Nikon COOLPIX P900 Digital Camera with crazy optical zoom
The Nikon COOLPIX P900 Digital Camera with 83x Wide Optical Zoom gives this little camera the eqivalent of a 2000mm zoom lens! To top that off, it also has built-in wi-fi.
I’m a heavy Canon DSLR man and have been since setting down my film camera (for a while). I’m currently carrying around a little 4/3 Panasonic mirrorless camera that has admittedly impressed me with its brilliant clarity.
But this past Sunday night, January 20th, we had something rare: A blood moon and a clear night on the BC south coast. A blood moon is fairly rare. A clear night in January is rare, too.
But on January 20th, we had both! And I was unprepared. After trying to remember how the Panasonic worked in the dark, trying to set it up on a tripod with the blood moon so high in the night sky it was straining my neck, I also discovered a real drawback to a 4/3 mirrorless camera: It’s really hard to spot a blood moon.
So, I went in and got my Canon out, slapped on a 500mm mirror lens (I know, I know – they aren’t the best, but I was in a hurry). Then, after going through my entire supply of batteries (I have a lot – I shoot a lot when I’m out), I found ONE that had enough life in it.
By the time I got set up, the blood moon was starting to flare as the total shadow moved off its face, and the bright crescent began to appear. But as I worked to get a good focus, I finally realized what was wrong: A high cloud haze had moved in, making the once sharp blood moon appear out of focus.
So where does the Nikon Coolpix P900 come in? Why would I even mention something I have thought of with some disdain as merely a glorified “point-and-shoot?” Sigh…
As I looked over all the blood moon photos being shared on Facebook the next day, pouting about my own, one stood out. It was a gorgeous, brilliantly clear photo against a sharp night background. The blood moon was big, beautiful and a showing all its details in professional clarity.
So… I messaged the professional photographer that had shot the photo, and what did I discover?
She was just starting out and had taken the shot without a tripod, with her Nikon Coolpix P900 on “moon mode!” Boy, was I shocked! I would have sworn it was shot with a huge diameter L series Canon lens on a top of the line, full frame body.
But instead, it was shot by an amateur photographer on a Nikon Coolpix P900 that you can buy for somewhere under $1000, with one permanently attached lens that does things that no little camera like that should be allowed to do!
Guess what I’m doing now? (Don’t tell anyone!) I’m looking for a deal on one of these little cameras. I mean, I’d be crazy not to, now wouldn’t I. Tell me; is it cheating for me to use one?
I will certainly continue to use my Canon DSLRs. The P900 and other similar cameras still have a major disadvantage – processing time. If you want to take a lot of photos in a hurry, such as with a bird in flight or a sports match, you need to be able to shoot frame after frame with no hesitation. But if you just want to take stunning stills, even at a great distance, the Nikon Coolpix P900 is very hard to beat.
What are your thoughts? Please tell us in the comments!