I originally thought 24mm-2000mm is a bit over the top for a “compact”, but I was pleasantly surprised, no wonder the Nikon Coolpix P900 got a Silver Award from DPreview. Personally, I believe if Nikon put in RAW support together with a flash hot-shoe (plus weather seal as well) then it’s likely to get a Gold award. However, alas, Nikon always misses something out.
I just bought this P900 because I needed something light that can cover 24mm-1000mm for general shooting and as a backup for my other Full-Frame DSLR event jobs, well I got this 2000mm (not to mention the digital zoom). I know that the B700 is coming with 20 mega-pixels and zoom ranges 24mm-1440mm, but I needed that extra ISO to 6400 which P900 has. Admittedly, it is somewhat difficult to focus at the long end (especially at night) but I found that one should focus (using manually) gradually step by step i.e. 1000mm then at 1500mm than at 2000mm to “teach” the auto-focus not to hunt too much. It is also unfortunate that it does not come with a digital ND filter which Canon compacts have.
The usual bells and whistles are there, although I wish there is, at least, one user-programmable function button. The Fn button which came with the P900 is a shortcut to usual functions. The display shows the usual shutter speed and aperture values, but it does not show the ISO value (in auto ISO) that the camera is choosing, which I am so used to with my D750.
It is interesting to see Nikon using mini-USB (similar to Android phone charging connector) as in-camera charging which is extremely convenient for this size of the camera. Therefore, the battery stays inside while charging. It is unfortunate that when the camera is charging it cannot be used, therefore any lengthy time-lapse will be limited to battery life.
Overall, I am satisfied with the P900, it may be just a tag expensive, but one pays for the superb lens.
I just bought this P900 because I needed something light that can cover 24mm-1000mm for general shooting and as a backup for my other Full-Frame DSLR event jobs, well I got this 2000mm (not to mention the digital zoom). I know that the B700 is coming with 20 mega-pixels and zoom ranges 24mm-1440mm, but I needed that extra ISO to 6400 which P900 has. Admittedly, it is somewhat difficult to focus at the long end (especially at night) but I found that one should focus (using manually) gradually step by step i.e. 1000mm then at 1500mm than at 2000mm to “teach” the auto-focus not to hunt too much. It is also unfortunate that it does not come with a digital ND filter which Canon compacts have.
The usual bells and whistles are there, although I wish there is, at least, one user-programmable function button. The Fn button which came with the P900 is a shortcut to usual functions. The display shows the usual shutter speed and aperture values, but it does not show the ISO value (in auto ISO) that the camera is choosing, which I am so used to with my D750.
It is interesting to see Nikon using mini-USB (similar to Android phone charging connector) as in-camera charging which is extremely convenient for this size of the camera. Therefore, the battery stays inside while charging. It is unfortunate that when the camera is charging it cannot be used, therefore any lengthy time-lapse will be limited to battery life.
Overall, I am satisfied with the P900, it may be just a tag expensive, but one pays for the superb lens.
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