10 Easy Tips To Get Better Nikon P900 Night Shots!

After seeing a number of people consistently reaching out for ways to improve their Nikon Coolpix p900 night shots we decided to set some time aside to write and publish this article. Our goal is to help as many of our readers who own a p900 as possible and have an article to link to in the future when we see people reaching out. Taking the time and effort to implement as many of these tips and tricks as possible can massively improve your image quality in a very short period of time.

Table of Contents

Be Sure To Use A Tripod

Although something as simple as using a tripod may be day one, week one photography for many of our readers, we do have a number of people who are entry level photographs who read our articles. We have lost count of the number of times that someone reaches out for advice on how to improve their nighttime photography and them aren’t even using a tripod for their night photographs.

The Zomei Z818 Tripod (Click here to check for product prices and availability) is a great budget friendly tripod that we would highly recommend if you are looking to pick up your first tripod or need up upgrade your existing one. Choosing to use even a basic tripod can offer some much-needed image stabilization for your Nikon p900 night shots and improve your overall image quality, especially when working at the higher levels of optical zoom available on the camera.

If you are looking to pick up a new tripod then our article on what we feel are the best tripods for Nikon p900 cameras may be helpful to you.

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Invest In A P900 Compatible Wireless Remote Control

Another great tip for improving the image quality of your Nikon p900 night shots is to pick up a cheap Wireless Remote Control (Click here to check for product prices and availability) that is fully compatible with your p900. Ordinarily we would recommend that you pick up a fully fledged intervalometer for your camera instead of a regular wireless remote control unit. Due to the p900 having a unique build with a different port and chip setup to the majority of the Nikon range, we were unable to find a compatible intervalometer that is compatible with the p900 so a wireless remote is the next best option.

Using a remote control helps your night photography by removing the need to actually touch your camera. For example, say you put all the time and effort into setup your camera rig, aim it at your subject in the night sky, set the required optical zoom, and then set off a timelapse or a long exposure capture.

The slightest change in camera position can be disastrous to your image, especially when using higher optical zoom levels. Using a simple wireless remote helps you maintain your image stabilization from your tripod and remove the risk of knocking your camera during use.

Test Out Using ND Filters

Using some 67mm ND filters (Click here to check for product prices and availability) to fit your p900 lens can help improve your low light image quality by limiting the light that reaches your cameras image sensor. Now this one will depend on what you are actually snapping photographs of.

For example, if you are taking photographs or buildings, bridges or other urban objects for some unique images of the subject then an ND filter is able to help improve your photographs by reducing the amount of light pollution in the photographs from nearby city lights. On the flip side, if you are wanting to take photographs of the night sky then the will also limit the light from the stars and planets that can get to your sensor and have a negative effect on your image.

If you are wanting to pick up an ND filter for your p900 then our review articles on the Gobe ND filter range or the Hoya ND filter range may help you choose what product you want to purchase.

Source Some Premium Reading Material

As the p900 is such a unique camera that can offer such a large amount of functionality, Nikon unfortunately had to miss a ton of information out of the camera’s manual. Thankfully, an independent p900 owners wrote and published “Photographer’s Guide to the Nikon Coolpix P900: Getting the Most from Nikon’s Superzoom Digital Camera” (Click here to check for product prices and availability).

The p900 community holds the book in high regard and it has earned an excellent reputation since its release with tons of independent reviews (click to read them) singing the book’s praises and commenting on how it has helped them.

Get Used To Using The Camera

In our opinion, the absolute best way improve your skills with anything is to simply get out there and do it and the same goes for anything involving a digital camera. Hands-on experiences is second to none so simply getting hold of your p900 and heading out to your favorite night sky photograph spot and snapping away will offer you quick improvements in your skill set.

Watch A Professional Night Photography Tutorial

Second only to getting hands-on experience that we touched on above, taking tips from an experienced photograph in the low light and night sky photograph niches can offer quick improvements to your ability. The video below does an excellent job providing a high-quality night photography tutorial that we would highly recommend that you watch.

Adjust Your ISO Settings As Required

A quick and easy setting on your p900 that you can tweak to improve your overall nighttime image quality is to tweak its ISO. Now the perfect ISO setting for your digital camera is going to change depending on the location but we usually recommend you start with an ISO of 3200 and adjust as required.

Toy With Your Shutter Speed

Another way to easily improve your night sky photography capabilities is to toy with different shutter speeds. One of the main complaints that we see with the p900 can be solved by simply using a quicker shutter speed when capturing photographs at higher zoom levels. Again, the optimum shutter speed is going to change slightly depending on what you are doing so toy with it and see what works best.

Know When and Where to Look

Another common mistake that we see all photographers make when trying to take photographs at nighttime is to go to the wrong location at the wrong time of year. Now there are a number of websites online that will give a suggestion of optimal locations and times of year for night photography but these are often wrong and waste your time.

In our opinion, doing a quick search on a social network such as Facebook is much more effective. Just look for local photography groups in your area and ask them for locations and times of year when they have been able to get their best night photographs.

Use Optimal Settings For Night Photography

Although we have touched on optimal settings earlier in the article, the video below offers some additional settings that you can tweak to use to your advantage when taking photographs of the night sky using your Nikon p900.