How's it Perform? Even using the EVF most of the time I had very good battery life. This is well out of the compact camera range and into the one-battery-a-day range, and about the best I've gotten with an EVF equipped camera. I have no real complaints about the battery though having a charger larger than the camera is interesting. Focus: As I noted in my J1 review, the Nikon 1's autofocus system is quite good. Very DSLR-like in most aspects, including speed and tracking ability.
In the mirrorless realm, there really isn't anything that matches the Nikon 1's focusing. This is the result of phase detect sensors being built into the imaging sensor, coupled with the high frame rate of the sensor, plus all the computational horsepower that Nikon has stuffed into the camera.
Certainly in bright light you might be fooled into thinking you're shooting with a DSLR assuming you're out of the default settings, as I note above. With one exception: you need a subject that has contrast in it. It appears that the focus system on the Nikon 1 tries to confirm that it found focus by looking at contrast information.
If you don't have any contrast under the area the camera is focusing on for instance, the side of a dark ship , all bets are off. Obviously, this problem is bigger in low light with non-contrasty subjects think black cow at dawn. Side note : the mm in AF-C seems to have the tendency to do that "one last step out and back" focus thing that many contrast-based systems. Another oddity about the mm: if you unmount the lens without powering down, it stays extended.
The Auto Area, Single point, and subject tracking AF-area modes are in the menu system, though, so full control is a button pressing, menu navigating dance. Still, I don't think it's the right choice. Which brings us to birds in flight BIF. I had ample opportunity to try the V1 with a wide variety of shore birds in New Zealand. That means close in, fast moving birds. Indeed, I had a lot more trouble finding and framing them as they whizzed by me than the camera did finding focus.
However, as with the Nikon DSLRs, getting a high hit rate of in-focus or at least acceptably focused images means spending some time fiddling with settings. AF-A tended to not acquire focus fast enough in this test, but once acquired, it tended to hold it at least as long as I could track the bird reasonably well--again, these birds were quite close and moving fast. I had better success with acquisition using AF-C, though slightly worse tracking, especially when I used Single point.
Surprisingly, cluttered backgrounds didn't tend to throw the Nikon 1 off focus any more than they do with the Nikon DSLRs it will happen from time to time, but if you've set everything right and are really following the bird steadily, the camera won't tend to focus to the background.
A tough challenge for any camera. Fast moving bird close in and changing direction. Busy background just behind it. Single point is a little frustrating at first, as you have press the OK button to get control of the point.
But once you've done that just use the Direction pad to move the focus point. One nice touch that BIF shooters will like is that you can roll the Direction pad wheel to move the focus point left and right very quickly. Unfortunately, Nikon cancels the Single point movement when you take a picture or the meter times out, so you're going to be hitting the OK button a lot.
Subject tracking is tricky. In theory, it should track what was originally in the Single point-like box. I've found Subject tracking works exceptionally well on subject motion towards and away from the camera, less so on side-to-side, slightly diagonal-to-the-camera motion.
I still have some work to do to completely assess what focus settings work best in which situations, but the one thing I missed most was the presence of an AF On button. I'm very convinced that I can treat a V1 like a DSLR in most respects: right settings, steady follow of the subject, and sometimes a bit of prefocus and AF sensor moving get me what I want.
Indeed, the V1 was so much like a DSLR in this respect, I really missed not having an AF-On button and having the ability to switch all the focus parameters by external control. The next question tends to be focus for video.
As with the J1, I'd call the V1 respectable. Better than most Nikon DSLRs in tracking focus in video, but not as good as some dedicated camcorders especially true of the lens that's designed for video, the mm. That's good, because manual focus isn't really an option with the V1. Manual focus is controlled by the dial around the Direction pad and there's no focus aid available other than zoom. This camera needs a peaking focus aid. Overall, focus performance wasn't something that concerned me with the V1.
It would have been nice to have more direct control over the focus system, but I learned to live with what control I do have. Exposure: Unlike my J1, my V1 was more spot on with exposure.
I suspect that's because I was normally using the mechanical shutter, not the electronic shutter. I'm starting to come to the impression that very bright things in the frame with the electronic shutter active are the trigger for my J1's slight hot exposure tendency outdoors. Still, even on my V1 with the mechanical shutter active I found myself overriding the camera's selected exposure more often than I do with my D3 bodies. Given the Nikon 1's narrower dynamic range, you really want to be precise with exposure.
Unfortunately, we have no real tools to do that with other than the after-the-fact histograms. No highlights blinkies, no live histogram. Buffer: I've seen a lot of people complain about false advertising with the Nikon 1 models.
They see that 60 fps or even 10 fps a second ability and they get all starry eyed and unrealistic. Even a D3s can't do those things without compromise, why would you expect a camera that costs less than one-fifth the price to not also have some limitations?
Let's go to the really good news first: there's a lot of memory in the V1. Coupled with only 10mp of image data and the fast internal pipeline, at the 5 fps normal limit you can shoot for a long time before filling the buffer. With JPEGs, up to 20 seconds. You may have a long wait for buffer clearing more than a second per image , especially if you're using a non state-of-the-art card, but this is still more like a DSLR-level of performance than a compact or mirrorless system camera performance.
Put another way, you can shoot short 5 fps bursts with very little penalty. Fill the buffer, though, and you'll be waiting a bit. If you opt for the Electronic Hi shutter, you can choose 10, 30, or 60 fps. But there are some additional restrictions: focus is performed in the central area, and only for the initial shot in the sequence for 30 and 60 fps. At 60 fps you only have a one-second buffer, max. Obviously, these are tough restrictions, but then again, what other camera is going to do that?
The focus limitations mean you'll have to carefully consider your position relative to subject motion, and you'll have to time your shooting for the narrow buffer window, but still, it's a rather remarkable attribute for a small camera to have.
I'm not going to pan it like many have. Image Quality: There's no real difference in image quality between the J1 and V1. I can measure a small difference, but I suspect that's just the difference of the dust filter on the J1. Overall, the V1 exhibits the same fine traits as the J1 did. One thing that Nikon has gotten very good at lately is making a broad range of cameras with different sensors that all produce essentially the same looking images.
That last sentence has both good and bad in it. The good is that Nikon's JPEG files are generally quite clean, free of color noise even when they do show noise, have somewhat more accurate color than most cameras at the least fiddly settings Standard, Neutral , and have almost no JPEG artificating to be seen, even when pushed to the limit.
The bad is that Standard and especially Landscape and Vivid are a bit contrasty, sharpening is understated even when boosted , and "accurate" color isn't actually what most people are attracted to.
I start from relatively defect-free pixels therefore, and can move the color, contrast, and sharpening as I see fit. Here's where DSLRs and compact cameras tend to part company: high contrast scenes. No camera is going to hold the sun and detail in a foreground in shadow. We're losing definition in the blown out area around the sun, but we're still holding some detail in the shadows. Noise: Pixel peepers won't be happy with the V1, everyone else will. It's a small sensor camera. In a scene with a wide range of lighting, keeping exposure to retain highlights may push you down into the lower ends of its dynamic range where some noise lurks.
That said, I was surprised at how little noise we see and how well controlled it is. HI 1 ISO is borderline usable, and certainly not where accurate colors or detail need to be preserved. One bad piece of news is that Nikon is cooking raw files above ISO There's some form of noise reduction happening above that ISO value in raw data that can't be turned off. I see no hint of amp noise in the maximum two-minute image you can take with the V1 on the somewhat misnamed "Bulb"--why Nikon didn't just add 60" and " to the shutter speeds, I don't know.
However, with Long Exposure Noise Reduction turned off and at ISO , there is a wide sea of hot pixels, and I see some regularity to these, which indicates that even two minutes may be pushing this sensor. With Long Exposure Noise Reduction turned on, the camera is unavailable for another two minutes, and most, but not all, of the hot pixels are taken care of. Note that I tested at ISO because above that raw files are cooked by Nikon, so you can't actually see what the sensor was doing.
Final Thoughts I'm perfectly fine living on the cutting edge and using 1. Sometimes I bleed a little. I may need to carry a few bandages while traveling with the V1. I'll say right up front that I actually mostly enjoyed using the V1.
I found myself picking up the V1 more than the others, and it's partly because of the built-in EVF in a very small, light package.
For some of us, that's just how we learned to shoot: camera to the eye. My left eye is open and looking at the whole scene good thing it's farsighted while my right eye is looking through the EVF at the composition.
Even with glasses on this works just fine. The frustration with the V1 is that there's little I can do with my right hand while my eye is at the viewfinder other than press the shutter release and adjust aperture or shutter speed if I'm in shutter-priority mode, or both if I'm in manual exposure mode. On the one hand, that's refreshing in that with nothing else to do I can concentrate on the composition right eye and timing both eyes.
On the other hand, I'm used to juggling more, and want to. So again, Nikon shot low in terms of target user. Too low in my opinion. A few more control options would have gone a long way in distinguishing the V1 as a truly high end mirrorless option. Had they done that, none of us would be complaining about the J1 quite so much, either. We'd have two high performance cameras, one J1 clearly mostly for the all-auto crowd compact user , the other V1 more closely aligned to the DSLR control freak crowd but still not all the way there.
As it is, Nikon shot two arrows into the same target. The V1 is the better arrow. It is a more well-rounded camera and certainly more what the compact user stepping up probably wants mini-DSLR. But here's the other problem: the V1 costs too much. Considering that the D costs less, has better controls, and has higher image quality overall, the V1 becomes more of a "do you want it smaller? Something doesn't seem right about that choice. Indeed, it's difficult for me to tell you to choose the V1 unless size is the number one parameter on your checklist.
No, the real issue here is Nikon's notion of "target customer" and how they designed to that. It's easy to understand how they convinced themselves that "a compact user moving up doesn't want complexity so let's remove most of it and hide the rest. We certainly don't need or want to have complexity removed or hidden. The funny thing is that all the mirrorless makers have had some variation of this design-to-market problem.
Sony's original three-button UI on the NEX-3 and NEX-5 targeted too low, and they had to quickly improve that via firmware to better please the higher-end users those cameras tended to attract because of the large sensor and high-ISO capability.
Likewise, Olympus and Panasonic drove very fast to "consumer model" cameras E-PM1 and GF3 , but there's been resistance from users there, too. I have no problems with there being a low-end model in mirrorless. But all the makers other than perhaps Samsung seem to have initially targeted the low-end as being the primary force in driving mirrorless design. Nikon now has a curious lineup. We've got the L and S Coolpix models that are heavy into the novice-user-hide-the-complexity design theme.
Above that we've got the Nikon 1 models that are way back into the novice-user-hide-the-complexity theme. And finally from the D up we get lots of control and complexity that escalates until we get the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink D3 models. This product ramp isn't linear or sensical. This is classic evidence of "no overall leader" in product management.
It's as if Apple made the iPod Touch with one interface, the iPhone with another, and the iPad with yet another. Even more so than the J1, Nikon missed a real opportunity with the V1 design. Thing is, I really like the V1. It takes very nice images, it has a great deal of performance for a small camera, it's a passable video camera, and it really is a tough competitor against bigger sensor models from other companies.
The problem is that the design gets in my way a bit too much. Yes, I'm a high end user, and a very sophisticated one. Yet I think the design probably gets in the way of the novice user moving up, too.
Even something simple, like the too easily displaced mode dial, is enough to frustrate any photographer. But it doesn't stop there. In particular, the V1 is missing some basic direct user control outside the menu system. Scrolling menus with 20 items on them is so out of whack with the sophistication of the user that would be attracted to the V1, I don't understand how Nikon missed on that point.
Perhaps some of the issues can be fixed via firmware changes e. The good news is that the one area they didn't mess up is the performance. It has exceptionally good focusing for a small camera, it produces exceptionally good images for the size of its sensor, it has DSLR-like and not just any DSLR, but high-end DSLR lag, frame rate, and buffer performance. It has a ton of video capability including some manual controls that many of its bigger DSLR brothers don't have.
When you discover those things about the V1, you really, really want to like and use this camera. As I noted earlier, I've had to adapt to the camera. The performance is good enough that I have been willing to do just that.
I put the V1 to the real world test with two weeks scouting locations in New Zealand, and from the performance standpoint, it never really disappointed me or let me down. Every now and then I'd get caught in some of the novice-or-else design decisions and get frustrated, but as I note, I adapted. I found small ways to try to cheat the UI reaper. That's saying a lot.
We're at the point in the review where I need to decide whether to recommend the V1 or not. Like mine, it did! You answered your own question - d sold like hot cakes when new so lots of used stock being dumped on the market.
Because D was succeeded by the D, D, D, and then you can also throw D and into the mix. Almost forgot D an D Bottom line, you can argue about D succession, but one way or another it passed its DNA down, even if not in the purest form.
On the other hand, love it or hate it, Df is one of a kind. It is of course a style statement, but as a practical matter it is actually fairly compact and lightweight for an FX Nikon, and handles really well with old lenses, particularly small primes, which is how it was marketed and for a good reason, because both handling and aesthetics suffer with large modern lenses.
And that D4 sensor Nikon put into Df is really quite good, unless one is a resolution hog. So, now with Nikon throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the mirrorless development, it is safe to say there won't be a Df successor. Perhaps, if Zfc is a good seller, they will release an FX version, Zfx or something, but it won't have OVF and Nikon will never be able to claim that you can mount on it every Nikkor they ever made in the last 70 years.
I think that was a ballpark fair price, not what I see now. Who knows, maybe they will become a collectors item one day and appreciate even more. You didn't see the other thread? It's because they eat batteries, and are therefore expensive to feed. My Df doesn't eat batteries. My old D1H does, though. And, one had to swap the battery at halfway to let the chemistry catch up when shooting bursts. Like motorsports for example.
Battery 1 in then out, then battery 2 in then out, and battery one in again and, finally battery 2 in. The Df battery just goes like it's the Energizer Bunny. I bought a spare battery and have never had to swap them during use. I swap the battery when I'm done so the first one can charge and still have a ready-to-shoot camera.
Back to the original topic, the Df is exactly what I wanted in the very beginning. A digital version of my FA. And it replaced two F5 based Kodak units. And used prices. Those E-Series are now back up to the new price of the D1 that replaced them. Collectors are pushing then E Series prices ever higher. So I expect it to be with the Df in time.
Mine isn't going anywhere. But I still have an E2 around here somewhere. Might be about time to eBay that old thing It's because it looks cool and is the most lens compatible camera Nikon has ever made, rivalled only by the F4. I got into film when the Sony A7rii was announced. I bought an FM2n and slowly built up a nice slew of lenses as well as a couple more film bodies. I'm very tempted to sell off some of my Sony gear and get a Df.
D had some inherent flaws viewfinder coverage was abysmal and it was quickly outclassed by the D8x bodies. Df is a niche camera that has no other equal and no I don't want to carry a D4 around thanks and it produces gorgeous images with the D4 pro sensor. It has no equal even today. Sure by now it's pretty much a classic digital camera but there are times when I mount my 35mm f2 AIS manual focus lens on it and walk around.
It's that old world photographic experience but not needing to shoot film and deal with all the headaches of processing fees and then having to store the physical media somewhere. So Nikon probably never made any money on the Df, I suspect.
It's simply a halo camera for them "Hey look what we can do! I like it and will not part with my Df. Looking on eBay they are around that same price. You may have been able to get one for cheaper a year or two ago, but not by much.
The newer Canon equivalent to the D4s, is going for quite a bit less! The D5 does do better in low light, because it retains color and fine detail better at high ISO. The Df like others have said never sold in high numbers and nothing like it has come since. Since most Df users are NOT professional photographers, they have less reasons to upgrade and amateurs tend to upgrade less often. The Df still has unique attributes that make some people still seek them out.
Maybe some are simply replacing an aging or dead Df they already have, or maybe they just always wanted one. It is a great looking camera! Good that you admit you never shot with the Df, if you had, you'd realize that the AF works very well. And I'd never buy a D4 as I don't need the higher speed and don't want the huge camera body.
The Df is elegant and small with manual controls that no other Nikon FX camera can match. It's a classic that will hold its value in to the future. Who woulda thought that would have been possible in ? Stuff that they are having a really hard time selling. The person in the know that I spoke to about this, said that Canon and Nikon would not help them, and refused to take any of it back or off their hands.
Nikon is not the only ones in trouble financially! Nikon was widely criticized for producing a precision camera that apparently focused on, go figure, pure photography - not videography, not tiktok, not nft, not their balance sheet, etc.
I use it with ease and joy to strive for, well…pure photography. I used to be the buyer for a major camera store here in Southern California. So I met a lot people from different stores at trade shows, used photo gear shows, etc. You can dislike a retailer but spreading fake news on a public forum is not cool. I base my opinions on businesses on how I am treated.
I got no sense of dislike from P32's post You are lying about Nikon. It has a very good financal positioin and its stocks are rasing.
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