I’ve kept up with the models of the Nikon 1 that have come along since I purchased my own V1 and J1s, and also with the reviews. One thing that I noticed is how few reviews talked about the value proposition of the small Nikon 1 CCD with its 2.7 multiplier. If you look at the Nikon 1 as just another compact mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras (ILCs) without considering the multiplier, you’re missing what I think is the compelling value of the system.
A given lens, say 300mm, throws the same image size no matter what camera it’s mounted on. The lenses are typically designed to work on a 35mm camera, whose frame size is 36x24mm. If you were to mount that lens on a digital camera with a full-frame CCD you’d get the same telephoto effect as with film. When you put a 300mm lens on a 35mm camera you have the low end of what would be called “long telephoto”.
Put the same lens on a camera with a smaller “APS-sized” CCD roughly two thirds the size, and the image is still the same size, but the CCD is smaller so only the center of the image is captured. That makes the camera appear to magnify the image. It doesn’t because the image never changes, but what is changed is how much of the image you capture. The smaller CCD “crops” the image in the camera just as you might crop it in LightRoom or Photoshop. The “crop factor” or “focal multiplier” of an APS-sized CCD (which is what’s on most DSLRs and ILCs) is about 1.5, so the 300mm lens behaves like a 450mm lens, which is definitely a long telephoto.
The Nikon 1 has a one-inch CCD, which gives it a 2.7 focal multiplier. That means that a 300mm lens on a Nikon 1 is equivalent to a whopping 810mm. Few amateurs, even earnest ones, could buy a lens that big. That’s a plus in itself, but consider the fact that if such a lens were available it would likely be a couple feet long and weigh seven or eight pounds. Most couldn’t carry it or hand-hold it, yet a Nikon 1 with a 300mm lens has the same magnifying power.
This shows the two benefits of the Nikon 1. First, you can buy a very powerful telephoto lens at a modest price because of the crop factor. Second, any given level of magnification is going to be achieved at about half the lens focal length and size on the Nikon 1 versus a standard APS-framed camera. You can carry the thing and even hand-hold it.
Suppose you want to do some super-wildlife telephotos. A single-focal-length (“prime”) lens of about 500mm might be considered a good overall choice, but of course wildlife sometimes is close and sometimes far away. Sigma and Tamron make nice 150-600mm zoom lenses that when mounted on an APS-framed DSLR give you about 225 to 900mm. That’s a nice range, but the combination is big and heavy to the point where many people simply can’t carry it and most probably can’t hand-hold it.
A Nikon 1 with a 70-300, as I indicated, gives you about 190-810mm, almost the same range, for about a third the weight. Put a Sigma 50-500 on a Nikon 1 and you have a 135-1350mm zoom that’s still lighter than a DSLR with the 150-600 lens.
The smaller Nikon 1 CCD doesn’t give you the high ISO and low noise that a larger CCD on another camera would give you. It gives you a much bigger crop factor, more telephoto magnification, lower cost for a given effective magnification, and less weight. You have to decide how you value that trade.