Nikon COOLPIX P900 Digital Camera w/ 16GB Memory Card and Case Logic Bag

I have a D610 camera with sevral lenses, which I use for my landscape photography. However I have developed an interest in bird watching lately. I wanted to photograph the birds that I see, so that I can look at those pictures at leisure after returning home, and try to identify them with the help of field guides. I felt that I did not have enough time on the field, to look at the birds carefully remember its markings and consult a filed guide on the spot. Too much time wasted in what could be used to watch more birds. I looked into spotting scopes through which pictures could be taken using a phone adopter, but the quality was not good and also they require tripods and are expensive. I also thought of buying the Tamron or Sigma 150-600 mm lens, but although their price is reasonable, they weigh quite a bit. I have some back pain and cannot realistically carry that much weight along with the binoculars. Too difficult for me at the age of 62. So when I learnt of this camera from Nikon, and looked at the sample pictures, I decided to pre-order. Got it yesterday and must say that I am VERY impressed. Took it to the neighboring state park and got a lot of good photos. They, understandably , are not in the same league as those with full frame cameras, but are highly useable and are greatly increasing my ability to learn the names of the birds. Connecting it to my iPhone 6 was very easy. Weight is very manageable. I did not use a tripod even when using at the maximum zoom range of 2000, but still got good, decently sharp pictures. However I do intend to use a tripod whenever I can. But it does not seem essential. I had thought that not having RAW would be a great disadvantage, as I invariably use RAW for my full frame Nikons, but I have actually felt relieved, being forced not to able do a lot of post-processing. Saves time to spend on the field. I did some simple editing in Lightroom, mainly an S curve, noise reduction and some sharpening. Do remember to customize it at "U" setting, so that you have the spot focusing available to you. Otherwise you may end up with sharply focussed branches rather than the bird. Use fine JPEG setting. I am looking forward to the moon eclipse on April 4th. Highly recommended.

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I am a very serious photographer who often keeps a new camera about 6 mos before upgrading to the next new thing. I feel like I have skipped 5 or 6 upgrades with this Nikon P900. Im blown away at the incredible zoom and other features that came as part of the package. I would never have believed you could take a camera like this and zoom from a close up showing the intimate details of your thumb print to zooming in to be able to see the rings of Saturn or to count the moons of Jupiter. It has an option to be able to capture the rotation of the earth by taking 150 time elapsed photos and combining them into a movie clip. Its incredible.

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Ive been putting the camera through its paces for several weeks now. Its definitely a birders dream. No need to carry my Nikon SLR around with all the lenses. This camera has great light gathering ability, even at full zoom. A technical comment on the claim of 83x magnification. Prior to digital zoom cameras, zoom was measured (binoculars, telescopes) as the magnification over visual. The 35mm visual level is about 50mm. The camera manufacturers (all of them) started using "zoom" as the magnification over the lowest wide-angle setting, in the case of this camera, 28mm. So, expect about 40x magnification, not 80x. That said, the 16mp sensor allows you to magnify the picture several times on your computer and get very good results. A few of the reviewers said the pictures at high zoom werent clear. I suspect that they are shooting at great distances expecting sharp images, and as astronomers know, all the air instability and particulate matter in between the lens and the subject are magnified and can cause very muddy images. I am finding at a distance of under 100 yards, the pictures are remarkably clear. As a snapshot camera, it doesnt provide any improvement over an 8mp I-Phone camera, so I wont be carrying the camera around to social events. However, at a recent large meeting, I was able to take a shot of a group engaged in conversation from about 50 feet, and everyone thought they had taken a selfie. There is a long learning curve. I probably have only used about 20% of the capabilities and am rethinking my methods of bird photography in view of its prowess. For positive bird identification, I usually start with a 50mm view and then zoom in to about 1000mm, keeping the bird solidly in the viewfinder and taking the photo. Then at home I further enlarge the photo to verify the identity. I even find myself setting the camera at about half zoom, aiming at about where the bird is, knowing that I can get a good enlargement of the bird at home. Several additional advantages of this camera: There is no mirror to cause camera shake. Im rather amazed at the clarity of the photos, even at high zoom. The flip out screen not only allows me to see the frame from many angles, but it protects the screen from damage. The auto-focus works much better than my old Nikon, particularly with birds high up in flight. If I can get the bird in the frame, the auto-focus will work on it. It appears the flash is stronger and more under control than my old Nikon. So, Ill give it a 5. More than meets my expectations at an affordable price.

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I am not a professional. I recently picked up birding and wanted to upgrade my Nikon D40 to a better zoom camera that could hold more than a 2GB memory card. I was wavering between buying a nicer zoom lenses or a new camera. Every lenses that I liked was well over $1000 so I thought I would give the P900 a try. I am really happy with my choice. The weight is also a plus - it is light enough that it goes unnoticed in my backpack on a hike. I have added 2 accessories : a ~$20 monopod and a ~$7 UV filter The two photos of a woodpecker are from this weekend – zoomed out and zoomed in (using a monopod). They were taken mid day with low light. Ive noticed that I have stopped using binoculars when bird watching and now only use the zoom on the camera. While I am really impressed with the quality of zoom, I am let down by the battery life. My D40 could go 2 or 3 full without a charge and this camera can only go 1 day.

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When it comes to any product the first thing is to state wheat are you going to do with it. I love to view images on large 1920 x 1080 27" monitor, at full screen mode. I bother me to see other things on the screen like bars and menus of the computer / browser. So for me the paper print quality of a camera is completely irrelevant. I also love things from either very far or very close... I love strong vivid colors and that the image is painfully sharp. And so, after changing few factory defaults of the P900 in its menus, it takes images the way I like. I have chosen the Vivid mode in picture control, and enhanced by a click the sharpness, contrast and saturation. In the ISO department I chosen Auto 100-400. The Noise reduction is set to Low - the P900 does very good job keeping clear images, by far better than the Canon SX60 I had before, Even at ISO400 you get very clean images. Than I set the resolution to 1920x1080 so it 100% to monitor resolution and not fitting needed, no loss details. That does the trick for me. I already learn how to hold tight when shoot zooms. Results are fantastic. True, this camera is plastic made, fill flex under pressure, control are moving little to lose to my taste, but who care? Were here for great images and I believe most people are getting new gadget every 2-3 years anyhow, so long as the P900 leave and function for the next 2 years - Im good.

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