Nikon 1 series: The tests
Thursday, September 29, 2011 Camera Review| Interchangeable Lens cameras by Nikon | Nikon J1: a small camera with a great sensor? | Nikon V1: review of the high-end Nikon 1 |
With this new product, Nikon is a late arrival in a market in which Panasonic, Olympus and Sony have already carved out their places. Nikon has made a very important technological effort in order to succeed... the question is, does this effort correspond to market demands? As a response to the problem of bulkiness, the answer appears to be yes. As for image quality, the analysis of the Nikon J1 sensor below provides at least an initial response. (We will be reviewing the Nikon V1 shortly)
Nikon J1: a small camera with a great sensor?
For those who are well-acquainted with DxOMark, the measurements for the Nikon J1 will be quite surprising: the Nikon J1 sensor performs very well for a such a small sensor (8.8 x 13.2 mm for 10.4 Mpix).
With an overall score of 56, the Nikon J1 achieves a pretty good DxOMark ranking. With regard to its size, this ranking is a big surprise, as the Nikon J1 sensor manages to score close to or even better than larger sensors (including 4/3 sensors).
If we dig further into the results, we see even more nice surprises. The color depth score of 21.5 and the dynamic range score of 11 EVs are pretty good for this sensor. It is worth noting that the Nikon J1 achieves this good color and contrast at its lowest ISO setting—ISO 100, giving it a key advantage in term of dynamic range and color depth.
On the other hand, its low-light ISO score is a bit low: 372, which reflects the impact of the sensor size. Indeed, this score is naturally dependent on the sensor size: the bigger the sensor, the more light it captures. So even though the quality of the pixels provided by Nikon is very close to that of its main competitor, its sensor size physically limits the image quality.
Let’s have a look at how the Nikon compares with its main competitors:
Nikon 1 J1 vs Sony NEX-C3 vs Sony SLT A77
This isn’t the first comparison you’d expect, is it? Why would we compare a Interchangeable Lens camera to the $1400 semi-pro Sony A77?
—Simply because its sensor shares the same specifications as the new Sony NEX 7, which we haven’t measured yet. Moreover, the NEX 7 does not have a semi-translucent mirror, and thus should be able to achieve better scores than the Sony A77. So we are in fact trying to compare the J1 with its Sony competitors, the NEX-C3 and the NEX 7.
The conclusion here is obvious: if you want the best image quality and the camera size doesn’t really matter, choose the larger Sony NEX cameras. (And you should perhaps wait for the measurement results of the NEX 7 before buying a NEX.)
Nikon 1 J1 vs Olympus PEN EP3 vs Panasonic GF3
Here we compare the Nikon-CX sensor with micro 4/3 sensors.
Even if the results seem pretty close, pay particular attention to the low-light ISO score. The gap between the Nikon 1 J1 sensor and the PEN EP3 or GF3 sensors comes close to ½ stop. Under low-light conditions, this difference could be noticeable and a handicap for some moving shots. The impact of this gap will also depend on the raw converter.
Nikon J1 vs Canon G12 vs Nikon P7000
This is perhaps the key comparison for Nikon: the Nikon 1 series is a very good alternative for people who are looking for a high-end compact. Their form factors are very close, but the image quality is significantly better and its interchangeable lenses could convince a lot of beginners to choose the Nikon J1.
The Canon Powershot S100 and Nikon Coolpix P7100 measurements are not yet available, but we don’t expect the comparisons to differ significantly .
In conclusion, the Nikon J1 may disappoint some serious photographers who are used to DSLR image quality. But for those who have been waiting for good tiny camera, at $700, the Nikon J1 is a good camera for the money!
See you tomorrow for more details about the Nikon V1 and some of the Nikon 1 innovations like the Smoothed RAW.
Comments
Further readings for the Nikon 1 series: The tests
To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.
|
Following the hybrid camera trend and after the limited success of the Pentax Q, Pentax is announcing today a new compact camera with interchangeable lenses, the Pentax K-01. |
|
Last year, photography headlines noted a revival of enthusiasm in the old-fashioned camera sector. The most active manufacturers for this segment were Olympus with its PEN camera and Fujifilm, with its Fuji X100 one of the most acclaimed cameras of 2011. |
|
Announced in June 2011, the Panasonic Lumix DMC GF3 will be of interest to photographers who can afford an easy-to-use compact camera with interchangeable lenses and an image quality superior to that of other compact cameras (such as the Canon Powershot S100). |
|
A few weeks ago, Nikon announced the Nikon 1 series that we had the chance to test immediately. For this new format of camera, Nikon also designed a completely new format of lenses, the “Nikon 1 mount,” for which we are publishing the measurements today. Nikon put a lot of effort to design lenses that offer the best balance of image quality and portability, and apparently it paid off. Let’s look closely at how these lenses perform compared to their direct competitors. |
|
Introduced this past summer, the PEN E-PL3 and PEN E-PM1 are the latest micro-four-thirds cameras from Olympus. These 2 new models are intended to complete the PEN EP3 series and thus offer a whole range of compact cameras with interchangeable lenses. Each model offers a different set of controls with a different size, depending on whether you need more directly-accessible controls while shooting, or if you favor a pocketable camera. But as we'll see, given that they're based on the same sensor as the PEN EP3, these cameras perform equally well (or poorly) in term of image quality. |
|
|
The long awaited and rumored mirrorless Nikon camera was finally announced today. And it’s not just one but a pair of new mirrorless compact “1 System” cameras that are coming to compete with the Sony NEX 7, the Pentax Q, the Olymps PEN EP3 or even the Fujifilm FinePix X10. These 2 first models in this new Nikon 1 series are the Nikon J1 and Nikon V1. |