So, you want to buy a Nikon COOLPIX P1000 Super Zoom camera?

The word on the street is that Nikon has discontinued the COOLPIX P1000 super zoom camera. Are they gone forever? Will there be a new and improved Nikon P1000? Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to those questions. The problem is that I want to buy a P1000, but I can't find them anywhere at a reasonable price... Or can I?

The Nikon COOLPIX P1000 superzoom camera.

WHY BUY A P1000

I think most people want to buy the Nikon P1000 because of its ability to zoom to a focal length of 3000mm (35mm equivalent). That's an optical zoom, not a digital zoom. Plus, the P1000 can apply what Nikon calls Dynamic Fine Zoom (enhanced digital zoom) of up to 2X with limited image degradation. A 2X digital zoom is the equivalent of a 6000mm focal length and it usually looks pretty darn good for a digital magnification.

But I think the P1000's zoom range is its most amazing feature. The P1000 can zoom from 24mm to 3000mm, which is an optical magnification of 125X. With that range, you can pretty much frame any shot of anything from any distance.

The two pictures below illustrate the amazing ability to frame the shot that you want. The subject of the picture taken at 3000mm is a communications tower. The subject of the picture taken at 24mm is an urbanized desert landscape. I added the arrow to point out where the communications tower is located. Both pictures were taken with the Nikon P1000 from the same exact location. BTW, the tower is 3.15 miles or 5.1 kilometers away!

Click to see a full-size picture

Click to see a full-size picture

I already have a P1000 that is in fine working order. So why do I want to buy another one? Well, as far as I know, Nikon has not said whether or not there are plans for a new super zoom camera to supersede the P1000. And if there are plans for a new version of the P1000, will it have at least the same zoom power as the current P1000? I've grown quite attached to the P1000's maximum optical focal length of 3000mm!

Given the uncertainty of a new and improved P1000 in the future, I need to make sure that I can use the P1000 for a long, long time. My current P1000 will eventually need to be repaired and I need a back-up camera to use while it's being serviced. And no camera lasts forever, so sometime in the distant future, my current P1000 is going to die and I'll need another P1000 to keep zooming from 24mm to 3000mm.

Some people think that the P1000 will surely be replaced by a better all-in-one super zoom camera. I hope that is true, but until Nikon makes an announcement we'll won't know for sure. Why am I unsure about a replacement for the P1000? Well, the thing to keep in mind is that the Nikon COOLPIX P950, with a maximum optical focal length of 2000mm, is still available for sale. And a lot of people are very happy with this smaller and lighter camera with a slightly reduced maximum optical focal length compared to the P1000.

Is the difference between focal lengths of 2000mm and 3000mm important? For some people it is and for others it is not. You can judge for yourself by looking at the pictures below of the August 2023 Super Moon. Both were taken with the P1000.

Click to see a full-size picture

Click to see a full-size picture

After years of shooting with the P1000, I've decided that having an extra 1000mm of focal length is important to me, so here I am looking to buy another P1000 camera rather than a new P950. Although, for the record, I think that the P950 is also an excellent super zoom camera.

MY P1000 SEARCH

I've not seen an announcement from Nikon that the COOLPIX P1000 is officially discontinued, but a new one at a reasonable price is sure hard to find these days. So every day - and I mean EVERY day - for the last two months, I've been checking some of the websites that previously sold the COOLPIX P1000. And every day I have seen the P1000 listed as "Temporarily Out of Stock", "Out of Stock" or "Sold Out.

B&H Photo says that the P100 is Temporarily Out of Stock. But when you click on the "Request Assistance" button, it says, " Our supplier cannot provide an accurate timeframe so we have suspended backorders for this item".

Adorama lists the camera as Temporary Unavailable.

The P1000 doesn't even appear anymore on the BestBuy website. Searching for the P1000 on bestbuy.com shows the Nikon COOLPIX P950 and the Sony RX10 IV cameras. Those are nice cameras, but they are not the P1000. Luckily, I saved the link to the P1000 product page on bestbuy.com a while back and it states that the P1000 is... Out of Stock.

This all really depressing...

At B&H, Adorama and BestBuy, the P1000 is listed for $1,096.95 USD with free shipping. Of course, they don't have the camera in stock so you can't buy it on those websites, but I think that represents a fair price.

As of the time that I am writing this article, I saw a listing for a new P1000 for sale on Amazon, but it was bundled with a ton of accessories that you might not want. If you're buying a second camera like I am then you definitely don't want most of those accessories. The price of the camera bundle was $1,744.95 USD. That's $648 more than what I think is a fair price for the camera alone.

I saw some other P1000 listings on Amazon - some bundled and some as a stand alone camera - but most of those were used cameras or what they call "renewed". I wonder what renewed actually means? The cynical part of me thinks that the company selling it just wiped if off with a damp cloth :)   Even the renewed P1000s are selling for a few hundred dollars more than what I consider a fair price. I advise reading the sales listings carefully if you choose to buy a P1000 on Amazon.

You can also buy a new Nikon P1000 on Walmart's website. There are a few 3rd party seller listing for as low as $1,499.00 USD. That's $402 over what I consider to be a fair price. Like with Amazon, I recommend reading the sales listing carefully to ensure that the camera is new, it's a version of the camera designed to be sold in your country, and it is being sold by a reputable seller.

OTHER ONLINE STORES

Surely there must be other online stores that have the camera in stock? There are, but I can save you some time searching the following online stores because none of them have the Nikon P1000 in stock:

1. Shutterbug
2. Alan's Camera Shop
3. The Camera Company
4. Pro Camera Hawaii
5. Action Camera
6. ABT Electronics
7. Crutchfield
8. PictureLine
9. District Camera
10. Service Photo
11. Samy's Photo
12. National Camera Exchange

BTW, I've not shopped at most of the stores listed in this section, so I do not have an opinion on whether or not they would be good stores to make a purchase. I pulled these stores from a listing on the Nikon website of websites that sell the P1000.

I BOUGHT ONE!

During my daily search for the P1000, I also checked the Nikon website. Day after day, Nikon listed the camera as Out of Stock, but I was shocked when - after about two months of checking - the Nikon website showed the P1000 as In Stock! And I about fell out of my chair when I saw that the price was the same it had been before it was allegedly discontinued! OK, it was three dollars more at $1,099.95 USD. Shipping was free.

When I saw that the camera was in stock, I quickly placed my order, worried that the "Add to Cart" button could turn back to "Out of Stock" any minute. I ordered the camera Friday morning, I received an email that it shipped on Friday afternoon and UPS delivered it to my house on Tuesday. So I had the camera in my hands three business days after I ordered it.

The day after I placed the order, the Nikon website showed the COOLPIX P1000 as Out of Stock again. I kept checking the website each day and Nikon listed the camera as Out of Stock for seven days. And then it changed back to In Stock, but it only stayed in stock for a few hours that day before changing back to Out of Stock.

I think that there are two potential explanations for the status of the P1000 switching back and forth between In Stock and Out of Stock. The first potential explanation is that there is some limited ongoing manufacturing of the P1000. When a new batch of cameras is manufactured, Nikon lists them for sale until they are gone. If this is the case then we could see new P1000s available for sale on the Nikon website sporadically for a long time.

The other potential explanation is that there are some previously manufactured P1000s lying around in the factories and warehouses and from time to time, someone comes across them and lists them for sale. If this is the case then sales of the P1000 on the Nikon website could end at any time. For all we know, this last time that the website showed that they were in stock could have been the last time.

HOW TO BUY A P1000

The availability of new P1000s is extremely limited. So what should you do if you want to buy one?

I only looked at 18 online stores and they were all in the United States. The P1000 is sold in more than 18 stores, so you would certainly want to check any other stores that you know of that aren't listed in this article.

If you need a P1000 right away then you can buy one on Amazon or on the Walmart website. This might be a good choice for you if you don't want to take the risk that they will never be listed for sale again on the Nikon website (see the previous section of this article). Just keep in mind that you will pay more for the camera on these websites than what you would pay on the Nikon website.

If you don't need the camera right away and you're willing to risk that Nikon has already run out of their final stock of P1000s then you can do what I did: check the Nikon website every day and wait (hope?) that the "Out of Stock" status changes to "In Stock" one day so you can buy one. If you do this and the "Add to Cart" button lights up then click it immediately! I've seen the P1000 change from in stock to out of stock in a few hours.

If you don't like any of those options then you can hope that Nikon comes out with a new camera to replace the P1000. Of course, that could take a few months, a few years, or... never!