Nikon reveals it's mirrorless '1' system

I do think you're onto something here. If they're smart, that's really how they'll market it and I can even imagine that there are people out there that are looking precisely for the "never miss a shot camera". The big, big question is whether or not these people are willing to pay $900 for this camera (or any camera)...​

Adanac said:
Soccer moms and dads (guilty, but I'm not the target market) will love it. It'll be dubbed the "never miss a shot camera".

Their photos will still largely be boring but at least they'll get the moment the foot connects with the ball, finally.
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How can RFF members feel disappointed when Nikon never thought of us as the main target?

We already have options for all we like and want...

Cheers,

Juan
 
Juan Valdenebro said:
How can RFF members feel disappointed when Nikon never thought of us as the main target?

We already have options for all we like and want...

Cheers,

Juan
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Because:

1. You guys are going on about the main target being p&s consumers - hello!!! $1000 price for a camera + kit lens? That's not consumer pricing - that's more than NEX and m4/3 pricing, and puts it square in enthusiast territory. I could buy 2 m4/3 cameras for the price of 1 nikon.

2. literally 90% of the camera market is made up of cameras that are designed clueless amateurs. 8% of the rest are cameras that are aimed at both amateurs and advanced users. The remaining 2%, like the x100 and the m9 are aimed only at advanced users. Big sensor, in built VF and interchangeable lenses are hallmarks of advanced user features - not point and shoot features.

You can go on on and about how it's not intended for us, but in the end your mouth says 'no no', but the price and main features say 'yes yes'.
 
I'm not dissapointed at all. I'll play around with this camera and keep it in the pocket for when I'm not out doing "serious" shooting.


 
Hi Gavin,

There are hobbyists wanting that camera for that price IMO... Price makes people think things... :) Let's wait and see if it's a disaster for Nikon...

The X1 by Leica is $2000 and you can't use different lenses on it... It has a bigger APS-C sensor, but MOST people in the world don't care... That's what Nikon is right about.

Obviously I won't use that camera.

Cheers,

Juan
 
I bought my wife a Canon P&S last fall to replace her old Sony.

The Nikon 1 J1 would be a perfect camera for her.

She doesn't want to know anything about a camera – I mean anything. How to change anything set anything alter anything what f-stop what ISO...ANYTHING.

But she's dismayed when she doesn't get the shot or gets a blurry mess.

I see what Nikon is doing here. I think it's actually really smart.
 
Paddy C said:
I bought my wife a Canon P&S last fall to replace her old Sony.

The Nikon 1 J1 would be a perfect camera for her.

She doesn't want to know anything about a camera – I mean anything. How to change anything set anything alter anything what f-stop what ISO...ANYTHING.

But she's dismayed when she doesn't get the shot or gets a blurry mess.

I see what Nikon is doing here. I think it's actually really smart.
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Of course!

The move had to be like that: not making an X100 that's better to us, but making one that's better to the masses!

Cheers,

Juan
 
Impressions? Yeah - fastest camera I've yet tried, in all classes. I first thought AF didn't work because it was already focused before I even pressed the button. That blog entry about it being slow and menus confusing - I call bullsh!t. Yes, there are no external controlls, but the menu is very clean and simple. And I don't know where they came with that "slow" comment, must have had a broken camera, because like I said, mine's one of the fastest cameras I've tried (and I've tried them all). It can also be virtually silent, since you can choose electronic or mechanical shutter.
I've played with V1 as well, but decided to take J1 to the streets because I don't really need an EVF on this particular cam and prefer the compact model.
High ISO is very usable (the SP above is at 3200).

But again, what impressions do you want? It is NOT a camera for us RFF types, so no, I won't be doing anything serious with it. As a P&S it's fantastic.

I'd somewhat agree that the only negative thing about this camera (considering the INTENDED USE) is the current price, but those are all MSRPs, I haven't seen MSRP remain for long after launch, so the prices will come down quickly.

And by the way, whoever said "smart camera for stupid people"? Genious! That's exactly what it is!
 
The flat 27mm equivalent lens is the one that makes me curious... With the small sensor, DOF must be omnipresent and ideal for students' digital street shooting... If someone has the camera with that 10mm lens, I'd like to see some sample pictures... Perhaps prints come out with enough quality... Thanks!

Cheers,

Juan
 
I can see that "short movie plus still images" as being a godsend for web journalism. Perfect for perp walks and highlighting great soccer kicks, etc. There was a bit a while back on the NYT blog about a photographer who needed to shoot both stills and video, so he kludged one 5D Mk II atop another. He could have used this instead, a much more elegant solution.

I predict that in a few months we'll be seeing tons of those little motion clips on the web. They'll be as ubiquitous as moving photographs in the Harry Potter movies.
 
Leica0Series said:
I can see that "short movie plus still images" as being a godsend for web journalism.
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It's called "Motion Snapshot" and it's not very useful for the purpose you've envisioned. It's just a 2 second sloooow motion movie (1 sec of before the actual image and 1 sec after) with generic music. The best way to describe it is something that you'd see in a picture frame in the Harry Potter movie.

edit: however, you can very easily capture stills during movie recording, no problem. I think that's what you mean.

Juan - the 10mm lens is decent. That mirror shot is taken with it, obviously. That's the only lens I use (hello-o, primes only!) with this camera. I might post samples, but I'm not too big on feeding internet crowd negativity. I once had a pre-production unit of Nikon's 50mm f/1.8, and posted some shots before it went on sale. Trafic to my Flickr has exploded and DPreviewers and Ken Rockwells of this world were scrutinising every damn pixel. Not a pleasant experiece. I'm not a tester, so I'll leave sample shots for others to do :angel:
 
fdigital said:
Because:

1. You guys are going on about the main target being p&s consumers - hello!!! $1000 price for a camera + kit lens? That's not consumer pricing - that's more than NEX and m4/3 pricing, and puts it square in enthusiast territory. I could buy 2 m4/3 cameras for the price of 1 nikon.

2. literally 90% of the camera market is made up of cameras that are designed clueless amateurs. 8% of the rest are cameras that are aimed at both amateurs and advanced users. The remaining 2%, like the x100 and the m9 are aimed only at advanced users. Big sensor, in built VF and interchangeable lenses are hallmarks of advanced user features - not point and shoot features.

You can go on on and about how it's not intended for us, but in the end your mouth says 'no no', but the price and main features say 'yes yes'.
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Totally agree with your assessment (it's rare that I disagree with you anyways :) )

But we may witness a new in-between market:

I think Nikon is

a) banking on their name recognition ("it's Nai-kon, it has to be good, right?") :rolleyes: , and

b) catering to the "might as well" market, these are non-camera geek people who has $1K to spend and have access to one or more camera geek friends for advice, so they know just enough comparatively about lens size, sensors, etc.
 
I see plenty of "family" camera users lugging around a DSLR. They can't all be happy campers. For "family" camera buyers, the most important complaint about DSLRs is either complexity, or perhaps more importantly size, for the camera that is too big to lug around is the camera that isn't there when you need it.

So where does the up-market family camera buyer turn to? A P&S? That might resolve the complexity and size complaints, but many simple P&S boxes are problematic in another area: responsiveness - and those users are forever missing *the* shot.

Image quality is likely way down the list of complaints "family" camera buyers have, if quality is even on their radar at all.

So Nikon developed a unit that is apparently plenty fast and by taking multiple shots removes the need for the occasional camera user to bother develop timing skills. It is small and hides complexity. It even does video. It hits the important tick boxes for an up market family camera buyer - small (always with you), fast, and simple to use (in theory). And the quality is even a leg up from P&S cameras.

Is 500 or 1000 dollars too much? Maybe. But some of these folks might have spent 500 - 1000 bucks on a DSLR a few years ago and have found they aren't using it nearly as much as they want to, perhaps for some of the reasons I've noted.

Nikon's "never miss a shot" camera (V1, J1) might just be a big hit among up-market small "family" camera buyers.
 
I just bought my sister a D5100 because she just had her first baby so it's a present to make decent quality images, even if she has no photography skills, her IXUS shots suck.

I swear, if Nikon 1 was on sale that'd be the one I'd be getting for her. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to give her mine.
 
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Phantomas said:
Juan - the 10mm lens is decent. That mirror shot is taken with it, obviously. That's the only lens I use (hello-o, primes only!) with this camera. I might post samples, but I'm not too big on feeding internet crowd negativity. I once had a pre-production unit of Nikon's 50mm f/1.8, and posted some shots before it went on sale. Trafic to my Flickr has exploded and DPreviewers and Ken Rockwells of this world were scrutinising every damn pixel. Not a pleasant experiece. I'm not a tester, so I'll leave sample shots for others to do :angel:
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:D

Hey, thanks for that info!

For that really small size of your camera+lens, I think I'd enjoy them for street photography any no-film day, or for relatives wanting to discover the joys of no-settings street shooting... Having no focusing problems is a real joy... Maybe in some time we could see some samples or any shot of yours you like... I wouldn't be surprised if the quality is enough for a good cover (full page size) print...

Cheers,

Juan
 
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The nikon project leader for these cameras is claiming image quality on par with their dslrs. I'm on my phone and can't link. But it's linked off of the online photographer's site.
 
v_roma said:
The nikon project leader for these cameras is claiming image quality on par with their dslrs. I'm on my phone and can't link. But it's linked off of the online photographer's site.
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I saw that. Can't imagine what DSLR he's referring to. The D40?
 
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