Nikon reveals it's mirrorless '1' system

[Paddy C]

The Photography Blog has some hands-on and comparison images.

http://www.photographyblog.com/news/nikon_1_v1_hands-on_photos/

Same size as a GF1. Some of the lenses look huge.

Weird.

I wonder if the sensor/processing is going to be really good (IE better than 4/3)?

 

[johannielscom]

Really can't see the point of interchangeable lenses if the only lenses that can be used are the dedicated Nikkor lenses.

A 2.7x factor takes all the fun out of using any non-dedicated lenses, even vintage Nikkor SLR lenses.

My beloved 58/1.4 would turn into a 157/1.4 lens on this body: it would only use the very center of the lens and DOF on that lens when used wide open would probably be non-existant, so shallow!

My old Sigma 17-35 DX lens that I use on an old D1x would be a 46/2.8 on its widest setting! :bang: Useless!


System is dead in the water from the start, the only people considering to use this will likely be the P&S crowd and changing a lens on a camera most of the time is beyond their capacities and interests anyway :bang:

 

[Shac]

So no one thinks that lens adapters for non-Nikkors won't me offered by someone? That's highly unlikely IMO

 

[v_roma]

It's not necessarily that they won't be offered but that the 2.7X crop factor will make using other lenses a challenge (unless you only want long focal lengths).

 

[dct]

Nikon 1 Launch, Zurich

Nikon 1 Launch, Zurich

Swiss launch too these days in Zurich:
http://thebighands.com/
:
:
;
Will post a few impression shots later on.

I was impressed of the artistical effort Nikon is investing thru the world. Here you see the big hands holding a J1 model: It was definitly an eye catcher.

Local transportation hub Zurich Stadelhofen:



Later in the rush hour very different kind of people had a chat with the engaged presentation staff and did some test shots. From the wondering housewife to the gadget craving banker: The staff had a lot to show with their available cameras.



I had the chance to play around with a V1 and mounted N1 10-30 during my chat with the staff. 1st impression using the manual zoom thru the EVF was similar to a CEVIL Panasonic, Olympus or GXR with EVF. Definitly not P&S feeling.

Then we changed for the 10mm pancake (~28mm FoV): Small combo, of course. I told the young man it may be a well constructed nice "toy" but... 🙄
I couldn't resist! After this sentence I pulled out my Hexar RF + CV 28/3.5 from my backpack and he realized promptly that I'm not the potential Nikon 1 owner :angel:

We had both our laugh and fun.

After a few hours of reflecting what I saw and what I read in the web I must admit: to each his own. The camera will find the matching buyer.

 

[sevo]

So no one thinks that lens adapters for non-Nikkors won't me offered by someone? That's highly unlikely IMO

Well, they won't be much good given the crop factor - it might fit C and auto110 mounts, but given the sensor size, it will not be useful for anything bigger, and given the mount recess, not for anything shorter either, probably not Cs mount, and certainly not D mount.

That must not be bad - but it places the system in a category way off the Nex, somewhere between Pentax Q and M4/3, and as I mentioned, Nikon has been most successful marketing cameras linked to their pro SLRs, and in this case, that link is rather weak. But we'll see - I am convinced that Nikon already has the design for a big sensor (perhaps even pro) EVIL done, to be released if E-mount cameras should have a significant impact on their slice of the DSLR market.

Sevo

 

[gavinlg]

I have to laugh at this... It's actually larger than comparable m4/3 cameras. Keep in mind to effectively match them up the m4/3 cameras need a clip on EVF, but I don't think it adds enough bulk to make them 'bigger'

Also, from the dpreview interview:

"Gone are the scene and PASM modes familiar to SLR users (although these can still be selected through the menu), replaced by four positions which represent different applications of high speed stills and movie recording. The 'Motion Snapshot' mode combines a slow-motion movie with a simultaneously-recorded still image, while the 'Smart Photo Selector' mode takes 20 full-resolution images from a single shutter-button press (including some captured before the button is fully depressed), then analyses them,saving what it judges to be the best five (even recommending the very best of the bunch). There's just a single position to cover all aspects of conventional stills shooting, plus one more for movies."

🙄

 

[jsrockit]

The average person doesn't know about sensor size... Nikon may still do ok with this.

 

[gavinlg]

Link to a real world image with the 10mm f2.8 pancake (28mm equiv) - was taken @ 2.8, iso100

http://stadium.weblogsinc.com/engadget/files/Nikon_1_system_sample_image_1.jpg

 

[gavinlg]

Yeah and everything after the G1 wasn't better, they actually downgraded from there. It's a real shame we don't have a Nikon or Canon in m4/3s because that would really boost the format.

The G3 and GH2 are measurably better than the G1 in IQ, and the G3 is much nicer looking (imo)

 

[willie_901]

Wow

Wow

Link to a real world image with the 10mm f2.8 pancake (28mm equiv) - was taken @ 2.8, iso100

http://stadium.weblogsinc.com/engadget/files/Nikon_1_system_sample_image_1.jpg

Now that's depth of field.

 

[Athos6]

Too expensive to catch the P&S crowd, too small a sensor to catch the enthusiast crowd, IQ will not outpace M4/3 or NEX no matter what magic dust Nikon applies, not that much smaller than the small offerings from others... I can't think of one reason to buy this over a Pen or a NEX no matter what type of consumer I was....

 

[antiquark]

I for one think the industrial design is SUPER (especially the white one).

Question: say you put a 50/1.4 (equivalent) lens on the thing... how will the depth of field compare with a FF camera?

According to my sketchy calculations, it will have a DOF similar to f/4 on a FF sensor. Which almost isn't that bad.

 

[Athos6]

I for one think the industrial design is SUPER (especially the white one).

That is the one thing I like as well.

Athos

 

[claacct]

Beginning of the end for Nikon.

Unless Canon can pull something out of the hat, Sony overnight will gain a position in camera market that all other companies tried to gain for many decades and still failed.

 

[semilog]

One way to look at the entire sensor size argument is to say that a sensor of the size Nikon's using is already more than good enough for most applications, that sensor performance will continue to increase, and that technical innovations are being applied more rapidly in smaller sensors (all true).

Thus, it may well be that from Nikon's perspective, they are following Wayne Gretzky's admonition: you don't skate to where the puck is. You skate to where it's going to be.

People who think that full-frame is where it's at and will *always* be where it's at remind me of people who thought that Apple* was wrong to ship the iMac without a floppy drive, or the iPhone without a keypad.

Now, all that said, this Nikon system brings absolutely nothing to the table except a new lens mount. And that's both boring and stupid. Boring, because it's boring. Stupid, because it's bad for consumers, and it will in the eyes of many consumers (who are overly obsessed with sensor size) legitimize the relatively larger micro 4/3 sensor, which as of today is no longer "the small-sensor interchangeable lens system." That last bit is what we call an own-goal by Nikon.

* h/t to John Gruber for his superposition of Apple and Gretzky.

 

[rxmd]

I for one think the industrial design is SUPER (especially the white one).

Overall the camera isn't for me, but I like the design, too.
The best industrial design in the EVIL sector IMHO (I don't care too much for retro nonsense).

 

[antiquark]

Also, I am struck by the ingenuity of the simple name "1", and the fact that nobody thought of it before!

Here's a video, via TheOnlinePhotographer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_F10zJwXWo&feature=player_embedded

 

[rxmd]

Also, I am struck by the ingenuity of the simple name "1", and the fact that nobody thought of it before!

Well, Nikon did - here's the Nikon One of 1948:

(link & picture from the bartender's site).

So for Nikon it's a case of "back to the roots".
Not the digital Nikon RF that everybody had been hoping for, but at least the name is back 😉

 

[antiquark]

Well, Nikon did - here's the Nikon One of 1948:

They stole their own idea!

Wonder if the "Nikon 1" will be the same type of milestone that the "Nikon I" was? It has some amazing features, IMHO.