Review Date: October 24, 2011
Category: Point-and-Shoot to Beginner Amateur
Nikon 1 V1
Photoxels Silver Award – Interchangeable Lens Camera
USER’S EXPERIENCE
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 – Here’s what I receive in the box:
- Nikon 1 V1 (Black)
- No memory card [Nikon sent me a 2GB SD memory card for the review]
- Li-ion Battery EN-EL15 7.0V 1900mAh
- MH-25 Battery Charger with power cord
- Shoulder Strap
- USB Cable
- A/V Cable
- Body Cap
- Multi Accessory Port Cover
- Documentation: QuickStart Guide, Owner’s Manual
- Software CD: Reference Manual, Nikon ViewNX2
I also received 3 lenses for the review (the first two came as kit lenses in the box):
- 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 (35 mm equivalent: 27-81 mm)
- 1 NIKKOR VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 (35 mm equivalent: 81-297 mm)
- 1 NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8 Pancake (35 mm equivalent: 27 mm)
Point–and-shoot simplicity First impressions when you pick up the Nikon 1 V1 is that it looks good, serious and has a nice heft to it that speaks of quality construction. Once you start using it, it does not disappoint, capturing focus easily and quickly, and with no practical shutter lag. Everything rotates, clicks and toggles as it should and the V1 is quite intuitive to use.
From the front, the design looks almost like a handsome Leica X1 with all rounded top edges. But the back looks like a different camera has been bolted on, spoiling the design a bit. The camera is as thick as existing compact mirrorless even though it’s using a smaller sensor and does not have a tiltable LCD. If we don’t take the EVF into consideration, the V1 is about 33mm thick. It is interesting to note that the focal plane is only about 15mm from the front of the lens mount, so there’re lots of electronics crammed into the space behind the sensor.
In use the Nikon 1 V1 works as expected, that is very well. There are not too many buttons to confuse the beginner and in fact the layout looks just like that of a P&S digicam: straightforward and no frustration. The MENU itself is laid out simply and the only quibble I have here is that you need to press OK to select an option. I am used to simply select it with the cursor and then when I navigate back one level, the selected item is set. On the V1, you must go that extra click to press OK and then navigate back one level. It’s probably safer for beginners to require a definite OK click, so I’m cool with that.
I am surprised that the LCD does not tilt or swivel. All LCDs should at the very least tilt up so shooting can be more comfortable.
I did not think I would ever say this, but I am also surprised that the LCD is not touchscreen. A good touchscreen implementation is simply so much more intuitive and negates the need for many space-occupying and potentially confusing control buttons. Scrolling thru pictures, enlarging a picture, setting the focus where you want on the screen… it’s all faster and more intuitive.
All the buttons, dials and levers work well and you won’t get frustrated because they are too small or unresponsive. Nikon simply does a great job here. In fact, the whole camera breathes quality construction. The Multiport Accessory Cover slips out [too] easily but it has never come out inadvertently and I’ve never lost it. However, once you start taking it off to attach a flash or other accessory, there’s no place to safely keep it.
The lack of a built-in flash is another surprising omission. Other camera manufacturers who made the mistake of introducing a compact mirrorless without built-in flash have been taken to task and you’d think that Nikon would have learned from this.
To its credit, Nikon includes a built-in high resolution electronic viewfinder.
There are 3 AUTO ISO settings you can select from in the MENU: A400 (100-400), A800 (100-800) and A3200 (100-3200). I ran some tests and I believe the camera may be using the rule of thumb of using the reciprocal of the focal length to decide which the shutter speed (and then ISO) to set (taking into consideration a 3 stop gain when using the optical image stabilization). I am not sure this is such a good idea since that rule of thumb does not apply to everyone and some, like me for instance, need a faster shutter speed to avoid camera shake.
Image quality is very good for the target market though it trails slightly the compact mirrorless with larger sensors. The bottom line though is that the V1 meets all the shooting needs for point-and-shoot photographers as far as image quality and low light capability are concerned. Advanced photographers have access to PASM, ISO, WB, etc. via the MENU though Auto Bracketing is misssing and no customizable button is provided.
No review is complete without a couple of improvement suggestions:
- Quick Menu button. The F (Feature) button is not doing much and should be upgraded to a more useful Quick Menu button [easily upgraded via a firmware update ].
- Tiltable LCD. The convenience of a tiltable or swivel LCD is priceless.
- Both the EVF and LCD display should gain up in low light. Otherwise, taking pictures at night is extremely difficult.
- Include a built-in flash.
In summary, the Nikon 1 V1 succeeds as a compact mirrorless targeted to point-and-shoot photographers. It’s well built and Nikon does not seem to have spared any expenses in designing this new system. For all practical purposes, it’s a P&S camera with interchangeable lenses, better image quality and very good low light capability. All in a form factor that is smaller and lighter than an entry-level DSLR. Recommended.
Next: Nikon 1 V1 QuickFact Sheet / Buy