Birding etc with the Nikon P950

[@honky014]

I'm no expert on dragonflies and damselflies. Checking the footage again at 06:23 and on the very last clip, I can see that the damselflies have a "U" shape at the base of the wings making them Azure Damselflies and not the Common Blue as I showed them. Apparently the Azure Damselfly is pretty common too!

[@hakanavucan_realestateagent]

I enjoyed watching it, thank you for your effort. The shots, explanations and music are really impressive. Thank you.

[@honky014]

Thanks for the comment - much appreciated.

[@geochannel85]

I'm here after searching about P950. I really like this video and keep me watch it till the end.

[@honky014]

Many thanks! 👍

[@mkvh5511]

Wow! Really great video! Just subscribed to your wonderful chanel😊

[@richardtreherne4306]

Very well done, great photos, videos, and really does show just how good the P950 is in good light. Also great info on the wildlife in your content.

[@honky014]

Thanks Richard - much appreciated!

[@MJSPhotographyUK]

Nice video, thanks for sharing.

[@honky014]

Thanks Martin - I've just enjoyed watching some black and white pictures on your channel. Black and white seemed quite appropriate given that it was an area of Yorkshire I visited many decades ago.

[@gailskitchen]

Thank you for the great video. I love the Damselflies! I just got the 950P and I have a lot to learn, especially having a difficult time with the auto-focus. Any tips would be greatly appreciated, or do you have another video for the focus? Thank you!

[@honky014]

Thanks! I often have trouble with the auto-focus preferring to focus on a blade of grass nearer the camera rather then the bird I'm looking at. Motion blur also often ruins a shot of a bird - the small sensor means that fast shutter speeds are not really on. Where insects are concerned I virtually always use manual focus - there is usually too much vegetation to confuse the auto-focus. I hope to learn more and share it in future videos.

[@davehodgkiss]

yet another well made video congratulations Peter regards Dave Great camera by the way i use micro 4/3 panasonic GH6A and G9m2 well done regards Dave👍❤

[@honky014]

Thanks Dave. I might go down the micro 4/3rds route one day. I just need to be sure that it won't end up gathering dust like some other hobbies I no longer have time for.

[@augusto_alves]

Nice footage!

[@honky014]

Thanks Augusto 😄

[@digger360]

very good explanation of the camera👍

[@honky014]

Cheers!

[@grosbeak08]

Wow, I've not done much with video over the years; just acquired a P950 a month or so ago. Man, have I got some learning to do: your vids are phenomonal!

[@honky014]

Many thanks. I tend to leave everything to the camera except for manual focus and adjusting the focus highlighting. I use video rather than stills as I'm not usually satisfied with stills of birds though it works out OK for insects. I don't even try to capture stills of birds in flight - not a strong point of this camera. I hope you enjoy using the camera as much as I do.

[@R-Photos]

Nice video

[@honky014]

Thanks

[@jameshchetwyndjr9739]

Think p1000 and 950 both goat cameras. Greatest of all time. Zoom 24-3,000.

[@jameschetwynd]

Have p510. Not as great but useable 42x 24-1000 optical

[@bldrtom]

Very nice video. May I offer a constructive comment: I found the music often made it difficult for me to clearly hear your comments. Just my opinion.

[@honky014]

Thanks! The comment about the voice-over is useful - it's something I'm aware of but clearly still needs more work on.

[@jonz_wildlife]

Would a tripod be necessary for this camera when shooting at 500-1000mm? Or would handheld be ok?

[@honky014]

For video at long focal lengths a tripod is very useful. Having said that I often get by all the way up to 2000mm if I have something to stabilise the camera such as the window of a bird hide or even a fence post.

[@jonz_wildlife]

@@honky014 thank you so much! God bless!

[@jonz_wildlife]

Would stills for long focal lengths be ok handheld?

[@honky014]

This is probably the wrong camera for stills at long focal lengths handheld. To minimize action blur you need a fast shutter speed which in turn requires a high ISO. Pictures from this camera with a high ISO are extremely grainy - often good enough for an ID but not something you'd want to keep or to share.

[@railway-share3820]

Nice video Peter. I have the P501 and it is very good for wild flowers. But I switched to SLR set up for wild geese and other wildfowl in flight. What is the P950 like for in-flight pictures?

[@honky014]

Thanks! I think this camera should manage some fairly decent video of large birds in flight. For detailed static photos this wouldn't be of much use though and I rarely even try.

[@cromdaleblvd4677]

What tripod would you recommend for this camera?

[@honky014]

I currently use a Celestron Regal tripod with the head from a Neewer GM76 monopod. However this combination doesn't come with my recommendation. The legs on the Celestron always seem to be working loose and when I'm at full zoom and lock the head the camera always tilts up by a tiny fraction making the fine adjustment needed to frame the subject difficult to achieve. Thanks for the question though - you've just reminded me to check the legs before I go out tomorrow!

[@liamfinch4129]

Enjoyed the video but the background music is a dreadful distraction - and unnecessary, in my opinion. Had to watch with the sound muted - which meant that I missed out on your very interesting commentary!

[@honky014]

Thanks for the feedback. I like some background music but will try to make it less obtrusive in the next video.

[@garyverstick1620]

Thanx - enjoyable and well done (music excepting 😁). Looking forward to future work.