Help with close up zoom on Nikon Coolpix P900!

[northie]

When I try to zoom in for a close-up with Coolpix P900 the camera will not focus on subject. Any help or info would be appreciated!! Tried to zoom in on these wildflowers! Thanks!

 

[User4286416121]

You may be running into the minimum focus distance for that zoom level.

While the focus on the super-zooms can be frustrating I think this may be a case of too close for the zoom. At the wide-angle end you can get very close. The "zoom" end has a MFD of around 5 meters over 16 feet.

You can try the MF Mode, even use the side lever for manual focus.

Again, this may be a case of MFD.

Love the camera, post pics please.

 

[FJG3]

99% chance your just too close if your using zoom.

 

[MarioV]

As others have pointed out, you were simply too close to the flower at that zoom level.

You can shorten the focus distance by using a good close-up lens attachment - if you can find a good one.

 

[Linda F]

Are you in macro focus mode? You need to be for close ups, and that only gives limited zoom.

 

[northie]

Thanks Linda for your reply to my post. Yes I have tried macro mode and others but whenever I zoom in the camera will not focus. This camera seems to work great on long zooms but not good with the close shots.

 

[northie]

Thanks User4286416121--- I have used the Autofocus mode and the Macro mode and have tried MF but so far no luck. I will keep trying!

 

[northie]

Thanks FJG3---I have the Sony HX400V and have been able to zoom in on subjects so was concerned that I could not do the same with this camera. Your right -it does not want to focus when I am close to subject!

 

[northie]

Thanks MarioV for replying to my post. I am getting the impression that you can be TOO close to your subject with this camera! Do you have any suggestions on a good close-up lens I could use with this camera? Appreciate it!!

 

[Stephen Ingraham]

Thanks Linda for your reply to my post. Yes I have tried macro mode and others but whenever I zoom in the camera will not focus. This camera seems to work great on long zooms but not good with the close shots.

As noted in other responses, the further you zoom in, the further you have to be from your subject for the camera to focus.

At full zoom (2000mm equivalent), you have to be 16.5 feet from the flower for the camera to focus.

At half zoom (1000mm) you have to be about 9 feet from your flower.

At 500-600mm equivalent (1/4 zoom) you have to be about 6 feet from your flower.

If you are closer, the focus will try...but you will get a red square where the focus square is in the finder. That means the camera has not focused.

If you are the correct distance, or further, you will get a green focus square.

If you zoom while looking at the finder or the LCD, you can see were it goes out of focus when zooming in. Past that point it will not focus no matter what you do.

If you want to do close-ups, set the camera in Close Up Mode in the Scene modes...it will zoom to the widest angle. That is where you can get closest to your subject. As you zoom in, you will see that the zoom indicator at the top of the viewfinder is green unit about 1/5 zoom, then it goes clear again. The green area is the true macro mode...you can get to about an inch away at about 80-100mm equivalent. That gives you a good image scale and a reasonable working distance and is probably your best macro option. After the zoom indicator goes clear again, macro focus is not available...and your normal close focus applies. Still, at the long end of the macro mode, you can get very satisfying close up images.

For more on shooting macro with a P&S superzoom see Macro

 

[Stephen Ingraham]

Thanks FJG3---I have the Sony HX400V and have been able to zoom in on subjects so was concerned that I could not do the same with this camera. Your right -it does not want to focus when I am close to subject!

Close focus on the HX400V at full zoom...1200mm equivalent...is 8.6 feet (or so). If you back up to 16.5 feet (close focus) with the Nikon at shoot at full zoom (2000mm equivalent), the image will be about the same size

 

[northie]

Stephen Ingraham---That is the answer I was looking for!!! Your explanation cleared everything up for me! OK--now I will try the distance info you gave me. Now if I can figure out how to print your reply for future reference until I get it firmly planted in my brain!! Thank you so much for replying to my post. Love your photo by the way--hope to do that soon!!:-D

 

[sherman_levine]

You might want to take a look at these threads which describe using an achromat diopter lens to decrease minimum focus distance at full zoom.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3841112

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3825024

 

[Mcbrig]

Thanks Linda for your reply to my post. Yes I have tried macro mode and others but whenever I zoom in the camera will not focus. This camera seems to work great on long zooms but not good with the close shots.

As noted in other responses, the further you zoom in, the further you have to be from your subject for the camera to focus.

At full zoom (2000mm equivalent), you have to be 16.5 feet from the flower for the camera to focus.

At half zoom (1000mm) you have to be about 9 feet from your flower.

At 500-600mm equivalent (1/4 zoom) you have to be about 6 feet from your flower.

If you are closer, the focus will try...but you will get a red square where the focus square is in the finder. That means the camera has not focused.

If you are the correct distance, or further, you will get a green focus square.

If you zoom while looking at the finder or the LCD, you can see were it goes out of focus when zooming in. Past that point it will not focus no matter what you do.

If you want to do close-ups, set the camera in Close Up Mode in the Scene modes...it will zoom to the widest angle. That is where you can get closest to your subject. As you zoom in, you will see that the zoom indicator at the top of the viewfinder is green unit about 1/5 zoom, then it goes clear again. The green area is the true macro mode...you can get to about an inch away at about 80-100mm equivalent. That gives you a good image scale and a reasonable working distance and is probably your best macro option. After the zoom indicator goes clear again, macro focus is not available...and your normal close focus applies. Still, at the long end of the macro mode, you can get very satisfying close up images.

For more on shooting macro with a P&S superzoom see Macro

Thank you very much for the excellent explanation, fantastic picture.

 

[spsprd]

I am no expert, just a newbie. If I am not mistaken, and I could be since I only purchased my P900 yesterday and I am still not convinced I will EVER learn it, close-up lenses will be needed. Since I have a blog and do a lot of flower photography, I need a macro system.

I purchased a set of three lenses in the "Promaster Close-Up Lens Set." You can use any or all of these lenses at the same time - they look like lens filters made of really nice glass. You screw right on with no need to remove your lens filter. Then they screw right onto each other.

I will be testing them out more extensively in the coming days.

I am looking forward to learning the P900! Eagerly awaiting some expert guidance.

 

[Mcbrig]

I am no expert, just a newbie. If I am not mistaken, and I could be since I only purchased my P900 yesterday and I am still not convinced I will EVER learn it, close-up lenses will be needed. Since I have a blog and do a lot of flower photography, I need a macro system.

I purchased a set of three lenses in the "Promaster Close-Up Lens Set." You can use any or all of these lenses at the same time - they look like lens filters made of really nice glass. You screw right on with no need to remove your lens filter. Then they screw right onto each other.

I will be testing them out more extensively in the coming days.

I am looking forward to learning the P900! Eagerly awaiting some expert guidance.

Not sure how much macro your talking about, but think when you learn the camera the close up lens may not be necessary.

Can you post some pictures when you get time?

 

[PhotoMouse]

I'm a little late now, but I've just done series of telemacro shots using the P900 and I thought a summary might be useful.

The P900's minimum focus distance at full optical zoom, 2000mm equivalent, is 15'6"; one cannot get focus at any closer distance. At this distance one gets a decent macro, though about half the size of what one gets in macro mode at MFD (less than 1").

What I've learned concerns the use of add-on close-up lenses in telemacro mode.

First, Canon's 500D close-up macro lens is a wonderful add-on, if you can afford it. It reduces full-zoom MFD to 19" and provides a 'better-than-2X' quality image not unlike ones obtained using the 1" macro mode. However, the 19" MFD is better for lighting and I recommend the 500D for this reason alone.

I used the 72mm version of the 500D with a 72/67mm adapter ring. I read that the stronger Canon 250D lens is not compatible with the P900, and did not try it.

Next are the Raynox 'super' macro lenses, which easily clip onto the P900. In increasing order of diopter strength, these are DCR-150, DCR-250, MSN-202, and MSN-505, which reduce full-zoom MFD to 8", 5", 1", and 1/2", respectively. (These are my trial-and-error distances and are approximate.) The image gets correspondingly larger and larger and only suffers in quality a little each time.

There is vignetting with the Raynox lenses, more so in the MSN cases than the DCR, and in the MSN-505, there is noticeable peripheral distortion. I highly recommend a 'slider' to help find your subject with the high-power setups; I used a Manfrotto 454 positioning micrometric sliding plate.

Rather than talk about this further, I offer six photos corresponding to the six setups described above (same flower, same camera, tripod, VR off, self-timer, jpg fine):

[ATTACH alt="P900 at 2000mm equivalent, without any lens attachment, from 15'6" (186"). Not cropped."]970488[/ATTACH]
P900 at 2000mm equivalent, without any lens attachment, from 15'6" (186"). Not cropped.


P900 at 2000mm equivalent, with Canon 500D, from 19". Not cropped.


P900 at 2000mm equivalent, with Raynox DSR-150, from 8". Not cropped.


P900 at 2000mm equivalent, with Raynox DCR-250, from 5". Not cropped.


P900 at 2000mm equivalent, with Raynox MSN-202, from about 1". Not cropped.


P900 at 2000mm equivalent, with Raynox MSN-505, from about 1/2". Not cropped.

 

[PhotoMouse]

Oops!

My first-ever post to dpreview (my reply to Mcbrig/July 1, 2015) and I make a mistake.

In spite of my captions, not all photos were made at 2000mm equivalent; only the first was. The rest were made at intermediate focal lengths. I don't think this affects the gist of the series with increasing-strength close-up lenses, but the distances quoted for all but the first photo will not be 2000mm minimum focus distances (MFD), as implied.

Here is a correctly-captioned alternative. This one is at the P900's minimum focal length (4mm actual, 24mm equivalent), showing, I think, the camera's amazing versatility:


P900 at 24mm equivalent, with Raynox MSN-505 super-macro close-up lens. Handheld from about 1". These are common fruit flies, about 2mm long.

 

[Augustin Man]

I think it's a very useful test of P900 with macro lenses attached, providing highly impressive images!

Congratulations and thank you for sharing,

Augustin

P.S. I've only tried macro with the camera alone, handheld. Here is an example:

 

[Tugela]

Thanks Linda for your reply to my post. Yes I have tried macro mode and others but whenever I zoom in the camera will not focus. This camera seems to work great on long zooms but not good with the close shots.

That is because the minimum focus distance increases as you zoom in. It is not constant.