On 23 August 2019, despite its weight and large size, I bought a Nikon Coolpix P1000 superzoom camera since wildlife I had been seeing on the morning walks needed longer zoom than the cameras I already had.

Now, more than a year later (19 October 2020) and after shooting more than 12,000 brackets (36,000 shutter activations) I can say that the Nikon Coolpix P1000 is the first camera I've ever owned that has all the telephoto reach I can handle and for the first time in my life I am not interested in a camera with more. I still don't like its weight and large size but it's manageable. The camera is truly an amazing device and after discovering the equally amazing Topaz Labs DeNoise AI for noise removal, the P1000 has become my "go-to" camera for wildlife and nature photography. Basically, if my old eyes can see something in the distance, I can get a usable shot of it.

Then tragically on 12 May 2024 and 55,409 brackets (166,227 shutter activations) later, the P1000 abruptly and without warning died as I was simply walking with it, looking for the next bird. Sadly, this left me in a dilemma because after almost six years Nikon is no longer producing them or a new model to replace it and stores no longer have them in stock and there’s nothing available from any other manufacturer that rivals it (a truly one of a kind camera). Happily, it was then discovered that a friend of a friend had a virtually unused P1000, having taken only 52 shots with it before learning it was too much camera for him and he was happy to sell it to me on 22 May 2024.