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| Nikon Coolpix P900 lined up with the four other fixed zoom lens cameras which I used and tested alongside the P900. From the left, Panasonic LX100, Canon SX60, Nikon P900, Panasonic FZ1000, Panasonic TZ70 |
The Nikon P900 has been one of the most interesting new releases of 2015.
With an astounding 83 x zoom lens it redefines what is possible in a consumer level superzoom, all-in-one style camera.
The remarkable zoom ranges from (Focal Length Equivalent) 24mm at the wide end to 2000mm at the long end, easily trumping the 65x zoom of the Canon SX60 which spans FLE 21-1365mm.
On specifications the P900 appears to be the champion superzoom camera right now.
But: is it any good ?
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| The Port Authority vessel was 1500 meters away on a fine sunny afternoon. All the straight lines are wavy, the result of atmospheric distortion, one of the bugbears of ultrazoom photography. Focal Length Equivalent 2000mm, hand held. |
Next question: Good for what ?
The answer to that question depends on the answer to two other questions:
Who’s it for ? and What’s it for ?
Individual camera users might have different ideas about this of course but my thoughts run as follows…..
The P900 is big and bold . It is about the same size as a mid range DSLR with a mid range general purpose zoom lens. It also has a similar shape and control layout to a Nikon DSLR.
It is not compact or unobtrusive. It requires a mid size shoulder bag such as a Lowe Pro Apex 120 AW. While testing, I carried it in an Apex 140AW which is just 20mm wider than required.
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| Common Mynah at FLE2000mm. The chest feathers are sharp enough, the eye is not, probably due to head movement. Notice the character of the rear out of focus grass. |
The unique selling point (USP) of the P900 is that amazing zoom which rivals a spotting telescope.
When fully extended the angle of view is about 1.2 degrees.
I think the person buying a P900 will be doing so to get the benefits of a mega-super-zoom at a budget price.
Consider this: A new Nikkor 800mm f5.6 (FX) lens with included 1.25x teleconverter costs about $18,000. Add a camera and the kit costs about $23,000 and weighs about 6 kilograms.
The P900 gives you double the effective focal length at about the same aperture and costs only 600 bucks which is 3% of the full frame kit price. Wow !!
You know the old adage…… ‘If it seems too good to be true, maybe it is too good to be true’. Does this apply to the P900 or is it the real deal ?
Our family acquired a P900 because one of us likes to photograph birds. She has a Panasonic FZ1000 and is happy with that. The FZ1000 can retain decent image quality with JPG capture up to an effective focal length of 800mm. (The optical limit is FLE400mm)
But bird photographers are always wanting a longer reach if they can get it without having to spend $20,000+ and without having to carry around many kilograms of superzoom DSLR lens.
Hence the P900.
When I browse through online forums I see many users have the same idea. They use the P900 for wildlife and birds with the bonus that it is also a general purpose, do everything camera for landscape, people or whatever comes along, even close ups.
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| Cockatoo. There being no opportunity for RAW capture, Active D Lighting is required when subject brightness range is high, as here. |
Specifications and features You can read all the details elsewhere, this is a user report, but some things warrant attention here as they affect the user experience.
There is a built in EVF, fully articulating monitor, built in flash which lifts up high to clear the lens and a reasonably full set of controls for the expert/enthusiast user. Not all these controls are optimally positioned or configured but I will discuss that in a later section of the review.
There is a ‘snap-back-zoom’ button on the left side of the lens barrel which works well if you can locate it while using the camera. This is easy enough if you use the ‘left hand under’ position in landscape orientation but is very difficult with ‘left hand over’ position or with any left hand position in portrait orientation.
There is an up/down toggle on the left side of the lens barrel, just behind the snap back zoom button.
This can be used for zoom or manual focus. I set it for manual focus which works well on this camera, aided by peaking which also works well.
There are the usual scene modes, effects, a fully auto mode for beginners, a shooting mode which memorises one set of user defined settings, wi-fi, in camera panorama, video and more…….
There is no hotshoe.
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| The P900 can do close ups on the run, aided by the fully articulated monitor. This specimen, past its prime, is about 10 cm across. |
The P900 uses the EN-EL23 battery which does a surprisingly good job considering the mass of lens which it has to drive. However the substantial sized body could have accommodated a larger battery.
Charging is via USB directly to the camera. When charging from mains power an adapter (supplied) is required.
Some people like this system, others hate it. The problem is you can’t use the camera while the battery is charging. Aftermarket chargers are available.
The imaging sensor measures 6.17 x 4.55mm with a diagonal of 7.66mm and an area of 28 square millimetres. The area of the video button on the back of the camera is 38 square millimetres. The area of the nail on my little finger is 110 square millimetres. This is the same size sensor as many general purpose compact cameras and also the Canon SX60 and Panasonic TZ70 which I tested alongside the P900.
The sensor is seriously tiny. Somehow they pack 16 million pixels onto it, a feat of micro engineering beyond my comprehension.
Every digital camera has an operating system like a computer. The P900 uses one called Expeed C2. This is a Coolpix variant of the Expeed 2, an older type of processor.
Nikon’s current model DSLRs use the latest and more powerful Expeed 4 processor.
Who cares ? Anyone using a camera with the C2 processor, that’s who.
Some time back I bought a Nikon Coolpix P7800. This is a (not very) compact camera with a nice lens and decent image quality. I would probably still have it but for one thing: operating speed with RAW capture, specifically write to memory card time.
Shot to shot time using RAW was 3.4 seconds with the camera locked up between shots.
The P7800 also has the C2 processor.
I don’t know why Nikon uses this in its premium Coolpix models.
But from my perspective as a consumer with no brand allegiance it looks like a bad idea.
Nikon appears to have ‘solved’ the RAW file write time problem of the P7800 by omitting RAW capability altogether in the P900.
To me this seems like a I-can’t-believe-they-did-that-what-on-earth-were-they-thinking ? kind of decision.
This is a camera which will attract enthusiast photographers wanting high performance, fast operation and good results. Some will be happy to shoot JPG only but I bet many will be willing and able to manage RAW files and will expect a premium camera like this to enable RAW capture.
One commentator has suggested cost containment as the reason for using the C2 processor. Maybe, but I wonder if there is something more fundamental. Maybe the electronic architecture (or mother board or whatever goes in there) of the Coolpix cameras is not compatible with the faster new processor.
Anyway, whatever the reason, the P900 outputs JPGs only. Fortunately they are pretty good but as with all JPGs there is a tendency to blown highlights and mushy rendition of fine subject detail.
The camera is made in Indonesia which I take to be sign of the times. Is China getting too expensive already ?
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| Focal length FLE1800mm. This little bird sat on the branch for about 6 seconds, long enough for me to get off 5 shots. When I checked the camera data the shutter speed was only 1/100sec. The other 4 shots were blurred, this one is OK. I got lucky. This focal length usually requires a shutter speed of 1/400-1/800sec in my hands. |
Next: Picture Quality