Original P900 owner looking to possibly upgrade (1 Viewer)

I was on the pre-order list way back when for the for P900's and had to pester them to get it

Years later it helped me learn and venture into a DSLR (D500). No doubt it's the better option for photos. I think video... not so much!

I have gotten some pretty decent shots and good videos with the P900 and want to keep a bridge/superzoom. I still use the P900 on the Kayak and keep it in the truck for that "just in case moment".

It seems like this style camera has changed a good bit. I like the idea of the 1" sensors and of course the focus points. The P900 sucks for BIF! I have gotten a few, but most aren't too good. I like the GPS feature to peg points when traveling. Some of the new ones don't have the GPS. I also know reach tends to be King, but at the long end around 1800-2000mm with distance the photos aren't real good.

Is Sony RX-10M4 good at 600mm and beyond? I see the BIF with it looks pretty good and supposedly it does video good. I can't see the P1000 being a good upgrade...

No camera with an equivalent focal length over 600mm is going to be easy for BIF simply because it is (a) hard to find them and (b) hard to track them. A gimbal tripod can help a lot with (b). Some cameras like the P900 have the 1-button zoom-in/zoom-out that can help with (a). But it's still going to need some luck or killer technique. The longer you go over 600mm the harder it gets, with each doubling of focal length being a quartering of your viewing area.

The RX10M4 does a pretty nice job over its focal range and has fast AF and good tracking. it has good FPS and a pretty deep buffer. I borrowed one for about a week some time ago and thought it was good, but I ended up sticking with my Nikon DSLR. At 600mm top end, I still needed more reach and I didn't think it cropped as well as the DSLR also at 600mm. I also think the Sony EVFs are very good, compared to some of the competition in that range like Panasonic. I've not compared it to the P1000 though.

Why is the P1000 out for you?

Marc

Mainly because it isn't an improvement in the BIF area over the P900. I tried one last year and loved the VF on it though!

I think the SX70 isn't as good as any of these from what I read.

I have not tried a recent pana superzoom, but generally for good video in that segment, Sony and Pana are the two brands I keep hearing mentioned. I know the Pana m4/3 has more video capabilities than I will ever approach using.

Niels

I've just returned from a birding holiday with a friend who's upgraded from a P900 to a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 IV. He's very happy with the results he's getting and much prefers it to have old camera ...