Though smartphones have been steadily eating into the traditional camera market, they still have not made any major inroads into one category of cameras. This is the super zoom segment of compact cameras, favoured by enthusiasts and semi-professionals.
Till recently, the longest zoom offered in the compact camera segment came from Canon, which released its PowerShot SX60 HS with a 65X zoom in September 2014. However, SX60’s reign at the top was to be short-lived. In March this year, Nikon stunned the market with its P900, which featured an 83X optical zoom. This is a world first.
To put this in perspective, most wildlife and sports photographers carry zooms with a range of 600-1000 mm, which can weigh as much as 2 kg. Together with their SLR and the tripod necessary to hold such bulky lenses steady, wildlife photographers lug around equipment heavy enough to strain their back. Contrast this with the P900, which weighs a mere 899 gm and zooms out from 24 to 2000 mm.
If you want more, the P600 even offers the Dynamic Fine Zoom, which provides an extra reach of 2000 mm through digital zoom. In addition, the camera sports an aperture of 2.6 at the wide end and a decent 6.5 at the telephoto end. Holding a 2000 mm lens, even when it is light, is tricky. Nikon overcomes this problem with a vibration reduction system that offers a five-stop compensation, enabling a photographer to take steady shots even at 2000 mm. The P900 comes with GPS and NFC as well (near-field communication) to facilitate sharing of photos on the go.
While its megapixel count is about average (16 MP) for the current crop of cameras in the price range of Rs 25,000 - Rs 30,000, it has a decent battery life and a burst rate of seven frames per second.
The only drawback may be its inability to shoot in RAW mode, which offers finer control in post processing.
Overall, the P900 seems suited for a vast range of occasions, from family to wildlife shoots, and may remain the king of super zooms for some time to come.
Price: Rs 27,750 on Flipkart