Hi there. I have just returned from a 10 day birding trip in Bulgaria. Whilst there I was in the company of other birders/ bird photographers who had a variety of cameras Nikon d5, d500 and a few cannons all sporting big glass 200-400 and 600 etc. I have been using the nikon coolpix p900 for the past two years, and whilst I have taken the odd very sharp pic on the whole the camera is quite limited for the kind of pics I aspire to take. I do understand that you generally get what you pay for and cannot expect my camera to compete with some of the cameras I was exposed to.

On my return I began to explore the possibility of an upgrade but my finances restrict me to the second hand market and whilst looking around I came across a number of Nikon d3300 for sale with a number of lenses at prices I could afford. Can anyone tell me if this camera is a suitable entry level camera for bird photography and if so what lenses should I be seeking to combine with the camera say begining with 70-300 VR etc ? I would be most grateful for some advice.

Technique can not compensate much for slow and innacurate AF on birds in flight. Yes it can be done with manual focus and has been, blah blah blah, but the camera is simply not up to the task of tracking fast moving objects. Now I would love some crazy expensive telephoto primes, they would deliver results. However I compromised on a 200-500, which is far superior to any superzoom camera. My point is that the OP will need to upgrade, but even then there are compromises to be decided on, and if the current equipment isn't up to it, I'm sorry but your advice isn't correct. No offence intended. Sorry if I've rambled a little too.

Hi PRCB, I have a D3300 (although am saving like mad to upgrade to the D7500 & get a faster lens) and a Nikkor zoom 18-300 VR 6.3. I have taken many pics of birds in flight..ok have lots of misses and some not as sharp as I want but BIF are not very easy and the AF can be a bit slow sometimes. My friend has a similar camera with a 70-300VR and she's very pleased with it. If your funds are very limited, this would be a good combination to start with....here's an example of what I took recently to give you an idea. Good luck..Grace

The D3300 will be fine... It will limit you a little, to what lenses you can use with it. In order to autofocus, the more entry level Nikon cameras require lenses with a built-in motor.... such as AF-S and AF-P. Other lenses without built in motor cannot autofocus on the D3000 and D5000 series cameras. (D5 and D500 you mention can autofocus both types of lenses.... those with motors and those without.)

Teh D3300 is an "APS-C/DX" crop sensor camera, which helps lenses "act longer" than they do on so-called "full frame/FX" camera. That's a good thing for birding!

Now, your P900 has "full frame equivalent 24mm to 2000mm" lens. It's lens focal length range really is nowhere near that... It's actual zoom range is 4.3mm to 357mm. But the camera uses a tiny sensor that makes the lens "act much longer" than it is. The P900's sensor is a 1/2.3" size... which is 4.56mm by 6.17mm, or about 28 square millimeters. The camera has 16 million pixel sites crowded onto that sensor... or well more than a half million, very tiny pixel sites per square millimeter. This significantly limits the camera's imaging capabilities, how high ISO you can use, as well as the quality of images.

The D3300, on the other hand, uses a much larger APS-C/DX sensor. The actual dimensions of it are 15.6mm by 23.7mm.... for a total of about 370 square millimeters (more than 10X the area of the P900's sensor!). The D3300 is a 24MP camera, so that sensor has a little less than 65,000 pixels per square millimeter. This means much larger, much less crowded individual pixel sites than the P900... making for better image quality and much higher usable ISO with the D3300. Yes, the even larger full frame sensor can be even better.... but it also makes for a more expensive camera, as well as bigger and more expensive lenses to use upon it.

am

A crop sensor/DX camera like the D3300 is a good compromise.... much improved IQ compared to your "ultra-zoom, bridge camera", yet still leveraging lens focal length to some extend. The Canon T7 is roughly equivalent to the D3300/D3400. The Nikon D5500 or Canon SL2 or T7i are step up models with some more features that might be important. For example, the step up models have an articulated Touch Screen LCD and self-cleaning sensors, both of which can be very helpful. If you travel a lot with your camera, you might appreciate the Canon SL2 in particular... it's the smallest DSLR currently in production (the 2nd smallest DSLR anyone's ever made... the slightly smaller SL1 is the smallest of all).

But any of these DSLR models will be a solid improvement over your P900 in many respects.

The "problem" will be the lenses you use on any of the DX/APS-C cameras. None of them will give you the equivalent of 2000mm that the P900 lays claim to! Canon made an EF 1200mm lens that would "act like 1920mm" if used upon one of those cameras.... But it's huge, weights 35 lb., is no longer in production and was only ever sold by special order anyway, so is quite rare.... and sells for upwards of $100,000 on the used market! Canon and Nikon both still make an 800mm lens, which will "act like 1200mm" or a little more on these cameras. But that's well short of the "2000mm equivalent" you've been using... and still quite large, heavy and expensive. (Note: The current Nikkor 800mm sells for over $16,000... the Canon is only a little less pricey, at $13,000.)

70-300mm really isn't enough lens for birding. It's better than nothing, but not by much. On a D3300 it will "act like 115-450mm".

Plus, Nikon makes several different 70-300mm. There's a cheap, non-VR, AF-P model that's often bundled with D3000-series cameras, which I'd avoid. It's just not all that great in terms of image quality.... uses slower stepper motor focus drive... plus it lacks image stabilization. It will cost more, but for faster moving subjects... particularly for birds in flight (BIF)... an AF-S focus drive lens with VR would be a better bet (or Canon's USM focus drive and IS lenses).

Even on a crop sensor DSLR, for birding you really need more lens than 70-300mm. At a minimum, 400mm.... But preferably 500mm or 600mm. Coming back down to planet Earth, still not cheap, but more affordable than the 1200mm above, include....

Zoom lenses:

Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 OS HSM... $700.
Tamron 150-600mm VC USD (original version, discontinued).... about $800 (used).
Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 VC USD (with tripod ring).... about $930.
Sigma 150-600mm OS HSM "Contemporary"... about $1000.
Canon 100-400mm IS USM (original version, discontinued)... $1300 new, $850 used.
Tamron 150-600mm VC USD G2... new version... about $1300.
Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6G VR... about $1400.
Sigma 150-600mm OS HSM "Sport"... $1800.
Canon 100-400mm "II" IS USM.... $2000.
Nikkor AI-S 80-400mm VR... $2300.
Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 OS HSM "Sport" w/matched 2X teleconverter... $3800.
Nikkor AF-S 200-400mm f/4 VR "II".... $7000.
Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM with built-in/matched 1.4X teleconverter... $11,000.
Nikkor AF-S 180-400mm f/4 VR FL with built-in/matched 1.4X TC... $12,400.

Prime lenses:

Canon 400mm f/5.6L USM (no image stabilization)... $1150.
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 VR: $1350, with Kenko Pro 300 1.4X TC: $140... $1490.
Canon 300mm f/4L IS USM: $1350, with Canon 1.4X teleconverter: $430... $1780.
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 VR PF: $2000, plus Nikon AF-S TC14E III: $500... $2500.

In themselves, for a lot of birding the 300mm lenses aren't long enough... so I'd assume a 1.4X teleconverter would be needed and have indicated the cost of those, where appropriate.

Note: the above cameras can autofocus an effective f/5.6 lens/TC combo, such as an f/4 lens with a 1.4X TC or an f/2.8 lens with a 2X. They cannot autofocus an f/8 combo, such as an f/4 lens with a 2X TC or an f5.6 lens with a 1.4X TC. (Some more advanced camera models are able to AF the latter combos.)

The Sigma and Tamron lenses above are available for both Nikon and Canon cameras. Perhaps it's obvious, but the Nikkors will only work on Nikon cameras, while the Canon lenses will only work on Canon cameras.

You are not going to get much better results with a D3300 and a basic, used 70-300. What will be holding you back will be autofocus performance, and the image quality at 300mm. A better bet would be a Nikkor Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G DX VR AF-P. And you are in luck, since it works nicely on the D3300. B and H is listing a refurbished copy of this lens for $140.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1365791-REG/nikon_20061b_af_p_dx_nikkor_70_300mm.html?ap=y&c3api=1876%2C92051678762%2C%2C&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2pXXBRD5ARIsAIYoEbd_Z1cSTPsrDwXTxiXkeSmLXXCl2fGyrAxdRFET0dlRnqPWT9JqNO4aAgoPEALw_wcB

https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-70-300mm-dx-vr-af-p/3

If you have your box, accessories and all that came with the P900, and your camera does not look worn or beat up, you should be able to get between $500 and $600 on eBay for it.

You can get a used D3300 kit with an 18-55 AF-P lens for around $400, so your net out of pocket is probably what you can get for the P900, give or take. The AF-P lenses are worth seeking - they are better than the lenses they replace.

You are not going to get much better results with a D3300 and a basic, used 70-300. What will be holding you back will be autofocus performance, and the image quality at 300mm. A better bet would be a Nikkor Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G DX VR AF-P. And you are in luck, since it works nicely on the D3300. B and H is listing a refurbished copy of this lens for $140.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1365791-REG/nikon_20061b_af_p_dx_nikkor_70_300mm.html?ap=y&c3api=1876%2C92051678762%2C%2C&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2pXXBRD5ARIsAIYoEbd_Z1cSTPsrDwXTxiXkeSmLXXCl2fGyrAxdRFET0dlRnqPWT9JqNO4aAgoPEALw_wcB

https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-70-300mm-dx-vr-af-p/3

If you have your box, accessories and all that came with the P900, and your camera does not look worn or beat up, you should be able to get between $500 and $600 on eBay for it.

You can get a used D3300 kit with an 18-55 AF-P lens for around $400, so your net out of pocket is probably what you can get for the P900, give or take. The AF-P lenses are worth seeking - they are better than the lenses they replace.