The Enterprise just passed by my apartment on its journey to the USS Intrepid, though it was only visible to me for a few seconds, I was sure to get some pictures. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to head out to get a better view.
Today was a perfect day for a trip to the New York Botanical Garden, and since I felt I needed a new iPad background, I decided to shoot with that in mind. All images were taken on a Nikon D7000 using the fantastic Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/4 AIS and edited on my favorite photo editing software, Filterstorm Pro. I cropped/scaled to 2048x2048 for retina display iPad goodness.
Note: this review is a work in progress and will be updated over the next few days with more images and details.
Battle lines have been drawn across the camera industry. Micro 4/3 cameras have been resounding successes, Sony is betting on tiny bodies with big sensors (and equally big lenses), and Pentax has its miniature Q. Canon and Fuji still have surprises in store, but with the J1 and V1, Nikon has finally shown its hand.
Nikon J1 with 10mm pancake and iPhone 4S
The J1 is tiny. By itself, the body is close in size to an iPhone 4/4S, but 3 times thicker. It feels significantly smaller than the Micro 4/3s cameras I’ve used, especially when taking the size of lenses into account. Even the Canon G12 is bigger than the J1 despite the Canon’s much smaller sensor. Nikon found a hole in the market, planted a flag, and claimed this newfound territory in their own name.
Nikon J1 with 10mm f/2.8 pancake
| Sensor Size |
13.2 x 8.8mm 0.52 x 0.35" |
|---|---|
| Sensor Diagonal | 15.9mm / 0.624" |
| Crop Ratio | 2.7 |
| Resolution | 3872x2592, 10.1MP |
| RAW File | 12-bit NEF |
| Shutter Speed | 1/16,000–30s |
| Frame Advance Rate | 5fps (manual exposure), up to 60fps (auto) |
| ISO Sensitivity | 100–3200 (6400 extended) |
| Autofocus | Phase Detect and Contrast Detect |
| Built-in Flash | YES |
| Hot Shoe | NO |
| 1 System Multi Accessory Port | NO |
| Battery | EN-EL15, rated 230 shots |
| Tripod Mount | 1/4" Aligned to lens center |
| Dimensions |
106 x 61 x 30mm 4.2 x 2.4 x 1.2" |
| Weight | 383g / 13.5oz with battery/memory card |
Nikon J1 with 30–110mm f/3.8-5.6
Nikon J1 with iPhone 4S
The white (it also comes in silver, red, pink, and black) part of the camera is metal, whereas the black on the back is plastic. The metal has a higher quality feeling to it than does the plastic, but in overall it doesn’t feel at all cheap.
The front of the J1 is simplicity itself, with just a single button to release the lens. The front also contains other necessary bits, the lens mount, an autofocus assist lamp, remote trigger IR receiver, and two microphones. The top has three buttons: power, shutter, and a video record button — which oddly only works if you’re in video mode (more on that later). The tripod mount on the bottom is properly aligned with the lens, but the battery cover is a bit flimsy. On one side, you’ll find HDMI and a USB port. I think audio-in as the V1 has would be more useful than HDMI.
The rear buttons in general are comfortably placed for my small hands, so long as the camera is being supported on the bottom by the left hand (which you should be doing anyway). If you hold it with only the right hand, you can shoot fine, but probably won’t be able to change settings.
Nikon J1 with Fuji X100
Nikon J1 with 10–30mm f/3.5–5.6
Autofocus is fantastic. In decent light when using phase detect, it’s as fast as a good SLR. Things slow down when it has to fall back to contrast detection, but it’s still best in class in terms of speed and accuracy.
Manual focus is okay. It’s controlled by a rotating dial on the back of the camera. It’s probably the best manual focus I’ve used that’s not a focus ring on a lens, but it’s still not as good as having a the real thing. Hopefully Nikon will release some lenses with focus rings, but I’m not holding my breath.
Nikon J1 Back
The back of the camera has a nearly useless mode switch with 4 options: video, still image, best shot selector, and the baffling motion snapshot. For some inexplicable reason, Nikon’s marketing department seems to be in love with the motion snapshot, but it just seems bizarre to me. The video mode option on the dial seems odd to me, too. There is a dedicated video recording button on the top of the camera, but it only works in video mode. It seems to me that the video button on top should simply take a movie with the current still image settings so that no special video mode is necessary. Please write in the comments if you can think of a good reason for Nikon to have done this. You can also take full resolution still images while recording a movie, which unlike the dedicated motion snapshot feature, I could see being useful.
Nikon J1 with 10–30mm f/3.5–5.6
If you want to switch between PSAM modes, you must do so through the fast and well laid out menu system. It’s still not as good as having the dedicated knob, but not terrible, either. The PSAM controls are analogous to those on Nikon’s DSLRs. Instead of having a primary and secondary rotating ring for changing shutter speed and aperture, the two-way switch on the top right acts as the primary control, and the spinning ring on the back acts as the secondary. In Aperture priority, you can press the switch on the top up to increase aperture/down to decrease, while in shutter priority and manual it works to control shutter speed, with the aperture controlled by the rotating ring in manual mode. Exposure compensation is easy to access as well. Since the exposure compensation button is part of a 4-way dial under the ring, you can press it and rotate the ring to change exposure compensation in one quick motion.
My one complaint with is with ISO controls; you have to go through the cameras menus in order to change ISO. The exposure compensation button does nothing in manual mode, and could have potentially been mapped to bring up the ISO menu. It would be a huge help and even makes logical sense as the use can be analogous. The function button on the top currently currently brings up continuous/single shutter controls, an option in the menu to change it to control ISO would also be fantastic. I doubt Nikon will change any of this in a firmware update, but they could.
30–110mm @f/5.6, 110mm, 1/80s, ISO560
Low light performance is worlds better than point and shoots, probably close to micro 4/3 despite the difference in sensor size, and bad compared to modern DSLRs, as is to be expected. Fast primes would be nice.
30–110mm @f/8, 66.4mm, 1/60s, ISO360
Nikon J1 with 10mm f/2.8 pancake
Despite the complaints given, the J1 is a fantastic camera. The general responsiveness, especially of autofocus makes it feel closer to a DSLR than other mirrorless cameras. I don’t believe there is anything of comparable size that can match the image quality and performance. Certainly Micro 4/3 cameras can match or best the IQ, but when lenses are taken into account they’re not too different from a small DSLR in size. It has rough edges, but is a great little camera.
CX Lenses vs. 50mm (FX), 18–200mm (DX), & 80–200mm (FX)
Butterfly, 10–30mm f/3.5–5.6 @f/5.6, 30mm, 2/333s, ISO400
Nikon J1 iPhone 4S
Nikon J1 with 10mm f/2.8 pancake
Nikon J1 iPhone 4S
Nikon J1 with 10mm f/2.8 pancake
30–110mm @f/5.6, 110mm, 1/30s, ISO2000
Hayden Planetarium 10mm f/2.8 pancake, @f/2.8, iso 100, 1/160s
30–110mm @f/5.6, 110mm, 1/60s, ISO1600
30–110mm @f/6.3, 110mm, 1/250s, ISO125
Update: My J1 review is available here
It’s been a long time since I’ve reviewed anything on my blog, but I’ve been playing with a Nikon J1 and am going to try to get reviews up for the J1 and 3 lenses: the 1 Nikkor 10mm f/2.8 pancake, the 10–30mm f/3.5–5.6 VR, and the 30–110mm f/3.8–5.6 VR.
Nikon J1 with 10mm pancake and iPhone 4S
The J1 is a tiny camera, perfect for when you need to save space while mountain unicycling from Canada to Mexico. By itself, the body is close in size to an iPhone 4/4S, but 3 times thicker. It feels significantly smaller than the Micro 4/3s cameras I’ve used, especially when taking the size of lenses into account. Even the Canon G12 is bigger than the J1 despite the Canon’s much smaller sensor.
Nikon J1 with 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6
What I’m trying to get at here, is that Nikon found a hole in the market, planted a flag, and claimed this newfound territory in their own name. There has been a large gap in sensor size between the very high end point and shoots, and the existing mirrorless market which has quickly become incredibly competitive. Excepting Canon, most of the industry has weighed in, from Micro 4/3, Sony NEX, and Pentax’s tiny Q, to Fuji’s runaway success with the X100 foreshadowing their future interchangeable lens system. Unlike the X100 and some Micro 4/3 cameras, though, Nikon has gone with a very modern design, eschewing classic styling. It looks sleek, is extremely responsive, and has one of the best menu systems I’ve seen on a camera, but some old-style dials would certainly help.
Nikon J1 Back
The mode selection dial on the back is basically useless. All it’s good for is changing from still images to video, and that could have been done by using the video button on top. To me, it seems like engineering wanted to put PSAM there, but marketing wouldn’t have it as it might displace the prominence of their baffling motion snapshot mode.
It isn’t as bad as that sounds, though. The menus make changing PSAM modes only slightly more annoying than if they were on that dial, and manual is surprisingly easy to control. The switch on top controls shutter speed, and the spinning dial on the back controls aperture. A third control for ISO would make me incredibly happy.
Hayden Planetarium 10mm f/2.8 pancake, @f/2.8, iso 100, 1/160s
I think Nikon has a winner in the 1 system, especially if future versions put more focus on manual control. I’ll have more details on controls and image quality in my J1 review, so stay tuned!
10mm -> 27mm
30mm -> 81mm
110mm -> 297mm
I’ve updated my Focal Length Calculator to show the Nikon 1 crop.
Among my earliest memories is buying a Mac Plus with my parents, which served faithfully along with the many Macs I’ve owned and relied upon throughout my life. It may or may not be that my Macs were responsible for my choice to pursue an education in Computer Science, I cannot say; regardless, the state of the entire computer industry at the time of my education was largely of his influence.
Not long after college, the radical shift in software distribution created by iPhone and the App Store allowed me to become independent—to start a life writing software for myself, to be successful.
His impact has been immeasurable, and he will be missed.
Tai Shimizu
