Today, Nikon announced a totally new camera system called the Nikon 1. It has been designed from the ground up to be a compact, interchangeable lens camera for the enthusiast photographer. They’ve created two camera bodies to start, the first being the J1 and the other being the V1. Both cameras incorporate a 10 MP 2.7x crop sensor with a max ISO of 3200. The V1 claims to be the world’s smallest and lightest camera with interchangeable lenses and electronic viewfinder. The J1 is fundamentally the same camera without a viewfinder.
Nikon has also produced an array of four new lenses: 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 (81-297mm equiv) for $250, 10mm f/2.8 (27mm equiv) for $250, 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 (27-270mm equiv) for $750. There are a few other interesting accessories that work with the new camera system including the ME-1 stereo microphone, ML-L3 wireless remote and GP-N100 GPS unit.
Time will tell if the tiny 2.7x sensor produces high quality images. My initial thinking is “skeptical”. I’ll try to get my hands on a sample and test it out. I’ll report back what I find.
To learn more about the camera system, follow this link: Nikon 1 Product Page
B&H has already started the pre-ordering process here: B&H Photo Video