I've had the Nikon 1 V1 for a couple of days with very little time to play with it. But of course, I did take a couple shots around home to try it out. So here are my first impressions.
Build quality: Nikon hit a home run here. The magnesium case just feels solid.
Design: I also have the the flash and GPS for the V1. Excellent and simple to use. My first thought was Steve Jobs would have approved.
Ergonomics: Using the camera menu system is little different than my old PEN system. Navigating the menus are just a different workflow than using the DSLR. Some of the reviews I read mentioned the desire for a PASM dial and though I wouldn't mind one, I'm used to it from the PEN. Another review mentioned accidentally hitting the dial moving between still and video - I've already done that. I can see that might be an issue.
Size: Now we're talking! Nikon received a lot of grief - some from me - for the CX format sensor. What I didn't realize is that it allows for great glass and a very small size. The 30-110mm (81-297mm equivalent) lens is about 60-70% of the size of my old PEN 40-150mm (80-300mm equivalent)!
(Left to right: Nikkor 70-300 VR, D300 with Nikkor 17-55 and SB-400, Nikkor 1 V1 with Nikkor 10-30 and SB-N5, Nikkor 30-110mm)
Let's go a liitle deeper to compare the focal lengths of the lens. The Nikkor 17-55mm is equivalent to 25.5-82.5mm in FX while the 1 Nikkor 10-30mm is equivalent to 27-81mm in FX. The Nikkor 70-300mm is equivalent to 105-450mm in FX while the 1 Nikkor 30-110 is equivalent to 81-297mm in FX.
I don't care about focal lengths if the lens don't perform. I took this image below, just to see how the system did with tough and variable light. I barely brought down the highlights in LR4 and enabled auto lens correction. Very reasonable result!
EXIF: Nikon 1 V1, 1 Nikkor 10-30mm @ 30mm, Aperture Priority, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO 200
Next I wanted to see if how or even if there was any sort of bokeh. Not too bad and I'm sure I'll get better with some more experimentation.
EXIF: Nikon 1 V1, 1 Nikkor 30-110mm @ 93.5mm, Program Mode, f/5.3, 1/60, ISO 200
The final example. I wanted to see how the focus did with color. I caught my dog against a similar color background to see how the separation and detail appeared.
EXIF: Nikon 1 V1, 1 Nikkor 30-110mm @ 110mm, Program Mode, f/5.6, 1/50, ISO 400
Like any new body, still a lot to learn. But I'm really enjoying that the image preview and menus feel comfortable and intuitive to a Nikon DSLR user.
Build quality: Nikon hit a home run here. The magnesium case just feels solid.
Design: I also have the the flash and GPS for the V1. Excellent and simple to use. My first thought was Steve Jobs would have approved.
Ergonomics: Using the camera menu system is little different than my old PEN system. Navigating the menus are just a different workflow than using the DSLR. Some of the reviews I read mentioned the desire for a PASM dial and though I wouldn't mind one, I'm used to it from the PEN. Another review mentioned accidentally hitting the dial moving between still and video - I've already done that. I can see that might be an issue.
Size: Now we're talking! Nikon received a lot of grief - some from me - for the CX format sensor. What I didn't realize is that it allows for great glass and a very small size. The 30-110mm (81-297mm equivalent) lens is about 60-70% of the size of my old PEN 40-150mm (80-300mm equivalent)!
(Left to right: Nikkor 70-300 VR, D300 with Nikkor 17-55 and SB-400, Nikkor 1 V1 with Nikkor 10-30 and SB-N5, Nikkor 30-110mm)
Let's go a liitle deeper to compare the focal lengths of the lens. The Nikkor 17-55mm is equivalent to 25.5-82.5mm in FX while the 1 Nikkor 10-30mm is equivalent to 27-81mm in FX. The Nikkor 70-300mm is equivalent to 105-450mm in FX while the 1 Nikkor 30-110 is equivalent to 81-297mm in FX.
I don't care about focal lengths if the lens don't perform. I took this image below, just to see how the system did with tough and variable light. I barely brought down the highlights in LR4 and enabled auto lens correction. Very reasonable result!
EXIF: Nikon 1 V1, 1 Nikkor 10-30mm @ 30mm, Aperture Priority, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO 200
Next I wanted to see if how or even if there was any sort of bokeh. Not too bad and I'm sure I'll get better with some more experimentation.
EXIF: Nikon 1 V1, 1 Nikkor 30-110mm @ 93.5mm, Program Mode, f/5.3, 1/60, ISO 200
The final example. I wanted to see how the focus did with color. I caught my dog against a similar color background to see how the separation and detail appeared.
EXIF: Nikon 1 V1, 1 Nikkor 30-110mm @ 110mm, Program Mode, f/5.6, 1/50, ISO 400
Like any new body, still a lot to learn. But I'm really enjoying that the image preview and menus feel comfortable and intuitive to a Nikon DSLR user.