Nikon Coolpix P500 - My New Telephoto Digital Camera

Nikon Coolpix P500 My New Telephoto Digital Camera

On my first day of using the Nikon Coolpix P500, I shot some small birds behind my house. They were tree sparrows. Because the birds looked small at a distance of 6 meters from me, I had to use the optical zoom to enlarge them. These tree sparrow photograph was taken in the afternoon at around 2 p.m. using the telephoto lens capability that the camera has. I had to lean on the pillar of my house to stabilize my hands. The weather was hot at that time and they were swimming or drinking water that is flowing over the hatch of the concrete water container at the right corner of the front yard. Tree sparrow is a common small bird species that we can easily find in the cities and towns of Indonesia. It eats food and grains leftovers that human throw around their houses. It can easily be recognized through their brown cap that covers its head and a black spot near both sides of its ears.

Super zoom camera

I bought my new camera last month. It is a telephoto digital camera Nikon Coolpix P500. The reason behind my purchase of this camera was that it has got optical zoom of up to 36 times. Perhaps it is one of the few telephoto bridge cameras in the world at the present moment that offers such a very high optical zoom capability. I need that feature for shooting birds such as the birds of paradise, eagles, and other distant subjects that I usually use for my articles. I ordered the camera from an online electronic shop website - camera.co.id that is based in Jakarta. It arrived in my town Manokwari in less than one week. Immediately after receiving it, I charged its Li-ion battery EN-EL5 by connecting the AC Adapter to the camera and plugging it into an electrical outlet. It took around five hours to charge its fully empty battery.

Adjust the Exposure for Low Light Shooting

In addition to tree sparrows, I also shot some nice pictures of the magnificent birds of paradise last week when I went to Arfak mountains with three Dutch tourists. It was really difficult to shoot the bird because of the insufficient light. I had to lower the exposure to -2.0 to enable the shutter of the camera to act faster.

The Nikon Coolpix P500 with its Nikkor lens is not my first camera. Before that, I used Sony Cybershot DSC W310 and Panasonic DMC-FT3. They were nice cameras but they are broken now. Particularly for the Panasonic DMC-FT3, the manufacturer needs to improve the battery door so that it will be more watertight. I used the camera only once while snorkeling over the coral reef near the foot of Arfak mountains and it broke shortly after that. I am very disappointed with the Panasonic DMC-FT3. However, I cannot demand replacement from the manufacturer because I live in Manokwari - very far away from the distributor or manufacturer of the camera. I could not use them to take pictures of birds that looked very small if we watch them without binoculars or scopes. The purchase of this Nikon Coolpix P500 helps me a lot in achieving my goal for shooting birds.

I really need a tripod for shooting distant subjects

As a matter of fact, I also need a tripod when making outdoor pictures. A tripod can stabilize a camera and minimize vibrations or slight movements of hands or fingers when a photographer depress the shutter button. The quality of a photograph depends on the light, the focus and the stability of a camera. Today, the best tripod is made of carbon fiber. It is light and strong. It is suitable for outdoor photo shooting because a photographer will be able to carry it where ever he wants to go while hunting for outdoor subjects that he or she wants to take.

The 2 second self timer

Another method that I also use to make sharp picture is by activating the 2 seconds self timer. My digital camera tends to shake when I press the shutter button. When I remove my finger from the button the camera still shakes. Without the 2 seconds self-timer, the picture that I make may look blurred. If the 2 seconds self-timer is activated, the camera will act when the shocks or the vibration has gone or reduced to minimum.

Latest Update

Nikon as the world's leading camera manufacturer has just announced another superzoom camera, the Nikon Coolpix P510. This is world's highest optical zoom photo camera in the bridge category with a magnification of up to 42x (equivalent to 28 mm - 1,000 mm). The camera is equipped with 16.1 MP backlit CMOS sensor and Vibration Reduction capability. It will be available on the shelves of camera stores in late March 2012. by Charles Roring