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Nikon coolpix P510 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter squidge
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Wildmoreway
Well-known member
It certainly looks impressive and the built in GPS is something I would find useful, just wish it had a manual zoom.
Wildmoreway
Well-known member
I found this image on by a contact on Flickr that appears to have been taken at maximum zoom and iso 400, it looks good to me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/klasuli/6931072868/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/klasuli/6931072868/in/photostream
BirdingRob
Brit abroad
I bought a P510 two weeks ago for taking pictures on the move. I think it as good as many DSLRs with the smaller zooms!
I'ts head and shoulders better than any other bridge camera I have owned.
It has an added advantage in that I bird in a country which is security conscious. Bridge cameras don't draw attention. DSLRs sometimes do.
Rob www.birdingforalark.blogspot.com
I'ts head and shoulders better than any other bridge camera I have owned.
It has an added advantage in that I bird in a country which is security conscious. Bridge cameras don't draw attention. DSLRs sometimes do.
Rob www.birdingforalark.blogspot.com
I am in the market for a "mega zoom" bridge camera and am struggling to decide between the Nikon P510 and the Canon SX40.
Factors like size, gps, battery life, number of features etc are not deal clinchers for me (although I do like the look of the P510's easy panarama function)
I am interested to know whether the extra x6 zoom of the P510 makes a significant difference in the field. Does the additional zoom come at the cost of a drop in image quality or focusing capabilitiy?
I have read all the comparison reviews of the two cameras but they don't realy address these issues.
I have to make a decision before a trip to Norfolk in early May. If anybody has had hands on experience with both cameras I would be interested to hear their views.
Factors like size, gps, battery life, number of features etc are not deal clinchers for me (although I do like the look of the P510's easy panarama function)
I am interested to know whether the extra x6 zoom of the P510 makes a significant difference in the field. Does the additional zoom come at the cost of a drop in image quality or focusing capabilitiy?
I have read all the comparison reviews of the two cameras but they don't realy address these issues.
I have to make a decision before a trip to Norfolk in early May. If anybody has had hands on experience with both cameras I would be interested to hear their views.
Hi. I've been using this Nikon for several weeks and am returning it. During spring migration, argh!...but there's a time limit on returns, so back it goes. Why? First, the viewfinder. When you find yourself constantly having to look with your naked eye because the viewfinder is fuzzy (and I do know how to use the diopter), that's pretty sad. Also, it is often slow in focussing; sometimes the shutter button freezes (and not because I've just taken pictures it's processing); and it loses focus easily. Breaks my heart, the zoom is amazing, but I'm shopping online for a replacement. Came here to see reviews of the Canon PowerShot SX40 HS but thought I'd check the Nikon comments. I recommend reading reviews on the Amazon site; there's tons on every camera, including this one. Best of luck!
I have the P500. The electronic viewfinder when used under difficult lighting conditions isn't very good; such as when you are trying to capture a fast moving Downy Woodpecker in the canopy of a tree as evening approaches. It is tough enough in good lighting conditions! As Spenyc noted above the shutter often freezes in conditions like this. Especially when used with the zoom fully extended to it's 810mm maximum. Things get better if you can get close enough to keep the zoom under 500mm or so.
I thought about getting another super-zoom but concluded that all of them with electronic viewfinders would be problematic under these conditions and I think that includes ALL of them now. It is quite a bit better on birds perched high in trees that aren't moving around much.
There is a good book available on the P500: "Photographer's Guide to the Nikon Coolpix P500." By Alexander S. White. White Knight Press. ISBN 978-0-9649875-7-9 It has 284 pages with an extensive index. $19.95 paperback at B&N.
I found it very helpful and I would think that much of the information in it would also apply to the P510.
All in all, I'm relatively satisfied with the P500 for my purposes. People who have more ambitious goals will probably be less satisfied.
Bob
I thought about getting another super-zoom but concluded that all of them with electronic viewfinders would be problematic under these conditions and I think that includes ALL of them now. It is quite a bit better on birds perched high in trees that aren't moving around much.
There is a good book available on the P500: "Photographer's Guide to the Nikon Coolpix P500." By Alexander S. White. White Knight Press. ISBN 978-0-9649875-7-9 It has 284 pages with an extensive index. $19.95 paperback at B&N.
I found it very helpful and I would think that much of the information in it would also apply to the P510.
All in all, I'm relatively satisfied with the P500 for my purposes. People who have more ambitious goals will probably be less satisfied.
Bob
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Nikon P510
I picked one up today and never owning a nikon before in my life , always being a canon guy. i chose it over the canon for a couple reasons, higher megapixels and bigger zoom. periord!. i took some pictures of goldfinches at our feeder at with 1000mm zoom, eurasion dove across the street , and my dog in the yard and the pictures were absolutely amazing. It is not a DSLR, but then try to find a 1000mm lens for under $10,000. This will be a pleasure to use for recognition shots and some of the images I took today are VERY high quality for the price. This is a 100% crop , with about 25% of the picture left after cropping down the full picture. Picture was taken at about 75 feet away on fine quality
I picked one up today and never owning a nikon before in my life , always being a canon guy. i chose it over the canon for a couple reasons, higher megapixels and bigger zoom. periord!. i took some pictures of goldfinches at our feeder at with 1000mm zoom, eurasion dove across the street , and my dog in the yard and the pictures were absolutely amazing. It is not a DSLR, but then try to find a 1000mm lens for under $10,000. This will be a pleasure to use for recognition shots and some of the images I took today are VERY high quality for the price. This is a 100% crop , with about 25% of the picture left after cropping down the full picture. Picture was taken at about 75 feet away on fine quality
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With my P500 I took a couple of great pictures of Grackles sitting in the sun on Arbor Vitae about 25 feet away through the Cathedral Window of my bedroom. The zoom, of course, was short but the birds filled the frame and their colors and iridescence are fantastic!
Bob
Bob
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Comparison of Nikon P510 to Canon SX40
In March, before the Nikon P510 was available, I purchased the Canon SX40 after comparing it to the Nikon P500. At the time, I was very concerned about the autofocus performance of the P500. Less-than-ideal autofocus would definitely be a problem for photographing birds.
Right out of the box, I was extremely pleased with the SX40. A high percentage of my shots were "keepers", even at the full digital zoom of 140x (a steady hand is required at that zoom level).
I heard that the Nikon P510 had an improved autofocus, so I decided to give it a try.
After a couple of weeks of using it, I'm frustrated. Even though it offers 16 megapixels (compared to the SX40's 12) and a higher optical zoom (42x vs 35x), the SX40's 140x digital zoom far exceeds what the P510 will do, unless I'm missing something somewhere.
The biggest problem, however, seems to be that the P510 just isn't very interested in birds. It seems to prefer to autofocus on branches or even blades of grass rather than putting a frame-centered bird into sharp focus. In one amusing circumstance, I had centered a Common Loon on the water and the P510 drew multiple focus rings around the loon but left it out of focus.
I've tried many of the various AF settings and shooting modes, but am achieving a very low percentage of really good shots.
I tried using the GPS function and found that the battery life was greatly diminished. I also use an Eye-Fi card to automatically transfer photos to the slate computer running my field software and the battery was down to about 25% after taking about 115 photos. Not a huge deal, since my field software is already GPS-enabled, but I thought I'd give it a try. Turned off the GPS feature after that experiment.
I had given the SX40 to my daughter and now plan to swap the P510 for another SX40 unless I can discover that I'm doing something terribly wrong with the P510.
In March, before the Nikon P510 was available, I purchased the Canon SX40 after comparing it to the Nikon P500. At the time, I was very concerned about the autofocus performance of the P500. Less-than-ideal autofocus would definitely be a problem for photographing birds.
Right out of the box, I was extremely pleased with the SX40. A high percentage of my shots were "keepers", even at the full digital zoom of 140x (a steady hand is required at that zoom level).
I heard that the Nikon P510 had an improved autofocus, so I decided to give it a try.
After a couple of weeks of using it, I'm frustrated. Even though it offers 16 megapixels (compared to the SX40's 12) and a higher optical zoom (42x vs 35x), the SX40's 140x digital zoom far exceeds what the P510 will do, unless I'm missing something somewhere.
The biggest problem, however, seems to be that the P510 just isn't very interested in birds. It seems to prefer to autofocus on branches or even blades of grass rather than putting a frame-centered bird into sharp focus. In one amusing circumstance, I had centered a Common Loon on the water and the P510 drew multiple focus rings around the loon but left it out of focus.
I've tried many of the various AF settings and shooting modes, but am achieving a very low percentage of really good shots.
I tried using the GPS function and found that the battery life was greatly diminished. I also use an Eye-Fi card to automatically transfer photos to the slate computer running my field software and the battery was down to about 25% after taking about 115 photos. Not a huge deal, since my field software is already GPS-enabled, but I thought I'd give it a try. Turned off the GPS feature after that experiment.
I had given the SX40 to my daughter and now plan to swap the P510 for another SX40 unless I can discover that I'm doing something terribly wrong with the P510.
awhitehead2011
Well-known member
"At the moment" I agree! Still early days but images of birds in flight are very poor. The camera doesn't seem to lock on to the bird? Close/medium distance shots are fine, in fact very good.
I've checked the settings regarding stabilizing the image and they all appear to be set correctly.
Out of interest I'm also trialing a Panasonic FZ150 which is taking great shots in ALL situations...up to now!
I've checked the settings regarding stabilizing the image and they all appear to be set correctly.
Out of interest I'm also trialing a Panasonic FZ150 which is taking great shots in ALL situations...up to now!
awhitehead2011
Well-known member
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