Nikon Coolpix P900 Review
The Nikon Coolpix P900 is Nikon’s latest ultra-zoom camera, and features the World’s longest optical zoom lens, with an 83x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 24mm wide-angle zooming to 2000mm at the telelphoto end. The camera features a built-in EVF with eye-sensor, a vari-angle tilting screen, as well as built-in Wi-Fi, GPS and NFC.
Nikon Coolpix P900 Features
The headline feature of the Nikon Coolpix P900 is the whopping 83x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 24-2000mm in 35mm terms, it features an f/2.8 aperture at 24mm, and f/6.5 aperture at 2000mm. Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) is built in which is said to give 5-stops of image stabilisation, which will be essential if you want to get sharp shots when using the full 83x optical zoom.
The sensor is a 16 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor, and the camera features both a 3inch vari-angle screen, as well as an electronic viewfinder (EVF) with eye-detection sensor, so that it will automatically switch on when the camera is held up to your eye. Rapid AF is designed to give quick shooting speeds, and the camera records fullHD video.
Built-in Wi-Fi and NFC makes transferring photos to a smartphone or tablet easy and straightforward, and built-in GPS/GLONASS/QZSS means you can automatically add geotag location information to your photos.
There are numerous scene modes to help you get the best from the 83x optical zoom lens, including a dedicated moon scene mode, as well as a bird watching scene mode. Including numerous scene modes, there is built in HDR shooting, as well as a built-in time-lapse movie creation feature, that will take a number of shots over a period of time, and automatically create a video from the images.
Key Features
- 16 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor
- 83x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 24-2000mm
- 5.0-stop Dual Detect Optical VR (Vibration Reduction)
- 3inch vari angle screen, 921k dots
- EVF (Electronic Viewfinder), 921k dots, 0.5cm
- GPS / GLONASS / QZSS
- P/A/S/M shooting modes
- FullHD 1080/60p Video recording, stereo sound, zoom mic
- Time-lapse movie creation in-camera
- ISO100 to ISO6400, ISO12800 available in High ISO monochrome mode
- 0cm macro mode
- HDR, Panoramic mode
- 7fps continuous shooting
- Wi-Fi and NFC built in
- Moon and bird-watching scene modes
Nikon Coolpix P900 Handling
The Nikon Coolpix P900 feels well built with a solid plastic body. The camera has a large rubberised hand grip, with a large thumb grip on the rear of the camera as well. The left-hand side also features a rubber grip, and the lens has a textured plastic area to aid grip. Whilst you can hold the camera with one hand, it is recommended that you use two hands to hold the camera securely due to the size and weight of the camera. The P900 weighs 899g with the battery and memory card, and measures 139.5mm x 103.2mm x 137.4mm making it larger and heavier than many Digital SLRs.
The majority of options are set in the menu system, with the camera having only a few external buttons and controls to change camera settings. You can set the exposure compensation, focus mode, self-timer and flash options with the scroll wheel on the back, or customise the Function (fn) button to give access to another options such as the ISO setting, or drive move. There is a snap-back zoom button on the left of the lens barrel, and the Side zoom control can be used to change the zoom, or can be set to manual focus.
The front of the lens has a 67mm filter thread, which makes it possible to attach filters, although unfortunately the camera doesn’t come with a lens hood, or shade, and there isn’t currently an optional hood available on the Nikon website.
