Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-05-09)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 9 May 2020 47

CAMERA TEST Testbench

D

espitethegeneral
trendbeingfor
manufacturersto
releaseeversmaller
andlightercameras,superzoom
bridgecamerascontinueto hold
theirgroundandremaina popular
choiceforthoseseekingan
all-in-oneapproachto their
photographyneeds.TheP950is
Nikon’slatestadditionto itslineup
andsupersedestheP900model
from2015,whichwasnotableat
thetimeof itsreleaseforbeingthe
firstsuperzoomto offeran83x
opticalzoom.In termsof
positioning,theP950sitssquarely
in themiddleof Nikon’srange,
belowthetwo-year-oldflagship
P1000(£899)withitsclass-
leading125xopticalzoom,but
abovetheaforementionedP900
andthemuchlessadvancedB600
(£249),whicharrivedin early
2014 and has a 60x optical zoom.

Features

FornowtheP900is stillavailable

at a costof around£450,which

representsa fairlyheftysaving

overtheP950’sintroductory

£800pricetag.Tothisendit’s

worthnotingthemaindifferences

betweenthetwo.

Perhapsthebiggestdistinctionis

thattheP950introduceslossless

rawcapture,whereastheP900is

limitedtoJPEGcaptureonly.

Similarly,theP950alsosupports

4Kmoviecapture,whereasthe

P900’svideocapabilitiesonly

extendasfaras1080pFullHD.In

addition,theP950’s2.36m-dot

EVFis largerandsharperthanthe

P900’s921k-dotEVF,whilethe

vari-angleLCDdisplayis also

slightlylargerat 3.2inches

comparedtotheP900’s3-inch

display.Neithercameraprovides

touchscreenfunctionalityhowever,

which strikes us as something of a

missedopportunityonthenewer

model.Elsewhere,othernotable

differencesincludetheaddition of

a hotshoeandanexternal

microphonejack.

TheP950is equippedwiththe

same83xopticalzoomusedon

itspredecessor.Thisconsistsof 16

elementsin 12groups,including

fiveEDlenselementsandone

superEDlenselement,and

providesa zoomrangeequivalent

to24-2000mmalongwithan

aperturerangeof f/2.8tof/6.5.

Maximumapertureisn’tconstant

though,andwillbeaffectedbythe

degreetowhichthezoomhas

beenextended.Morespecifically

themaximumapertureof f/2.8is

onlyavailableat 28mmorbelow,

beforerisingtof/3.2at 28mm

andf/3.5at 50mm.Atlonger

telephotolengthsthefastest

apertureavailableis f/5.6at

650mm, jumping to f/6.3 at

TheP950isNikon’slatestadditiontoitssuperzoom

range.Audley Jarvis puts it through its paces

Nikon P950

Price £799

Sensor 16MPCMOS,6.2x 4.6mm

Outputsize 4608 x 3456pixels

Focallength mag 5.6x

Lens 24-2000mmequivalent,

f/2.8-6.5

Shutterspeeds 30-1/2,000sec

(30-1/4,000secin Moonmode)

Sensitivity ISO100-6400

Exposuremodes PASM,Auto,Scene,Moon,Bird-

watching,Creative,Custom

Metering Matrix,Centre-weighted,Spot

Exposurecomp ±2EVin 1/3EVsteps

Continuous

shooting

7fpsin AF-S

Screen 3.2in,921k-dotvari-angleLCD

Viewfinder 0.39in,2.36m-dotEVF

AFpoints 99,contrast-detection

Video 4K(3840x2160)30p,

FullHD(1920x1080)30p

Externalmic 3.5mmstereo

Memorycard SD,SDHC,SDXC

Power RechargeableEN-EL20aLi-ion

Batterylife Approx 290 shotspercharge

Dimensions 140.2x109.6x149.8mm

Weight 1,005g (with battery and card)

Data fi le

Ingoodlightingconditionsandat

lowsensitivitiestheP950is capable

ofdeliveringpleasingresults

1/500sec at f/5.6, ISO 100, 33mm