NIKON "Bridge" P510 - A real gem!

[jimi43]

Following my recent purchase of this little baby.....

...so that I could use it in the workshop without mucking up my DSLR....I have been playing around and am now happy with it...it really is a gem!!

From portraits...

:mrgreen:

...to technical shots...

..to wildlife....

When I read the reviews on Amazon...one of the reviewers suggested that he took a great shot of the moon...totally handheld...which was a little bit beyond my belief...but I just thought I would try it out tonight...it being a beautiful clear night and full moon...and I was ASTOUNDED!!!...

Some features....

HD Video
Smile detection for groups shots (I kid you not!)
Blink detection warning (if someone blinks!)
GPS...I tried it...it works!!
Great 42x Optical zoom
16.1Mp sensor

It's light...small...very very pretty in red....and fits in my larger pockets for taking out for those grab shots.

It's not that cheap but if you want to get someone special something very special for Christmas...this is the baby...

It's nothing short of fantastic!

Cheers

Jimi

 

[DrPhill]

That looks really good.

I keep toying with getting a better camera, but I need a reasonable quality of video.
I have little idea of what the numbers mean even though I have written some video editing.

Have you taken any video yet? What is it like?

Phill

 

[bugbear]

It's light...small...very very pretty in red....and fits in my larger pockets for taking out for those grab shots.

It's not that cheap but if you want to get someone special something very special for Christmas...this is the baby...

It's nothing short of fantastic!

Bet you end up using your "better" camera a lot (LOT) less.

BugBear

 

[jimi43]

That looks really good.

I keep toying with getting a better camera, but I need a reasonable quality of video.
I have little idea of what the numbers mean even though I have written some video editing.

Have you taken any video yet? What is it like?

Phill

I took one video...of ALFIE (of course!)....

CLICK

Not exactly Cannes Film Festival material but you get a rough idea of the quality and stabilization.

I would get a dedicated HD video camera really if your prime reason is video. The Nikon is ok but it's not what it's really for and reviews slam it on this aspect.

I only want it for the odd grab video and techie stuff so it's ok for that.

You are dead right there BB! I have used it once but it still has the edge and it's only a D80.

I would upgrade it but it was a present from my dear Mum ages ago and it still takes great pictures. The difference in use of the DSLR and the bridge camera is amazing...totally different style to get used to and I do prefer to be a bit more in control....

But for the moments where setup is not an option...the P510 wins hands down on candid shots!

Cheers

Jim

 

[Eric The Viking]

Glad you're pleased, but I'm still saving for a 5DII...



E.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Eric

Not heard of that model of Nikon...
:wink:

Pete

Saving for a D800

 

[mickthetree]

Thanks for posting that Jimi. I'm in the market for a new camera at work and this fits the bill perfectly!

 

[paul-c]

hi jimi
great looking pics
i always enjoy seeing your posts where alfie is helping.
i notice in one of your pics you have a dro. from gt precision - how do you find it?
are you pleased with it?
we have just purchased, from gt precision, but not yet fitted a dro for my dads harrison m300.
it wont be fitted for a while due to his new very energetic 12 week old retriever puppy, charlie.
thanks for sharing
paul-c

 

[jimi43]

hi jimi
great looking pics
i always enjoy seeing your posts where alfie is helping.
i notice in one of your pics you have a dro. from gt precision - how do you find it?
are you pleased with it?
we have just purchased, from gt precision, but not yet fitted a dro for my dads harrison m300.
it wont be fitted for a while due to his new very energetic 12 week old retriever puppy, charlie.
thanks for sharing
paul-c

Yes...dogs and milling machines don't really mix do they..

I was milling some brass the other day and Annie let ALFIE in the workshop..."just to say hello"! Which to ALFIE means let's leap up on Dad's shoulder!

Needless to say I gently pointed out the error of her ways! :mrgreen:

Darren at GT Precision is a diamond guy! You will not be disappointed with the Goodwin setup. But beware...the two axis I did took 6 hours of pretty hard thinking and patience before I had finished it:

I assume you have rotary encoders to feed the display?

Mine were linear glass ones and the setup for the head is really fiddly as you have to get the trolley (reader) to run at a certain distance from the track, perpendicular and parallel to within stupid tolerances and have the track level and flush to the mount all at the same time!

I would recommend that you read the instructions and then read similar installations on the Net.

You won't be disappointed Mick...just understand that this is not a DSLR so it won't take extra lenses (not that it needs to)....you can't fit filters and it isn't an optical viewfinder but you use this thing differently.

It won't replace the functions of a DSLR but it does do some amazing things which are more than just gimmicks. It is definitely a keeper for me!

Oh...and buy a spare battery or two and a large memory card of a high quality SDHC 45MB/s or similar as the internal memory takes only nine shots at HD!

Jim

 

[mickthetree]

Hi Jimi

Many thanks for that. Would you mind awfully taking a shot in macro mode, say of a pound coin if you get chance?

Cheers

 

[jimi43]

Hi Jimi

Many thanks for that. Would you mind awfully taking a shot in macro mode, say of a pound coin if you get chance?

Cheers

Hi Mick

I didn't have a pound coin....will this do...

Or this...

And before you ask...that's orange squash in that there glass! :mrgreen:

Both images are clickable and that is hand-held....not because I couldn't be bothered to get the tripod out but because I wanted to show how effective image stabilization in natural light is...no flash...indoor at night. A tripod would give a sharper image.

Cheers mate

Jimi

 

[DrPhill]

Good video quality - thanks for posting.

 

[dickm]

Nice video, but it does make Alfie look like an ordinary dog - somehow I would have expected him to be wearing a deerstalker and carrying a magnifying glass when looking for something
But super results from the camera. Does make you wonder how much advantage there is really to lugging around a tonne and a half of "proper" DSLR, faffing around changing lenses etc., etc.

 

[mickthetree]

Wow! Thanks so much Jimi. My dad has some really nice Nikon DSLR gear which I've used in the past, but my work wont stretch to that.

I'll look one of these up tomorrow. Many thanks!

 

[Benchwayze]

Jimi,

How long (time-wise) will this camera shoot video. My old Nikon 5400 will take only three minutes of 'Quicktime' files. Not really long enough for my YouTube videos. (But it's still going strong, and is great for the kind of work you describe.)

Cheers m'man

 

[jimi43]

Jimi,

How long (time-wise) will this camera shoot video. My old Nikon 5400 will take only three minutes of 'Quicktime' files. Not really long enough for my YouTube videos. (But it's still going strong, and is great for the kind of work you describe.)

Cheers m'man

Hi John

The video rate for HD is 18.8Mbs so apparently (and I haven't worked it out)...the handbooks says 25 minutes of HD video on a 4GB card. Since you can now by much larger cards..(mine was 16GB)...you can therefore store multiples of that up to over 6 hours on a 64GB card. Just get high speed cards though...as the transfer rate will be faster.

I did some tests today....encouraged by the interest in this thread.

Zoom today. This is truly amazing! Even with the moon test...I was stunned by these latest tests.

On this beautiful morning...ALFIE and I went out in the sun to the golf course behind my house....

ALFIE spotted two golfers playing on the green...

....but he's got pretty good eyesight!

You can just see them between the trees in the middle....

But ALFIE isn't the only one with great vision...the Nikon is pretty good too!!!

With digital zoom I could read the bag!

And that's into the sun! :shock: :shock:

Just about this time...a little white streak slowly moved across the sky...and inbound plane to London.

ALFIE said it was probably from Dubai....

I think he could be right! :mrgreen:

The last word from ALFIE...."OH LOOK!!!! SQUIRREL!!!"

Yes ALFIE...even Mr Nikon was fooled by that one! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[mickthetree]

WOW! Really quite impressive results! Are you using it on manual mode? Does it offer a truly manual mode?

Superb!

 

[jimi43]

WOW! Really quite impressive results! Are you using it on manual mode? Does it offer a truly manual mode?

Superb!

All shot on Automatic....although I have switched to spot metering and then I set the main subject at centre and hold the shutter partly down and then frame the shot and fire. It also has aperture priority, shutter priority, manual (true) and programme modes.

I just got used to this technique with the F3 and stuck with it. It seems to work best. The various auto modes are mind boggling. I'm sure I will get used to them!

The ALFIE portrait was with fill flash into direct sun...it works well.

I use the other functions but I am just getting my mind around them. There is an excellent book by Alexander White which tells you all you need to know...it's worth getting so that you can get the best out of the abilities of this camera.

Cheers

Jim

 

[Benchwayze]

Thanks Jimi.

This might be what I need for You-Tube. It would save me buying a dedicated camcorder. The 'icing' would be an 'audio input', but maybe that's a bit too much to expect.


Thanks again Jimi. Obliged.

 

[jimi43]

Thanks Jimi.

This might be what I need for You-Tube. It would save me buying a dedicated camcorder. The 'icing' would be an 'audio input', but maybe that's a bit too much to expect.


Thanks again Jimi. Obliged.

In Alexander White's book it says: "When the camera is hooked up to a TV using the audio/video cable it can not only play back but also record when in record mode"

So I guess it does!

But you would have to check Google or Nikon direct to see if it does. There is a forum called the NIKONTONIANS or something equally as um....well there you go....and they may know there.

Cheers mate

Jim