Nikon 1 (V1) for beginner looking to get into photography?

duffers20 · 29 Jan 2013 at 08:48

Hi everyone,

I have always wanted to get into photography and have been doing some research into various cameras recently and have come across the Nikon 1 (V1) for a very reasonable price (I think the low price is due to the V2 being released but this is a lot more expensive and way out of my price range).

I would class myself as a beginner so I don’t want to spend too much on a camera. Also, I don’t think I would get full use out a DSLR which is why I thought the Nikon 1 might be a suitable first camera to allow me to learn about different techniques etc. Another thing which attracted me to this camera is the fact that the lenses are interchangeable which would allow me to expand on the types of pictures I could capture further down the line.

Also, I am going to the Isle of Man TT this year and would like to take a camera with me which isn’t too bulky.

Any suggestions/recommendations/advice would be very welcome!

Thanks in advance,
James

Ksanti · 29 Jan 2013 at 09:52

Thing is, by virtue of a lot of the design of these cameras, it's often almost too easy to get by with them with no knowledge of the settings and no real benefit to learning them. With a camera like the V1, all understanding settings will yield is photos that aren't blurry, whereas with DSLRs you have much larger room to grow into it. The V1 will take very nice images, that's for sure, but your creative options are a little more limited, and if and when you decide to move into DSLRs, a largely underused (and potentially abandoned by the end of 2013, depending on who you listen to) system, will mean you'll end up with terrible residuals if you end up moving up, and a largely useless compact camera in comparison to a larger system.

a1ex2001 · 29 Jan 2013 at 10:53

Definitely a tricky one, I love the size and design of the Nikon 1 cameras but like Ksanti says I'm not sure the system has a long term future it's sensor is to small and will I'm sure be replaced sooner or later with a bigger one making all the early kit redundant.

If you want something more compact than a DSLR which will allow you to be creative and learn I'd be looking at a micro 4/3rd's setup or a Sony NEX

duffers20 · 29 Jan 2013 at 12:21

Thanks for the responses folks.

I didn't think of the possibility that the Nikon 1 system could become obsolete in the near future.

I've had a look at the Sony NEX system and it looks really good. The initial prices I've seen seem alittle more expensive than the Nikon 1 but if it means I can get something more compact with a better chance of being around in the next few years then maybe that's the price I'll have to pay

Are there any Micro 4/3rd's systems I should check out? I'm not really familiar with that system.

Thanks again!
James

andicole0 · 29 Jan 2013 at 12:26

I would take a look at the Nikon P510 for starting point.

Andi.

Porkpie2012 · 29 Jan 2013 at 13:15

a1ex2001 said:
Definitely a tricky one, I love the size and design of the Nikon 1 cameras but like Ksanti says I'm not sure the system has a long term future it's sensor is to small and will I'm sure be replaced sooner or later with a bigger one making all the early kit redundant.

If you want something more compact than a DSLR which will allow you to be creative and learn I'd be looking at a micro 4/3rd's setup or a Sony NEX

The sensor is too small for what exactly? Taking photographs? As real user of the V1 and now the V2 I can confirm it is a truly excellent camera and I would totally recommend it, esecially at the current low price.

a1ex2001 · 29 Jan 2013 at 13:44

Porkpie2012 said:
The sensor is too small for what exactly? Taking photographs? As real user of the V1 and now the V2 I can confirm it is a truly excellent camera and I would totally recommend it, esecially at the current low price.

The DOF control isn't there for me simple as that really, you need a big sensor if you want to take pictures with a shallow depth of field, lot of pent up aggression on the forum today it seems must be the weather.

Ksanti · 29 Jan 2013 at 13:44

The tiny sensor means lenses need to be absolutely flawless to get anything approaching DSLR and kit lens quality, which means higher R&D costs and a more limited choice of lenses. You have no hope of having any shallow depth of field or control thereof, and you have a very small selection of lenses which will quite possibly never be expanded if Nikon give up on the form factor, as many people expect will happen.

The NEX system would be a good one to invest in as Sony seem to be getting more and more serious with their approach to it and the system is maturing nicely. That said it's possible they make the NEX system swap to alpha mount, which, while great for overall lens compatitibilty, and will allow full frame sensors, would mean that if you spend loads on the NEX system, the lenses might lose their value

D.P. · 29 Jan 2013 at 15:18

a1ex2001 said:
Definitely a tricky one, I love the size and design of the Nikon 1 cameras but like Ksanti says I'm not sure the system has a long term future it's sensor is to small and will I'm sure be replaced sooner or later with a bigger one making all the early kit redundant.

If you want something more compact than a DSLR which will allow you to be creative and learn I'd be looking at a micro 4/3rd's setup or a Sony NEX

Of course the Nikon 1 has a long term future, the problem is it has been slow to develop so far. Nikon is committed to the Nikon 1 and it will be around for a long time to come. The sensor is small which in theory will allow small lenses in th future but the sensor is far bigger than any compact system. As long as Nikon uses state of the art technology there is no weakness in the sensor, which so far has been true. Until rectly it was a better sensor than anything in m43 land.

There is no replacement happening. I don't know where people get these crazy ideas.

Now a m43 might not be a bad a idea. The new Sony sensors are really good and there is a solid lens line up. The Sony NEx system is probably the worst possibility at the moment, poor lens line up and a sensor size that prevents small telephoto lenses. Sony have been slower than Nikon to expan the lenses for the system, and slow enough for their alpha mount. The probablem is the camera Bussiness is largely unprofitable for Sony

OP: the main plus point for the Nikon 1 system is the autofocus, it is the most DSRL like of the lot of them. Very fast and accurate and very good continuous AF which is unheard of in this market.

D.P. · 29 Jan 2013 at 15:24

Ksanti said:
The tiny sensor means lenses need to be absolutely flawless to get anything approaching DSLR and kit lens quality, which means higher R&D costs and a more limited choice of lenses. You have no hope of having any shallow depth of field or control thereof, and you have a very small selection of lenses which will quite possibly never be expanded if Nikon give up on the form factor, as many people expect will happen.

The NEX system would be a good one to invest in as Sony seem to be getting more and more serious with their approach to it and the system is maturing nicely. That said it's possible they make the NEX system swap to alpha mount, which, while great for overall lens compatitibilty, and will allow full frame sensors, would mean that if you spend loads on the NEX system, the lenses might lose their value

The tiny sensor is also massively cheaper than large sensors to produce and allows for more rapid iteration. The small sensor size allows for smaller lenses with a smaller image circle that are cheaper to produce. I don't know why you think that a small sensor put more demands on the lens, it doesn't. Quite the opposite actually, it is harder to design a Lens that covers a larger image circle more perfectly than a smaller circle. The laity of the lens only matters in terms of pixel density, Nikon will keep the pixel density moderate.

Why do you expect Nikon to give up the form factor. They have barely got started having been set back by the tsunami and flooding. The Nikon 1 has been highly profitable and sales are very strong.

I think you might be confused by the fact that Nikon might release a DX sized mirror less in the future, but that it'll be a different type of camera.

As for the Sony Nex, it is not maturing any faster than the Nikon 1 series given that it is older.

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/ph...ras/nikon-j1-becomes-best-selling-csc-1052308

The Nikon J1 compact system camera has boasted some impressive early sales figures, including making it to the top of the best-seller list in the UK before Christmas.
Last week, the Nikon J1 also managed to set the record for the highest number of models sold in one week, beating the previous records set by other manufacturer's models. That means that the camera sold more in a single week than any other individual mirrorless compact system camera since the segment of the market launched back in 2008.

http://translate.google.com/transla...p://bcnranking.jp/news/1212/121228_24511.html
Japanese sales numbers show the Nikon j1 to sell as many as the Sony nex5 and Nex 7 combined in 2012.

duffers20 · 29 Jan 2013 at 16:53

Quite a discussion in here this afternoon! Thanks for all the responses. I'll have a read through this evening when I get home from work.

K.C. Leblanc · 29 Jan 2013 at 16:57

D.P. said:
http://translate.google.com/transla...p://bcnranking.jp/news/1212/121228_24511.html
Japanese sales numbers show the Nikon j1 to sell as many as the Sony nex5 and Nex 7 combined in 2012.

Interesting, I was about to suggest that the two shakiest CSC standards were Samsung NX and Pentax Q.

I think I'm right about Samsung, the system does just seem to have failed to make any impact. I doubt Samsung can be making much money with it, so surely they'll pull the plug at some point.

But oddly people are buying Pentax Q, although I'd expect they have a better market share in Japan then they do in Europe.

Devrij · 29 Jan 2013 at 17:15

I'm a big fan of the Sony NEX cameras for compact but flexible platforms. You have more control over manual settings, but it's still beginner (and pocket) friendly. The only drawback is that you would need an adapter for new lenses, and you'd want to check to make sure autofocus etc is supported in any non-sony lenses (it'd be unlikely you'll go for a Sony SLR in the future so I wouldn't necessarily recommend investing in their lenses).

Porkpie2012 · 29 Jan 2013 at 18:04

a1ex2001 said:
The DOF control isn't there for me simple as that really, you need a big sensor if you want to take pictures with a shallow depth of field, lot of pent up aggression on the forum today it seems must be the weather.

Apologies if I came over as a bit grumpy it wasn't intentional. Up until recently we compared cameras by the number of megapixels and that has now switched to the sensor size.

To be honest I never knew until recently that sensor size made a difference to DoF and it isn't something that I worry about in the photography I do. My wife bought the Nikon J1 twin lens kit ages ago and the quality of the photographs (all taken on the auto setting) was astounding. That prompted me to buy the V1 twin lens kit and the sheer portability of the kit meant that I used it in place of my Canon DSLR which I subsequently sold.

I now have the V2 which I love using and in conjunction with the 10mm f2.8 and the 18.5mm f1.8 now means my Fuji X100 doesn't get used any more. The Fuji can create stunning JPEGs and I love it for that along with its amazing dynamic range but ultimately the V2 gives fast and accurate autofocus and the output is entirely acceptable to me.

Nikon have announced another 3 lenses and I am sure there are more to come. The beauty of the system is the lenses are small too rather than the DX sized lenses that I see on the Sony NEX cameras.

D.P. · 29 Jan 2013 at 19:26

K.C. Leblanc said:
Interesting, I was about to suggest that the two shakiest CSC standards were Samsung NX and Pentax Q.

I think I'm right about Samsung, the system does just seem to have failed to make any impact. I doubt Samsung can be making much money with it, so surely they'll pull the plug at some point.

But oddly people are buying Pentax Q, although I'd expect they have a better market share in Japan then they do in Europe.

The Nikon 1 series, especially J1 are selling very well in Europe and Asia, probably better than expected. I think the Pentax Q sells well in japan due to the size I guess, it is a strange camera.
However, from a consumer perspective, consumers don't care about the sensor size. They want a small form factor, including small lenses (which is where Sony NEX falls over), and an aesthetic body. The Nikon 1 gives great IQ, e.g. compared to the Canon 650D DSLR the image output is very similar under daylight, same DR and colour depth. ISO is about 1/3rd to 12stop behind at the most:
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Ca...brand)/Canon/(appareil2)/744|0/(brand2)/Nikon

Throw on one of the fast small Nikon CX primes and you have a camera that will easily outperform a more expensive way bigger Canon DSLR. Even if you look at AF, some people actually claim that the Nikon 1 AF is better than the entry level canon DSLRs... It is always hard to compare AF systems in an objective manner, but last month I was hanging out in an airport with a delayed flight and played with a Nikon 1 and a 5DMK3, in AF-S mode I couldn't tell the difference. Even in continuous the J1 did very well, as good as my D90 which I have never had an issue with.

This forum is largely biased towards portrait-wedding and very shallow DOF, indoor shooting, semi-pro stuff. Hence some many people complaining that giant sensors and hyper fast primes are a minimum requirement. In the general population, including full time professional photographers whos only source of income is photography, there is far more various. Many pros shoot crop bodies, especially amongst wildlife and sports and I am sure that percentage would be higher if Nikon and Canon updated their pro-crop bodies more frequently.

The other thing is many people on this forum rave about the Sony RX-100, but hate the Nikon 1 series, when they share the same sensor size and the Nikon 1 camera has far better AF and performance, and far better lenses including fast primes, with a sensor that is not out-resolving the lenses .

For record, I chose a Olympus e-pm2 mft camera due to the choice of lenses at the time. I purposely decided against a Nikon 1 camera for my uses. Kind of regretting that decision. In 1 or 2 years time I might end up swapping back once Nikon has more lenses out, updated sensors and a more pro orientated Nikon 1. For wildlife the Nikon 1 camera are hard to beat, put on a 70-300mm and you have a perfectly good 800mm lens with good AF performance in a tiny weight relative to FF.