Nikon P1000 Performance

Good performance overall in the lab, though single-shot cycle time is slow and full-res continuous mode buffer is shallow.

Good startup to first shot time for a superzoom. Switching from Play to Record and taking a shot was also pretty good for its class.

The Nikon P1000's full autofocus shutter lag when shooting the same target multiple times from a tripod in the lab was very fast, especially for a superzoom. The P1000's full AF shutter lag clocked in at only about 0.14 second at wide angle using center-area AF. Full AF shutter lag was a little slower at full telephoto, at about 0.17 second, but that's still very fast, especially for its class. Enabling the flash raised shutter lag to about 0.27 second, to account for the metering preflash. Manual focus shutter lag was just over 0.1 second, and when prefocused, shutter lag dropped to 38 milliseconds which is quite fast.

Note that autofocus speed varies with lighting conditions, distance, subject and whether the camera is hand-held or stabilized, but we test all our cameras the same way in the lab on a tripod for valid comparisons.

Shot-to-shot cycle times were a bit sluggish in single-shot mode, at about 1.5 seconds for Large Fine JPEGs and 1.9 seconds for RAW+ L/F JPEG frames. (Note that unlike the P900, the P1000 does support capturing RAW and RAW+JPEG frames.)

The P1000's full-resolution Continuous H shooting mode speed was decent, averaging about 7 frames per second for Large/Fine JPEGs, RAW or RAW+JPEG files. Buffer depth was limited to only 7 frames for all three capture modes, though, and buffer clearing took between 3.6 and 9.2 seconds with our fast SDXC card, during which the camera was unresponsive. (Note that the P1000 is not UHS-II compliant, but still takes advantage our card's UHS-I mode.)

A full-res Continuous L mode rated at 1 fps with a much deeper buffer is available (Nikon says up to 200 images), however we did not test that mode. The P1000 also offers a pre-shooting cache mode which captures about 20 1280x960 JPEGs at 15 fps including 5 frames before fully depressing the shutter button, to help you capture the perfect moment. In addition, Continuous Hi 120 and 60 modes are provided, which capture up to 60 640x480 JPEGs at 120 fps or 60 1920x1080 JPEGs at 60 fps respectively (speeds and buffer depths confirmed in the lab).

The built-in flash took an average of 3.2 seconds to recharge after a full-power discharge, which is fair, but the delay was very irregular, varying from 2.3 to 5.9 seconds in our tests.

Bottom line, the Nikon P1000's timing performance is good for its class and similar to the P900's, with reasonably quick startup, fast autofocus, low shutter lag, and a decent 7 fps full-res burst speed, however single-shot cycle times are a bit sluggish and the full-resolution buffer is quite shallow at only 7 frames in Continuous H burst mode. Unlike the P900, though, the P1000 now supports RAW capture with the same 7 frame buffer limit.

Battery Life
Poor battery life for its class.

The Nikon P1000 uses a custom EN-EL20a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and it's charged in-camera via USB (a dedicated battery charger is optional). CIPA battery life is well below average for its class at only 250 shots per charge, and Nikon doesn't state if that's with the LCD or EVF (it may not make a difference). As is often the case, we recommend you pick up a spare battery for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))