Customer Ratings & Reviews

Deciding on this camera: We bought this camera to take on safari. We have been using point-and-shoot cameras with smaller zooms (15X and 25X) for travel, but we wanted to make sure the animals we saw were not just little dots in the pictures when we return from the Serengeti. We looked into purchasing a DSLR; however, to get a similar zoom plus the camera body seemed like it was going to cost over $1K. The most informative review on the P900 was at Photography Life (https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-coolpix-p900) by John Sherman. He highlights the features, at times in comparison to his expensive professional DSLR, and includes many sample photographs. Sure some quality is lost in the picture of the eagle at full zoom; however, the camera that took the crisp, clear photo cost him over $21K! For many people, lack of RAW format was a disappointment; however, my version of editing is using Google's Picasa to sort through (and occasionally crop) the 100s (or 1000s) of photos I take with the point and shoot. Thus, JPEG format is fine for us. Purchasing: Finding the P900 in stock was a challenge, but we were able to get one from Best Buy following the advice in one of the Amazon reviews that suggested checking the stock on the Nikon webpage each day. Basically, there is an option on the P900 Nikon page to "Where to Buy" that actually lists the online suppliers and whether they have the camera in stock. I looked everyday for about a week in mid-June, and one morning it was listed as "In Stock" at Best Buy. I bought the camera and then looked back at the "Where to Buy" on the Nikon page, and it said out-of-stock again. First impressions: The camera case is a lightweight plastic that some reviewers thought looked/felt cheap. However, carrying the camera around at the Botanica Gardens in the heat, I was very appreciative of how much less the camera would weigh than if it were made of metal or heavier plastic. I was able to hold onto the camera with one hand via the grip with the strap wrapped around my wrist for a little extra security for the hour we were out without tiring. I used my left hand to stablize the camera whenever using the zoom or when I was not in direct sunlight. Using the super zoom: When I first tested the camera indoors or in the shade with the zoom fully extended, it was difficult to get a non-shaky picture. However, when we went to a local nature reserve, I was able to get pictures of birds we only spotted with our 10X42 binoculars at full zoom with the camera supported only by my two hands (not even bracing my elbows against my chest as I did in the shade pictures). There is enough detail to see that the birds eyelids are open in one picture and closed in the next. I used the "bird watching mode" under Scenes, which takes up to 7 pictures (in 1 sec) when you press the button. This increased the odds of getting a good picture of the bird, but had the downside of waiting a few seconds after each burst of pictures for the pictures to write to the SD card (16 MP picture quality, 90MB/s memory card). The camera has this great function when the zoom is extended and you lose the bird you are trying to shoot called "snapback zoom". With your left hand you hold down the button on the side of the lens and the camera will zoom out. A black box appears in the view finder, move the camera to get the bird in the box and then release the button to zoom in on the bird. This is super efficient and less nauseating than trying to search for the bird at full zoom. Continuous shooting mode: We had great fun photographing animals that stayed primarily in the same place. However, we will need more practice to be able to catch a flying bird. The continuous shooting mode at max rate is 7 frames per second but it stops after the 7th frame and starts writing to the card. The pre-shooting cache is partial way around this. You press the shutter release half-way down, and it starts taking pictures. When the animal does something interesting, you press the shutter release the rest of the way down and the camera saves the previous 5 pictures and then 10 more. I was trying to use these functions to take pictures of my nephew going down a circular slide at the park. He got frustrated when I asked him to go again and again. I was only catching him appearing around the first loop. In retrospect, what I really needed was to use 2 fps (one of the slower continuous modes) so I could keep taking pictures until he reached the bottom. 7 fps was just too many pictures for the slide action. Battery Life: I bought 2 Watson brand batteries as they were $40 each at B&H photo, instead of $80 for an extra Nikon battery. Then at Best Buy a few weeks later, I saw their generic brand on sale for $10 per battery (normally $30) and bought 3. The P900 uses the same camera battery as the P600. They tend to last about half-a-day depending on how much I use the view finder vs the screen. The other issue is that if you are trying to track animals to photograph, this also eats up battery so the picture estimate that others have given (~260 photos) may be much less (if you have to wait sometime for your shot) or twice that if you use continuous shoot. We shot ~600 photos of birds (7fps, 1 sec at a time) over a ~2 hour period at a bird reserve last weekend. Automatic vs Manual Modes: On my previous point-and-shoot camera, I had relied on the "intelligent auto" function. For the P900, the automatic button (green) takes reasonable pictures but you can make very few adjustments. Under SCENE mode on the dial, there is an auto scene selector as the first option that works more like the "intelligent auto" on other cameras. There are many great scenes to choose from including the bird watching. To use some of the great features such as "Active D-lighting" to bring objects out of the shadows, however, we have had to take a crash course in manual settings for photography (using many free web resources). This overall has been very rewarding, and we are now primarily using aperture mode for everyday shooting with the camera. Note that for the manual mode, there is an option under setup to have the screen reflect the exposure level before the photo is taken. This is good for reducing the number of too dark photos. Other cool features: The camera has a time lapse mode for taking pictures of cityscapes, sunsets or night skies. We have tried the 50 minute series for sunsets twice now with great results. It takes several pictures a minute and then quickly compresses it into a 9 second movie.

I have been waiting for this camera for some time now. And finally was able to buy it in time for the eclipse. As an avid photographer it is important for me to have a great camera with a great zoom and quality picture taking abilities. One of the best things I like photographing is the moon and birds. And this actually has a mode for each!

This is a great camera for a beginner or anyone wanting to take high quality pictures at a low cost. It has a great zoom with a fast focus. People that see my bird pictures think that they were taken with a DSLR because of the detail and sharpness. The p900 is a big step change from the previous 2 models. I rarely write reviews but wanted to tell people that this is a great camera for taking bird pictures. I almost spent much more money for a DSLR trying to find the reach and quality of this camera. I've attached a sample that was taken the first day I used the camera.

The picture and video quality could be better but overall not a bad camera. *** Pros: *** Great reach: See the photos I took and keep in mind that I was nowhere near these creatures. Getting close would cause them to run or fly away so having a super zoom is really helpful. Also works like a macro lens without having scaring off subjects by trying to get too close to them. Decent images: Yes the images and videos could be better but the good thing is they can be cleaned up pretty good in editors like Lightroom. Price: This is the cheapest camera I own and for the image/video quality, amount of zoom you get it's well worth having. Stabilization: It has optical stabilization that works pretty darn good. All the images I took were hand held. Continous Shooting: Up to 7fps at 16mp. I just figured out it has this. I wish I would have known when trying to capture the hummingbird photos. Manual Focus: There is no focus ring but it does have a focusing slider with peeking and it works pretty. *** Cons *** Only takes jpg: I wish it shot raw photos because the jpgs are way over saturated but can be corrected a bit in an image editor like Lightroom. Preview: I don't always shoot in burst mode but having to preview each image after shooting can cause you to lose a shot . I wish I could turn on the image preview. No Touch Screen: It would be nice if it had a touch screen at least for hitting focus points. No Mic Input: I really don't like not having an option for an external mic. No Hot Shoe: It has a pop up flash but when the lens sticks out you get a shadow. Plus it would be nice to be able to add an accessory like a light or a mic... oh wait, there is no mic input. Overall this is no pro camera but what it is, is a really fun camera for getting shots you would normally not be able to get. The image quality is decent as long as you do a little cleanup in an editor like Lightroom. I almost returned this camera but after having some time with it I decided to keep it. It's long zoom and decent image quality makes it unique to my small of cameras and makes it useful.

Great image quality. Fantastic zoom. Perfect!!!! Wonderful time lapse qualities

I have no regrets about purchasing this camera. For one thing it had a price point that made total sense for my budget. I was about to spend much more on a DSLR body with a separate lens until I learned that the zoom capabilities were significantly inferior. I had been using a 23x zoom which was also a Nikon camera and knew I would be miserable not being able to achieve better zoom ratios with the other brands of cameras and lenses. I've been using digital cameras for a long time so I'm familiar with the overall features and what to expect. This camera exceeds my expectations. At 83X zoom I can take clear pictures of the terrain of the moon! That's impressive! For my practical purposes I doubt there is anything this camera can't do that another camera can. It truly is a 'smart' choice for me in smart digital camera technology.

I waited 3 mos 4 this cam & it was certainly worth it. While its zoom power is well known, it has so many other great capabilities such as macro, great selection of pre-programmed scenes, low light, birding, video. Handles much better than my Canon 30D DSLR. I take it where ever I go and have taken a lot of great shots already. Simply thrilled with this camera.

This is the second one I purchased for a friend who had trouble finding one for sale and available. No wonder as this camera has it all! After seeing the shots I was getting with mine, several friends bought one and they love it too! Use it 90% of the time and I have six other cameras, but his is my 'go-to' camera for sure. Zoom, stabilization and built in controls are amazing and easy to use. Battery seems to go on forever. I enjoy using it to catch planes flying overhead, usually about 2-3 miles away, handheld....see sample pic!

This is an excellent camera, especially for nature photographers & travelers. It's very sharp & easily focused. The manual focusing is not readily available. It''s hardly needed. There's no lens hood. I don't see a problem with that either. The video is excellent too. The battery lasts quite a long time.The camera is phenomenal, especially at this price. Best Buy ships it very quickly too. I include a few examples.

Absolutely amazing camera. The zoom feature is the best feature of this camera. If you have the slightest shake while zoomed in on an object you loose sight of it. I did end up buying a small table top tripod for still shots. The WiFi feature is very convenient to upload quickly to social media websites. It has great clairty on indoor photos.

I bought this camera mainly for the zoom and it meets all expectations. It has an auto zoom setting where it adjusts everything for you and you can actually zoom too much and have to back off a bit to get the whole moon in the photo. I was able to zoom in on some migrating geese that were too far away to see with the naked eye. I'll attach the photo. It's heavier than my Nikon D3300, but for far away shots I'll be using the P900.

I have used a dslr camera with all of the many lenses for several years and got tired of carrying all of that equipment around. Found this camera, read reviews and decided to purchase just prior to taking a two week trip out west. The one word I can use is AMAZING!! It is so easy to use and even those shots that I zoomed in on without using a tripod have come out perfect with no blurring. I have always wanted to take a decent shot of the moon but didn't until this past Monday when I took one of the super moon. Without a tripod and perfect!!! I cannot say enough about this camera and I have used a lot of different ones! Easy to use even for beginners. Has automatic settings but also can do some manual settings if you choose.

This camera is amazing. It does exactly what it claims. I took pictures from my front porch using the zoom. I had to drive over 30 miles to find what I could actually see with this zoom. The moon picture is amazing.

Heavy, may blur photos if your hands shake. Tripod recommended.but has a great zoom.lots of options for scenery.auto and manual modes.picked it because of the zoom, and no additional lenses to carry around. Was recommended by several people.

Is the best camera ever to shut the moon! The picture quality espectacular!!! I love my camera! I made a good choice about what I wanted.

I have been thinking about getting this camera for a very long time now. My major concern has been the price. With the price finally coming down everywhere I made my decision and am very happy for it. Things I learned already. I have a steady hand and for most shots that's great but trying to zoom in on Jupiter I really needed a steady tripod and the timer function. I will say that I am getting spectacular pictures and feel it was well worth the investment.

I am by no means a professional photographer or even a skilled one, which may explain why I love this camera so much. I've never seen a camera with such a great optical zoom. As soon as I got it and charged the battery, I immediately had to go outside to shoot some moon pics. I happened to buy the camera a week before the super moon earlier in November, so I got some great pics. I also went to see the Dallas Cowboys vs Redskins game on Thanksgiving. The pics and video I got were amazing. You would never have guessed I was on the top level of the stadium. The only drawback this camera has, IMO, is that it is definitely bulkier than any camera I've ever owned. I was worried they were not going to let me enter the stadium with it.

I LOVE my new camera. I didn't think I'd change lenses much, so I decided to buy this one with the 83x zoom. It does an amazing job and I carry it with me everywhere. It's everything I wanted in a camera and pretty easy to use, although I look forward to reading the manual for further information.

I travel to Yellowstone every year and take 2000-4000 pictures. Due to the distance of wildlife in Yellowstone, a zoom camera is a must for safety of people and the animals. While this camera can not get the clarity of a dslr, it does a wonderful job for the price point. Of course low light shots are difficult as with all bridge cameras but there is nothing on the market that can beat this zoom. I have owned Canon SX 30, SX40x, and SX50. I went to Best Buy to get the SX60 and the Nikon P900 to compare them. There is truly no comparison for reach. The P900 wins in all categories. The only minor exception is that the P900 does not shoot in raw for those that like to edit their photos and I believe Canon has slightly better coloring when using auto focus. This camera is a bit more tricky than a Canon. I knew each time with the Canon I would get the shot. This camera tends to blur at times. This is probably due to having little practice before my trip. I did find a nice book on Amazon that explains what this camera can do and not do. I am excited to dig in and learn all of its capabilities. If you are a bridge camera user that does not want to jump up to the price point of a DSLR- this is a must have camera. Below are pictures taken from hundreds of yards away in Yellowstone with the camera.

I have used my camera a few times since I received it and I LOVE IT! It truly does zoom to the moon, and I love the color selector feature! I have not even begun to delve into all the cool features of this camera. For the price, this camera is nothing short of amazing!