subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 1 June 2019 47
INADDITIONtothevastfocallength,the
P1000 has some additional features that
make it a candidate for astrophotography. In
fact, the P1000 has a dedicated Moon mode,
which immediately sets the focus to infi nity,
but also enables the focal length to jump
straight to 1,000mm by simply pressing
the OK button. The Moon mode also
introduces some creative features with
the user able to cycle through a number of
colour-temperature options to turn the moon
blood orange or pure white – although you
can also alter colour temperature by shooting
in the raw fi le format instead of JPEG.
Setting up the P1000 on a tripod is
strongly advised as handholding can leadtoyounotonlylosingthesubjectandhaving
to recompose, but also introducing shake into
the scene, which is easily done shooting at
focal lengths past 1,000mm and is especially
vulnerable at 3,000mm. I also preferred to
compose my scene using the vari-angle
screen rather than the EVF and, as previously
mentioned, back off from 3,000mm to
around 2,400mm, which had the added
advantage of enabling a faster aperture of
f/7.1 instead of f/8 at 3,000mm. Pressing the
shutter added too much vibration, even with
the camera on the tripod, so I activated the
self-timer mode (set to three seconds), which
gave time for any vibrations to dampen before
the image was captured.Shoot thewhole moon
Some would argue the P1000 is a one-trick
pony, but I think that’s selling this impressive
camera incredibly short. Realistically, if you
want to capture distant subjects and don’t have
the budget for big fast lenses, the P1000 is an
epic alternative that comes in just below the
£1,000 price barrier – well within the reach of
enthusiast photographers looking to take their
wildlife imagery to the next level. While pro
photographers may fi nd the autofocus too
slow, this camera will fi nd plenty of favour with
wildlife photographers, particularly birders who
are currently dissatisfi ed with trying to shoot
small subjects with lenses that would generally
top out at up to 500mm. The appeal of
carrying one medium-weight camera instead
of a body and multiple lenses is obvious and
the addition of raw stills, 4K video and a
dedicated Bird-Watching mode further add to
the P1000’s credentials in this market. There’s
plenty to attract current superzoom users,
both of rival brands and users of Nikon’s older
P900 model. The addition of the longer
maximum focal length, a larger LCD, a higher-
resolution EVF, external microphone port,
hotshoe fl ash mount, 4K video, raw support
and Bluetooth represents a major upgrade.
Ultimately, the P1000 justifi es the hype,
yet at the same time feels like the foundation
of a new wave of superzoom cameras rather
than the pinnacle. Make no mistake, Nikon has
something special here and, as much as the
P1000 will be popular, I can’t wait to see how
the brand builds on this technology as
and when the P1000 is superseded.
Ideal for wildlife, the P1000 is
great for those who wish to take
their shots to the next level
Nikon P1000 at 500mm
1/500sec at f/6.3, ISO 200Backing off from 3,000mm enables use of faster apertures Nikon P1000 at 2400mm, 1/125sec at f/7.1, ISO 400