Difference between cameras with good optic zoom...

Honestly, I never bothered to look, so I am not sure.  It would be uncommon to compare a small sensor DSC with a large sensor DSC though.  The results are too predictable, so it is not very interesting.

Of the small sensor superzoom cameras, the P900 is probably the best bet.  They all use comparable imagers and the lens on the p900 is surprisingly decent.

Like most cameras of this type it has extremely (in my opinion) heavy handed approach to noise reduction and sharpening.  

That is the decision for you to make: do you want the far reach or the better image quality?

ILya

Will provide some thoughts in the next little bit!

I still need to get a memory card but should the zoom option be able to work without the memory card? (as i'm not actually storing a pic or taking a vid)

I hope that I'm missing something here but not impressed. I know that this is not a low light camera, but even with decent lighting at subject/object, i just can't see anything all that clearly. Second, it doesn't appear to be able to zoom as far as it really says (without giving too much vibration/shaking) or really degrading picture quality. Third, I often have to wait a good 5-10 seconds for the black screen to go away so i can actually see the view (the camera constantly seems to turn off the display/tun it back on)..very annoying.

I have it set for manual zooming..but im not sure if some other settings need to be changed?

Cheers for any help

Still, the rest of the things you are reporting are odd, so perhaps you need to flip through the manual and/or call Nikon.

Also, I would like to point out that regardless of what the spec says, ultra long telephoto is sorta complicated and I'll be very surprised if you get any sort of respectable image quality anywhere near the spec'ed extent of the telephoto.  If you get somethimg decent at 1200mm equivalent, consider it a lucky day and stop right there.

ILya

I get it ( kind of...)  ....NOISE!!       My daughter's f 1.8 lens ( Voigtlander or Zeiss, I forget ) actually makes nighttime look a half hour earlier!!  

     

I have to say that you were right. I think i've played enough with the settings to see that it's not me making a mistake that's causing me to be disappointed by this camera.

1. About the observation.. Staring at that screen while zooming is not realistic for any long period of time. Not good for observation.

2. I have shaky hands..this can't be really solved. It's not a huge problem, but it's enough of a problem that in combination with zooming in far enough, and me shaking a bit, picture quality is bad.

3. This camera is not ideal for any type of low light situation. Even when there is decent lighting..I can still see my object better with my $200 binocular than with this camera. I don't really agree (At least with this camera) with the person that said that camera tends to give you a better image and binos less so. This in large part was what sold me. I got the impression that when i looked at the screen of the camera (or at least the actual pic/video after) that the quality would impress me. In night, with at least some light, it's not better than my $200 binocular.

I'll sell it for $770 Canadian (which is $550 American). You not only save $50 but you save on taxes. (and if you are not too far, I'll pay full for shipping) As I said I've only had it a couple days.

Despite my poor reviews, you should realize that I'm not very good with technology (so I could be possibly missing something) + it isn't exactly ideal for my uses.

Cheers!

You really hit the nail on the head with that post. I think I got caught up in watching videos of that camera and it seemed to make me look past some of the posts..but to be honest i've never seen really use this camera during the night.

what?