The Nikon V1 In My Shaky Hands

I finally got 'round to popping in to my local camera store this past weekend.  Unfortunately, I don’t do much business with them any more since I buy most of my stuff from B&H.  I wonder how long they’ll survive, but they always seem busy.

Anyway, I took the opportunity to take a quick look at the V1.  Despite its diminutive size, I was impressed by its heft and build quality.  The metal construction is quite impressive and says that this is a camera to be taken seriously.  The EVF is just fine and, at 1,440,000 dots, is state of the art.  The display is also top notch and is best in class at 921,000 dots.  Nice to look at and equal to my D700.  The V1 falls to hand quite nicely and the rounded edges are reminiscent of a Leica M3.  That’s the upside.

When Nikon set out to design the V1, it is clear that their target market was the compact camera user seeking to step up.  That is the downside.  The V1 is only slightly larger than a compact and, although I don’t have big hands, that was a problem for me.  The controls seemed positively minuscule, so much so that I never tried to use them.  Another irritant was the power button.  It is flush with the top plate and it took me several pokes to turn the darn thing off.  I never could figure out the best way to grip the little devil, although I tried several different ways.  The lack of a hand grip doesn’t help matters either.

I am sure that there are people out there that will adore the V1.  Kirk Tuck sure seems to like his.  I feel that for all its strengths, and there are many, the V1 is a little bit too compact for me.  Sigh.