Nikon 1 V1 First Impressions

Nikon a couple of months ago announced its first “1” series compact cameras, designed to give its customers DSLR-like qualities in a point-and-shoot-like form-factor. At first glance, both the J1 and V1 in fact look like point-and-shoots, but upon using one, the gap between either or is blatant. I’ve spent the past week with the V1, and so far, I’m impressed.

I love using a DSLR, but once in a while it just makes more sense to carry along a point-and-shoot camera. A good example is at parties or other events. You never want to risk having a drunken friend bang into your DSLR and knock it too the floor, but with a more reasonable size, you could store it better when not in use, or even keep it with you. A big difference between the 1 series and a point-and-shoot however is with the interchangeable lenses, so unless you are using the 10mm f/2.8 lens, you won’t be keeping this in your pocket (and even then it’ll be a stretch).

I keep making comparisons to a point-and-shoot, but it’s kind of hard not to if you’re not used to this sort of design. The first time I turned on the camera and saw total blackness in the back LCD, I was confused. Was it broken? No, I forgot to take the lens cap off. It felt like a point-and-shoot, so I treated it like one from the get-go.

Nikon 1 V1 beside a Nikon D7000

I haven’t used many recent cameras (a problem I’d like to remedy), so the first thing that impressed me about the V1 was its gorgeous LCD screen. I am someone who usually refuses to use anything but a viewfinder, but the screen on this is so fast and clear, that I admit that’s pretty-well the only way I’ve been using the camera so far. You can use the viewfinder just fine, though it’s a digital representation of what’s being seen, not a passthrough like on a DSLR.

How well the camera takes odd shots is nice too. Such as with a computer screen… one of the most difficult kind of shots to get perfect (I have an example in the forum thread). Imagine taking a picture of a monitor and having text readable and not bleeding with color. It’s a use that’s limited, but it’s nice that the camera can handle it well.

For the most part, this is a DSLR in a compact size, so all of the the DSLR functions you’ve come to like should be here, though not all of them are immediately accessible on the camera itself. There’s a mode dial here, but it merely allows you to choose between shooting pictures or video. There’s no M, P, A or S here. To access those, you must go into the menu and choose one. This isn’t ideal, and there’s no reason those modes couldn’t have been placed on the dial itself, because there’s lots of room (as can be seen below).

Back of the Nikon 1 V1

Depending on the mode you have chosen, buttons around the camera can take on different functions. For example, if I am in M (manual) mode, the little function wheel at the back adjusts the aperture, while if I am set to A (aperture priority) mode, then that ability gets pushed to the top button used for zooming (while looking at pictures, not taking them). This design is a little clunky, but can be gotten used to rather fast, especially if you only ever shoot on one or two modes.

I’ll have a full review of this camera prepared in the next couple of weeks, so treat this post as nothing more than a teaser. I have included a couple of shots taken right out of the camera in the thread below for those interested, although I haven’t had the chance to take any serious shots yet.