Gave up waiting for the SX60 to come down in price

Good news, it arrived early, Friday instead of Monday! Better news, my friend with the SX60 kindly agreed to re-loan me her camera so I have both in my hands for the weekend.

Coming from the SX40, the P900 truly is a *beast* . . . but more so in how it looks than how it feels. I've been to a bowling tournament and to the farmer's market with it so far, and everyone, even strangers, were commenting on the camera to me. Although, it really doesn't *feel* that much bigger or heavier (it's quite ergonomic, and I love how it feels, even holding in one hand at my side) . . . but it sure LOOKS bigger! I love how the SX60 feels, too, but even it seems a little tiny compared to this thing.

Both cameras don't always lock into focus on something at full zoom, which is to be expected, but I'm finding that the Nikon is giving me fewer blurry shots. That's not to say that they're all focusing on what I'd *like* them to focus on... but almost always *something* in the photo is in focus. (I've only put them both in auto mode for now. As I learn to maneuver them, I'm sure I'll get better.) The SX60 LCD screen also would sometimes go nuts jumping around as the camera moved the tiniest bit at a really large zoom (though it often took OK stills) which was a bit distracting. The Nikon LCD seemed smoother to use at a high zoom.

Strangely enough, the menu buttons on the P900 are arranged closer to where they were on the SX40 before Canon moved them around, so in some ways, the Nikon feels more familiar to use! The Canon has some custom settings I've become accustomed to that the Nikon doesn't have, or only has available in certain shooting modes, but otherwise, it doesn't really feel like it's that different to use.

I really do like both cameras, and nothing seems to be a deal breaker on either one. It's -22C here right now, so not a LOT of opportunity to go out and find birds etc., but I'm not terribly worried about how the two stack up to each other in daylight. Heck, even my SX40 is going to produce good daylight shots at reasonable zoom. And since we travel a lot, that's often how I use the camera. I have taken it both to a bowling tournament and to the farmer's market this morning (held in a basement), both situations with less than ideal lighting to make sure it could at least function as well as my Canon. But I wouldn't expect any superzoom to shine in those situations. Any extra optical zoom helps me get in a little closer to the bowling lanes, and is an upgrade to what I already had.

Factors like ergonomics, options/menus, ease of workflow for archiving and sharing photos and an impressive enough zoom to allow me to frame in camera and capture far off things that might not even be moving, like buildings, parts of landscapes etc. are my priority right now. Maybe it's not strange to those of you coming from big DSLRs, but I'm actually surprised at how "good" this big, sturdy camera feels when taking photos! I knew I was taking a chance by going big, but it doesn't feel a hindrance at all when shooting.

I think I would have always wondered if I didn't try the P900, and I'm lucky enough to be able to have both here at the same time, just to confirm I'm not giving up too much, that the smaller camera doesn't feel so much more "freeing" etc. But, I do really like the P900 so far! Enough so that having the SX60 here doesn't make me second guess my choice. Though, I am a fan of both cameras, and had the SX60 come down in price before, I probably would have already bought it and been quite happy.

I just hope I don't drool TOO much when the SX70 comes out... but that's likely to be October, if at all, and because of our travel schedule we wouldn't be around to pick one up until January... and I would have missed almost a year of travel photos I'll have with this camera. At some point, you've just got to buy a camera you're happy with, right?

I honestly think the hardest thing is going to have to be giving up ANY hope of being inconspicuous! I'm going to need to grow my confidence to match the size of this new camera!