I have a Nikon P900 and I am somehow disappointed by the zoom level. It is obviously better than my other camera (Panasonic FZ-50, comparison done by making photos of the moon), but still... (please keep reading)
Before I actually bought the P900, I "studied" the information on the net a lot (I was reluctant to part with the money), including the videos of the zoom capabilities of the camera.
One example very clear in my mind is the video going on like this:
- there is the sea / ocean, and on the right some forest-y hill, extending at least 1 km ahead;
- the camera starts zooming in, and after a good amount of zooming, it becomes obvious that on the top of the hill at the far end there are the ruins of some castle;
- after even more zooming, the yard of the former castle becomes visible, and the people inside;
- at the maximum zoom (in the video), one can almost recognize the people visiting the ruins, if those people are already acquaintances;
That is something that I would like to have but...
What I did recently was to take a photo of a person, located about 200 meters away. I expected to be able to zoom strictly on the face easily (with that video in mind), but... instead I had not only the face, but also the surrounding area - I estimate a radius of at least 2 meters, maybe 3 or 4.
So my dilemma is... is the zoom of my camera OK, or is the camera missing some optical elements? On the outside, it really looks like a P900, and the zoom is definitely better than FZ-50 (as I already said).
However, compared to the video I described (and several other videos advertising the zooming capabilities of P900), my camera seems like a bad joke.
Which is the truth? That my camera is "funny"? Or that the videos on the net are not made with P900?
My only other guess would be that the zoom level is better when using the video recording then when using the photo camera, but it sounds like against the laws of physics, to me.
Note: I am mostly a point-and-shoot kind of photographer, using Auto or Program. I am trying to learn more, but I am not advancing fast. I am aware that a compact camera is not enough for many things which are possible with a DSLR.