No direct experience with this camera, but have used a number of super zoom cameras and they seem to have these characteristics in common. All are capable of taking good shots in good light, the last 10-25% of the zoom range tends to be a bit softer and the AF can hunt around quite a bit at the long end, unless the light is perfect. AF is really the only practical way to focus this type of camera, even if MF is an option it is rarely easy to use. But if you find a co-operative bird in good light you can get good results,
An alternative might be one of the new mirrorless camera systems. The Nikon V1 will allow you to use your nikon lenses with an adapter and maintain AF. It has a 2.7x crop factor so a 200mm is equivalent to 540mm. The reviews seem to indicate that it autofocuses quite well. The advantage is that it is much lighter than the SLR and you can use smaller lenses both of which reduce the overall weight.
regards,
Chris Ross ===============================
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If you’re considering the Nikon P510, you might also think about the Canon SX40 HS. The cameras are comparable in most ways and I can’t say which is best for bird shots. I recently bought the SX40 and am very happy with it. I’m not much of a photographer (cough-cough), so I’m always happy when a new piece of gear helps me get better pictures! This is about as a large of a camera as I’m willing to carry along with everything else, which may also be a consideration for you. If you’re near a city, perhaps you can find a shop that carries both and have a look? ===============================
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I’ve heard that the P510 can be frustrating to get focused on the bird, with the camera sometimes focusing on foliage behind it instead. It’s expected that a camera might focus on objects in front of a bird, but not behind.
Electronic viewfinder resolution is important to help you find the bird and keep it in frame, and I suspect the Nikon V1 would be a lot better that the compacts in this regard. Definitely have a look through some before deciding, as you might be disappointed in the quality of the view compared to an optical viewfinder.
It might be worth browsing the relevant camera forums of http://www.birdforum.net to read discussions about these cameras being used for bird photography.
Peter Shute