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97mm124mm70mmEvenwhenyou’rethebestpartofhalf-a-mileaway,theP950’spowerful
zoom enables you to get close to distant subjects1/1000sec at f/7.1, ISO 200, 1000mm1200mmandf/6.5at
2000mm.TheP950is also
equippedwithbuilt-inimage
stabilisationtechnologythat
providesupto5.5stopsof
compensationforsharperresults
thanwouldnormallybepossible
whenshootinghandheldat
slowershutterspeedsandlonger
focallengths.
Internally,thecamerais fitted
witha 16MP1/2.3-inchtype
backside-illuminatedCMOS
sensor,whichis pairedwitha
NikonEXPEEDimageprocessor.
Ofcourse,theP950’ssmall
sensordoesmeanthatnoisewill
becomemorenoticeableat lower
sensitivitysettings,howeverthe
bigtrade-offis theP950’s
extendedtelephotoreach.Indeed,
thedecisionwhethertogowitha
biggersensorforimprovedimage
quality,ora smalleronefor
greatertelephotoreachis a choice
allsuperzoommanufacturershave
toconsiderwhendesigninga new
camera.In thisrespecttheP950
fallsfirmlyin thelattercamp.Bodyanddesign
There’snothingsmallordiscreet
abouttheP950.Likemanyother
superzoomsit’sa largeandbulky
camerathat’seasilycomparablein
sizetoanenthusiast-gradeAPS-C
DSLRorevensomefull-frame
DSLRs.Placednexttomyown
NikonD750withits24-70mm
f/2.8lensattached,therereally
isn’tallthatmuchtoseparatethe
twoin termsof theiroverall
dimensions– especiallywhenthe
P950’slensis fullyextended.
Howeverat 1,005gonthescales
theP950is around650glighter
than a D750 and 24-70mm lens.In termsof handlingtheP950
providesa deep,ergonomichand
gripplusa raisedthumb-braceon
thebacktogiveit a securefeelin
yourhands.Wedeliberatelysay
‘hands’hereastheP950is very
mucha two-handedcamerathat
doesn’tlenditselfat allwellto
shootingsingle-handed.Provided
youusebothhands,however,the
camerafeelsnicelybalancedeven
whenthezoomis fullyextended.
Buttonsarelarge,well-spaced
andclearlylabelled.Anyone
comingfromanotherNikon
camerashouldfeelquicklyat
homewiththeirgenerallayout
andpositioning.There’sonly
oneFunctionbutton,whichis
locatedjustbehindtheshutter
releasebutton,howeveryoucan
changetheroleassignedtothe
rotatingdialonthesideof the
lens.Todothis,you’llneedto
enterthemainin-cameramenu,
whichis wellorganisedandeasy
enoughtonavigateviathed-pad
andOKbutton.
WhiletheP950is a pretty
straightforwardcamerato
operate,it’sa shamethatyoucan’t
re-assignthefunctionof the
thumbdialthatsitsonthetopof
thecameranexttothemain
Exposuremodedial.Asthings
standitsonlyapparentfunctionis
toadjusttheshutterspeedin
eithermanualorshutter-priority
mode,whichseemslikea bitof a
wastegivenitsprominentand
easy-to-reachposition.Performance
TheP950employscontrast-
detecttechnologyforautofocus
duties,with 99 AFpointsarranged
in a 11x9 rectangular grid in theSnap-backzoom
button
Tohelpfindsubjectsthat
havemovedoutofshot,
thispullsthezoomback
toa widerangle,witha
boxin thecentreofthe
viewfinderindicatingthe
areacoveredbythe
previous setting.Connectivity
TheP950providesbothWi-Fiand
Bluetoothwirelessconnectivity.This
enablestheP950totakeadvantageof
Nikon’sSnapBridgetechnology,which
connectsthecameradirectlytoyour
phoneortabletviaNikon’sfree
SnapBridge app for iOS and Android.
Picturecontrols
AswithmostNikon
camerasit’spossibleto
tweakthein-cameraJPEG
processingsettingstoget
yourownuniquelook.
Surprisinglythoughthere
areonlyfourpresets:
Standard,Neutral,Vivid
and Monochrome.Hotshoe
InadditiontocompatibleNikon
speedlights,thehotshoecanalso
accommodatea numberofuseful
accessoriessuchastheNikon
DF-M1dotsightthat’sdesignedto
helpkeeptrackoffarawaysubjects
whileshootingatlongfocallengths.Moon/Bird-watching
mode
Twonewadditionstothe
P950’sexposuremodedial
includededicatedMoonand
Bird-watchingmodes.These
areessentiallytwonew
scenemodeswherethe
camerawillautomatically
optimise settings for you.Creativefilters
Thereis a generous
rangeof 20 digitalfilter
effects.Thesecomein
fivelooselythemed
groups(eachofwhich
containsfoureffects)
undertheheadings:
Light,Depth,Memories,
Classic and Noir.WhatelsecanyouexpecttofindontheNikon
P950? Here we list a few of its other featuresFocal pointsTestbench CAMERA TEST