Happy Wednesday!
Yesterday I said I was going to do an opinionated review of the Nikon Coolpix P1000 camera.
This is normally not the type of camera I would buy. I love the DSLRs I have. From the way they feel in my hand to sound of the shutter and the results I get with them.
Having said that, I gave my old Nikon Coolpix to my Grand Son some time ago. I use to carry it on my bike and in the car for those occasions when I didn’t have my regular camera.
So when Nikon announced this version of the Coolpix and the fact it could shoot in RAW I ordered one. Knowing of the trip to Disney World I thought I might get some use out of it. But the real selling point for me was the 3000 mm optical zoom lens.
An example of that zoom is below. Above I stepped out on the balcony of our suite and captured this image of the basketball court.
This image is not zoomed to full length and has not been altered in any way. No cropping of this image, it is just the way I shot it in camera.
Another example is this image taken from another balcony of our suite. That is the Magic Kingdom Castle to the right and on the left is one of the rides at the Magic Kingdom.
This image is zoomed all the way out to 3000 mm. I did not have a tripod and actually hand-held all these images. Now this image is a little soft but considering the length of the lens and the atmospherics of the day I was impressed to say the least.
So for me it is better to have this camera than my iPhone. It takes 4K video and has a digital zoom factor of X4 beyond the 3000 mm optical zoom. So it can see a long way.
I used it one day at the Magic Kingdom. I was not happy with the results I got photographing people. One of the problems is that it has a pop up flash. Handy sometimes but it makes an awful image more times than not. The P1000 also has a micro function that lets you get very close to a subject. I can shoot fully auto or completely manual and several variations in between.
Final verdict? I have a few more days to decide if I want to keep it. I’m leaning towards keeping it because I can see so many opportunities for its capabilities. Not the most professional review but neither am I. 🙂
Enjoy your day and be careful.
