Nikon V1 – Strengths and Weakness

With the recent spring weather as well as Landscapes I have been shooting some Wildlife with my Nikon V1. I am now getting to know all the issues with the camera.

Some are very minor others more of a problem.

The main problems are:

  • Eye sensor – switches off back lcd when you try and shield it from the sun
  • Mode dial – when you pull the camera from your pocket or bag it’s always on the wrong setting
  • Image Review – you cannot turn it off, this is a more of a problem then you think when shooting action as the viewfinder shows the last shot you took and not the current view.

The other issues are fairly minor, it would be nice to be able change the focus mode and iso quickly instead of having to scroll through the menu.  In many ways the mode dial on the back is pointless and should be either got rid of or move the modes buried in the sub menus onto it.  Hiding the Aperture, Shutter and Manual modes does not make sense.

It’s a great camera and I wish Nikon would see the point of producing a more professional version but from comments I have seen they don’t see the point or they don’t want to risk cannibalising the sales of their low end SLR’s.

The problem is if Nikon do not produce a high end model then Sony, Panasonic, Olympus and Fuji will do there best to produce a camera that will appeal to us. With cameras like the Sony NEX-7, the Panasonic DMX-GX-1, the new Olympus OM-D E-M5, the sublime but also focus challenged Fuji X100 and new X Pro1, we have many options available to us.

As you can see from the samples I have posted above, and some of the street photography, I have done and posted over the last few days, image quality is very good for such a small sensor, and the EVF is excellent and the autofocus second to none.  It is a great handling camera, lets hope Nikon can build on it.

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