously having problems with.

I did get my P900 back from Precision Camera. Haven't used it much though, in part because it was returned to me with the old firmware installed. I was reluctant to try to download 1.1 again because the first time around I did it incorrectly, and subsequently, when my computer did an automatic update I lost stuff that I was never able to retrieve. Ended up buying a new computer since the old one was getting pretty long in the tooth.

Anyway, my better half managed to get the new firmware downloaded and installed correctly, so I waited til he was able to do it this time too. So far it seems ok, fingers crossed.....

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Sorry to hear about those knock-on problems arising out of your initial P900 issues but good to hear you at least got a new computer out of it and hopefully a much better performing camera.

Some photos and a video clip from a very misty Lundy Island last weekend.

https://youtu.be/ellGHVxmTSg
30-50 seconds, the quality drops a little as cloud comes in. Tripod for Peregrine, I should add.

Lumalee said:

Hey Moocher, I just got a reply from the waiting list at Nikon UK, stock arrived with them yesterday, I had already sourced one from my pal in Hong Kong, so try Nikon online.

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Thanks, will look into it. :t:

No thanks

I was quite interested when this camera became available,but after trolling through many reviews and studying many images taken with it it's a no go.In reality,the iq is'nt really up to much....it's no good expecting superb images if you are taking small birds at long distances.
I will stick with my 24x zoom and do what you should do to get the best quality....get as close as you can using a hide or similar......these zoom ranges are becoming ridiculous and only really benefit the marketing men.

I think that is a smart decision for you. If you want to improve your photos, think about location, light, fieldcraft, composition, technique, background, understanding your camera and your subject, as opposed to switching bodies.

Don’t be too surprised if your advice falls on deaf ears on these forums though. A lot of us are Birders first and foremost. We still want good results, but the emphasis often shifts to capturing what could be a once in a lifetime sighting of an unusual species, wherever we are.
More often than not, getting close is not an option, or not desirable due to a risk of disturbing birds and their habitat. Our challenge is to go out and find the wildlife, identify it, capture the moment often in less than ideal conditions. Point and shoot, big magnification, is very appealing to many on here.

But we can still do close if something hops by..

Red Squirrel


Best of luck to you Neil. Look forward to seeing results in your gallery.

By the way, your “Yellow Wagtail” is a Grey Wagtail.

Good post and I understand what you are saying......it would be better though to have an image of a lifetime that was sharp and clear would'nt it?
What I am getting at is manufacturers know all they have to do is increase zoom range and they are on to a winner,like the p900 for example.We are all suckers for that bit of extra reach but while we keep buying them the likes of nikon etc will keep producing them without spending the money we give them on developing better sensors etc that will give us better quality.
It's a difficult one and as I said I completely understand what you are saying from a birders perspective,but birders deserve more than they are getting for the best part of 500 quid.Bigger sensors can be used with long lenses.....the fuji xs1 has a 628mm lens and a larger than usual sensor for a camera of this type allowing bigger crops with less image degradation,so it can be done.
Good post though,thanks for the interesting comments.....i hope you get that once in a lifetime shot soon.

All the best,neil.

I agree with Peter about fieldcraft and "horses for courses". The P900 is not really a birders camera as it's too heavy. If you're carrying a decent pair of bins around your neck all day you won't want the weight of the P900 as well, especially the ladies. The Canon SX50/60 would be a much better option. You won't need a tripod either as the Canon Image Stabilising is excellent. And they have Raw.
Neil.

By some fluke, I am one of the few people, certainly in the UK, who have owned a P900 for 3 or 4 months now. and as a Birder have probably taken more pics than most, by virtue of two holidays abroad (again by fluke!).

What I can say, coming from a DSLR with medium telephoto system, I get hundreds more photos now. You cannot beat the zoom strength for wildlife photo opportunities. I'm also getting more "popular" photos now than ever before. More "likes" online. In fact I won the Mammal photography community on google+ "photographer of the month" Which absolutely made my day! So it's a camera capable of good results.

I've never owned one of the Canon's but again, I would say whichever camera you own.. it's not going to make a world of difference to your results compared to your skill as a photographer. I've looked at many results from the superzooms since buying this camera, as we all no doubt do, and have seen very good, and pretty disasterous results from all the cameras.

What is more important is to understand the weaknesses and limits of your camera, and work to eliminate them

What's disappointing from my experience with the p900?..

*Sometimes the white balance is unpredictable.

*The Image stabilliser is so eager, that you can cut a tail off a photo. What you think is a steady camera has the subject bouncing all round the viewfinder as you rattle off shots. This is partly due to the big magnification.

*Autofocus is very good, and fast, but I am yet to acquire focus on a male Blackbird! So there is definately some limitation there. Also the manual focus I don't really get on with.

*The digital zoom is crap, as has been mentioned many times

* for me personally, the only real drop in quality of my photos, and this is something I really need to focus on, is that, for some reason, I am no longer considering the background. Birds with twigs coming out of their heads have returned to my gallery.. Whether this is me becoming "lazy", with the point and shoot, or just not noticing because the viewfinder is not as refined as a DSLR I don't know.

* A couple of occasions, I have got lost in the function menu without a clue how to get to a certain setting. I've come from 20 years behind a Canon system, so can't be too surprised to fine the user interface a bit alien at times.

And that is about it from me. Hope my posts have been useful. I'm going to try and take a back seat in the photography forums for a while now. And focus on the background!

Best Wishes,
Peter

This forum has decidedly become less popular which I guess doesn't surprise me too much given the low stock around the world for this camera. Nikon did a poor job of anticipating demand, and then did an equally poor job of QC. I guess I've been one of the lucky ones in getting a decent camera...

While I don't use it very much, a recent bout with a pulled back muscle has lessened my ability to carry my large Canon gear so I've taken to carrying the P900 around a bit more. Although the camera clearly has some limitations, I'm still (mostly) pleased with the images it creates. Some recent images are attached.

Chris

Well I'm with Peter Jones on this one. I can't seem to put my P900 down Digital zoom turned off, bird watching turned on and I can photograph anything from an inch away up to 20 mtrs and get good results.

The auto focus is fast, I spent an hour or two today just chasing bees and butterflies around and "snapping" them from various distances as they briefly settled.............no hefty great lens, and the shutter set to silent.

I have also discovered the wifi..........connect to Ipad............set up camera close to target............retire to a safe distance, and "wow"

And as an added bonus, my new niger feeder attracted the Goldies back to feed yesterday (moved it to a more open position)

As a walkabout all singing all dancing camera it will take some beating, certainly the weight is not an issue, possibly helps to stabilise it a bit.

Den

P900 vs telescope for identification

Hello,

What do you think about P900 vs Telescope to identify birds or just enjoy birdwatching?

I don't own a telescope and i'm considering P900 option because it's cheaper and zoom is (i think, not sure) even bigger than on a x70 telescope, it's also smaller and lighter.

The downsides of P900 vs telescope is battery managing, rain/salt resistance for seawatching, and a good telescope is brighter.
About watching a screen vs in a ocular, i don't know...

What do you think?

Thanks

Matthieu

MattK said:

Hello,

What do you think about P900 vs Telescope to identify birds or just enjoy birdwatching?

I don't own a telescope and i'm considering P900 option because it's cheaper and zoom is (i think, not sure) even bigger than on a x70 telescope, it's also smaller and lighter.

The downsides of P900 vs telescope is battery managing, rain/salt resistance for seawatching, and a good telescope is brighter.
About watching a screen vs in a ocular, i don't know...

What do you think?

Thanks


Matthieu

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Matthieu,
I'm more of a photographer but I still prefer binoculars for identifying birds. A spotting scope is good for long distance observing but I don't walk around with one on my shoulder any more. Too heavy and slow to set up and this is more likely to spook the bird than bins.
I have the P900 and my Swaros around my neck as I walk around.
Neil.

Neil said:

Matthieu,
I'm more of a photographer but I still prefer binoculars for identifying birds. A spotting scope is good for long distance observing but I don't walk around with one on my shoulder any more. Too heavy and slow to set up and this is more likely to spook the bird than bins.
I have the P900 and my Swaros around my neck as I walk around.
Neil.

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I'm not a photographer, but am considering the P900 for the same reason as Matthieu.
A scope plus tripod is no fun to lug around and it is not very easy to look through. I use a Nikon ED50 as a sling carry scope, it works but it is marginal. Unfortunately, there are no small stabilized scopes but fortunately, there is the Nikon P900, an alternative solution.