Thoughts on the Nikon V1?

sparkyphotogsparkyphotog Registered Users Posts: 20 Big grins
edited November 25, 2011 in Cameras
My teenage son has commandeered my Nikon D80 to use in his photojournalism class, and I'll probably let him keep it permanently. I'm stuck using my Sony piont-n-shoot, which is fine for now, but there are times I want to do things the Sony can't.

I really don't want to buy another DSLR, and I've been contemplating a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera for a while. I don't like lugging the DSLR around, but I often want more than the point-n-shoot can give me. When Nikon announced the 1 series, and the V1 in particular, it seemed right up my alley. I went to the camera store today to check one out, but all they had was J1. I played around with it and an Olympus PEN 2. I liked the Nikon better. Seemed easy to use and I figured out 90% of it in just a few minutes. The Oly felt better in the hand, but the menus and settings were somewhat comfusing. I'm also interested in the Panasonic GX1, but it's not in stores yet.

Just curious if anyone here shoots with a mirrorless system? Anyone have a Nikon 1 series yet? Any thoughts?

I appreciate the input. :D
Sparky

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

- A friend -

Comments

  • brianbbrianb Registered Users Posts: 96 Big grins
    edited November 16, 2011
    Here's some (fairly informal) reviews, seems pretty positive overall:

    Rob Galbraith:
    Nikon's J1 and V1 cameras and 1 Nikkor lenses

    Kirk Tuck:
    Nikon 1. Counterintuitive. Crazy. And a whole lot of fun.
    Nikon V1 part two. Wet performance.
    Just a quick post with a few more Nikon V1 observations.
    What a fascinating three days! High level conference imaging.

    Steve Huff:
    The Nikon V1 Camera Review – The camera I expected to hate!
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,119 moderator
    edited November 16, 2011
    Our user, "kygarden" has some first-person experience and image samples in this thread:

    http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=208547
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • sparkyphotogsparkyphotog Registered Users Posts: 20 Big grins
    edited November 17, 2011
    Thanks for the feedback everyone. I went and picked up a V1 this evening. I ended up with a defective unit. First off, when I unboxed it, all of the paper work and manuals were for a J1, not the V1 that was in the box. I went ahead and shot a few photos with it, and right away noticed a glaring horizontal line across every frame I shot. You can see it on my daughter's legs clearly in this photo (RAW converted to JPEG in Aperture, no adjustments) eek7.gif

    i-zq7FkRs-XL.jpg


    Needless to say, this puppy's going back to the store in the morning. :cry They had several in stock, so I hope to have a good unit to shoot with tomorrow. More to come...
    Sparky

    "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

    - A friend -
  • 1KIND1KIND Registered Users Posts: 6 Beginner grinner
    edited November 18, 2011
    I want to V1 myself but I don't know if I want to spend $900+ when I already have my D7000. I definitely want a smaller camera to replace my Canon SD1000 point and shoot. I may wait for the 2nd generation as the first tends to have problems. Something early adopters get screwed in.
  • borrowlenses.comborrowlenses.com Registered Users Posts: 441 Major grins
    edited November 18, 2011
    We're working on a review of our own. Initial impressions are that image quality is better than we anticipated, but it still seems too expensive for what you get.
    http://www.BorrowLenses.com
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  • IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited November 18, 2011
    sparkyphotog wrote: »
    Thanks for the feedback everyone. I went and picked up a V1 this evening. I ended up with a defective unit. First off, when I unboxed it, all of the paper work and manuals were for a J1, not the V1 that was in the box. I went ahead and shot a few photos with it, and right away noticed a glaring horizontal line across every frame I shot. You can see it on my daughter's legs clearly in this photo (RAW converted to JPEG in Aperture, no adjustments) eek7.gif
    Needless to say, this puppy's going back to the store in the morning. :cry They had several in stock, so I hope to have a good unit to shoot with tomorrow. More to come...

    What a PITA. Thanks for being a Beta Tester :D.
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
  • kygardenkygarden Registered Users Posts: 1,060 Major grins
    edited November 19, 2011
    ziggy53 wrote: »
    Our user, "kygarden" has some first-person experience and image samples in this thread:

    http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=208547

    Yep. I really like mine. No trouble with it at all. I have quite a few more photos in my V1 gallery now.

    http://www.openbloom.com/GEAR-Etc-1/Nikon-1-V1/19648888_Nn5D4F
    https://www.thephotographyhobbyist.com/
  • SamirDSamirD Registered Users Posts: 3,474 Major grins
    edited November 24, 2011
    I saw the initial announcement on this, but wasn't impressed with Nikon going the route of a proprietary micro system when the micro 4/3rds system already exists. ne_nau.gif
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  • ThatCanonGuyThatCanonGuy Registered Users Posts: 1,778 Major grins
    edited November 24, 2011
    SamirD wrote: »
    I saw the initial announcement on this, but wasn't impressed with Nikon going the route of a proprietary micro system when the micro 4/3rds system already exists. ne_nau.gif

    Nikon isn't part of m4/3, AFAIK. However, the Nikon 1 is a serious presence in the market.
  • SamirDSamirD Registered Users Posts: 3,474 Major grins
    edited November 25, 2011
    ThatCanonGuy wrote: »
    Nikon isn't part of m4/3, AFAIK. However, the Nikon 1 is a serious presence in the market.
    And why did they do that? Nikkor lenses in the m4/3 market would help them and having a body that people could change to and keep their current investment of lenses would've made sense too. ne_nau.gif
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  • ThatCanonGuyThatCanonGuy Registered Users Posts: 1,778 Major grins
    edited November 25, 2011
    They'd have to join Panasonic and Olympus. Sony, Samsung, and Fuji went their own separate ways... I guess Nikon wanted to as well. They announced an adapter that lets you use Nikon 1 lenses on F mount cameras. Maybe they wanted to do that.
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,119 moderator
    edited November 25, 2011
    SamirD wrote: »
    And why did they do that? Nikkor lenses in the m4/3 market would help them and having a body that people could change to and keep their current investment of lenses would've made sense too. ne_nau.gif

    Nikon has a pretty long tradition of using "proprietary" components in their photographic lines. Joining an older consortium of an established standard just doesn't fit their "style", for whatever reason. (Nikon also never licenses their technology to other companies, beyond exposing "part" of their lens connection and flash connection mechanical specifications and electrical/electronic protocols.)

    If anything, I see the Nikon "1" system and Pentax "Q" systems as loosely competing. Between those 2 systems, the Nikon 1 system is the preferable to me, for a number of reasons.
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,119 moderator
    edited November 25, 2011
    ThatCanonGuy wrote: »
    ... They announced an adapter that lets you use Nikon 1 lenses on F mount cameras. Maybe they wanted to do that.

    ?

    Wasn't it the other way around?
    http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Lens-Adapters/3613/FT1-Mount-Adapter.html
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • ThatCanonGuyThatCanonGuy Registered Users Posts: 1,778 Major grins
    edited November 25, 2011
    ziggy53 wrote: »
    ?

    Wasn't it the other way around?
    http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Lens-Adapters/3613/FT1-Mount-Adapter.html

    Yeah, that's what I was thinking of. Sorry about that.
  • jheftijhefti Registered Users Posts: 734 Major grins
    edited November 25, 2011
    My daughter asked for one the other day. Knowing nothing about it, and being a Canon shooter, I did a bit of research. My overall take is that it is a lot of money for what it is. I suppose of one's subject interest was helped by having a small body--e.g. candid portraiture or backpacking--this might be desirable. Aside from these uses, it seems like a lot of money.
    http://johnhefti.com/
  • SamirDSamirD Registered Users Posts: 3,474 Major grins
    edited November 25, 2011
    jhefti wrote: »
    My overall take is that it is a lot of money for what it is.
    That was my takeaway from it as well.

    The proprietary slant makes sense for sure. I wasn't aware that Sony, et al had already done that, so they're just another player in the market now.
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