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The Nikon 1 J1 is often a stylish compact system camera having a 10-megapixel “CX” format sensor along with the all-new Nikon 1 lens mount. Boasting continuous shooting speeds all the way to 60 frames per second at full resolution, Full HD video capture, an ultra-fast hybrid auto-focus system, Smart Photo Selector as well as a unique Motion Snapshot Mode, the portable Nikon J1 even offers more conventional shooting modes like Programmed Auto, Aperture and Shutter Priority, as well as Metered Manual. Also aboard is a built-in pop-up flash having a guide volume of 5, a 3 inch rear display as well as an electronic shutter. Pricing $649.95 / 549.99 with a 10-30mm the len’s, $699.95 / 599.99 using a 10mm pancake lens, or $799.95 / 699.99 within a double-lens kit using the 10-30mm and 30-110mm zoom lenses, the Nikon 1 J1 is scheduled to take sale later this month.

The Nikon 1 J1 is generally made from aluminium with magnesium alloy reinforced parts and it is therefore heavier than what you know already according to its size alone, weighing 234g with the body only. Furthermore, it feels higher quality as opposed to official product shots would have you believe. With an essentially grip-less design, the Nikon J1 can be quite much a two-handed affair that requires you to definitely secure the camera’s weight within the left hand, clutching the lens, and rehearse your right hand for balance and operating the controls. This is certainly a very important thing because it makes you pay attention to holding the digital camera properly, which experts claim goes quite a distance towards avoiding shake-induced blur as part of your photos.

The camera’s clean, minimalist front plate is covered with the all-new Nikon 1 lens mount. Rather than like a scaled-down version of the ancient F mount, it’s actually a brand spanking new design that can offer 100% electronic communication involving the attached lens and also the camera body, for a dozen contacts. The same as on the manufacturer’s F-mount SLR cameras, you will find there’s white dot for easy lens alignment, eventhough it has moved in the 2 o’clock position (when viewed front on) to the top on the mount. The lenses themselves include a short silver ridge about the lens barrel, which has to be in alignment with said dot in order for you to definitely have the ability to attach the lens to your camera. Although this may necessitate a little becoming familiar with, this process makes changing lenses quicker and easier.

Without having lens attached, you will notice the sensor sitting directly behind the plane on the bayonet mount. Much like the mount itself, the sensor is brand new. Measuring 13.2×8.8mm this “CX” format imaging chip has twice the surface area of the most popular imagers used in compact and bridge cameras just like the Fujifilm X10 and S100FS, but only most the area of the standard Four Thirds sensor. In linear terms, a Four Thirds chip includes a 1.36x longer diagonal as opposed to Nikon CX imager. Considering that Four Thirds features a 2x focal length multiplier, the CX “crop factor” ends up to about 2.72, meaning that a 10mm lens has approximately the identical angle of view as a 27.2mm lens on an FX or 35mm film camera. The Nikon 1 Nikkor 10-30mm standard zoom is thus similar to a 27.2-81.6mm (or, practically speaking, 28-80mm) FX lens with regard to its angle-of-view range.

All of those other Nikon J1’s faceplate is actually empty, featuring exactly the lens release, a receiver for the optional ML-L3 infrared handheld control, two narrow slits for your microphone spare on both on the lens, plus an AF assist/self-timer lamp. There is no grip at all for the front of the Nikon 1 J1.

There are two strategies to powering on the Nikon 1 V1. You may either make use of the on/off button sitting next to the shutter release or, in case you have a collapsible-barrel contact attached, just press the unlocking button around the lens barrel and turn the zoom ring to unlock the lens, an action that triggers you to interchange on automatically. This is an ingenious solution since you need to unlock the lens for shooting anyway. Start-up takes just over an additional - not write home about but nonetheless decent and entirely adequate.

You can frame your shots while using rear screen - there is not any electronic viewfinder as for the V1 model, an integral distinction between the 2. The LCD screen is usually a three-inch, 460,000-dot display that boasts wide viewing angles, great definition and accurate colours but only so-so visibility in strong daylight. We missed the EVF with all the J1 alongside the V1, in a choice of bright sunlit conditions or with the 30-110mm telezoom lens as holding the digital camera approximately eye-level helped to stabilise the lens and prevent camera shake.

The control layout is very peculiar. The Nikon 1 J1 includes a small, rear-mounted mode dial that lacks a lot of the shooting modes which might be usually found on similar dials - such as P, A, S and M - even though it has enough room to accommodate them. These modes are available for the J1 nevertheless, you ought to dive into your rather long-winded and not entirely logical menu to seek out them. The J1’s mode dial merely has four settings, Photo, Video, Motion Snapshot and Smart Photo Selector. The four-way controller boasts four functions mapped onto its Up, Right, Down and Left buttons; including AE/AF-Lock, exposure compensation, flash mode and self-timer, respectively. Evidently this isn’t a bad collection of functions, the fact there isn’t a ISO button will doubtlessly produce a large amount of photographers interested in getting the Nikon J1 for being unhappy.

There’s a button around the rear labelled “F” but alas, this isn’t a programmable function button. In Photo mode, it lets you quickly choose between the continuous shooting modes, whilst in Video mode it allows you to toggle between regular and slow-motion recording. The two main more vital controls for the back in the camera, together with a scroll wheel about the four-way pad and also a rocker switch marked having a loupe icon. The scroll wheel can be used to create the shutter speed in Manual and Shutter Priority modes (when you have found them from the menu, that is), while the rocker switch controls the aperture. The reason why it’s got a loupe icon beside it’s that this control is employed to focus on an image to check on for critical focus in Playback mode. Last of all, you will find four small buttons around the navigation pad, flush up against the rear panel in the camera, including Display Mode, Playback, Menu and Delete.

So what on earth are the ones shooting modes around the mode dial exactly about? The Photo or Still Image mode, marked that has a green camera icon, is the place you may wish to be quite often. Using the mode dial set for this position, you can pick your required exposure mode on the menu. The Nikon J1’s Scene Auto Selector is a smart automatic mode when the camera analyses the scene before its lens and picks exactly what it thinks could be the right mode for that specific scene. It’s also possible to select one of the conventional PASM modes, which present you with full menu access and the ability to manually set the aperture, shutter speed, or both (Program AE Shift will come in P mode). ISO and white balance may also be manually selected, but only from your menu, as stated earlier.

Certainly there’s AWB and auto ISO likewise, together with the latter being released in three flavours (Auto 100-400, 100-800 or 100-3200) enabling you to specify how high you wish the camera to look in the event the light gets low. You can also select from three AF Area modes, including Auto Area, where the camera takes management of what it focusses on (it is not an incredible mode to obtain since your default as being the camera obviously can’t read your mind and will give attention to something different than your actual subject); Single Point, where you can pick among 135 AF points starting with hitting OK and then moving the active AF point round the frame while using the four-way pad; and Subject Tracking, that you pick your subject, press OK and permit the digital camera to monitor that subject since it moves around, providing doesn’t necessarily leave the frame needless to say.

The Nikon 1 J1 has a intriguing hybrid auto-focus system that mixes contrast- and phase-difference detection similarly as the Fujifilm F300EXR did. This gives the Nikon 1 J1 to target extremely quickly in good light, even over a moving subject. The corporation claims the Nikon 1 system cameras include the fastest-focusing machines on earth, which matches our experience - given that there’s enough light. When light levels drop, the camera switches to contrast-detect AF which, though faster than you are on most cameras, isn’t nearly as fast as the opposite method. It’s always your camera that decides which AF method to use - anyone has no relation to this.

Generally speaking, the J1 in most cases only use contrast detection when light levels are low. In good light, i was capable of taking sharp photos of fast-moving subjects. The Nikon J1 certainly does not disappoint here. Manual focusing can be possible, even though Nikon 1 lenses do not have focus rings. In order to focus manually, you initially need to hit the AF button, choose MF, press OK then utilize the scroll wheel to regulate focus. To be of assistance with this particular, the Nikon J1 magnifies the central section of the image and displays a rudimentary focus scale across the right side from the frame - but those will be the only focusing aids you get. There isn’t any peaking function available as on some rival models.

The J1 posseses an electronic shutter (the V1 has an analog shutter). It’s completely silent (the focus confirmation beep may be disabled from your menu) and allows the use of shutter speeds as fast as 1/16,000th of an second and, using the Electronic Hi setting selected, helps you to shoot full-resolution stills at 60 fps. Note however that while that is a major achievement, it’s tied to a buffer which could only hold 12 raw files. Additionally, the application of this mode precludes AF tracking - you must lower the frame rate to 10fps if you wish that -, plus the viewfinder goes blank as you move the pictures are increasingly being taken. One application we can think about where shooting full-resolution stills at 60fps could really prove useful is AE bracketing for HDR imaging. Only at that rate, a series of 5 bracketed shots could be consumed in lower than 0.1 second, rendering small movements that could otherwise pose alignment problems - like leaves being blown in the wind - a non-issue. Alas, the Nikon J1 does not offer such a feature - in fact this doesn’t offer autoexposure bracketing whatsoever.

Trying the recording mode, the Nikon 1 J1 has some pleasant surprises here. First and foremost, you is usually set to shoot Full HD footage, and also you even reach choose from 1080p @ 30fps or 1080i @ 60fps, determined by whether you prefer to help progressive or interlaced video. Should you not need Full HD, there is also 720p @ 60fps, that is really smooth nevertheless counts as high definition. Secondly, you get full manual treating exposure in video mode. This is an option; it’s not necessary to shoot in M mode however, you can if that is what you need. Thirdly, you will get fast, continuous AF in video mode, and delay well, especially in good light. Movies are compressed while using the H.264 codec and stored as MOV files. You’ll find separate shutter release buttons for stills and video, and due to this - as well as the massive processing power on the Nikon J1 - it is possible to take multiple full-resolution stills even while recording HD video. This works the opposite way round too - you’ll be able to capture a movie clip even if the mode dial is within the Still Image position, by simply pressing the red movie shutter release. We’ve found that in such cases you will forever record it at 720p/60fps.

And also capable of shooting regular movies in HD quality, the Nikon 1 J1 may shoot video at 400fps for slow-motion playback. The resolution is less plus the aspect ratio is definitely an ultra-widescreen 2.67:1, however the quality is adequate for YouTube, Vimeo and so on. These videos are replayed at 30fps, which can be in excess of 13x slower than the capture speed of 400fps, letting you get creative and display to the world an array of interesting phenomena which happen too soon to see or watch in real time. The Nikon J1 goes further by a 1200fps video mode, nevertheless the resolution and overall quality is too poor for the being genuinely useful.

Your third icon around the mode dial is short for Smart Photo Selector. This feature allows the digital camera to capture no less than 20 photos at the single press with the shutter release, including some which were taken before fully depressing the button. The digital camera analyses the average person pictures in the series and discards 15 of those, keeping the five who’s thinks might be best when it comes to sharpness and composition. This feature might be genuinely useful when photographing fast action and fleeting moments.

Finally, you will find there’s so-called Motion Snapshot mode the location where the camera records a concise high-definition movie - whose buffering starts at a half-press from the shutter release, so again includes events which have happened prior to the button was fully depressed - and in addition takes a still photograph. The film plus the still image are saved in separate files but the camera can combine them to a single slow-motion clip with music. It’s fun but we can’t really envision people by using this shooting mode frequently. (When you observe the video with a computer, it is going to play back at normal speed, without sound, which means you mode is absolutely only interesting should you view the clip in-camera or hook the digital camera as much as an HDTV via an HDMI cable.)

The Nikon J1 stores pics and vids on SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards, and supports the fastest UHS-I speed class. The camera operates on a reduced EN-EL20 battery to the V1 larger, which is consequently capable of producing even less shots on a single charge, managing around 230, though it helps to generate the camera body scaled-down. The camera’s tripod socket is constructed of metal and is found in line with all the lens’ optical axis. And also this means that changing batteries or cards isn’t likely as you move the J1 is placed on a tripod, since the hinges in the battery/card compartment door are so near the tripod mount.

So, how did we like utilizing the Nikon 1 J1? On one hand, we liked it a good deal. In good light, its auto-focus technique is indeed faster than virtually anything we’ve used thus far, having the ability to track and lock focus on a range of truly fast-moving subjects, and yielding plenty of sharp images in situations where our keeper rates haven’t ever been extremely high. Additionally, its high-speed continuous shooting modes have allowed us to capture interesting moments that we’d have surely missed whenever we had used a slower camera. The built-in pop-up flash proved more useful the reason is modest guide number might suggest, while using clever design minimising red-eye.

Conversely, the Nikon J1 has its own share of frustrating idiosyncrasies beginning from the consumer interface that forces you to dive to the menu to get into functions as easy as exposure mode, ISO speeds and white balance. While Nikon obviously cannot add extra buttons with a finished product, they might a minimum of make the “F” button customisable via a firmware update. Also, to find out a devoted button for exposure compensation - a advantage - I did not are able to activate an active histogram, community . would’ve made exposure compensation far more useful and simple make use of. Again, this can oftimes be fixed in firmware.

We missed the V1’s smooth, high-resolution electronic viewfinder, particularly bright light or aided by the telephoto lens which does not lend itself well to being held out at arms length. The J1 only has a glass dust shield since it is defense against unwanted debris, instead of the more proactive sensor cleaning unit how the V1 offers, along with the smaller battery shows that you will have to buy another that you get to the day’s heavy shooting. The possible lack of an accessory port signifies that almost none of the Nikon 1 accessories are works with the J1, including the external flash and GPS unit.

Another thing we wouldn’t like could be that the camera would always show the picture just taken a couple of seconds onscreen, and now we failed to find a way to turn this instant postview function completely off (although you can at any rate cancel it using a half-press of the shutter release). Finally, as the camera is mostly fast and responsive, the digital camera takes excessively long to wake up from sleep mode in the event it has been idle for a time, leading to many missed shots.

With that said, the Nikon 1 J1 is often a small, and compact, high-performance system camera they enjoy its larger can use several tweaks to the interface to higher suit the needs of serious amateurs. The intended marketplace of casual users will require to it because of its sheer speed, built-in flash, lightweight along with the fun features it gives you. We will now discover how the Nikon 1 J1 fared inside the image quality department.