Bird Photography with the Nikon P1000
I got a used Nikon P1000 a few months ago before I visited Lodi to see the Sandhill Cranes. That visit became my inspiration to continue shooting birds and eventually start this project. Having been a professional photographer for many years, I am by default a Canon DSLR person, but I decided to try out this bridge camera because one of my nature friends has it and loves it. I didn’t know that anything like this existed, and have been blown away by the insane super zoom (up to 3000mm).
It was hard to take the jump and wrap my mind around not having a full-frame DSLR for my nature photos, but I just don’t have the right lenses for birding with my Canon, and I can’t afford the 200-800mm right now (dream lens)!
The Nikon P1000 is discontinued, but you can still buy it new online and used (I got mine on FB Marketplace for $700). I decided to get the P1000 vs the P1100 because it is basically the same camera with the same functionality, the P1100 was changed to meet EU codes. The P1100 has a USB-C port, improved wifi, and a few new scene modes (which I wouldn’t need). I really wanted the P1000 for shooting RAW and for the crazy zoom!
There are definitely some challenges, but overall, I think the Nikon P1000 is pretty good, and takes decent photos, especially for birding!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I understand, there is no comparable camera in the market from any other brand that comes close to the zoom on the Nikon P1000.
| Pros of the Nikon P1000 | Cons of the Nikon P1000 |
| Super zoom 125x Optical Zoom 3000mm! | Big and heavy |
| Bird Mode – great for quick shooting | Bird Mode – only shoots JPG, no RAW |
| Overall nice photo quality | Optical zoom is hard to adjust to |
| RAW in Manual or Shutter Priority | No AF-C, can’t track subjects. Don’t believe what Google says, there’s only AF-S and AF-F. I factory reset my camera and followed the directions to enable AF-C, AF-C does not exist on this camera. |
| Very versatile, great beginner camera | Not good in low light, even with M settings |
| The control dials for manual shooting are not located in convenient and ergonomic places. | |
| Extremely sensitive vibration, I find myself holding my breath most of the time! | |
| No graphical histogram in shooting mode, only a vertical bar | |
| The camera will literally freeze or shut down after a continuous burst of shooting. You have to wait until the images finish processing before the camera will be ready to shoot more photos. When this happens, I have to take the battery completely out for a few seconds, and every time, I hope the camera still works when I put the battery back in! (Yes I’ve updated the firmware to the most recent version, it still freezes.) |
I generally shoot manual at all times, however I do enjoy the bird mode on this camera, but it does not shoot in RAW, only JPG (which I didn’t find out until downloading photos after a day of shooting). I understand that most of my qualms are because I am used to shooting with a professional camera…
Here are my default setting adjustments, maybe they will help you too!
- Image Quality – RAW
- Shooting Mode – Continuous H
- ISO Sensitivity – Fixed Range Auto 100-400
- AF Area Mode – Manual (spot)
- Autofocus Mode – AF-F
- Video: Movie Options – 2160 / 30
- Video: Zoom Microphone – OFF
- Video: Frame Rate – 30
- Settings: Vibration Reduction – OFF
- Settings: Control Ring Options – Exposure Compensation
Here is a photo of a northern harrier that I shot at full 3000mm zoom through a chainlink fence, no crop!
Here is the original wide view before I zoomed in:
I will post more about this camera as I use and explore it. Overall, I’m glad I got it, and it’s been great for my birding adventures!