Take a shot at the moon

THE COOLPIX P900 from Nikon is a zoom monster. The compact camera breaks all the limits with its amazing 83x optical zoom – that’s 2,000mm equivalent focal length – and sports a terrific image stabiliser system too.
With this zoom level and focal length, the P900 can comfortably capture clear close-ups of the moon or a bird in a distant tree or anything else seemingly too remote to snap.
While I was testing the camera, using the longest-possible zoom of 83x, the moon’s edges extended well beyond the frame – I couldn’t |even get the whole surface in the shot.
And I got good shots without a tripod, although having a tripod certainly makes focusing easier.
But the P900 is suitable for wildlife photographers and casual travellers as well as stargazers. You can always get sharp images and videos of far-off subject matter.
The credit for this goes to a 16-megapixel low-light 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, topped off with a decent auto-focus system that lets you shoot up to seven frames per second (7fps), including fast-moving action.
The lens capability ranges from a large F/2.8 aperture at the widest angle to f/6.5 at the longest zoom. This is a high-quality Nikkor ED glass lens that covers 16 focal elements in 12 groups.
ISO sensitivity reaches a high ISO6400 and the shutter speed is a fast 1/400 of a second.
When travelling with the P900, you can rely on a built-in GPS with a “Points of Interest” function that will record the exact location of each shot for later review, perfect for sharing your journey on Google Maps, Google+ and other social networks. Nikon View NX2 software is another handy option for retracing your steps.
On top of this you have built-in Wi-Fi with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology that sets up connections with your smartphone or tablet computer ready for instant sharing online and using your phone or tablet as a remote control for the camera.
The articulated three-inch swivelling LCD monitor is flexible enough for self-portraits and tricky shooting angles, like bird’s-eye and worm’s eye views. The monitor has 921,000-dot resolution and six levels of adjustable brightness.
When using the long zoom under bright sunlight, the electronic viewfinder comes in handy, especially with its 100-per-cent frame coverage. It’s about equivalent to a 921-dot LCD and the diopter adjustment runs from -3 to +1.
For a compact digital unit, the P900 allows full control of your shots, with a mode dial offering manual, programmed auto, shutter priority and aperture priority choices among exposures.
There are also several scene modes as well as full automatic exposure for rookies, of course, and the mode dial also has scene mode, effects and user settings.
Under Scene or Effects is a further menu of options – Backlighting, Beach, Black and White Copy, Close Up, Dusk/Dawn, Snow, Sports and Sunset. Scene auto selector tells the camera to automatically recognise the type of scene in the frame and adjust accordingly.
Then there are Landscape, Night Landscape, Night Portrait and, yes indeed, one dedicated just to the Moon. In this setting you can adjust the hue via the command dial and the brightness with exposure compensation depending on whether the moon is waxing or waning.
This is a fun way to get outstanding pictures of the moon full of detail without having to learn all the tricky rules of astronomical optics.
I ended up using less than the full 83x zoom. Any more and you’re filling the frame with the lunar surface, but the pictures aren’t as crisp as they can be. As mentioned, a tripod isn’t needed, but it’s recommended if you want to avoid any blur from shaking hands.
The 83x zoom is actually best for birding, which also has a dedicated mode that allows for single or continuous shots.
Regardless of the distant subject, you use the zoom lever on the left side of the lens barrel. If that bird darts away while you’re zooming, there’s a snap-back zoom button right next to the lever. Press this to get a temporary wide angle so you can re-frame the subject easily. Pressing and holding shows a framing border, within which the zoom lever brings the subject in clearly.
I was able to get remarkable landscape shots using the 24mm-equivalent focal length in the Landscape scene mode, and auto mode was good at capturing sharp shots in most lighting environments.
The P900 has four choices of picture control – standard, neutral, vivid and monochrome. I enjoyed using the vivid option to boost the colour of the surroundings.
The performance was admirable all around, with fast focusing, readiness to shoot as soon as the camera was turned on and no detectable shutter lag.
I tried getting a shot of the new Mahanakhon skyscraper downtown from the terrace of my lofty office on Bangna-Trat Road, but fog and air pollution spoiled the effort. Less distant spots, such as Rama IX Park, came up beautifully, though.
The camera is also capable of shooting Full HD 1080/60p video, and Scene mode has five Time-lapse options – Cityscape (clips of up to 10 minutes), Landscape (25 minutes), Sunset (50 minutes) and Night sky and Star Trails (both 150 minutes).
One more bonus to the P900: The battery is good for 360 shots per charge, which is quite a lot.
The Nikon Coolpix P900 has a suggested retail price of Bt19,900.

Key Specs

- Image sensor: 16MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS
- Lens: 83x optical Zoom Nikkor ED glass, 24-2,000mm focal length equivalent with f/2.8-6.5
- Auto-focus: Contrast-detect
- Shutter speed: 1/4000 to 15 seconds
- ISO: ISO100-1600 (ISO3200, 6400 available in P, S, A, M modes)
- Metering: Matrix, Centre-weighted, Spot
- Exposure modes: P, S, A, M, Auto, Scene, Special Effects,| User
- Viewfinder: Electronic, 0.5cm, 921k-dot-equivalent LCD
- Monitor: Three-inch swivelling TFT LCD at 921,000 dots
- Storage media: SD, SDHC, SDXC
- Highest movie resolution: 1920x1080/60p
- Interface: Hi-speed USB, HDMI micro connector
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, GPS
- Battery: Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL23
- Dimensions: 139.5x103.2x137.4mm excluding projections
- Weight: 899 grams with |battery and SD memory card