Nikon 1 V3, Where is Nikon going with the 1 series ?

Nikon 1 V3
Photo courtesy of Digital Photography Review dpreview.com

Where is Nikon Going with the 1 System ?

Background  Last year our household acquired a Nikon 1 V2 camera with 10-100mm zoom lens. It has proven useful in a wide variety of situations. It caught the eye of two other family members, both ladies, who also bought the V2 with 10-100mm lens. One wanted to photograph her children at play and sport, the other wanted to capture photos of nature and wildlife. My wife is the main user in our household. She uses the V2 for general photography and tried it for photographing birds.

Long lens rumors  But the 100mm focal length is not long enough for most birds. So she was very interested when rumors began to surface of a new 70-300mm lens for the Nikon 1 system. At the long end this lens provides a diagonal angle of view of only 3.4 degrees. This is ultra telephoto territory.

The lens is real  In due course the rumors were found to be true and the 70-300mm lens was announced.  Although the aperture range is a modest f4.5-5.6 this allows the lens to be remarkably small. It is only 108mm long when collapsed for carrying. In one product  Nikon  democratised the super telephoto zoom lens and began to realise the benefits of the small, 15.9mm diagonal sensor in the 1 series. If this lens has good optical properties and very good VR (it will need to be good) it will make sport, action, wildlife and bird photography accessible to thousands of photographers who could never afford an 800mm lens for a full frame camera. Bravo Nikon.  

Nikon 1 V3 with accessory EVF and handle.
Photo courtesy of Digital Photography Review   dpreview.com

Now for the camera  An ultra telephoto lens is not the easiest thing to use so the 70-300mm will need a suitable camera behind it. My wish list for improvements I wanted  Nikon to make in updating the V2 to the V3 include:  A larger, more ergonomic handle for secure grip, a larger, better quality EVF and a more enthusiast/expert oriented user interface. A bit more dynamic range and a bit less high ISO noise would have been welcome.  The orange mockup shown in the photos represents my vision of the design direction in which I would like to see the Nikon V cameras go. The one thing I did not wish for was more pixels. At 14 Mpx the V2 has plenty.

So, what did we get ?    The V3 has more pixels.   And it  costs more.  A lot more if you want the handle and EVF.  There is no doubt in my mind that if you want to use the long lens you will very definitely need the handle and EVF.

And what did we lose ?  They removed the handle. Oh, they left a little bump where the handle used to be.  But the bump will be of little use with a long lens mounted.  I notice that compared with the V2,  they also moved the lens axis to the right (as viewed by the user) making it difficult to fit a decent handle anyway. The accessory unit sits offset to the right when mounted.  And they removed the EVF.   And they fitted a smaller, less powerful battery. The V2 uses the EL21 with 1485 mAh. The V3 uses the EL20 with 1020 mAh. And they changed the memory card from standard SD format to the Micro SD format. What was that about ? It's a camera not a smart phone. There is plenty of space for a standard SD card.

What on earth were they thinking ?   I understand that there is a place at the entry/budget end of  the market for little cameras without handle or built in EVF.  There are several of these in Nikon's 1 series lineup already.   But the V  is the premium model in the lineup.  Done right I think the V3 could appeal to a large cohort of enthusiast users who would welcome the opportunity to benefit from the high speed technology inside the V cameras and the ultra telephoto lens possibilities opened up by the 70-300mm.

My thoughts on the V3   This looks like a camera which doesn't know what it wants to be. In my view it needs to be a fully featured mini DSLR style model with all the features and capabilities of a mid range enthusiast DSLR/MILC but in a smaller size. This is entirely possible as the V2 and my mockup demonstrate.  The V3 makes no sense to me at all.  When optioned up with the handle and EVF it is way too expensive. Even then the package is not appealing. The slip on EVF will be vulnerable to damage if left on the camera and a perpetual nuisance if carried off the camera. The accessory handle if fitted duplicates the shutter button, wasting valuable camera top real estate and sets up a confusing and ergonomically suboptimal configuration of front command dials.

 

On the left my mockup with ye olde peanut butter jar lens which by coincidence happens to be almost exactly the same size as the new Nikon 1 series 70-300mm lens. On the right a V2 with 10-100mm lens. 

Notes on the mockup  The orange mockup embodies my ideas for  the ideal small yet fully featured camera suitable for beginner or expert/enthusiast users.  It is the same height as a V2, 11mm wider and  16mm deeper although  a lens if mounted  determines total depth.  Something very close to this would describe the camera which I wanted the V3 to be. It has a fully anatomical handle and thumb support, forward shutter button with quad control layout including command dial, fully articulated monitor and a full suite of hard interface modules for hands on control of the device.

 

Rear view of the mockup beside the V2. They are actually the same height although the angle of view here makes the mockup seem taller. The mockup is much nicer to hold. It doesn't need to be orange, I just wanted you to notice it. It actually started life painted mid gray, but that was too dull and boring.

What about the 1 series ?   At this point neither my wife nor I know what to think about the Nikon 1 series. We could keep the V2 and mount the new 70-300mm lens and we might do that.  The problem is that we have no confidence in the direction (or lack of direction) which Nikon appears to be taking with it's 1 series. Why is the V3 not a full featured all inclusive unit ?  Why is Nikon  dithering about with accessory EVF and handle on it's top model ?  We want to feel some confidence that we know and Nikon knows,  where it is going with the 1 series so we can get on board with the system or drop it and go elsewhere.  

Is Nikon deliberately overpricing and  underspecifying it's V series to protect DSLR sales ?  Are these inexplicable (to me) changes moved by styling considerations ?  I am confused.

It defies logic that a camera maker would go to all the effort and expense of  developing  a new line of cameras then deliberately disadvantage  those cameras in the marketplace. My personal view is that the 1 series has great  potential which Nikon is not fully exploiting with it's product lineup. 

In the meantime..............  We have been using a Panasonic FZ200 which has a superzoom lens with a diagonal angle of view at the long end of only 4.1 degrees, almost as narrow as the 70-300mm. The FZ200 also knows what kind of camera it is trying to be (do everything) and it half succeeds (or half fails depending on whether you are an optimist or pessimist)  falling short on several  key image quality and performance metrics.

We shall see......................