I've had two V1s, a J1 and a J2. They are truly delightful cameras and abominably unreliable. Two of my friends have had them as well, and one of them had the same problems I had -- lens failures etc -- while the other had no problems. If I could get a reliable 10-30 lens, I would put two of the bodies back into use immediately. I could put the J2 with either lens attached into one jacket pocket and the other into the other pocket, or the V1 with the 10-30 into one pocket and the 30-110 into the other. I agree with what you say about colour. too; and. despite lack of stabilisation, I found both cameras reasonably easy to use for street, landscape and family gathering photography. The card reader in my J2 died, and I managed to get a second hand board from the US and fitted it, but the flash was dead. Meanwhile I got the first V1 which, sadly, was stolen. Both 10-30 lenses died. Nikon Australia really didn't want to know about that. For a while, before I got the 30-110. I had a screw in 2x converter to attach to the shorter lens, which gave me surprisingly good results for $20 or so from Japan. If they made reliable lenses for the system again, I would rush to get one; if they made a V5, like the J5 with EVF I'd rush faster. So much going for it, so much just not quite right.
Great write up, thanks - I've had no lens problems, knock on wood !! But I will say that I like the color rendering of the V1 much better than the V3 - but as of late I'm shooting the V3 because of the feature set and the density of the sensor. Nikon sure missed the boat by not continuing this series of cameras - as of late - my Nikon V series videos are the most viewed on my account ... crazy .. it's crazy of how much interest is still going on with this series of bodies from Nikon ... crazy good and crazy interesting all at once. Cheers.
I stumbled across a 1J1 with a 10 and 18.5mm lenses plus 3 batteries and charger for under $100. I knew nothing about the Nikon 1 system. The 10 and 18.5 are wonderfull little lenses. Like you I use the 18.5 most of the time. I've thought about getting more CX lenses but the camera is getting old and some of the lenses are insanely expensive. A camera with some frustrating quirks, but fun to use if you can overlook that.
I agree, the 18.5 f/1.8 lens is great that is one I use most of the time on my V1. The 18.5 can give some nice bokeh. there is the Zf and on Sony the A7c...
Love the Nikon 1 series. I have a couple V2's and a several J4's and one J5. I love the combo with the all around 10-100 lens. I have the 10-100 VR power zoom and the standard 10-100 VR lens. I tend to enjoy one good all around lens with reach. Im still looking to get a 70-300 to see how I like it. I actually have a few Nikon 1s for sale. I have too many. Good video about the lenses.
I use the 6.7-13mm with the J5 as a vlogging setup. My 10-100mm PD was my go to but has recently gone faulty, however my 18-105 DX lens and a Tokina 11-16mm are doing a great job as stand ins via the FT1 on my V3.
@@JSturr you only get centre point focus. For the 18-105 it's not a big problem as the lens give equivalent to 50-280 so shots framed at that distance are OK with the single focus point. The the 11-16 is F2.8 but for wider shots I need to use F8-11 to get most of what I want in focus. I did use a 55-300 DX lens I have with the FT1, but the limitations are what made me acquire the native CX 70-300.
I have the J1 with the 18.5 & the 30-110mm VR. I couldn't agree more with the color science. Even the jpegs are spot on. It has a warmth to it that almost film like. Also the lenses are incredible. I wish I could afford the 70-300mm 😭
Keep looking for the 70-300mm - as you search you may be surprised to find one with a reasonable price - keeping the hope is the key to hopefully finding one !!
I own a V1 and a J5 I love both cameras, but I dont bother with the dedicated lenses i use vintage glass on mine and for a couple of hundred dollars i have obtained some nice prime lenses and some nice zoom lenses, i did have to buy adapters i run F mount PK, M42 and CY mount lenses, you will have no light meter with the V1 but you will with the J5, i use an external light meter on the V1. So dont worry if you are on a budget like mine.
The V1 is legend. It nails almost every picture. I am also a fan of the smart mode. It is better than you think. But I have sold all lenses except a 10-30 PD and the FT1. The aperture fails on many N1 lenses frustrated me (lost at least 2 lenses). 😢
I prefer the v3 over aw1 personally but really love the lack of nobs on the AW1 and especially dig the tilt menu system (built for underwater use) . But AW1 is still a little slow for me. V3 touch menu is just *chef kiss* as I learn more about the capability
No -- as one of the performance factors of pro work for me is resolution - and given the uneducated factors of the client, I like to give them the biggest of the big so they can manipulate at will without the limitations of having to worry about dpi etc ... as best as possible.
Hey man ive seen a bunch of videos on the v3 and am very interested in this camera. But im looking for a multipurpose camera for landscape wildlife and astrophotography. Noone has a video on like imaging the orion nebula with this kit especially with the big zoom lens . Would you be interested in taking a single exposure on a video showing this so we can get an idea of the noise in the image? That would be awesome to see.. thanks for the video man. Keep them comming. Have an awesome day
I’d be glad to - but I don’t quite understand what you want me to do … I can email you files also … send me an email and we can continue this …. Jsturr@jsturr.com
Informative video. I lost interest as soon as you said slow aperture. I can only assume Nikon wanted this system as a gateway drug to apsc and full frame DSLRs by providing an adapter to faster f mount lens.
This was the fastest system of it's kind in 2011/12 - and it was the smallest - What's really interesting is how many don't give this system much credit and then Sony's 1-inch system, a "point and shoot" at that, is praised for it's awesomeness ... even today. In true Nikon fashion - Nikon was competing before it even knew what it was doing - and then pulled the product mid generation. Too bad they didn't keep on pushing this space.
Nikon 1 lenses have appalling rates of failure and 99.9% of all the failures are from two problems. 1) A teeny tiny gear made from cheap Chinese plastic has failed on nearly all the lenses that show the same symptom ( super dark in the finder, photos are exposed at f16).... 2) A ribbon cable made fron cheap Chinese plastic fails on any zoom lens that... erm... zooms. In the case of N1... the N stands for Nadir and the 1 stands for number 1. Nikon should be ashamed of themselves Nickel and Diming such a great and specialist camera system into the ground.
They make some funny marketing and development decisions - I am hoping with the release of the "Z" series many management structures within the Nikon machine have changed - and maybe they have. I remember their fixed lens cameras "3" in all ... never made it to production for some reason - about 3-4 years ago ... those would have been incredible - but - we never saw them - although they had quite the fanfair of a big press release etc. Nikon owned the market with the 1 series - but never saw what it was really about. To this day - my videos of my 1 series cameras are top on my feed ... TOP !! Go figure -- there's still some passion and curiosity for this equipment even to this day ... go figure.
Хобби
I've had two V1s, a J1 and a J2. They are truly delightful cameras and abominably unreliable. Two of my friends have had them as well, and one of them had the same problems I had -- lens failures etc -- while the other had no problems.
If I could get a reliable 10-30 lens, I would put two of the bodies back into use immediately. I could put the J2 with either lens attached into one jacket pocket and the other into the other pocket, or the V1 with the 10-30 into one pocket and the 30-110 into the other.
I agree with what you say about colour. too; and. despite lack of stabilisation, I found both cameras reasonably easy to use for street, landscape and family gathering photography.
The card reader in my J2 died, and I managed to get a second hand board from the US and fitted it, but the flash was dead. Meanwhile I got the first V1 which, sadly, was stolen.
Both 10-30 lenses died. Nikon Australia really didn't want to know about that.
For a while, before I got the 30-110. I had a screw in 2x converter to attach to the shorter lens, which gave me surprisingly good results for $20 or so from Japan.
If they made reliable lenses for the system again, I would rush to get one; if they made a V5, like the J5 with EVF I'd rush faster.
So much going for it, so much just not quite right.
Great write up, thanks - I've had no lens problems, knock on wood !! But I will say that I like the color rendering of the V1 much better than the V3 - but as of late I'm shooting the V3 because of the feature set and the density of the sensor. Nikon sure missed the boat by not continuing this series of cameras - as of late - my Nikon V series videos are the most viewed on my account ... crazy .. it's crazy of how much interest is still going on with this series of bodies from Nikon ... crazy good and crazy interesting all at once. Cheers.
I stumbled across a 1J1 with a 10 and 18.5mm lenses plus 3 batteries and charger for under $100. I knew nothing about the Nikon 1 system. The 10 and 18.5 are wonderfull little lenses. Like you I use the 18.5 most of the time. I've thought about getting more CX lenses but the camera is getting old and some of the lenses are insanely expensive. A camera with some frustrating quirks, but fun to use if you can overlook that.
I agree, the 18.5 f/1.8 lens is great that is one I use most of the time on my V1. The 18.5 can give some nice bokeh. there is the Zf and on Sony the A7c...
FT1 adapter with the Nikkor 50 1.8 G. (135mm with the 2.7 crop factor)
Fotodiox Pro Grip NK-V1 (handle for the Nikon 1 V1) 💁🏻♀️
Love the Nikon 1 series. I have a couple V2's and a several J4's and one J5. I love the combo with the all around 10-100 lens. I have the 10-100 VR power zoom and the standard 10-100 VR lens. I tend to enjoy one good all around lens with reach. Im still looking to get a 70-300 to see how I like it. I actually have a few Nikon 1s for sale. I have too many. Good video about the lenses.
Get the 70-300mm as it's crazy compact and crazy good - and when you need it it's so, so small !!
I use the 6.7-13mm with the J5 as a vlogging setup. My 10-100mm PD was my go to but has recently gone faulty, however my 18-105 DX lens and a Tokina 11-16mm are doing a great job as stand ins via the FT1 on my V3.
How’s the focusing limitations with the FT1 ?
@@JSturr you only get centre point focus. For the 18-105 it's not a big problem as the lens give equivalent to 50-280 so shots framed at that distance are OK with the single focus point. The the 11-16 is F2.8 but for wider shots I need to use F8-11 to get most of what I want in focus. I did use a 55-300 DX lens I have with the FT1, but the limitations are what made me acquire the native CX 70-300.
I have the J1 with the 18.5 & the 30-110mm VR. I couldn't agree more with the color science. Even the jpegs are spot on. It has a warmth to it that almost film like. Also the lenses are incredible. I wish I could afford the 70-300mm 😭
Keep looking for the 70-300mm - as you search you may be surprised to find one with a reasonable price - keeping the hope is the key to hopefully finding one !!
I own a V1 and a J5 I love both cameras, but I dont bother with the dedicated lenses i use vintage glass on mine and for a couple of hundred dollars i have obtained some nice prime lenses and some nice zoom lenses, i did have to buy adapters i run F mount PK, M42 and CY mount lenses, you will have no light meter with the V1 but you will with the J5, i use an external light meter on the V1. So dont worry if you are on a budget like mine.
The V1 is legend. It nails almost every picture. I am also a fan of the smart mode. It is better than you think. But I have sold all lenses except a 10-30 PD and the FT1. The aperture fails on many N1 lenses frustrated me (lost at least 2 lenses). 😢
The Nikon color science is another aspect of which keeps me a Nikon fan ... it's just perfect with virtually no adjustment needed.
AMAZING video! You’re a wealth of knowledge!!! Looking to get the 1 v3 as a daily walk around! Have you very used the Nikon 1 aw?
Thanks !! No I haven’t - concentrate on getting a good lens lineup - they are harder to find but a bit cheaper to purchase when found.
I prefer the v3 over aw1 personally but really love the lack of nobs on the AW1 and especially dig the tilt menu system (built for underwater use) . But AW1 is still a little slow for me. V3 touch menu is just *chef kiss* as I learn more about the capability
Way to go all in! Do you use the system for professional work?
No -- as one of the performance factors of pro work for me is resolution - and given the uneducated factors of the client, I like to give them the biggest of the big so they can manipulate at will without the limitations of having to worry about dpi etc ... as best as possible.
a new v4 camera + xqd would go insane right about now
I’ve been thinking of getting a Z50 or Z6ii as of late … or a really beat up D850 - we’ll see….
Hey man ive seen a bunch of videos on the v3 and am very interested in this camera. But im looking for a multipurpose camera for landscape wildlife and astrophotography. Noone has a video on like imaging the orion nebula with this kit especially with the big zoom lens . Would you be interested in taking a single exposure on a video showing this so we can get an idea of the noise in the image? That would be awesome to see.. thanks for the video man. Keep them comming. Have an awesome day
I’d be glad to - but I don’t quite understand what you want me to do … I can email you files also … send me an email and we can continue this …. Jsturr@jsturr.com
@JSturr i sent you an email. Thank you for the reply
I’ve owned a v3 for 3years, I need lenses 😩 I am in Nigeria, imagine converting dollar to our currency it’s real crazy getting this lenses
Informative video. I lost interest as soon as you said slow aperture. I can only assume Nikon wanted this system as a gateway drug to apsc and full frame DSLRs by providing an adapter to faster f mount lens.
This was the fastest system of it's kind in 2011/12 - and it was the smallest - What's really interesting is how many don't give this system much credit and then Sony's 1-inch system, a "point and shoot" at that, is praised for it's awesomeness ... even today. In true Nikon fashion - Nikon was competing before it even knew what it was doing - and then pulled the product mid generation. Too bad they didn't keep on pushing this space.
Nikon 1 lenses have appalling rates of failure and 99.9% of all the failures are from two problems.
1) A teeny tiny gear made from cheap Chinese plastic has failed on nearly all the lenses that show the same symptom ( super dark in the finder, photos are exposed at f16)....
2) A ribbon cable made fron cheap Chinese plastic fails on any zoom lens that... erm... zooms.
In the case of N1... the N stands for Nadir and the 1 stands for number 1.
Nikon should be ashamed of themselves Nickel and Diming such a great and specialist camera system into the ground.
They make some funny marketing and development decisions - I am hoping with the release of the "Z"
series many management structures within the Nikon machine have changed - and maybe they have. I remember their fixed lens cameras "3" in all ... never made it to production for some reason - about 3-4 years ago ... those would have been incredible - but - we never saw them - although they had quite the fanfair of a big press release etc. Nikon owned the market with the 1 series - but never saw what it was really about. To this day - my videos of my 1 series cameras are top on my feed ... TOP !! Go figure -- there's still some passion and curiosity for this equipment even to this day ... go figure.