Nikon V1 Samples

No, I am not "sold" on the Nikon's 1 series, but ...

See some samples at dpreiew here.

Got $6,800.00?

Then this is the "enthusiast" camera for you.  More details here.

P.S.  Hire a "photo assistant" to carry it for you.

Blog Log

Our Policy on Vaporcams

As most of you probably know, Fujifilm announced a mirrorless interchangeable lens system the other day.  Well sort of.  There are almost no solid details and right now it's a vaporcam.  From this day forward I will not publish drivel about non-existent products.  Unless I have a spec sheet and some images forget it.  There are plenty of websites where you can get that information, just not here.  And if I sound like a curmudgeon so be it.  I am.   

Fall Color Vacation

Starting Tuesday, I will be incommunicado in the Great North Woods with my pal Bob Dylan.  Well at least his CDs.  Take care and more posts will be coming you way soon.

The Vacationing Curmudgeon 

Nikon 1 Series Considered Part 3

In Parts 1 and 2 I covered the main features of Nikon’s new 1 series, particularly the V1. But the 1 series are interchangeable lens cameras, so what about lenses?
 
The main disappointment is the there is no fast lens right out of the chute. Nikon introduced four lenses:

1 NIKKOR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 lens (27-81mm) with VR (Kit Lens)
1 NIKKOR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 lens (81-297mm) with VR US$250
1 NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8 pancake lens (27mm) US$250
1 NIKKOR 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 (27-270mm equivalent) power zoom with VR US$750

Each lens features a Silent Stepping Motor (STM) for AF and, other than the pancake, Nikon's VR II image stabilization technology.

In addition to these four lenses, Nikon also released the FT-1 F-mount adaptor which allows the camera to accept legacy F-mount lenses. Given the V1’s 2.7 crop factor, Thom Hogan noted some interesting possibilities. For example, when mounted on a Nikon 1 the 35mm f/1.8 DX becomes 90.5 mm, a workable portrait lens. Thom notes other interesting possibilities:

“The 40mm Micro-Nikkor, for example, is a 108mm equivalent on the Nikon 1. Wait, that's a lot like...OMG, it's a 105 macro! The 50mm f/1.8 (yes, I know, not DX, but a recent of-interest-to-DX-users lens) is a 135mm (though not DC ;~). True, we're still losing out on the aperture game, but it just seems like there are a lot of recent Nikkors that have come across my desk that seem somewhat interesting on the Nikon 1. Almost to the point where I might be more likely to carry a Nikon 1 along with my D7000 instead of a m4/3.”

At the introduction, Nikon also showed mock-ups of six additional lenses:

A portrait prime,
A Wide-angle zoom,
A High Power zoom,
A Super-telephoto zoom,
A macro.
And a pocket-sized normal zoom.

Thom Hogan has speculated about the following yet to come:
 
18mm f/1.4 (~50mm equivalent)
32mm f/1.2 (~85mm equivalent)
40mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor (~105mm equivalent)
60mm f/3.5 Micro-Nikkor (162mm equivalent)
7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 (20-35mm equivalent)
9-43mm f/2.8-5.6 (24-120mm equivalent)

So how can you envision the Nikon 1 V1 being used? The first thing that comes to mind is sports, from auto racing to football. Here’s an example from Thom Hogan:

“[C]onsider that you shoot for a sports Web site ... that you never post anything bigger than 800 pixels. Now put an 85mm f/1.4G on the Nikon 1 and go to your next event. You're shooting two stops faster than the 70-200mm guy and 52 frames per second faster. Say what? Could that be useful? You bet it could be.”

When I think of “fast” I also think of kids. The Nikon 1 seems like the perfect Daddy-cam. Set it up and go. The same holds true for kid’s sports. If the Nikon 1 has low noise, mount some fast F-mount lenses and you’re ready to shoot from the stands.

In theory, the Nikon 1 should be a superb tool for wildlife and bird photography. That 200mm now becomes a 540mm. Couple that with a 10fps frame rate and you’re good to go. Heck, even the NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR becomes an alternative to a 70-300mm.

Finally, my own personal interest would be Civil Was Reenactment photography. Like sports the action can be fast and with auto focus locked that 60fps frame rate will ensure that you’ll get that flame coming out of the cannon barrel. Besides that I won’t have near as much gear to lug around. I like that.

So, I’ll be paying close attention over the next few weeks to what the experts are saying. A very interesting camera indeed.

Nikon 1 Series Considered Part 2

In Part 1 I wrote about the V1’s LCD, EVF and sensor. Obviously, there’s more inside that black cube. Compared to the current crop of cameras, the V1 is clearly the speed demon and its engine is Nikon's new dual core EXPEED 3™ image processer. According to the Imaging Resources interview, EXPEED 3™ has two processing pipelines making it five times faster than the D3. If that weren’t enough, the D3 analog output has twelve lines. By contrast, the V1 twenty-four channels of digital output, not analog.
 
Next up on our tour is the V1’s hybrid autofocus system, the worlds fastest. The Nikon V1 features a hybrid autofocus system that can switch between phase detection (73-points) and contrast detection (135 points) to best suit the scene.
 
When it comes to more conventional measures of fast, the V1 is right up there. For sports and action users the V1 can shoot at a fast 10 frames per second (fps) with full adaptive auto focus. Not fast enough? Any scene can be captured at full resolution up to 60 fps (auto focus locked). According to Nikon, this is the world's fastest continuous shooting speed.

The V1 can be completely silent while shooting since it has both a mechanical and electronic shutter.

All this technology allows for some pretty neat features. The new sensor can produce Full HD movies up to 29 minutes at either 1080i (60 fps) or 1080p (30 fps). There are also additional 30/60/400 and 1200 fps modes. Another potentially useful feature is Motion Snapshot. If the photographer selects Motion Snapshot from the Mode Dial the result unites a frozen still image with a slow-motion movement set to a built-in audio soundtrack. Finally, we have the new Smart Photo Selector feature. The Smart Photo Selector mode uses the camera's pre-cache to start shooting and storing images. All of these images are analyzed and the best photo is selected based on a number of factors including exposure, focus and advanced facial recognition. While the camera suggests the best image, five frames are recorded, providing the user a choice.

Still not interested? In Part 3 we’ll look at the lens line-up and roadmap and explore what the 1 system might be used for.

Lens For Sale

I thought this was going to be titled "Lenses for Sale", but one sold immediately. But what I do have left is a classic. A Zeiss 35mm f/2 in Nikon mount. It is lightly used and in pristine condition.

Mike Johnston of The Online Photographer wrote about this lens here. If you want to take a look go here.