Where to begin..

Not my first experience with the Nikon 1 system, the Nikon 1 V3 had me intrigued so I pre-ordered the kit from Broadway Camera, Vancouver.

The general consensus is that the V3 kit is expensive, but when you consider what is in the box it doesn’t look overly so. So what is in the box, the V3 body, a 10-30mm F3.5/F5.6 power zoom which is new to the Nikkor 1 lens system, an external 2.359K dot EVF.  This is a departure from both the Nikon 1 V1 and V2 bodies which had the EVF built-in to the camera body.

I believe Nikon was looking to make a smaller modular package and they succeeded – something that would not have been possible with a built-in EVF.  Besides the world of photography has moved on and the need for a built-in viewfinder is rapidly changing as is the requirement it be an optical only viewfinder. I often see DSLR shooters using the Live View LCD rather than the optical viewfinder…go figure.

Nikon decided to get into mirror-less cameras with a clear decision not to impact their digital single lens reflex business. I believe that decision required a smaller sensor which is the heart of all digital cameras and to that end they came up with the so called CX 1”(13.2mm x 8.8mm) sensor which is about half the size of an APS-C sensor (23.5mm x 15.6mm) found in many Nikon consumer and prosumer level DSLR cameras. As a result the Nikon 1 CX sensor has a crop factor of 2.7. So if you want a 50mm equivalent on the V3 you buy the very capable 18.5mm F1.8 Nikkor 1.

So now we start the conversation about sensor size and no matter how hard I try to change the laws of physics in the case of camera sensors bigger is better. This is a point often made in popular photography Internet forums. However technology marches on and a 1” sensor of today is as good as many early APS-C sized sensors of the not so distant past.

Nikon choose to go with a 1” (13.2mm x 8.8mm) 18.5 MP sensor supplied by Aptina rather than the Sony 1” 20.1 MP sensor being used widely in the Sony RX series cameras. Of course everyone is jumping up down insisting the Sony sensor is better than the Aptina and Nikon should have teamed up with Sony – without giving any consideration to the potential that Sony may have said no to Nikon.

Of course image quality is all important and I believe represents about 60% of the decision making process in buying a digital camera so what about the other 40% (the rest of the package). The point being there is more to a digital camera than the sensor. Nikon is a big company and well entrenched in the camera business so count on the fact there is already a large amount of supporting accessories for the Nikon 1 system.

The Nikon 1 is of course an interchangeable lens camera system with it’s own dedicated mount but Nikon wisely makes available the ability to adapt F mount Nikkor lenses to the Nikon 1 CX mount.  The FT1 adapter allows for full auto focus with all F mount AFS Nikkor lenses and manual focus with non AFS lenses. That means access to a very large selection of lenses over and above the 13 lenses designed for the Nikon 1 system.

(A Nikon engineering plus  is keeping the Nikkor 1 lens package small. Nikon recently announced a Nikkor 1 70-300mm and it is considerably smaller than F mount 70-300mm.

I think this is a job well done and bodes well for the future of lenses for the 1 system. The 6.7-13mm (18-35mm on full frame) is tiny and I would say equally as good a performer as it’s F mount equivalent.)

On the accessory front Nikon choose to have a non ISO standard hot shoe and that excludes using the Nikon SB flashes on the Nikon 1 system, which is unfortunate and they should engineer and sell an adapter to reverse that decision. I am not holding my breath… They do sell two compatible flashes for the Nikon 1 system. Yet another bad decision is not to have a TTL off camera flash commander mode. (I believe it is all about protecting their core DSLR business but still feeling good about being in the mirror-less camera world.)

So how does the V3 stack-up? Beyond being the best of the three V series to date.

1. AF speed is simply the best implementation of PDAF/CDAF hybrid auto focus among it’s mirror-less peers. Focus tracking actually works, has fast shot to shot time.
2. Suburb ergonomics especially with the grip that comes in the V3 Kit.
3. Tilt flip screen, built-in flash, three control dials, and three function buttons.
4. Battery life is amazing and goes well beyond what the user manual indicates.
5. Not an (extreme) high ISO camera. 800 ISO is the limit. Not a large cropped image camera after all it is a 1” sensor.
6. No Exposure Comp in manual exposure mode which is unlike most other Nikon cameras.
7. Full touch screen functionality that is very responsive – and can be turned off.
8. 1080p 60fps HD Movie mode with a Mic Jack included.
9. Built-in Wifi that communicates with a smart phone or tablet.
10. The ‘Quick Menu’ is just that quick access to (some) key functions.
11. Image review can be turned-off (new to the V3).
12. Auto ISO for some strange reason goes from 160-400, 160-800, and 160-3200 ISO missing 160-1600 ISO which makes no sense.
13. Creative Modes have some unique to the V3 features. How useful they will be is up to the individual shooter.
14. Nikon chose to go with Micro SD memory cards keeping the package small. GoPro made the same choice and it has worked well for them.

In summary a staggeringly small fast (20 frames per second) camera system, with a 2.7 crop factor (small sensor when compared to APS-C or Full Frame).  A super interchangeable lens package that makes a great travel camera, and can deliver quality images.

If you are interested in images shot with the Nikon 1 V3 please check the two links below – both from my flickr site..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/streetfusion/sets/72157645037950726/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/streetfusion/sets/72157644628860557/

Written by Terry Cioni
Source link: http://terrycioni.net/2014/06/11/the-nikon-1-system-v3/