About 5 years ago I upgraded from a Kodak Easy Share to a Canon T3 Rebel and Canon’s EF-S 18 – 55mm, EF-S 10 – 18 mm, and EF 70 – 300mm lens.

I’ve progressed from Full Auto to AV and feel comfortable with manually manipulating some of the settings. Haven’t got to the point of going fully manual, but I’m headed in that direction.

My pictures are the usual walking-around, birds, and miscellaneous wild life. Not much on video or sports pictures.

For some time I’ve had a vague feeling that I’d like to make another hardware upgrade. Hopefully this upgrade will provide a similar quantum leap as the first one.

My GAS attack became particularly acute when the Canon EOS R was announced.

There are a few R features that have really caught my eye (yes, I know, just a good case of GAS). In particular; EVF, information display panel on the top, advanced Autofocus, and Wi-Fi / Bluetooth.

HOWEVER, recently a colleague was raving about his camera – a Nikon P900. He acquired it for an Africa photo safari. The other day he showed me some of his P900 pictures. He started out with a picture of a large bushy tree. After I eyed it for a moment, he asked me to look very closely to see if I could spot the leopard in the tree – I couldn’t. This picture was taken at the P900’s lowest ZOOM. Next he showed me a picture of the same tree at approximately half of maximum ZOOM – I could plainly see the leopard’s face/eyes and spotted skin. A very nice picture. Next he showed me a picture taken at full ZOOM – holy mackerel. I could see the pupils in the leopard’s eyes and the whiskers on its face. SOOC the picture’s detail and color was incredible.

He also mentioned the big advantage of the P900 was having a built in ZOOM lens. During the safari people in his group were busy messing around setting up their cameras/lens while he was taking pictures. He mentioned that his pictures were just as good of quality as the more sophisticated cameras/lens.

So, I’m going back and forth between an R or a P900 (or its big brother P1000). I’ll have to settle on only one camera.

I realize that:

the R (particularly, coupled with the new Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens lens) is considerably more money than the P900 (or its big brother P1000), but that’s OK.

there are other brands/models of cameras out there; but for now, I’d like to focus on the R and the P900 (or its big brother P1000).

Canon recently announced the EOS RP. I’m Ho-Hum regarding the RP.

with the R lens adapter, I can use my existing EF-S and EF lens.

the P900 (or its big brother P1000) takes some VERY nice pictures. The built-in ZOOM is amazing.

I could buy a P900 (or its big brother P1000) and give it a try. If I didn’t like it – sell it and then buying the R. Using the buy/sell as a learning experience.

I’d like to get a camera system that is a considerable step up from the T3 and provides head-room as my photography skills increase.

I’d appreciate any thoughts, cautions, or guidance that would assist me in making a decision between two very nice cameras.

Also, any comments regarding the new RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens would also be appreciated.

My apologies for the long post, but it’s complicated.

Many Thanks for your thoughts / inputs.

PixelStan77, I'm in Conroe - just north of Houston.

Hi All

Even though I have taken some very nice pictures with a Kodak Easy Share, the lack of hardware sophistication became painfully obvious while on a whale watching tour. I also got a case of hardware envy being among other photographers with much more sophisticated hardware than mine. It was very un-nerving to be stuck with a VERY VERY slow shutter button and very limited zoom. After viewing the session’s pictures it became obvious that I need to get some different / better hardware.

I made a heap in technology from the Kodak to a Canon T3 Rebel. Along with the T3, I obtained EF-S 18 – 55mm, EF-S 10 – 18 mm, and EF 70 – 300mm lens. Talk about a BIG difference in the quality of the pictures.

Now that I’ve addressed the hardware aspect, I’m wading off into the realm of Post Processing with PhotoShop Elements. I knew it would make a difference in the final product, but had no idea how dramatic it would be.

UHH has been extremely helpful. Certainly learned a lot from other person’s trials /tribulations /questions and all the advice given.

Regards,

John

Deep In The Heart of Texas