Writeup on Nikon 1 J1: Brand new Nikon Mirroless Cameras
The Nikon 1 J1 is a stylish compact system camera with a 10-megapixel “CX” format sensor and also the all-new Nikon 1 lens mount. Boasting continuous shooting speeds up to 60 frames per second at full resolution, Full HD video capture, an ultra-fast hybrid auto-focus system, Smart Photo Selector and a unique Motion Snapshot Mode, the portable Nikon J1 also offers more conventional shooting modes like Programmed Auto, Aperture and Shutter Priority, along with Metered Manual. Also up to speed is usually a built-in pop-up flash that has a guide number of 5, a 3 inch rear display plus an electronic shutter. Charging $649.95 / 549.99 that has a 10-30mm zoom lens, $699.95 / 599.99 having a 10mm pancake lens, or $799.95 / 699.99 within a double-lens kit while using 10-30mm and 30-110mm zoom lenses, the Nikon 1 J1 is scheduled to take a sale later this month.
The Nikon 1 J1 is generally constructed from aluminium with magnesium alloy reinforced parts and is particularly therefore heavier than what you know already according to its size alone, weighing in at 234g for your body only. Furthermore, it feels higher quality compared to the official product shots would have you believe. By having an essentially grip-less design, the Nikon J1 is extremely much a two-handed affair that needs someone to support the camera’s weight within the left-hand, clutching the lens, and utilize your right hand for balance and operating the controls. This is really the best thing the way it pushes you to take note of holding the camera properly, which goes further towards avoiding shake-induced blur within your photos.
The camera’s clean, minimalist front plate is dominated by the all-new Nikon 1 lens mount. Rather then like a scaled-down version on the ancient F mount, it is just a brand spanking new design that provides 100% electronic communication relating to the attached lens and the camera body, from 12 contacts. Just like about the manufacturer’s F-mount SLR cameras, there exists a white dot for simple lens alignment, while it has moved in the 2 o’clock position (when viewed front on) to the top on the mount. The lenses themselves include a short silver ridge around the lens barrel, which needs to be in alignment with said dot to enable you to be capable of attach the lens on the camera. While this may necessitate a little acclamating yourself with, it actually makes changing lenses quicker and easier.
Without any lens attached, you can see the sensor sitting right behind the plane in the bayonet mount. Such as the mount itself, the sensor is fresh. Measuring 13.2×8.8mm this “CX” format imaging chip has quantity surface of the largest imagers employed in compact and bridge cameras such as Fujifilm X10 and S100FS, but only most the vicinity of any standard Four Thirds sensor. In linear terms, a Four Thirds chip includes a 1.36x longer diagonal versus the Nikon CX imager. Considering the fact that Four Thirds includes a 2x focal length multiplier, the CX “crop factor” breaks down to to about 2.72, and therefore a 10mm lens has approximately a similar angle of view as being a 27.2mm lens by using an FX or 35mm film camera. The Nikon 1 Nikkor 10-30mm standard zoom is thus the same as a 27.2-81.6mm (or, practically speaking, 28-80mm) FX lens when it comes to its angle-of-view range.
Other Nikon J1’s faceplate is practically empty, featuring the lens release, a receiver to the optional ML-L3 infrared handheld remote control, two narrow slits for that microphone both sides with the lens, with an AF assist/self-timer lamp. There is no grip whatsoever within the front of the Nikon 1 J1.
There’s two means of powering for the Nikon 1 J1 and Nikon 1 V1. You can either make use of the on/off button sitting next to the shutter release or, if you have a collapsible-barrel the len’s attached, you can just press the unlocking button for the lens barrel and turn the zoom ring to unlock the lens, an act that produces the camera to switch on automatically. This is an ingenious solution because you require to unlock the lens for shooting anyway. Start-up takes just over an additional - not write home about however decent and entirely adequate.
You may frame your shots while using rear screen - there’s no electronic viewfinder as within the V1 model, a vital distinction between the 2 main. The LCD screen is a three-inch, 460,000-dot display that boasts wide viewing angles, great definition and accurate colours but only so-so visibility in strong daylight. We missed the EVF when using the J1 alongside the V1, in bright sunlit conditions or with all the 30-110mm telezoom lens as holding the digital camera nearly eye-level helped to stabilise the lens and avoid camera shake.
The control layout is very peculiar. The Nikon 1 J1 carries a small, rear-mounted mode dial that lacks a lot of the shooting modes that are usually found on similar dials - especially P, A, S and M - eventhough it has enough room to match them. These modes are available on the J1 and you must dive in the rather long-winded rather than entirely logical menu to find them. The J1’s mode dial merely has four settings, Photo, Video, Motion Snapshot and Smart Photo Selector. The four-way controller even offers four functions mapped onto its Up, Right, Down and Left buttons; including AE/AF-Lock, exposure compensation, flash mode and self-timer, respectively. Evidently this is not a bad choice of functions, the reality that there is absolutely no ISO button will doubtlessly cause a wide range of photographers interested in purchasing the Nikon J1 for being unhappy.
There exists a button for the rear labelled “F” but alas, it is not a programmable function button. In Photo mode, it enables you to quickly pick from the continuous shooting modes, while in Video mode it helps you to toggle between regular and slow-motion recording. There are two more important controls within the back of the camera, together with a scroll wheel round the four-way pad along with a rocker switch marked with a loupe icon. The scroll wheel is utilized to set the shutter speed in Manual and Shutter Priority modes (when you have found them from the menu, that is certainly), while the rocker switch controls the aperture. Precisely why it’s got a loupe icon next to it’s that it control is employed to focus on an image to check for critical focus in Playback mode. Lastly, you’ll find four small buttons across the navigation pad, flush from the rear panel on the camera, including Display Mode, Playback, Menu and Delete.
What exactly are shooting modes around the mode dial information about? The Photo or Still Image mode, marked which has a green camera icon, is to try and would want to be more often than not. With the mode dial set to this position, you can pick your desired exposure mode on the menu. The Nikon J1’s Scene Auto Selector is a great automatic mode the place that the camera analyses the scene in front of its lens and picks what it really thinks is the right way of that exact scene. You can also make a choice of the conventional PASM modes, which provide you with full menu access as well as the ability to manually set the aperture, shutter speed, or both (Program AE Shift comes in P mode). ISO and white balance can also be manually selected, but only through the menu, as mentioned above.
Certainly there’s AWB and auto ISO too, while using latter being released in three flavours (Auto 100-400, 100-800 or 100-3200) permitting you to specify how high you desire the camera to search if your light gets low. It’s also possible to select from three AF Area modes, including Auto Area, when the camera takes control of what it focusses on (it is not an excellent mode to own since your default since the camera obviously can’t read your mind and may even consentrate on something more important than your actual subject); Single Point, in places you can pick certainly one of 135 AF points by first hitting OK and then moving the active AF point about the frame while using four-way pad; and Subject Tracking, where you pick your subject, press OK and allow the camera to trace that subject as it moves around, so long as doesn’t necessarily leave the frame needless to say.
The Nikon 1 J1 posseses an intriguing hybrid auto-focus system that mixes contrast- and phase-difference detection similarly since the Fujifilm F300EXR did. This enables the Nikon 1 J1 to focus extremely quickly in good light, even on the moving subject. The organization claims the Nikon 1 system cameras include the fastest-focusing machines on this planet, and this also matches our experience - so long as there’s enough light. When light levels drop, the camera switches to contrast-detect AF which, though faster than on most cameras, isn’t nearly as quickly as another method. It really is your camera that decides which AF technique to use - an individual doesn’t have relation to this.
Most of the time, the J1 in most cases only make use of contrast detection when light levels are low. In good light, there we were able to take sharp photos of fast-moving subjects. The Nikon J1 certainly doesn’t disappoint here. Manual focusing is additionally possible, even though Nikon 1 lenses don’t have focus rings. If you want to focus manually, you initially must hit the AF button, choose MF, press OK and then use the scroll wheel to focus. To help you out using this type of, the Nikon J1 magnifies the central the main image and displays a rudimentary focus scale down the right side with the frame - but those will be the only focusing helps you get. There is no peaking function available as on some rival models.
The J1 comes with an electronic shutter (the V1 even offers a mechanical shutter). It is absolutely silent (the focus confirmation beep may be disabled on the menu) and allows the application of shutter speeds as fast as 1/16,000th of any second and, with all the Electronic Hi setting selected, permits you to shoot full-resolution stills at 60 frames per second. Note however that although this can be a major achievement, it’s on a a buffer that will only hold 12 raw files. Additionally, the use of this mode precludes AF tracking - you have to lower the frame rate to 10fps if you wish that -, as well as the viewfinder goes blank whilst the pictures are taken. One application we can consider where shooting full-resolution stills at 60fps could really be convenient is AE bracketing for HDR imaging. With this rate, a series of 5 bracketed shots might be consumed below 0.1 second, rendering small movements which could otherwise pose alignment problems - like leaves being blown within the wind - a non-issue. Alas, the Nikon J1 will not offer such a feature - in truth this doesn’t offer autoexposure bracketing in any respect.
Getting to it mode, the Nikon 1 J1 has some pleasant surprises here. Above all, the camera can be set to shoot Full HD footage, and you even reach select from 1080p @ 30fps or 1080i @ 60fps, determined by whether you want to use progressive or interlaced video. Unless you need Full HD, there is also 720p @ 60fps, which is really smooth and still counts as high definition. Secondly, you will get full manual control over exposure in video mode. It is really an option; it’s not necessary to shoot in M mode however you can in the event that’s things you need. Thirdly, you receive fast, continuous AF in video mode, and delay pills work well, particularly good light. Movies are compressed using the H.264 codec and stored as MOV files. You’ll find separate shutter release buttons for stills and video, and due to this - along with the massive processing power in the Nikon J1 - it is possible to take multiple full-resolution stills even when recording HD video. This works in reversed order too - you’ll be able to capture a motion picture clip regardless of whether the mode dial is with the Still Image position, by simply pressing the red movie shutter release. We’ve discovered that in cases like this the digital camera will invariably record the recording at 720p/60fps.
And also being able to shooting regular movies in HD quality, the Nikon 1 J1 can also shoot video at 400fps for slow-motion playback. The resolution is lower as well as the aspect ratio can be an ultra-widescreen 2.67:1, even so the quality is adequate for YouTube, Vimeo and the like. These videos are played back at 30fps, which is a lot more than 13x slower compared to the capture speed of 400fps, enabling you to get creative and prove to the world an array of interesting phenomena which happen straight away to look at instantly. The Nikon J1 goes even further by a 1200fps video mode, though the resolution and overall quality is way too poor for that for being genuinely useful.
The 3rd icon on the mode dial stands for Smart Photo Selector. This feature allows you to capture no less than 20 photos at a single press of the shutter release, including some which are taken before fully depressing the button. The digital camera analyses anyone pictures inside series and discards 15 ones, keeping just the five who’s thinks would be best when it comes to sharpness and composition. This feature can be genuinely useful when photographing fast action and fleeting moments.
Finally, there exists a so-called Motion Snapshot mode in which the camera records a shorter high-definition movie - whose buffering starts at a half-press in the shutter release, so again includes events which had happened prior to button was fully depressed - and also has a still photograph. The movie and the still image are stored in separate files but the camera can combine them right into a single slow-motion clip with background music. It’s fun but we can’t really envision people using this shooting mode regularly. (If you look at the video with a computer, it’ll play back at normal speed, without sound, so this mode is absolutely only interesting in the event you observe the clip in-camera or hook you nearly an HDTV by using an HDMI cable.)
The Nikon J1 stores photos and videos on SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards, and props up the fastest UHS-I speed class. The digital camera operates on a reduced EN-EL20 battery to its V1 big brother, and is also consequently capable of producing considerably less shots using one charge, managing around 230, while it helps to make the digital camera body scaled-down. The camera’s tripod socket is made from metal and is situated in line while using lens’ optical axis. This actually also implies that changing batteries or cards isn’t feasible as the J1 is attached to a tripod, as being the hinges in the battery/card compartment door are far too near to the tripod mount.
So, how did we love to utilizing the Nikon 1 J1? On one hand, we liked it a good deal. In good light, its auto-focus method is indeed faster than just about anything we’ve used until now, the ability to track and lock consentrate on a selection of truly fast-moving subjects, and yielding many sharp images in situations where our keeper rates never been extremely high. Additionally, its high-speed continuous shooting modes have allowed us to capture interesting moments that we’d have surely missed after we had used a slower camera. The built-in pop-up flash proved more useful the reason is modest guide number might suggest, using the clever design minimising red-eye.
However, the Nikon J1 have their own share of frustrating idiosyncrasies beginning with the person interface that makes you dive into the menu to access functions as basic as exposure mode, ISO speeds and white balance. While Nikon obviously cannot add extra buttons with a finished product, they can at least make “F” button customisable via a firmware update. Also, you will find a separate button for exposure compensation - the industry great thing - I didnrrrt find a way to activate an active histogram, even though it could have made exposure compensation much more useful and straightforward to make use of. Again, this may more likely fixed in firmware.
We also missed the V1’s smooth, high-resolution electronic viewfinder, particularly bright light or when using the telephoto lens which does not lend itself well to being held out at arms length. The J1 only has a glass dust shield since it is defense against unwanted debris, as opposed to the more proactive sensor cleaning unit the V1 offers, as well as the smaller battery implies that you’ll want to buy another anyone to get through a day’s heavy shooting. Lacking an accessory port ensures that almost none of the Nikon 1 accessories are compatible with the J1, including the external flash and GPS unit.
Something more important we didn’t like was that the camera would always show the image just taken a couple of seconds onscreen, and now we did not try to turn this instant postview function completely off (even though you can at any rate cancel it by using a half-press from the shutter release). Finally, as you move the camera is normally fast and responsive, your camera takes way too long to wake from sleep mode if this may be idle for a while, producing a number of missed shots.
All things considered, the Nikon 1 J1 is usually a smaller than average compact, high-performance system camera they enjoy its government are able to use some tweaks to its graphical user interface to increase suit the requirements of serious amateurs. The intended marketplace of casual users will enjoy it due to its sheer speed, built-in flash, compact size as well as the fun features it provides. We will now find out how the Nikon 1 J1 fared inside image quality department.
Tags: j1, mirroless cameras, nikon, nikon 1, nikon 1 j1, nikon 1 v1, nikon cameras, nikon1, v1