Nikon P1000: Spy Camera Makes Me Chuckle

Nikon P1000, available for preorder

Forgive me, but the new Nikon P1000 makes me giggle.

It has, get this, a 24–3000 millimeter equivalent (mm-e) lens. (Voyeurs take note.) Granted, that means the sensor is rather small—1/2.3-inch (6.2 x 4.6mm), same size as the sensor in the original toy Pentax Q.

Why does it make me giggle? Well, in the 1980s I used to ask my students what they would do if they were freed of all technical constraints they were under. "If you had a camera that would effortlessly make a clear, sharp photograph with perfect color of anything you pointed it at, what would you do with it?" The question was supposed to be rhetorical—it wasn't designed to make them believe such a thing would ever be possible; it was to ask them to try the thought experiment of setting aside technical distractions and consider only the question of their aesthetic, artistic, and expressive purpose.

Naturally, it made me laugh when, as digital matured, we indeed had cameras that effortlessly made clear, sharp photographs with perfect color of anything we pointed them at.

Similarly, whenever you'd ask photo hobbyists and enthusiasts to imagine their ideal camera back in the pre-digital days, one answer you'd inevitably get was the jokey one that would specify all the opposing parameters taken to extremes. You know, like, "I want a 645 camera with an ƒ/1 lens that takes grainless ISO 6400 color film..." etc.

So that's what "24–3000mm-e lens" reminds me of. It sounds just like the lens of impossible specification people would come up with when they were trying to be funny. And if you'd asked me in '85 if such a thing were actually possible, I would have looked at you like you had flesh-eating bacteria in your brain-pan. Such a lens would be as big as a bazooka, heavy as a bushel-basket of bricks, and cost approximately the GNP of Ecuador. Impossible.

Yet here we are. The older you get, the more you're living in the future. (I do want a car that makes the same noise as George Jetson's.)

What's the borderline-silly P1000 for? Good question. The art photographer John Gossage, in an interview about his book There and Gone, said, "Robert Adams made a comment in his book Beauty in Photography that always stuck with me. [He wrote] that no photographer of major ambition had ever sustained important work taken with long telephoto lenses. It seemed an obvious loophole." Inspired by Adams's "loophole" and using as long a telephoto as he could cobble together—sorry that my poor memory for numbers has let slip the focal length he ended up with—John stood on the beach in California and took pictures of people in Tijuana, Mexico, more than a quarter of a mile away. Whatever your feelings about the success of the pictures as art, they certainly referenced the tradition of using photography for surveillance.

And that's probably the only thing the P1000's 3000mm-e reach is best for: surveillance of any kind. It's a spy camera!

I'd love to see a photographer of major ambition sustain important work made with the Nikon P1000. That would be interesting. I'll believe it's possible when I see it.

The new camera is the successor to the popular $597 P900 (with its paltry outmoded 2000mm-e lens) and costs $997.

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

T. Edwards: "Mike I'll tell you what its for...I tried out Nikon's predecessor model of this along side the Sony Cyber-shot RX10 IV. They are both excellent for casual birding photographs. Despite doing it for years, I am still an unskilled birder so I do much better with a photograph to study to help make identifications—as opposed to looking through binoculars and trying to remember all the details. I went with the Sony because its EVF, when coupled with spot metering, is amazingly bright and it allows me to pick a bird out of shady underbrush and expose it properly. Of course, image quality is not stellar but I did sell my Canon system with a 300mm ƒ/2.8 lens because the Sony is a fraction of the weight and size and, to me, that was more important than having the 'best' image I could get."

JG (partial comment): "Only 24mm at the wide end? I'm sorry, but that's a deal-killer for me."

Christopher May: "When I went to Kenya a couple of years ago, I rented some trip appropriate gear from LensRentals. I picked up a Nikon 200–500mm ƒ/5.6 and a Coolpix A, both of which I really loved.

"I also asked my then-girlfriend (who would become my fiancée on the same trip) if there was anything she'd like me to get for her. To my surprise, she wanted a P900 to augment her D3200 kit. She liked the idea of having that big range easily accessible in a single package.

"While we were at Buffalo Springs National Reserve, I played with the P900 a couple of times just for fun. In one instance, we heard some olive baboons across a river screaming loudly. That's always a good sign that there's a predator somewhere in the vicinity. The guide eventually found a lioness hiding in the shade under a bush. Despite my best efforts with my D800 and 200–500mm, I couldn't really see where she was even though he was pointing right at her. After getting the P900 out, I found her right away. That zoom is kind of crazy in its ability to reach out and see things invisible to the naked eye.

"I played with the camera some more during the course of the trip. It did have some limitations on its use. One needed to mind backgrounds somewhat carefully because the small sensor couldn't give much subject separation even at the crazy end of the zoom range. Having a contrasting background to the subject helped in this department and avoiding 'busy' backgrounds was always desirable. I had to be very careful with regards to atmospheric conditions when trying to use the long end of the zoom, too. Normal daytime heating could cause problematic heat distortion even in the cooler areas like Lewa that we visited (and forget it when trying to use it in hotter areas like Shaba). Additionally, while the VR is really decent on the camera, the 2000mm equivalency does benefit from additional support when that's possible.

"While I wouldn't trade my D800 kit for a P900, I have to admit that it was a surprisingly capable little safari camera and I think non-photographers would be quite happy with the results if that was their only camera on a similar trip.

"Most of the stats on the P1000 are summed up by the word, 'MORE!' I do like that Nikon is bringing raw capture to the newer camera. And I'm also kind of glad that the price on P900s is going down now. Honestly, I wouldn't be opposed to picking one of those up for a bargain. It's a better camera than it has any right to be."

Robert Roaldi: "I just wanted to say that JG gave me the best belly laugh of the month."

Michael J. Perini:

"You have to be careful not to tip over."

Stephen Cowdery: "That thing is as big as my head! It has to have the biggest ratio of sensor size to volume of any camera ever made."

Kamera Express: "Very nice camera. You should see this video of the previous version (P900) with (a bit less) optical zoom."

David Ramos: "This brings to mind Trevor Paglen's 'Limit Telephotography' series, in which the photographer uses extremely long lenses (up to 7000mm-e focal length) to get images of top secret defense sites that might be as much as 40 miles away. Paglen started his career with this work, and he's now a MacArthur Fellow with a solo show at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, so it seems to be working out pretty well. More here."

s.wolters: "Charles and Ray Eames already used one in 1977!"

Mike replies: A justly famous, mind-expanding short video. I remember being very impressed (and astonished) by it when I was a kid.

Comments

[marcin wuu]

There's a guy, Arne Svenson, that did a project made of photos of New Yorkers shot through their windows with a long telephoto. Don't know about sutainability, but it is a case for spy cameras. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/photography-blog/2013/aug/19/art-peeping-photography-privacy-arne-svenson

[Tim McGowan]

Mike, I believe Robert Adams black swan is Andreas Feinnger ( Hope I spelled his name correctly.) Working from memory here. Wasn’t Mr. Feinnger a Life photographer who cobbled together his own large format telephoto lenses ? I can recall a shot of New York cities waterfront with sky scrappers in the background.

[T. Edwards]

Mike

I'll tell you what its for ...

I tried out Nikon's predecessor model of this along side the Sony Cyber-shot RX10 IV. They are both excellent for casual birding photographs.

Despite doing it for years, I am still an unskilled birder so I do much better with a photograph to study to help make identifications - as opposed to looking through binoculars and trying to remember all the details.

I went with the Sony because its EVF, when coupled with spot metering, is amazingly bright and it allows me to pick a bird out of shady underbrush and expose it properly.

Of course, image quality is not stellar but I did sell my Canon system with a 300mm 2.8 lens because the Sony is a fraction of the weight and size and, to me, that was more important than having the "best" image I could get.

[Bill Pearce]

Seriously a 24-3000? sure, at 3000/f128. Just what I want. I see they don't specify what the F stop at 3000 is in the announcement but can't be that fast.

[David Lee]

Well, she’s no pretty, that’s for sure...

[Greg]

Birds

[JG]

An 83X zoom is certainly an impressive feat, but only 24mm at the wide end? I'm sorry, but that's a deal-killer for me.

[John Krill]

Nikon is going to hell in a hand basket and this is what they come up with to save the company?

I can't wait for their idea of what a mirrorless camera is suppose to be. First being a FF camera it will weight way more than my XPro-2. And the lenses . . .

I can't wait.

[Moose]

"I'd love to see a photographer of major ambition sustain important work made with the Nikon P1000. That would be interesting. I'll believe it's possible when I see it."

Would you define for me "important work"

Who be the judge?

[Rick Baumhauer]

As T. Edwards notes, in good light, this might be an interesting birding camera. Like him/her, I sold off my big, long lens (the now-controversial, apparently unrepairable PanaLeica 100-400) for an RX-10 IV - it is, I think, the best birding camera ever created, since the noise performance of the Sony 1" sensor is pretty decent, it's f/4 at 600mm equivalent, and has a fantastic AF system. More reach is always welcome, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Nikon AF won't be up to the Sony, so it remains to be seen if it would be useful for anything beyond ID shots, especially in less-than-ideal light. It does come in several hundred dollars cheaper than the very expensive RX-10, which might tempt some to give it a try.

[Moose]

I LIKE long.

I shoot 800 mm -e all the time with the PLeica 100-400.

My 1 2/3" sensor 24-720 mm -e Panny ZS50 makes quite decent photos in good light. No one noticed anything wrong when I included one in one of my 8x10" photo books.

The first two rows here are all ZS50, from 24-720 mm -e, mostly 720.

RAW files were one reason I chose it; it really does make a difference in what I can get out of the camera. I stayed away from Nikon Super-zooms for the lack of RAW.

Just pre-ordered through your above link.

[Mathew Hargreaves]

The paparazzi will love it as they track all the "famous" for their expose's.

[Jia-Chi]

In the midst of Nikon cost cutting and the vaporware of the DL compact cameras, here come the successor of P900, I am sure they are making money out of this range of super zoom cameras. Looks like there are no competitions out there right now. If this product is sneaking into some James Bond or Mission Impossible movies, the sales are going to shoot up.

[Steve Biro]

Bill Pearce... it appears the maximum aperture of the P1000's zoom lens is f/2.8-8.0. Perhaps if and when P900 prices drop further, I'll pick one up on closeout. I always thought the P900 would make a cool toy. But I could never justify paying full freight.

[hugh crawford]

John Schabel's photographs of airline passengers come to mind.

[Ernest Zarate]

Does the pop-up flash cover that entire focal length range...?

[toto]

To infinity, and beyond!

[subroto mukerji]

Atmospheric dust, haze and thermals are the major enemies of long lens photography, but if one can somehow get around these, many of the later set of Nikon Coolpix superzooms can sometimes produce results impossible to obtain even by cropping full frame images. I speak from experience; I have been using a P510 since 2012, and it has allowed me to take some really pleasing bird, street, portrait and landscape images, right from 24mm right out to 2,000mm (digital zoom at maximum reach). The P510's lens is simply superb.
I wouldn't sneer at these superzooms if I were you without giving them a good try over an extended period of time. Of course, being in sunny India helps; I normally don't budge from ISO 100 and mostly use -0.3 exposure compensation. I mainly use M43 gear, but the P510 has earned its rightful place in my bag of tricks.

[Marino]

Wrong. Franco Fontana did.
http://francofontanaphotographer.com/

[David Evans]

Bill Pearce, it's f/8 at the long end.

[cdembrey]

A great camera for voyeurs!! Sony should sell a lot of them.

Moore's Law is alive and well, and it applies to more than transistors. I'd expect a 1" sensor camera within a couple of years. Like it, or not, time and technology marches on.

[JohnMFlores]

FWIW, the original Pentax Q had a 1/2.3" sensor, as did the second iteration. But the Q7 and Q-S1 have a larger 1/1.7" sensor and a proportional increase in image quality.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmflores/albums/72157693114784030

It's a shame (but understandable) that the Q lineup is all but dead. It's a fun piece of kit with a good lens lineup; a modern day Auto 110.

I'm hoping for a zombie-like revival.

[hugh crawford]

Stephen Cowdery: "That thing is as big as my head! It has to have the biggest ratio of sensor size to volume of any camera ever made."
I think that the Canon 1218 super 8 cameras may still be the record holder for lens to format size. ( I also think you have the denominator and numerator reversed )

[Dave New]

Alaska cruises.

I had my Canon 7D on the trip I took in 2012, and the longest lens in my arsenal then was the EF DO 70-300mm, a 'mere' 6x zoom over the nominal 50mm 'normal' view (actually more than that, since the 7D has an APS-C 1.6x crop factor sensor, but I digress).

Do you know how tiny a whale looks taken from the deck of a large passenger ship that is not allowed to approach the whales (I think it is a 1 mile limit, but maybe more). Really tiny, even at max 300mm zoom.

I found that the folks that were getting good shots (in those days) were the ones that brought 8mm video cameras that could do 80x optical zoom.

If such a thing had been available in a still camera, I would have jumped it at.

Instead, all I have of the whale shots are tiny spouts and flippers.

Foo.

On the other hand, shots of calving glaciers demand wide angle lenses, so I did real well there with my EF-S 10-22mm and EF-S 17-85mm.

[s.wolters]

Watching that 'Powers of Ten' video by Charles and Ray Eames, I just realized that when you zoom out very far you go back in time! That's something the buyers of the P1000 should bear in mind!

[Don Craig]

So the Nikon P1000 zoom works out to an actual 3.1mm to 389mm. Call that a lens? Consider the so-called box lenses used to image live television broadcast sports. A current state-of-the-art example is the Fujinon UA107X8.4, for sale at B&H for a mere $198,750 without the mandatory option of a $16,569 servo control system. It has a zoom range of 8.4mm to 900mm (35mm equivalent would be 33mm to 3540mm) in a B4 mount (3 monochrome sensors 8.8mm x 6.6mm behind a dichroic beam splitter with a flange focal distance of 48mm in air), a built-in 2X optical extender (in case you need 7080mm equivalent), an aperture of f/1.7 out to 340mm and f/4.5 when it reaches 900mm, image stabilization, and a close focus distance of 3 meters. It is 258 x 264 x 610mm and weighs 23.9 kilograms. To actually mount one of these babies the lens is bolted to a metal cradle that the camera sits inside, then the camera is mounted to the lens. These things are used every day for stuff going on in your neighborhood arena or stadium, and are a lot of fun to drive. Maybe someone will buy one through the B&H link and make Mike's year.

[Dennis Ng]

@Bill Pearce At a crop factor of 6-7, the f8 @ 3000 is about f64 - f90 ... not exactly f128.

Well, f64 is a good photography club to be in. Missed by decades now but still f64.

[Christer]

My longest focal is 105mm and my sensor is 24x36mm. The crop factor is roughly 6x if I crop to the size of the Nikon P1000. Have I then a 600mm focal P1000 equivalent?

[John Ironside]

A prized heirloom in this household is an 1957 first edition of Kees Boeke's picture book, 'Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps', acknowledged as inspiration by the Eames film and by 2 others.

In 1982, I bought the picture book of 'Powers of Ten' that Philip and Phylis Morrison edited with Ray and Charles Eames for Scientific American Library.

The SciAm book has more technical background than the film and a glossy photographic style, but Boeke's monochrome book is a beautiful object, quirky and hand-drawn in part.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

3000mm!? Unimpressed. Wake me up when they got a moon shot clearly showing the Hasselblads left there.