The Nikon Coolpix P950 is a effective superzoom compact digicam, constructed around a 24-2000mm equal zoom lens. Successor to the wildly famous Coolpix P900, the P950 provides uncooked seize, a greatly progressed digital viewfinder and 4K video.
Cameras that seem like the P950 was once defined as 'bridge' models: as in, they shaped a 'bridge' between the talents and of a traditional compact camera, and a D/SLR. With the start of the superzoom class a few years ago, with their massive zoom ratios, this description became meaningless. in spite of its unusual capability to connect items throughout giant distances, the P950 is not so much of a 'bridge' among anything. it's (nearly) in a category of its own.
Key specifications:
83X zoom =24-2000mm
5.5EV photograph stabilization (CIPA)
16MP half of.3" CMOS sensor
three.2”, 921k-dot Vari-perspective lcd
2.4M-dot OLED electronic viewfinder
4K video (30/25p)
1cm minimal attention at 24mm equiv
7 fps continuous capturing (up to ten frames)
ISO 100-1600 (extendable to 6400)
uncooked seize available
Battery existence: 290 shots (CIPA)
The superzoom class is pretty small, and refreshingly easy to navigate. Very sincerely, the more you pay, the greater zoom you get, and the more likely it's far that you will get high-quality extras like OLED viewfinders, customizable controls and advanced video.
If the P950 will be said to have any opposition in any respect, it is more often than not from within Nikon's personal lineup. The less expensive Coolpix B600 offers a barely much less flexible zoom range of 24-1440mm equiv (and makes do with out an EVF) whilst the Coolpix P1000 boasts an excellent longer telephoto putting (3000mm equiv) for those times whilst 2000mm simply isn't enough. you realize: The unique Coolpix P900 continues to be available in case you go searching, assuming you do not want raw capture or 4K video.
Nikon Coolpix P950 compared
| Nikon Coolpix P950 | Nikon Coolpix P1000 | Canon PowerShot SX70 HS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSRP (at launch) | $800 | $1000 | $550 |
| Sensor | 16MP 1/2.3" CMOS | 16MP 1/2.3" CMOS | 20MP 1/2.3" CMOS |
| Lens (35mm equivalent) | 24-2000mm F2.8-6.5 | 24-3000mm F2.8-8 | 21-1365mm F3.4 - 6.5 |
| Raw Mode | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AF system | Contrast-detect | Contrast-detect | Contrast-detect |
| LCD | 3.2", 921k-dot Vari-angle | 3.2", 921k-dot Vari-angle | 3.0", 920k-dot Vari-angle |
| Touchscreen | No | No | No |
| EVF | 2.35M-dot OLED | 2.35M-dot OLED | 2.35M-dot OLED |
| Burst rate at max resolution | 7 fps for 10 frames | 7 fps for 7 frames | 10 fps |
| Video | 4K/30, FHD/60 | 4K/30, FHD/60 | 4K/30, FHD/60 |
| Wi-Fi + Bluetooth | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Battery life (CIPA) | 290 shots | 250 shots | 325 shots |
| Dimensions | 140 x 110 x 150 mm | 146 x 119 x 181 mm | 127 x 91 x 117 mm |
| Weight | 1005 g | 1415 g | 576 g |
looking at other manufacturers' offerings, best the Canon PowerShot SX70 HS comes near matching the P950's skills, with its 21-1265mm equivalent zoom variety getting close to the P950 within the tele variety at the same time as supplying a much broader area of view at the wide give up. The SX70 HS can shoot barely quicker than the P950 (and has a similarly EVF).
compared to the unique P900, the P950's superior viewfinder is the most straight away obvious improve (alongside the automated EVF/lcd switch, which was lacking in the older version) however the addition of raw mode additionally makes the new digital camera extra useful than its predecessor. For enthusiasts of videography, the addition of 4K recording may have a similar enchantment. All of this helps justify the P950's higher fee at release (the new model comes at a premium of around $200) as compared to the older model.
What's it like to use?
The P950 is much less a camera with a lens, and greater a lens with a digital camera bolted on. As such, Nikon deserves credit for makintegratedg it impressively usable. The P950 would not function exactly like a Nikon DSLR, but the enjoy of built-inthe use of it alongside (say) a D3000-collection digicam is close sufficient that all people who is used to 1 have to quite fast be capable of familiarize yourself with the alternative.
The P950's fundamental control dial is placed at the top right of the built-innacleintegrated-plate, and is operated built-ingintegrated the right thumb. there's a small sub-dial at the rear, and among the 2 you have full manual exposure manipulate, ought to you want it. built-in I wish there was a right the front manipulate dial, but you do have a side control wheel, at the left of the lens barrel. by default this operates as an exposure reimbursement wheel built-in PASM modes however also can be customized for direct manage over aperture, shutter speed, ISO, or white stability.
ISO sensitivity can be set manually, from one hundred-6400, and there are 5 auto ISO levels (100-four hundred, 100-800, a hundred-1600, one hundred-3200, one hundred-6400). it is feasible to set a built-inmbuiltintegrated shutter velocity from quite a number 1 to 1/a hundred twenty five seconds, but you do not get the extra advanced 'slower > quicker' dynamic options that you do integrated better-stop Nikon cameras. commonly, the P950 prioritizes lower ISO sensitivity settintegratedgs builtintegrated feasible, leanbuilt-ing on its effective picture stabilization built-in to preserveintegrated built-ingsintegrated sharp. This works well except built-in lower light with shiftbuiltintegrated subjects, built-inintegrated you might built-ind which you want to take manual manipulate over shutter pace to avoid blur.
That huge zoom lens may be controlled with both built-in W/T collar-type manipulate around the shutter launch, or a easy rocker on the facet of the lens barrel. built-incipleintegrated zoom lever allows for slightly fintegrateder control, with velocity settintegratedgs built-ingintegrated on how plenty force you exert. With the lever shifted all the way, it takes about three seconds to rack through the P950's zoom range. A gentler pull built-in you to zoom more slowly, makintegratedg the transition from 24-2000mm built-in approximately 5 seconds. The W/T control on the aspect of the lens has most effective one pace (full-velocity) although you could customize it for low/medium/excessive-velocity zoom built-in video mode.
 Frambuilt-ing scenes at very lengthy focal lengths can be built-inhard, and to help, Nikon presents equipment: one , and one is an non-compulsory accessory. The helper is a 'snap' zoom button on the lens barrel, which scoots the lens out from extreme telephoto to approx. 350mm equiv that will help you re-body a shot built-in lose your problem at 2000mm. the second device is the (arguably over-engintegratedeered however very cool) accent 'dot sight', which clips onto the P950's hotshoe and offers an optical goal-fbuilt-inder so you don't need to depend upon the EVF. On a related word, builtintegrated have a tendency to shoot built integrated at one or other stop of the P950's zoom, you could store time on startup via presettintegratedg your desired default focal duration through the digicam's menu. builtintegrated overall performance, the P950 is a mixed bag. apart from the versatility of the zoom variety, effortlessly my favourite functions are the picture stabilization (more on built-inintegrated a second) and the digital view built-inder. built-integrated 2.three million dots, the OLED fbuilt-inder is built-in, contrasty, and a built-in away from the P900's EVF, which become at risk of 'raintegratedbow-tear built-ing'. it's a built integrated astoundbuiltintegrated improve, built-in it might be one of the prbuiltintegrated thbuiltintegrated that contributed to creating the P950 more costly than its predecessor. Image stabilization and autofocusThe P950's rated five.5EV of image stabilization (or Vibration discount, to apply Nikon's parlance) is unchanged from the P900, and nonetheless very amazing. the primary of Nikon's modern-day superzoom compacts that i can don't forget the use of turned into the P500 (2011) and the 'snaking' within the viewfinder at lengthy focal lengths, caused by the VR device trying to hold the image stable become actually nauseating. there is still a number of that with the P950, however at the entire, provided you are no longer seeking to handhold the digicam at 2000mm in a gale, the stabilization is extraordinary. it's absolutely feasible to get sharp photographs at shutter speeds as long as 1/50 sec at the acute give up of the telephoto range with a few experimentation, that's tremendous. the most important undertaking to brilliant-telephoto shooting is not stabilizing the lens, but focusing it. Nikon claims that AF speed is advanced over the P900, but there may be most effective a lot that its engineers can do with a assessment-detection machine when it comes to overcoming a very fundamental, optical trouble: contrast tends to drop whilst you are looking at remote topics at long focal lengths, and the extra you zoom in, the thinner the sector of attention will become, which will increase the amount of labor that the autofocus system has to do. You most effective want to zoom in on challenge on a sunny day with the P950 (exactly what I did within the pair of snap shots above) to see in the viewfinder that what became a crisp, contrasty scene at 24mm has come to be a bluish mush at 2000mm. it really is because of atmospheric distortion and is not the digital camera's fault, but it does mean that you may probable revel in some attention 'hunting' on this sort of scenario, every now and then. At wider focal lengths and at nearer subject distances, autofocus performance is certainly quite strong. it is clearly no longer as tremendous as a phase-detection device might be, however where i have had serious issues with correct recognition it's ordinarily been precisely in which i would anticipate: with low-assessment subjects in negative mild, or at the intense telephoto give up of the lens, with remote subjects on warm days.
Above ISO 400, noise becomes a factor, and increases in severity the higher up the ISO sensitivity scale you go. It's possible to achieve acceptable results above ISO 1600 if you don't intend to crop heavily or make large prints, but be aware that colors become desaturated at higher ISO settings as a result of in-camera noise-reduction (and there's not much you can do about this if you shoot Raw, either).
The fact is that the P950 makes use of a completely small, not-mainly-new 16MP sensor. if your important requirement is a camera so that it will capture pictures which might be suitable enough for sharing, laptop backgrounds or occasional prints for pals and own family, it's going to do the job. greater important photographers will probable (like me) grow to be taking pictures in raw mode greater frequently than no longer, in particular in conditions where the P950 tends to stumble, together with taking pictures in blended mild or in poor mild at excessive ISO sensitivity settings. the principle reason i've ended up relying on uncooked seize with the P950 is to repair white balance troubles. The P950's automated white balance machine is quite effective most of the time, but can get very wayward at long focal lengths, wherein comparison drops and there is much less 'context' inside the scene. regularly on this sort of state of affairs, i discovered myself searching at a warmish preview photo within the digital camera's viewfinder, only to discover that my captured photo become very cool (or vice-versa). capturing uncooked shall we me restore those occasional issues speedy, in addition to pull a touch greater element out of shadows than would be viable from a JPEG. The Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ1000 II, as an instance, can be located on sale for $800 for time to time, and although its zoom can't in shape the Nikon, it's no slouch at 25-400mm-equivalent. in case you're after some thing greater pocketable, the Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II is a bit extra costly, but it (just like the FZ1000 II) comes with a far larger sensor for substantially better picture satisfactory, specifically at excessive ISO settings. Of route, neither can match the P950's zoom variety, and that's the change-off. For $800 you may also have a look at interchangeable lens fashions, which might offer even better photo high-quality despite the fact that – once more – at the expense of zoom variety. let's be sincere even though: in case you've read this far, it is due to that lens, proper? in that case the matter is The simple reality is that pound for pound (and greenback for greenback), in the uncomplicatedting-edgestraight forward crop of wonderful-zoom cameras, the P950 represents the great value. |
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