Looking to buy a long zoom digital point and shoot camera

[06Honda]

I will be travelling to Newfoundland Canada next month and again in July and would like to buy a long zoom point and shoot camera to have as and extra system and also one that is easy to carry around than my current DSLR system. Will be taking photos of icebergs; landscapes and lots of bird species. No restrictions on budget I would like a good quality camera that takes good images on the long end of the zoom. I had one years ago and was quite happy with it. It by no means has to be a Nikon

 

[BF Hammer]

Nikon Coolpix P1000 is what comes to mind for me. Still available on Amazon. I think Lumix and Sony might have some competition. I have seen some good photos done with a P1000. I have always regarded it as birding camera.

 

[bluzman]

I've owned several cameras that might suit your needs including the P1000. It took excellent photos but the main attraction was the 3000mm optical zoom. Once I got over the novelty of that, I concluded that, for me, it was just too big and too heavy to be a travel camera. I also had a Nikon B700. It had about half of the zoom of the P1000 and took photos as good or better than the P1000 IMO, with added benefit of smaller size and lighter weight. Unfortunately, it's no longer being made. These days the Nikon P950 with 2000mm optical zoom seems to get a lot of love.

I eventually sold my all of my long zoom Nikon PnS cameras and bought a Panasonic FZ1000. Although the maximum optical zoom was 400mm, it had several interesting features including a 20MP CMOS 1" sensor, 49 user selectable autofocus points and the ability to be configured for back button focus. I eventually gifted it to a family member and acquired the FZ1000 MkII. A major reason for the change was added ability to manually zoom the lens on the MkII like one does with a DSLR zoom lens. Both of these Panasonics took great photos. I liked them so well that I added an FZ300 to my kit. It's smaller and lighter than the FZ1000 series and has a 600mm optical zoom. It has a 12MP 1/2.3" sensor like the Nikons but you can maintain an f2.8 aperture over the entire zoom range. I should also note that all three of these cameras can take 4K video.

Eventually I sold the FZ1000 MkII to fund a Sony Cyber-shot RX10 IV with a 24-600mm equivalent f2.4-4 stabilized zoom lens. It's the closest PnS to a DSLR available IMO. It uses a 20MP 1"stacked BSI-CMOS sensor. It offers a 315-point phase-detection autofocus system that covers 65% of frame. It has a blazing fast burst rate (up to 24 fps) and a very deep buffer. The RX10 IV is ideal for action photography but I get excellent results when I use it for street photography and landscapes as well. It's lighter and smaller than the P1000 but a bit heavier although about the same size as the the FZ1000 MkII.

Since you state that there are no restrictions on your budget, this is the camera I would recommend. FWIW, I got mine from MPB USA.

 

[06Honda]

Thankyou both for your help and post backs. I will consider the Sony Cyber-shot RX10 IV, price I am okay with. You can't bet an owners actual review of a camera.