Nikon V1 - I like them so much I ordered my third one.

TriShooter

These shots do not do justice to the camera but show some of the potential of these darling little V1s. I went out Monday morning to shoot in 27 degree weather with two V1s. One with a 300mm F4 AFS, and the other with an old Nikon 500mm F5 shooting at 810mm and 1350mm @ 35mm respectively. I took all the shots free hand which was an injustice to the cameras, and still got some decent shots. It was too cold to stand still with the wind blowing across the water. Keep it mind many of these shots taken at 1/500th which is not fast enough for the lenses, especially now that I am pushing 70. One camera was set for low ISO, as I recall the 500mm and the 300m was shot mostly at 800 ISO because wanted to capture some BIF. 

BHPhoto is still selling the one and two lens bundles for 300 and 400 respectively which is a steal in my book, and the primary reason i ordered my third V1. The V2 is not really rated significantly better than the V1, and even missing some features, so take a look if you want a FUN Camera that is light enough to really enjoy. The V1 can take some good pictures. If you cannot stand to see any noise pass on it, but this noise looks more like grain than the noise found on most cameras. Tracking birds in flight with an 810mm is not easy but with more practice is fairly doable to me.

A few, actually 33, pictures from pre-Christmas day can be found on the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uygk6c06hstc8l2/oJCToZTsvY

Click on picture and you will see it in a slide show format.

Merry Christmas to everyone and hope you all have a Happy New Year. 

Wataru

I've got two. I use one at home and the other was snagged by my son.

They used the same lenses and batteries as my D800.

TriShooter

I can tell you are a great dad Wataru. Sharing cameras bodies is akin to playing on the same baseball or football team; it builds camaraderie. Seriously the V1 is a delightful camera for plinking while walking on the beach, or through the woods. People that have never picked up and 800mm lens and walked through a dense forest lugging around have no idea of what they are missing by not getting a couple of these cameras. I plan to put my 85mm F/1.4 on the third camera body to add 230mm, and will use a couple of NEX bodies for the scenic shots. 

Apparently the new V2 infrared remote only works from the lens side of the camera which is a serious missing for those of us using a tripod with our larger lenses. I would have been well served to have used my tripod on the above shots, but it was so cold on the water and the marsh walking seemed to be the better choice. The shots got better the longer I was out there because of adjusting to being more careful because of the extra shaking caused by shooting at at 5 degrees below freezing before taking into account the wind chill factor. 

 Have FUN with your V1s and I will be doing the same here Waturu! Happy New Year to you and your family.

shawnino

I wish Life Pixel converted these to IR (I asked.. they don't). I would be all over a double-lens kit like a dog on a t-bone steak. This would set up as a great IR camera to drag along with a "normal" kit without adding much weight.

TriShooter

Here is a handheld shot of a V1 Images cropped and enlarged by 2x. This is the link to the 300mm F4 with whole frame: 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2937044/PicturesPost/101533-DSC_0896.png

TriShooter

Here is a shot using the 500mm F5 Mirror lens from the 1960s actually called a T50cm taken less than 15 minutes before sunset with a 1 second exposure on the V1. I think we get too hung up on low noise and high ISOs being the end all, when we can easily use a low ISO and a a longer exposure. It was so dark I could barely focus the lens at F5 to get this shot. Obviously I used a tripod on this old manual focus lens. Here is the link to full image: 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2937044/PicturesPost/164553-DSC_2908.png  ... which shot at about 15 meters, and below a head shot with a bit of hdr tweaking taken with the 300mm F4 so you can see the real sharpness because the cat moved just slightly doing the 1 second exposure as you will see when you look at it:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2937044/PicturesPost/101814-DSC_0915.png

TriShooter

I wish Life Pixel converted these to IR (I asked.. they don't). I would be all over a double-lens kit like a dog on a t-bone steak. This would set up as a great IR camera to drag along with a "normal" kit without adding much weight.

I bet if you posted asking of perspective customers it might give them some motivation for a new conversion for the the V1 / V2. I would join you on a conversion in a city second too because the combo would produce some amazing shots in a very small package. 

KolariVision

Life Pixel may not convert them, but we do. The camera is nice, it'll even set WB on 720 and 850nm filters (many newer Nikons do not) and focus on all lenses converted. If you are interested, check it out at <Link Removed>

adamz

guys, why do You upload png files. jpg's hold more data and are designed for pictures while png are designed for graphics.  

@TriShooter - I like the composition on most of Your shots, but I think You should work on stabilisation as most of Your pictures have motion movement visible. 

TriShooter

@TriShooter - I like the composition on most of Your shots, but I think You should work on stabilisation as most of Your pictures have motion movement visible. 

adamz, you are right about the stabilization. Hand holding, as I said above, is not a good idea shooting at 810mm and 1350mm, especially on a cold day. I dropped the pictures from the very early morning where the low light, the 27 degree temp combined to make the camera shake extreme. I am a southerner at heart and not used to this cold northern climate anymore, or the lack of sun either. Most of the shake in those pictures was not really camera stabilization. It was my whole body shaking. lol.  

Jimd36

Hi Trishooter,

I agree with all you say about the Nikon1, I too bought a 2nd kit & they are such a joy to use & handy to have with you always. My Flickr posts using it are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lomondphotography/

Lets hope Nikon decide to bring out more faster lenses for the system!

regards to all,

Jim

lora12fan

i love my nikon v1.... was just comparing with v2 no real big changes... I DO AGREE I AM READY FOR SOME NEW LENSES!!! 

 

TriShooter

Hi Trishooter,

I agree with all you say about the Nikon1, I too bought a 2nd kit & they are such a joy to use & handy to have with you always. My Flickr posts using it are here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/lomondphotography/Lets hope Nikon decide to bring out more faster lenses for the system!regards to all,Jim

Jimd36, thanks for posting your V1 shots. My compliments to you on your V1 shots. That is a nice assortment you have tagged as Nikon 1. Nice to find agreement on the V1. I am having a blast with mine as well!.

TriShooter

i love my nikon v1.... was just comparing with v2 no real big changes... I DO AGREE I AM READY FOR SOME NEW LENSES!!! 

 

loral2fan, and Jimd36 It wouild be fun to see some faster lenses with the 2.7 to play depth of field with a F1.4. & F2.8. Getting a BIF with the 300mm F4 is a hoot with the V1. I brought mine to CT because with the smaller V1 bodies had extra space in the camera bag. I think Nikon may be worried about defeating the small V1 foot print with larger / faster lenses, but they are worring needlessly in my opinion.

dharsay

I'm on my second one so far... almost on my third :-)
I will sell one and get a V2, don't want to get carried away... I figure I can get more for the newer one, and I wonder of there's any interest in a body-only?
*LINK REMOVED*

TriShooter

Great shot of an eagle done by Gofish with his V1 @ ISO 140 mounted on a Nikon 200-400mm shot @ 1/640.

http://gofish.smugmug.com/Nature/Eagles-2011-2012-at/19675220_ZBZtqD/1672188502_rbGX8Lg#!i=1672188435&k=KMsFmKc&lb=1&s=XL

shawnino

FWIW Life Pixel is now offering to convert to IR.
They haven't actually done one yet (as of a few days ago).
Rather than be the Earliest Adopter, I want to be the snotty mouthy kid that urges you guys to go first

Symphotic

I just ordered my third V1. It's cheaper than a P&S now and I use them all the time at work and at home. I also bit on the 18.5 f/1.8. I don't really need the kit zoom lens, as I have two of those already, but I couldn't find a body only. My son has pretty much taken full-time possession of one system, which he uses for training purposes at his work, so I really need to get one for my work kit as a backup camera.

These are great little industrial cameras, both for their high speed video capability and the ease of use. I have to tape over the mode select dial to keep from going into the stupid motion snapshot and picture select modes by mistake.

TriShooter

FWIW Life Pixel is now offering to convert to IR.
They haven't actually done one yet (as of a few days ago).
Rather than be the Earliest Adopter, I want to be the snotty mouthy kid that urges you guys to go first

lol. That is incredibly generous, and thoughtful to let someone else have the fun of exploration, and sharing the experience. hahah. smart.

TriShooter

I just ordered my third V1. It's cheaper than a P&S now and I use them all the time at work and at home. I also bit on the 18.5 f/1.8. I don't really need the kit zoom lens, as I have two of those already, but I couldn't find a body only. My son has pretty much taken full-time possession of one system, which he uses for training purposes at his work, so I really need to get one for my work kit as a backup camera.

These are great little industrial cameras, both for their high speed video capability and the ease of use. I have to tape over the mode select dial to keep from going into the stupid motion snapshot and picture select modes by mistake.

They are amazing little cameras. I got some great shots today, even though it was seriously overcast this morning. The more I use it the better I like them. One thing for sure is you put a 500mm lens on it you will start paying a lot of attention to camera movement at low speeds. The kit lenses take very sharp pictures.

The high speed video is amazing. If I was still running an industrial business unit it would be a no brainer to have one of these in every lab, production office, and technical service representatives' hands. They would pay for themselves quickly.

poptiger

Has anyone had success using the V1 with a Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX?

PB_PM

Any AF-S lens will work with the FT-1 adapter, so it will work.

heartyfisher

A bit late to the fun but I just got a V1 too. Not great for some shots but excellent for others.