I Am Feeling Unfaithful - but I can live with it.

[The Fisher King]

The thing that worries me the most is falling way short lens wise,even if I could afford a long lens (1K+++) I doubt I would spend the money.

What kind of performance could I expect from the basic 18 - 55mm lens on normal bird type photo's in your backyard.

[arthurking83]

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What kind of performance could I expect from the basic 18 - 55mm lens on normal bird type photo's in your backyard.

on a scale of 1-10 .. I'd estimate 0.1 .. if 'ya lucky .. on an ideal day, with compliant birds, that aren't afraid to eat out of your hand!

As already indicated, a camera like a P&S(which what those all in one megazooms cameras really are) .. you're never going to get exceptional detail out of the images, but you will get images.
How fussy you are in terms of what you end up photographing is the most important element in the whole process of camera choice.

You haven't yet indicated what your budget is, but going on the current pricing of a P1000, they're approx $1K.

If you can hold off for a short while yet, I can offer some feedback on the gear we were discussing back when .. re the D3xxx/5xxx + Nikon 70-300 AF-P lens.
I'm still waiting for mine to arrive, supposedly coming today(Mon 18th) .. taking far longer than I was expecting.
if it comes this week, I'll try to find some time at the end of the week, to give it a whirl and see how it performs.

If this link works for you, check it out for a visualisation of what we're all referring too in terms of output quality:

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-coolpix-p1000/6
The link is to the DPR review of the P1000 where they have this image quality widget.
it should take you to a direct comparison between a P1000 and D5300.
At the bottom, you see 4 sample images. one is the P1000 set to jpg.
Change this to RAW format.
Then on any of the other sample image boxes, use the drop down to choose the D5300 .. or D3300 or whatever(they all use the same sensor).
The use the dropdown area where it says ISO, and change the P1000 to ISO1600, and note the loss of IQ as the ISO value is increased, but by the same comparative change to ISO, the IQ of the D5xxx camera, the IQ barely changes at ISO1600.
To achieve the same drop in IQ of the D5300, you need to set it's ISO value to about ISO25600!
That's about 16x the increase in sensitivity. This allows faster shutter speeds.

IN saying that tho, if you go back to page 5 of the P1000 review, they show some samples of shots captured, a giraffe, heron, etc. They don't look too bad, but they were all obviously shot at some type of sanctuary where the shooting process is made easier.
Out in the wild, natural environment .. not so easy, and dependent on subject matter chosen.

Have a peek in at the bird forum, and see some sample images of birds captured, and note(if available) the ISO setting used for the shots. Many are shot at ISO3200+ levels. Birds move fast, shutter needs to be relatively high(ie. 1/500 .. 1/1000s or so).
Tripods not really required, unless lenses are heavy(>1kg, usually more like 1.5kg or more).
This is where the P1000 will become a liability.
For shooting reptiles in full sun, 'baking their lives away' on rocks .. the above problem maybe not so much of an issue. But for small jittery creatures that prefer low light level environments .. definitely will be.

summary:
Will a P1000 work for 'ya? Almost certainly .... Will it work well? Depends!

[The Fisher King]

A champion reply from a champion bloke,no real surprise,thanks King.

I "get" what you are saying overall but those acronyms will last a life time sorry

There is one thing I know about cameras that you don't,and that is the P1000 is $1,600 not $1,000 I can imagine what you are thinking now

Sorry for taking the - - - - from all those important camera details but that kind of cements my point of just taking a photo.

I have spent and still spend a lot of time outside in and near the bush because that is where I live/d and me and birds are well acquainted.I never even thought of taking pictures of birds on the wing,but yes the low/er light will be an issue.

As they say there is plenty of fish in the sea,there is also plenty of birds in the trees in the sun or in more than likely enough light for me and my hopefully P900/1000 - P900 cost nearly 1/3rd being $600.00

Please continue to give me advice which I appreciate.

Looking forward to any lens views.

Thanks again

[arthurking83]

....

There is one thing I know about cameras that you don't,and that is the P1000 is $1,600 not $1,000 I can imagine what you are thinking now

....

OK! the choice is then a LOT easier.

$1600 buys you a lot of DSLR/mirrorless camera gear to get you 'what you think it is you want' ...
Technically, that doesn't mean it'll buy you lots of gear by mass/volume/amount ..

'lots', as in some very capable gear.

Apparently my 70-300 came today, but I was at work.
So I have to pick it up from the local P.O when I can .. tomorrow(99.9% likely), but I'm busy again tomorrow till later in the arvo.

[The Fisher King]

Thanks King

I really appreciate your persistence and look forward to your longer lens critique.

I was on ebay and saw a 150 - 600mm lens (not Nikon) and it was gorgeous,the final price at auction was $1,300,I think that would quench my fire,yes it was new.

The seller told me that the higher the Cmos sensor the better the lens will work,I made sure I wrote that down for tomorrow.

As you can see from my emails I am still undecided which is good still getting information to lessen and poor purchase.

But as I also sadly said I am not a buyer today but "putting" some plans in place for tomorrow,but as you would know things can change very very quickly on the upside.

Thanks again

[arthurking83]

.....

The seller told me that the higher the Cmos sensor the better the lens will work,I made sure I wrote that down for tomorrow.

....

They're lying! typical seller hype!
Be they average joe types looking to just sell their gear, or paid staff at a shop hoping the sale will boost their bonus for the week.

ps. I could never make a living selling stuff.. especially stuff I'm passionate about(passionate as in hobby level passionate! .. I'm not actually passionate about gear per se .. just that it's my hobby/interest and I'm ... interested!

anyhow, lens finally in my hands.

First impression is wow! .. not overly small, but light as a feather.
It feels flimsily manufactured in terms of material, but made quite well(for what it is). Zoom action is rough compared to some lenses(eg. Sigma 150-600 feels silky in both a tactile sense and audible way too).
Not badly tho ... just feels like it's made of air.
I have the 18-105 and 18-140 both VR lenses too, and they're both heavier.
rear end lens cap is disgraceful, and Nikon should be sued into submission for the cheek of using such garbage! it's a push on type cap, which is pretty much guaranteed to get lost somewhere eventually.
I have many rear caps, fist thing I did was to chuck the old one in the draw, and use a proper cap. You can get these for $1 or so off cheapo retail sites.
Other disappointment(in Nikon) no lens hood. Really! .. they cost like $1(I've bought knockoffs, better quality than Nikon genuine hoods for a dollar on ebay!) .. they can't supply a cheapo lens hood?

First impression so far on it's workings tho: I've shot about 20 or so images with the D5500. Focus is fast. Not lightning, just fast. Does baulk sometimes. Dunno why, just does.
But after a few focuses(where you just focus here or there, or whatever) .. it 'recovers'. and focuses fine again.
I think it has to do with turning camera off/on .. maybe.
it's certainly faster to focus than either of the 18-1xx lenses I have to compare. Very quite focusing too.

One thing I really liked. It balances really nice on the D5500. Not so good on a heavier body tho.
Doesn't work at all on the D300(heavier) but fitted for feeling how it feels. D800 is another level.. 2x heavier than D5500, and it just plain feels strange. Big long lens hanging from front, but feels like zero weight.

But the D5500(and D3xxx bodies) seem perfectly suited to this lens type.

IQ is very good, as expected and noted by Thom Hogan.
Just some random shots in the back yard, no birds(they hate me!) so shots of static stuff. IQ seems to be very good.
Can be made good, but operator dependent too.
But in saying that, being such a light lens, operator dependent proficiency will be easily improved with usage. Lens weight helps here, and lower usually = better usability.

One thing I'm not so sure about. The way VR works.
I have 3 Nikon VR lenses now, and a few more from Sigma/Tamron.
They all work roughly the same way. When set to on, but not yet engaged, you can see the vibrations through the optical viewfinder through the lens. One the VR kicks in proper, you then see it stabilize the VF.
The image through the VF then has a 'floaty' feeling. Instead of the harsh vibrations you saw pre VR, it moves gently in a floaty kind of manner.
Not this lens tho.
When VR kicks in, it vibrates more! .. for a few secs(maybe two tops) .. and it feels weird(er).
So with VR not yet active, you may have very slight to non vibratory viewfinder, but then VR kicks in(you hear it click) and VF starts jittering about! Then it does the usual floaty looking thing.

I have at least one image at 300mm and 1/5s which came out sharp enough. Another is of a rendering worthy of calling sharp too.
The shots were from a quick burst of 4 shot succession. What came out strange with this was that the fist one was far too blurry to call a photo, second one came out as explained above .. a keeper, then third one blurry again and last one sharp(enough).
300mm and 1/5s it's not unreasonable to say luck had nothing to do with it .. VR did it's thing, so it works OK.
It's just weird the way it kicks in.
Back to 1/5s shots again and on tripod, and keeper rate was better, I don't have a remote and couldn't be bothered to get the phone app going(it's not user friendly), but I'd say I got slightly better sharpness with the cheapo camera plate on a flimsy tripod.

Outside again, shot some flowers blowing wildly in the wind, keeper rate was high using high ISO and faster shutter speed.
This is where we commented previously that a small sensor camera will become a liability of sorts. They're really only good up to a limited sensitivity level. Higher sensitivity(which helps to keep shutter speed higher) and the image quality drops significantly.
This is a major factor when trying to captured small creatures, and using cropping to make up for the shortfall!

So that AF-P 70-300 VR lens is certainly good value for money. Just make sure it's the VR version, not the non VR one!
Mine cost about $240 or so off ebay. local sourced too.

if you have this lens in mind, be very careful about what camera body you choose! It's very important, as this lens only works with limited camera bodies .. so ask or research it's caveats.

I'll post some pics soon too.

[The Fisher King]

Thanks King
I am now seeing the value of a short camera course or preferably someone to hold my hand even helping me to purchase the right camera.

If I had the money to spend keeping my peace of mind intact an appropriate DSLR Nikon/Cannon with a 150 - 600mm lens seems right (saying that still in some ignorance)

I really like the idea of just having one lens to start which should/could change in time,I don't want to photo people just wild life,so I think the 600mm could/should suffice.

I have just purchased/stolen plenty of quality .925 silver jewelry with plenty more coming costing me nearly zero after I sell some more stuff,good stuff is easy to sell.

My camera dream is one step closer than it was yesterday.

Thanks again King