millsart Offline Upload & Sell: Off
|
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Anyone jump onto the Nikon system 1 band wagon ? | |
I know Nikon gear, as far as DSLR's go, has its own forum and all, but curious if any of the alt shooters here have gotten the rather popular as of late, Nikon System 1 cameras, specifically the V1 ?
I picked one up about a week ago, and have to say for about $250 w/ lens, its pretty impressive for the money. I got it mainly for the FT-1 adapter which lets you mount F mount glass, and have full AF, including AF-C now, plus VR, so with the 2.7x crop my 200-400 f4 becomes a 540-1080mm equiv f4 VR lens which is pretty cool. Your of course just getting 400mm f4 DoF but that isn't half bad. I think its going to be a great tool for getting some unique coverage of sports like baseball this coming season since I can shoot from the outfield TV locations and still frame batters at home plate. Not going to replace my D3s for most work purposes but could add some extra versatility, not to mention the 30 and 60 fps modes, and also the totally silent shutter, so I'll be trying it on the golf course as well.That 60 fps frame rate also is for RAW files btw (holy buffer Batman)
That all said, I rather liked shooting with this little ultra fast focusing brick of a camera, so I picked up the 18.5mm f1.8 lens today, which is a 50mm equiv. It weights just 72 grams on my scale. Hardly heavier than just the lens cap from my RX1 which is crazy. Quite sharp too and wide open it has a pretty pleasant rendering. BTW, you can pretty much always shoot wide open due to the 1/16,000th max shutter speed. Also ordered with my 18.5mm the little 6.7-13mm f3.5-5.6 VR zoom. Little pocket sized 18-35mm equiv that looks quite sharp across the entire frame, takes a 52mm filter and great VR system all for $500.
This little camera focuses pretty much on par with my D3s too, which is what really makes it unique, and not just in single shot mode, but it can also track focus with a PDAF system, plus has a face detect AF that just works amazing well. You simply do not miss focus with this camera. If you think an olympus OM-D is impressive in terms of AF, you need to try one of these.
Nikon just came out with a 32mm f1.2 that is a little pricier but looks pretty impressive as well, giving an 85mm eqiuv FoV and a DoF about on par with a Olympus 45mm f1.8, but with the extra light grabbing ability of f1.2 and fast tracking AF, so I might need to pick up one of those at some point.
The EVF is simply fantastic as well. Its not that big or high rez, but the refresh rate must be off the charts because there is zero lag, tearing etc. You know your looking at an EVF but it feels like an OVF due to no lag.
Top it off with it taking the same battery, EL-EN15 as the Nikon D800, so you can share batteries, not that you probably will need more than one as I've had this thing a week now and still havent' charged the battery once.
Haven't bought an adapter yet but I read (via SH) that C-mount 16mm glass works pretty well on these guys and should give some rather unique looks. Not sure if they make other adapters or not, but could be fun with something like my Rokkor X's.
All and all, I think at the current pricing these little camera's are a must buy. Its just fun to shoot and makes a great social camera. I love my RX1 and that smokes the v1 in terms of IQ, but if you want to get shots of your kids playing in the yard, or just having basically zero OOF shots, its money well spent. Add the 18.5mm for a 50mm equiv, and your good to go. fast 50mm equiv lens, lightening fast AF, and a built in EVF, what more could you ask for.
I was really skeptical about picking one of these up, but the blow out pricing was so good that I figured it was going to be worth it just for my sports work, but I didn't really think I'd enjoy shooting with the thing but its becoming a choice camera for going on walks and such.
I've got the Ricoh GR and the RX1, plus my pocket RX100 and the Sigma DP2m so no shortage of camera's that are also as if not more pocketable, and all with much better sensors, but even with some of the latest and greatest toys on the market, this 2+ year old outdated that they are practically giving away is seeing some real use.
If they could put the Sony RX100's sensor into a Nikon v3, and keep the same awesome PDAF system, that could be something really cool.
|