Nikon has launched two compact system cameras (CSC) the smaller one being J1 and its big brother is V1.
The 10.1-meg J1 comes with a twin lens kit 10-30mm (27 – 81mm 35 mm equivalent) standard zoom and a longer and larger 30-110mm (81 – 297 mm 35 mm equivalent) telephoto zoom. If you want a single 10mm fixed-focus lens, that is also available. With the supplied lenses you will have fairly broad range of frames to shoot. However, their length and diameter make it difficult to hold the camera steady and to avoid blur.
If you have Nikon lenses for you DSLR, with Nikon FT1 mount adaptor (buy as accessory) you can use those.
The design of J1 camera is pleasingly simple, with neatly sunken controls and an L-shaped pop up flash. Light sensitivity range available from ISO 100 to ISO 5400 which is very useful while you shoot in low light conditions. RAW image shooting capability is incorporated too.
Autofocus (AF), with a maximum 135 focus points, ensures subjects are sharp no matter in which part of the frame they appear, as long as you keep your camera steady. Colours are a little dull when you bring out JPEGs straight from the camera, of course you can do the in-camera adjustments.
The J1 shoots video at full HD (1920x1080 pixels), with frame rates of 30fps or 60fps and the sound recorded is in stereo. Video focus adjusts almost imperceptibly when you zoom in manually. No dedicated button for video shooting is provided. You have to physically rotate the dial before you shoot a video.
Fixed 3 inch 460K LCD screen will do modest job for you.
This camera is very easy to use, simple compact design, built in flash, HD video capability, and interchangeable lenses are some of the good features.
However, the price of a 10 Megapixel camera is more than an entry level DSLR is a real turn off.
