Review Date: October 24, 2011
Category: Point-and-Shoot to Beginner Amateur
Photoxels Silver Award – Interchangeable Lens Camera
IMAGE QUALITY
The Nikon 1 V1 is targeted to point-and-shoot photographers though its feature set will also satisfy beginner and even serious amateur photographers. It features 10.1MP resolution (on a brand new CX-format 1.0-in. 13.2 x 8.8mm CMOS image sensor), interchangeable lenses using a new Nikon 1 mount, a high resolution EVF, a high resolution LCD monitor, Continuous Shooting at 5fps up to 60fps, and PASM shooting modes.
We find the overall image quality of the Nikon 1 V1 to be excellent at ISO 100 with low noise and good image detail. In fact, image quality is very good up to ISO 800 with low noise but slight detail loss. Noise starts to be visible at ISO 1600 but images are still very usable even at ISO 3200.
| 3.7x Optical Zoom | |
 |
 |
| Wide-angle 30mm (81mm, 35mm equivalent) |
Tele 110mm (297mm, 35mm equivalent) |
The Nikon 1 V1 accepts interchangeable lenses and I used the1 NIKKOR VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 here. Since the “crop factor” (focal length multiplier) is about 2.7x, this is really a 81-297mm (35mm equivalent) lens. In the pictures above, we show the coverage for 81mm (equiv.) and then 297mm (equiv.). The lens is optically image stabilized to help reduce camera shake at the long focal lengths.
Macro is a function of the lens attached. Here is a sample from the 1 NIKKOR 10mm (27mm equiv.) f/2.8 Pancake lens. There is no dedicated macro lens for the Nikon 1 System yet.
| Auto White Balance Indoors | |
 |
 |
| AWB | Custom WB |
As the above two pictures show, the Auto White Balance (AWB) is not quite accurate indoors under artificial lighting [I have two energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs on the ceiling]. The Nikon 1 V1 allows WB to be easily set manually and this brings out the real colors. AWB works very well in natural light.
| ISO Comparisons | |
 |
|
| ISO 100 | |
 |
 |
| ISO 200 | ISO 400 |
 |
 |
| ISO 800 | ISO 1600 |
 |
 |
| ISO 3200 | ISO 6400 |
You can set the ISO on the Nikon 1 V1 from 100 to 3200, plus the ability to “boost” to ISO 6400 equivalent. The 100% crops above (area delimited by the white square) demonstrate that noise at ISO 100 is under control. Noise starts to be visible at ISO 1600 but is still usable. At the higher ISOs, the presence of noise is visible at full image size and with visible loss of detail.
CA is not a problem in daily shots or very high contrast shots. In the above photo, the top left area delimited by the red square, and reproduced at 100% crop at bottom right, shows minimal purple fringing.
Our Long Shutter Speed test is a torture test for digital cameras. Here we test whether (and how well) a camera can lock focus, provide accurate WB and obtain a correct exposure in extreme low light situations. The Nikon 1 V1 passes this test with ease.
The Nikon 1 V1 allows the use of a long shutter speed of 30 sec. in M mode. This allows us to take some nice Night Shots. I used Manual mode, selecting shutter speed 30 sec. at F11 as the best exposure.
All in all, the Nikon 1 V1 delivers an excellent image quality performance when compared to point-and-shoot digicams.
View the Nikon 1 V1 Photo Gallery [In the Photo Gallery, click on the picture of the camera to return here.]
Next: Nikon 1 V1 Handling & Feel
