Nikon P950 Settings

This morning was another in the current series of high pressure-induced deep gloom. Once again I was at Cogden first thing, initially the beach, then the hedges. A brisk SE breeze had sprung up overnight, and a few birds were moving into it offshore. Here are some naff pics to illustrate that fact...

Dark-bellied Brent Goose. Typical going-away shot due to seeing too late.

Passing Gannets are always a pleasure.

Quite a few auks flew E, including several small flocks. None were close enough to to safely ID with bins, but the camera nailed this distant Razorbill.

All the lovely Yellow-browed (and Pallas's) Warbler habitat that I checked was currently untenanted. Still, 4 Chiffs by the coast path suggested a small arrival had perhaps occurred, and a bit further inland were 2 Goldcrests in a hedge...

Goldcrest

Those are comfortably the best Goldcrest photos I've taken, and prompted a fellow birder on Bluesky to ask what settings I use on my Nikon P950. So I thought I would devote the rest of this post to answering that question. Hopefully it might be useful to others who employ this excellent superzoom for birdy pics.

Those Goldcrest shots were taken at 500mm (35mm equivalent) zoom, ISO 640, f5.6, 1/125 sec. I didn't actually enter any of those settings except the zoom. The camera did it all for me.

The following photo was taken a couple of days ago, at roughly the same time on a similarly dull morning. The bird was in deep shade, and I used 1200mm (35mm equivalent) zoom, ISO 2200, f6.3, 1/125 sec. Again I set the zoom only - the camera did the rest - but also dialled in -1.0 exposure compensation...

Not a great photo, but at least it's a record shot of the Whitford Rosy Starling. Taken before work, and I didn't have time to wait around for a better opportunity.

I have my P950 configured in such a way that I do not have to tweak anything except zoom and - if required - exposure compensation. Everything else is automatically set by the camera. It works a treat. The only exception to this rule is flight shots, for which I use a different setting altogether. But I won't be covering that in this post. And anyway, I am not that great at flight shots.

If you own a Nikon P950 and would like to try my settings, please read on...

For bird photos I don't think I ever use any camera buttons/wheels/dials apart from these and the zoom control.

Initial set-up

Here is how I set up the camera for bird photography. Under some sub-headings there may be a few words to explain my rationale.

First, turn the Mode dial to 'A' (Aperture Priority) then press the 'menu' button. Set each menu option as follows...

Image quality: FINE

Image size: 16m (4608x3456)

Picture control: SD (Standard)

Custom Picture Control: blank - probably a default setting.

White Balance: Auto1 (Auto (normal))

Metering: Spot

Continuous: H (Continuous H)

This is a burst setting, and gives a maximum of ten rapid-fire exposures, depending on how long you press the shutter release. In my view, a vital setting. For a rapidly moving bird like the Goldcrest above, it gives you multiple chances to capture a good pose. And ideally the bird might be momentarily still as well, meaning a sharp image hopefully. Even with a stationary bird you will notice that some shots in the sequence will be sharper than others, especially if the shutter speed is a bit slow.

The downside of this setting is the recovery period after a burst, while the camera processes and stores each shot. Minimal if the burst was only two or three shots, but a few seconds if it was ten. You simply have to wait. Personally I reckon it is worth the incovenience.

ISO sensitivity: A3200 (100-3200)

The camera automatically selects the ISO depending on the light available. In practice that might be anywhere between 100 and 3200. The lower the number, the less noisy (grainy) the photo.

Exposure bracketing: OFF

AF area mode: Manual (spot)

The best setting to enable you to thread through branches etc and focus on the bird. For a really close bird, can enable you to focus on the eye. For a very distant bird on a twig sticking out of a hedge top, say, and too small for the camera to detect and focus on, you can focus on the hedge instead. Half-press the shutter to lock focus, adjust composition as required, shoot.

Autofocus mode: AF-F (Full-time AF)

Flash exp. compensation: -0.3 (this might well be a default setting - I never use flash)

Noise reduction filter: NR- (Low - probably another default setting)

Long exposure NR: NR (Auto - another default setting I suspect)

Active D-lighting: OFF

[Multiple exposure: OFF (automatically set by the camera, and apparently not available in 'A' mode)]

Save user settings: don't touch this for a moment, rather skip down until you come to...

Zoom memory: ON

Zoom memory enables you to preset a selection of zoom settings. Toggle right, and you will be presented with a list. I have ticked 24mm, 50mm, 105mm (the maximum available in macro mode, which I use for moths), 300mm, 500mm, 800mm, 1200mm, 1600mm and 2000mm. To understand how this works in practice, see below...

Startup zoom position: 50

Automatically sets the zoom at 50mm (i.e. what would be equivalent to 50mm on a 35mm camera) when the camera is switched on. With zoom memory ON (see above), pressing the zoom lever (by the shutter release button) will instantly shift the lens to the next selected zoom position (105mm); press again for 300mm, again for 500mm, and so on. Personally I like this approach, but it might not be for everyone. You can always fine tune a zoom setting manually with the lever on the left hand side of the lens body. However, the main zoom lever by the shutter release will always zoom in or out by the preset steps.

M exposure preview: OFF (again, probably a default setting)

Okay, now go back to Save user settings, and press the OK button.

This is the most crucial step. Everything you have set is now stored as 'user settings', which you access by turning the mode dial to 'U'. For 90% of the time I am in 'U' mode. In normal use, I rarely if ever bother to tweak anything other than exposure compensation. I might set, say -0.3 or -0.7 for a pale gull against a dark background, or -1.0 for a juv Rosy Starling in a black hole in a hedge, but when I switch the camera off it automatically resets. In other words, every time I switch the camera on in 'U' mode it will automatically be at 50mm zoom and zero exposure compensation, with all my favourite metering, focus and burst settings engaged. I know exactly where I am, and it works. Well, it does for me.

So that's it. I will add one extra tip: I set the 'Fn' (Function) button to ISO. Very occasionally it can be useful to reduce the ISO from whatever the camera has chosen in order to get a better quality (less noisy) shot. Lowering the ISO will inevitably lower the shutter speed as well, but in some circumstances (stationary bird, solidly supported camera) you can get away with it.

PS. For post-processing I use Faststone Image Viewer. Simple, as effective as I need, and FREE!