Article on Nikon 1 J1: Brand new Nikon Mirroless Dslr cameras
The Nikon 1 J1 is usually a stylish compact system camera featuring a 10-megapixel “CX” format sensor and also the all-new Nikon 1 lens mount. Boasting continuous shooting speeds as much as 60 frames per second at full resolution, Full HD video capture, an ultra-fast hybrid auto-focus system, Smart Photo Selector along with a unique Motion Snapshot Mode, the portable Nikon J1 also offers more conventional shooting modes like Programmed Auto, Aperture and Shutter Priority, and also Metered Manual. Also aboard is often a built-in pop-up flash which has a guide amount of 5, a 3 inch rear display plus an electronic shutter. Priced at $649.95 / 549.99 having a 10-30mm contact lens, $699.95 / 599.99 using a 10mm pancake lens, or $799.95 / 699.99 within a double-lens kit with all 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 mainly created from aluminium with magnesium alloy reinforced parts and it is therefore heavier than you would think depending on its size alone, weighing in at 234g for your body only. Furthermore, it feels better quality as opposed to official product shots maybe have you believe. With the essentially grip-less design, the Nikon J1 is incredibly much a two-handed affair that really needs that you support the camera’s weight inside the left-hand, clutching the lens, and use your right hand for balance and operating the controls. This is certainly an excellent the way it makes you take note of holding the digital camera properly, which goes a considerable ways towards avoiding shake-induced blur as part of your photos.
The camera’s clean, minimalist front plate is dominated by the all-new Nikon 1 lens mount. As opposed to as a scaled-down version on the traditional F mount, it’s really a completely new design providing you with 100% electronic communication involving the attached lens along with the camera body, due to twelve contacts. Just like for the manufacturer’s F-mount SLR cameras, there is a white dot for convenient lens alignment, eventhough it has moved from your 2 o’clock position (when viewed front on) up in the mount. The lenses themselves use a short silver ridge within the lens barrel, which should be in alignment with said dot to ensure that you be able to attach the lens for the camera. Even though this might require a little becoming accustomed to, this process makes changing lenses quicker and much easier.
Without lens attached, you can view the sensor sitting directly behind the plane of the bayonet mount. Just like the mount itself, the sensor is brand new. Measuring 13.2×8.8mm this “CX” format imaging chip has double the surface of the largest imagers found in compact and bridge cameras such as Fujifilm X10 and S100FS, but only most the location of the standard Four Thirds sensor. In linear terms, a Four Thirds chip incorporates 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 around 2.72, which means that a 10mm lens has approximately a similar angle of view as being a 27.2mm lens by using 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 when it comes to its angle-of-view range.
Other Nikon J1’s faceplate is actually empty, featuring merely the lens release, a receiver for your optional ML-L3 infrared handy remote control, two narrow slits with the microphone both sides on the lens, plus an AF assist/self-timer lamp. There isn’t any grip in any respect for the front with the Nikon 1 J1.
There’s 2 means of powering on the Nikon 1 V1. You can either use the on/off button sitting next to the shutter release or, for those who have a collapsible-barrel standard zoom lens attached, you can easily press the unlocking button on the lens barrel and turn the zoom ring to unlock the lens, an act that creates the camera to exchange on automatically. This is an ingenious solution as you need to unlock the lens for shooting anyway. Start-up takes just over an extra - absolutely nothing to write home about however decent and entirely adequate.
It is possible to frame your shots utilizing the rear screen - there is no electronic viewfinder as about the V1 model, an essential difference between the 2 main. The LCD screen is usually a three-inch, 460,000-dot display that boasts wide viewing angles, great definition and accurate colours only so-so visibility in strong daylight. We missed the EVF while using the J1 alongside the V1, in bright sunlit conditions or aided by the 30-110mm telezoom lens as holding you up to eye-level helped to stabilise the lens and get away from trembling camera.
The control layout is very peculiar. The Nikon 1 J1 incorporates a small, rear-mounted mode dial that lacks almost all of the shooting modes which are usually available on similar dials - particularly P, A, S and M - though it has enough room to support them. These modes can be obtained for the J1 and you should dive into the rather long-winded instead of entirely logical menu to locate them. The J1’s mode dial has only four settings, Photo, Video, Motion Snapshot and Smart Photo Selector. The four-way controller also has four functions mapped onto its Up, Right, Down and Left buttons; including AE/AF-Lock, exposure compensation, flash mode and self-timer, respectively. Even though this isn’t a bad range of functions, the truth that there isn’t a ISO button will doubtlessly cause a wide range of photographers serious about getting the Nikon J1 to become unhappy.
There is a button for the rear labelled “F” but alas, it is not a programmable function button. In Photo mode, it lets you quickly choose from the continuous shooting modes, when it is in Video mode it helps you to toggle between regular and slow-motion recording. The two main more essential controls on the back of the camera, together with a scroll wheel round the four-way pad and a rocker switch marked which has a loupe icon. The scroll wheel is utilized to create the shutter speed in Manual and Shutter Priority modes (when you have found them inside the menu, that may be), while the rocker switch controls the aperture. The reason why it has a loupe icon next to it is that this control can be used to zoom in by using an image to check for critical focus in Playback mode. Last of all, there are four small buttons around the navigation pad, flush against the rear panel from the camera, including Display Mode, Playback, Menu and Delete.
So what on earth are the types shooting modes around the mode dial about? The Photo or Still Image mode, marked using a green camera icon, is to should be quite often. While using mode dial set to this position, you may pick your required exposure mode through the menu. The Nikon J1’s Scene Auto Selector is a brilliant auto mode the place that the camera analyses the scene when in front of its lens and picks what it really thinks could be the right mode for that exact scene. You may also find out in the conventional PASM modes, which supply you with full menu access as well as the power to manually set the aperture, shutter speed, or both (Program AE Shift is available in P mode). ISO and white balance may also be manually selected, only through the menu, as mentioned above.
Of course there’s AWB and auto ISO also, with the latter to arrive three flavours (Auto 100-400, 100-800 or 100-3200) enabling you to specify how high you wish the digital camera to travel when the light gets low. You can also pick from three AF Area modes, including Auto Area, the location where the camera takes control over what it really focusses on (this is simply not a fantastic mode to possess since your default as being the camera obviously can’t read your head and might consentrate on something different than your actual subject); Single Point, where you can make among 135 AF points frist by hitting OK after which moving the active AF point across the frame while using the four-way pad; and Subject Tracking, where you pick your subject, press OK and let you to follow that subject since it moves around, as long as it does not leave the frame needless to say.
The Nikon 1 J1 comes with an intriguing hybrid auto-focus system that combines contrast- and phase-difference detection likewise since the Fujifilm F300EXR did. This permits the Nikon 1 J1 to focus extremely quickly in good light, even on a moving subject. This company claims the Nikon 1 system cameras are the fastest-focusing machines in the world, and this also matches our experience - so long as there’s enough light. When light levels drop, the digital camera switches to contrast-detect AF which, though faster compared to most cameras, isn’t nearly as fast as another method. It certainly is you that decides which AF method to use - anyone does not have any relation to this.
Most of the time, the J1 will most likely only turn to contrast detection when light levels are low. In good light, there we were capable of taking sharp photos of fast-moving subjects. The Nikon J1 certainly will not disappoint here. Manual focusing is also possible, even though the Nikon 1 lenses will not have focus rings. In order to focus manually, you firstly have to hit the AF button, choose MF, press OK then makes use of the scroll wheel to modify focus. To assist you with this, the Nikon J1 magnifies the central portion of the image and displays a rudimentary focus scale on the right side of the frame - but those are definitely the only focusing aids you get. There isn’t any peaking function available as on some rival models.
The J1 comes with an electronic shutter (the V1 has an analog shutter). Itrrrs very silent (the attention confirmation beep might be disabled from the menu) and allows the use of shutter speeds as fast as 1/16,000th of a second and, using the Electronic Hi setting selected, allows you to shoot full-resolution stills at 60 fps. Note however that although it is a major achievement, it’s restricted by a buffer which could only hold 12 raw files. Additionally, the usage of this mode precludes AF tracking - you should lower the frame rate to 10fps if you want that -, plus the viewfinder goes blank even though the pictures will be taken. About the only application you can think about where shooting full-resolution stills at 60fps could really come in useful is AE bracketing for HDR imaging. At this rate, some 5 bracketed shots could be used a lot less than 0.1 second, rendering small movements that will otherwise pose alignment problems - like leaves being blown from the wind - a non-issue. Alas, the Nikon J1 isn’t going to offer this sort of feature - in reality it does not offer autoexposure bracketing in any way.
Getting to it mode, the Nikon 1 J1 has some pleasant surprises here. First and foremost, you can be set to shoot Full HD footage, therefore you even be able to pick from 1080p @ 30fps or 1080i @ 60fps, depending on whether you’d like to use progressive or interlaced video. If you do not need Full HD, there is also 720p @ 60fps, that’s really smooth but still counts as hi-def. Secondly, you get full manual treatments for exposure in video mode. It is deemed an option; you won’t have to shoot in M mode however, you can in the event that’s what exactly you need. Thirdly, you receive fast, continuous AF in video mode, and delay pills work well, particularly good light. Movies are compressed using the H.264 codec and stored as MOV files. You will find separate shutter release buttons for stills and video, and thanks to this - in addition to the massive processing power from the Nikon J1 - you are able to take multiple full-resolution stills even when recording HD video. This works the opposite way round too - you are able to capture a film clip regardless of whether the mode dial is in the Still Image position, merely by pressing the red movie shutter release. We’ve found out that in this instance the digital camera will forever record film at 720p/60fps.
In addition to being competent at shooting regular movies in HD quality, the Nikon 1 J1 may also shoot video at 400fps for slow-motion playback. The resolution is less and also the aspect ratio is surely an ultra-widescreen 2.67:1, though the quality is adequate for YouTube, Vimeo etc. These videos are played back at 30fps, which is a lot more than 13x slower compared to capture speed of 400fps, permitting you to get creative and display to the world numerous interesting phenomena that happen too quickly to see instantly. The Nikon J1 goes even more by giving a 1200fps video mode, but the resolution and overall quality is just too poor for that being genuinely useful.
Another icon for the mode dial means Smart Photo Selector. This feature allows the camera to capture at least 20 photos in a single press with the shutter release, including some that were taken before fully depressing the button. You analyses the consumer pictures in the series and discards 15 of those, keeping only the five which it thinks should be with regard to sharpness and composition. This feature could be genuinely useful when photographing fast action and fleeting moments.
Finally, there exists a so-called Motion Snapshot mode the place that the camera records a concise high-definition movie - whose buffering starts at the half-press with the shutter release, so again includes events which had happened before the button was fully depressed - and also uses a still photograph. The movie as well as the still image are trapped in separate files however the camera can combine them in a single slow-motion clip with music. It’s fun but we can not really envision people applying this shooting mode frequently. (In the event you view the video over a computer, it’ll play back at normal speed, without sound, this mode is absolutely only interesting should you observe the clip in-camera or hook you up to an HDTV via an HDMI cable.)
The Nikon J1 stores photos and videos on SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards, and props up fastest UHS-I speed class. The digital camera operates on a reduced EN-EL20 battery to the V1 your government, and it is consequently able to produce considerably less shots about the same charge, managing around 230, though it does help to produce your camera body smaller sized. The camera’s tripod socket is made from metal and is particularly found in line together with the lens’ optical axis. This too implies that changing batteries or cards isn’t likely as you move the J1 is placed on a tripod, as being the hinges in the battery/card compartment door are way too close to the tripod mount.
So, how did we like while using the Nikon 1 J1? On one side, we liked it a lot. In good light, its auto-focus strategy is indeed faster than pretty much anything we’ve used to date, the ability to track and lock give attention to numerous truly fast-moving subjects, and yielding a lot of sharp images in situations where our keeper rates haven’t ever been high. Additionally, its high-speed continuous shooting modes have allowed us to capture interesting moments that we’d have surely missed if we had used a slower camera. The built-in pop-up flash proved more useful the reason is modest guide number might suggest, with all the clever design minimising red-eye.
In contrast, the Nikon J1 have their own share of frustrating idiosyncrasies beginning with an individual interface that forces you to dive into your menu to gain access to functions as common as exposure mode, ISO speeds and white balance. While Nikon obviously cannot add extra buttons with a finished product, they might at the very least have the “F” button customisable via a firmware update. Also, nevertheless there is an avid button for exposure compensation - a good thing - I didnrrrt are able to activate an active histogram, community . would’ve made exposure compensation far more useful and easy make use of. Again, this might oftimes be fixed in firmware.
We also missed the V1’s smooth, high-resolution electronic viewfinder, especially in bright light or with the telephoto lens which does not lend itself well to being held out at arms length. The J1 just has a glass dust shield because it’s defense against unwanted debris, as opposed to the more proactive sensor cleaning unit which the V1 offers, and also the smaller battery shows that you’ll want to buy another one to get to the day’s heavy shooting. Deficiency of an accessory port implies that almost none of the Nikon 1 accessories are that will work with the J1, including the external flash and GPS unit.
Something else we failed to like could be that the camera would always show the image just taken for a couple seconds onscreen, so we wouldn’t try to turn this instant postview function completely off (while you can at least cancel it using a half-press of the shutter release). Finally, whilst the camera is mostly fast and responsive, the digital camera takes excessively long to get up from sleep mode if this is idle for quite a while, resulting in numerous missed shots.
All things considered, the Nikon 1 J1 can be a small, and compact, high-performance system camera that like its government might use a few tweaks to the graphical user interface to higher suit the requirements serious amateurs. The intended market you work in of casual users will enjoy it because of its sheer speed, built-in flash, compact size along with the fun features it gives you. Why don’t we now observe the Nikon 1 J1 fared in the image quality department.
Tags: j1, mirroless cameras, nikon, nikon 1, nikon 1 j1, nikon 1 v1, nikon cameras, nikon1, v1