Back in the fall of 2015, when I was doing Gear Reviews for Outdoor Photography Canada magazine, one of the products that I reviewed was the Nikon Coolpix P900 camera that had a 24-2000mm built in lens.  Before I had a chance to try it, I thought that it was more of a gimmick camera, but after using it for a while I was quite impressed with it.  It had its limitations, but overall the image quality was good up to about 1500mm.  In fact I was so impressed with it, that in April 2018 I finally broke down and purchased one to take with me on a trip to the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador to use for some of the wildlife that I encountered.  I also used the P900 as my ‘carry around’ hiking and birding camera whenever I am hiking without my main camera system.

When Nikon introduced the Coolpix P1000 later in 2018 with a 24-3000mm lens, improved image stabilization, and RAW capability, I was interested in it, but then decided I could make due with my relatively new P900.  However, that changed when I actually had the opportunity to try the P1000 in early 2019.  I was really impressed with the extra 1000mm reach that it had (it is still a little soft at 3000mm but pretty sharp at 2600mm) and the improved image stabilization. Needless to say, the P1000 has become my new ‘carry around’ hiking and birding camera.

At the beginning of March, while I was in the Vancouver, B.C area and over in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island I had the P1000 with me and was able to photograph a number of birds while Leslie and I were out on walks.  Below are a few of my favourite bird images taken with the P1000. What still impresses me about the P1000 is how sharp the images are considering that they were all handheld. – Mark