I just got back from 10 days on the west coast in the San Diego area, and for the first time on a trip I didn’t take a big Nikon DSLR, I tool my new Nikon 1 V1 model instead. My wife also took a Nikon 1 (the J1) so we had a good opportunity to test the camera out in field conditions.
My primary reason for picking the Nikon 1 over other mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras was the FT-1 adapter that lets you mount standard Nikon lenses on the little guy. Given that it has a 2.7x focal multiplier, the results of the combination of the Nikon 1 and a big Nikon FD glass can be striking. Linda went with the J1 because she’s used to a non-viewfinder camera and wanted to stay generally compatible with mine simply so we could learn the ropes in tandem. She doesn’t have (and doesn’t want) an FT-1 so her experience was based on the two common kit lenses, the 10-30mm and the 30-110mm. I took my 17-55 ED and my Sigma 185mm EX Macro. Both of us shot in Raw mode for our trip.
Within a day or so, we both realized that the photos from the Nikon 1 were exceptional. Both these models are 10 megapixel cameras, matching the Nikon D200 that I hoped to replace, and while Linda actually had more resolution on her older Canon model the images captured by the Nikon 1 were visibly superior. She was able to zoom all the way out to 110 mm (which is 297mm in 35mm terms) without jitter and the image quality at 110 was very good. I found that the 17-55 (46-149) was a great walkaround lens, though people did tend to stare a bit at the big DSLR glass on the white Nikon 1 body.
The 185mm Sigma macro lens was a real revelation. This lens is a 500mm macro on the Nikon 1, if you can imagine such a thing. You could take pictures of the center of a flower at six foot distance with it, and image quality was really good here too.
So does this mean the Nikon 1 is as good as a DSLR like my favorite D7000? No, it’s not. It is a better camera, in terms of image quality, ISO, digital noise, etc. than the D200 and so for sure it’s my new second-walkaround on adventure travel. I normally keep the D7000 with the 80-400VR in a holster on the right side and the D200 with the 17-55 on the left. The D200 is now staying home and the Nikon 1 is going in its place. But the D7000 is still my primary wildlife camera. Even given that, there are a few things I wish worked differently on the Nikon 1.
The primary issue I had with the Nikon 1 was the fact that the ISO being selected by Auto-ISO wasn’t shown at all on the shooting display; you have to review the picture to see it. My readers will recall that I set the D7000 for Manual model with auto-ISO, and I found that was best for the Nikon 1 as well (Linda, after some experimenting, followed suit with her J1 too). The problem is that you can end up with a very high ISO setting on a shot simply because you’ve arbitrarily (or accidentally) chosen a faster shutter or slower lens opening, and you won’t see it until you review the picture. It’s not a crippling problem because even at ISO 3200 the noise is well inside what my Nik Dfine filter can handle in Photoshop. It’s still annoying.
The secondary issue I had was that exposure compensation doesn’t work in manual mode. The Nikon 1 has an easy and handy way of dialing in compensation, but if you’re in M mode the mechanism is disabled, apparently because somebody thought you wouldn’t need it. Wrong. You don’t need exposure compensation in M mode if you set a fixed ISO, but with auto-ISO set it’s very valuable, particularly if you’re shooting backlit subjects.
Leaving the “issues” for some “findings”, I did notice that autofocus was much better on the 17-55, which has high-speed focusing, than on the Sigma 185 macro which does not. Not only did the focus on the Sigma take longer, it was also less positive. In some cases, the camera would simply not autofocus at all and I had to override with manual to get it in rough focus before it would work. I notice some of this on the D7000 in low-contrast situations at high zoom levels, so I can’t call it a camera issue. Next trip, I’ll test the Sigma 70-200 EX HSM, which should focus faster.
Noise at higher ISOs wasn’t a problem per se, but you do notice noise starting around ISO 720. It’s most pronounced when you have a featureless background like the blue sky, but it’s easily eliminated with Dfine. The noise performance was MUCH better than that of the D200 but not as good as with the D7000. Versus the D200, I found that at ISO 6400 I had subjectively less noise than with the D200 at ISO 1600.
Another “factor” is that you can’t support the Nikon 1 with a heavy lens using the camera tripod mount, you need to either use the mount on the FT-1 adapter or the lens collar (preferred). That means that you can’t use the neck strap with the heavy lenses, so if you don’t use a holster (I didn’t take mine to San Diego) the best strategy is to attach a strap via a screw adapter to the FT-1 adapter and sling it. I got a BlackRapid RS-7 strap and it worked fine, but when you sling the camera over the shoulder with the strap you have to be sure the lens faces forward. If not, the mode-switch on the back will rub against your body and set itself out of the desired position.
We couldn’t see any significant difference in image quality between the V1 and the J1 models, but there are obviously differences between the standard Nikon 1 lenses and the bigger glass mounted via the FT-1. Differences, but not radical ones. I think most people would be pressed to pick out the images without zooming in for a close view. If you’re trying to decide between the models, I think the most obvious point is the viewfinder on the V1. Those used to DSLRs and viewfinders will like the V1 better.
So my conclusion overall? I ordered ANOTHER V1! My camera kit for adventure travel will now be the D7000 with the 80-400VR, the Nikon 1 V1 with the 17-55, and the other V1 on the Sigma 500mm EX HSM. That combination will give me the 35mm equivalent of a 1350mm lens at f4.5. I also intend to take the 185mm Sigma macro. With regard to the 70-200 (which is 189-540) f2.8, I will have to wait to see how it performs and just what it gains me. Recall that the 80-400 is a 120-600 in 35mm terms so it has more flexibility; it’s only the aperture and focusing speed that might justify it. Or Linda might decide to get an FT-1 after all!