Camera Labs

NEW! Nikon V1 review!

Nikon has finally announced its highly anticipated mirrorless interchangeable lens camera system. The new Nikon 1 system is based around a new CX format CMOS sensor measuring 13.2x8.8mm with a 2.7x field-reduction factor; it's therefore smaller than APS-C and Micro Four Thirds, but much bigger than traditional point-and-shoot sensors.

The debut J1 and V1 models both sport 10.1 Megapixel resolution, Full HD video recording, 3in screens and what Nikon describes as the world's fastest AF system. The higher-end V1 also sports a built-in viewfinder.

The J1 measures 106x61x29.8mm and weighs 277g with battery and card but no lens. The V1 measures 113x76x43.5mm (or 36mm at its thinnest) and weighs 383g with battery and card but no lens.

Nikon 1 V1 10-30mm kit (available in black and white)
RRP: £829.99 / €962.00 / $899

Nikon J1 10-30mm kit (available in red, black, silver, pink, white)
RRP: £549.99 / €638.00 / $649

Availability by end of October 2011






Nikon 1 bodies and lenses


So what does everyone think?

Reading through the spec list... sounds good to me! The next question is does it deliver in practice? The hybrid AF, and high speed shooting with AF tracking, and high number of AF points make this sound like THE mirrorless to have for action and wildlife, if it performs as well as described.

The question I have remaining is how big these are compared to other mirrorless cameras now?

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Popo, it seems to be about the same size as the NEX-3.

The spec list looks great but the small sensor size is a real downer

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Graham
Flickr

I think the sensor is in a nice spot as it will help to offer smaller lenses. Not too small that it gives a "compact look". I'm not looking at one to replace a DSLR but to supplement it. I'm guessing that's part of Nikon's intention too as I'm sure they want to continue selling their SLRs without too much overlap.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Quick and dirty size comparison I threw together... should be to scale but might not be pixel perfect.
Top are the V1 and J1
Middle are NEX 7 and E-PL3
Bottom are NEX 5N and GF3

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

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Granny's advice was always "If you can't think of anything nice to say, say nowt."

1. The 2.7x crop factor will certainly help keep the total size of camera plus lens down.
   
2. Comparing the V1 with the Sony NEX-7 Nikon may have chosen wisely so far as the price point is concerned.

There, that's two nice things I've said.

Now for two questions:

1. Does anyone else think the V1 is plug ugly? Compare it with the NEX-7 which is actually quite similar in size before you add a lens.
   
2. How are you supposed to hold the thing? No hand grip à la NEX-7 could be an issue for those of us whose hands aren't all small and dainty.

I don't mean to cause offence and I really hope Nikon do well with the "Nikon 1" line but boy would I be disappointed to see a similar offering from Canon, supposing they ever do get around to offering a mirrorless system camera.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

I dunno, I kind of like it, very nice matte black finish too, I agree about the grip though...

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Nikon D90 | AF-S 18-200 VR II | AF-S 35mm f/1.8 | Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 | SB-600 | Gorillapod + Manfrotto 484RC2

Not too fussed about the looks, looks fairly understated to me which is never bad. Does anybody know anything about legacy lens support? I see no mention of compatibility with existing lenses.

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Graham
Flickr

There'a an adaptor for F-mount lenses see accessories list and the end of this page and see the picture in Nikon's page, fully compatible with AF, it seems.

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Nikon D90 | AF-S 18-200 VR II | AF-S 35mm f/1.8 | Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 | SB-600 | Gorillapod + Manfrotto 484RC2

My thought is, that Nikon made a mistake not joining the m43 market.

Maybe, this small sensor will allow smaller/better lenses for the same price, but till now they didn't show the advantage. The 10-100 has the same diameter as the old EF/S-Tamron 18-270! Where is the advantage?
And the hole System isn't cheaper/smaler than a Panasonic G3-System

I'll hope, that canon didn't make the same failure and anounce that they will join the m43 Market on November the 3rd.....

Regards

Gonzo

I think Nikon indeed made a mistake with this system, the 2.7x corp sensor is too small. It doesn't keep the size of the body + lens combination down all that much. The 30-110mm seems pretty small, but the 10-30mm is no smaller than the 14-42mm Panasonic X and the 10-100mm is huge.

The pancake is another problem, 10mm and f2.8 does not inspire confidence in low light situations or when shallow depth of field is desirable.

I see no market other than one created through the Nikon brand and heavy marketing.

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Canon 7D | EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS

It will be interesting to see the performance it gives in practice.

Still learning how this thing works being that I don't know much about mirror-less cameras.

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Nikon D40
18-55mm kit lens
55-200mm VR
50mm f1.8
quatary mono/tripod

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A couple of observations that are curious for me...the body dimensions are in fact larger on the V1 than either the NEX5N or Pen EP3, rather than smaller...even the 'smaller' J1 is larger than the NEX in 2 out fo 3 dimensions. You'd think if they're cutting the sensor to one half the size of the M4:3 sensor, they could have made the body smaller too?

With kit lens, the Nikon V1 is nearly as long as the NEX5, which was roundly criticized for the past year for being too large when the kit lens was attached. Total NEX dimensions with the 18-55mm kit are 4.37" wide by 2.32" high by 3.86" long. The V1 with kit lens is 4.4" by 3" by 3.4" long. It seems they could have developed much smaller lenses considering the much smaller sensor?

Note the proprietary accessory port, a la NEX, for flash/mic. Again something Sony was widely bashed for on the NEX model...interesting choice for Nikon?

As for why Nikon didn't join M4:3...did you ever consider that maybe Olympus didn't want Nikon to join and didn't allow it? Consider Nikon's considerable reputation and name-brand clout - people deciding whether they wanted to buy an M4:3 camera from Nikon, Olympus, or Panasonic...which do you think would be the best seller regardless of features or performance? Joe Consumer sees the Nikon name next to those other brands, and Nikon crushes Oly and Panasonic in sales.

And apparently Nikon didn't want to go with APS-C, for fear it might cannibalize their very healthy DSLR sales...so they went with an all-new sensor size and lens mount. While that part makes sense to me, and has the opportunity to bring unique advantages to the market...it doesn't seem at least yet like Nikon is taking advantage of it - slow lenses, few lenses, no super-telephotos, large bodies, and low on entry-level features. I could see it as a cheap and interesting wildlife camera for travelers - the ability to make reasonably small supertelephotos for daylight shooting, large depth of field...or the ability to make fast lenses that are much smaller than typical for F1.4, F1.2, etc.

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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
Sony NEX5N / 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 / 55-210mm F4-6.3 / Pentax K adapter / Konica K/AR adapter / bunches o' Konica & Pentax lenses!

Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

You just have to look at Leicas for mirror-less cameras, nothing new!!

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Mark Osborne
My life through an iPhone

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Quite a few people are praising the 2.7x crop factor as a boon for telephoto shots. I keep harking back to the more expensive Sony NEX-7 but the comparison is interesting.

NEX-7 Sensor: 23.5 x 15.6mm, 24.3 MP implies a pixel area of 15 μm²

V1 Sensor:...... 13.2 x 8.8mm, 10.1 MP implies a pixel area of 11.5 μm²

That might offer a low light advantage to the NEX-7 (reviews will determine whether that is true in practice) but when you work out the percentage difference in pixel height and width the V1 pixels are only about 14% smaller in each dimension so the suspicion is that the V1 will only offer an extra 14% of linear resolution over the NEX-7 if both are fitted with a lens of the same focal length. But the NEX-7, while achieving almost the same amount of detail, simultaneously offers a wider field of view.

The Nikon 1 will find a niche but I wonder how many keen forum members will react when they start drilling into the detail in the way I've just done? Maybe the motorised zooms and video capabilities will be the Nikon trump card?

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.