I bought a camera that everyone hates it !!

If I'm married now, I'm sure my wife will smack my face for buying another camera only a week after I bought TG-1. Lucky I'm not and nobody is going to nag until my ears bleeding.

You guys must be asking why another camera. Well, why not having two cameras?? I know some people have 4-5 cameras in their possession and they are not professional photographers, just enthusiasts. I love photography, I've been taking photos since I was in primary school using my father's Minolta. Actually, I used to have DSLR Sony Alpha A300 couple years ago before I sold it off to my nephew last year. He didn't even finish pay off the camera until now. I don't have a heart to force him to settle it off, at least the camera has a new owner who still using it until now.

OK, what kind of camera actually I bought? I was thinking of Sony RX100 but it is still P&S "Point & Shoot" compact camera with RM2600 price tag. I don't want to buy another compact camera because I already have TG-1. But I also don't want a DSLR because I hate lugging a big camera around based on my experience with A300. My choice now is MILC "Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras". MILC still small like compact cameras and the image quality can rival DSLR. The image quality may not be as good as high-end DSLR but a lot better than compact cameras. By the way, the price is not cheap though. Some of them are more expensive than entry level DSLR. Imagine this.... to create a camera that can take photos like a DSLR, yet small in size. Of course it will take a fortune to do the R&D.

There are many MILC on sales nowadays to cater this market segment like Sony with their NEX series, Olympus with PEN series, Fujifilm X-Pro series, Pentax Q, Panasonic Lumix, Samsung NX and last into the game are the camera giants Nikon 1 series & Canon EOS M. Which one did I buy and why? I bought Nikon 1 V1 and why.... I will tell you why later.
Only one camera, the other one is a dummy

I think I made a big mistake buying this camera. There are so many negative reviews about this camera on the Internet. People hate it so much. Why you shouldn't buy V1....
  1. Nikon CX Sensor is a small sensor. The most comments from photographers out there is how small the sensor is, compare to other MILC  By logic, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality. Too much noise under high ISO and larger DOF.  There must be a reason why Nikon spent trillions of yen (oh... Nikon is a Japanese company) to come out with a new sensor for this series which I don't know. However, the sensor is bigger than all P&S cameras. Only Sony RX100 has same size sensor.
  2. Low resolution, only 10MP. My TG-1 also has 12MP. Some IMLC like Sony NEX-7 has 24MP. I'm ok with the resolution because I rarely crop my photos.
  3. Ugly design. Some people hate the look of V1. Not so ergonomic unlike NEX.
  4. No built-in flash. A bit turn-off to me as well. Have to buy external flash and cost another RM388.
  5. No panorama, no HDR, no miniature, no 3D, etc. C'mon Nikon.... point & shoot cameras also have all these features.
  6. No PASM dial. It is a big deal to some people.
  7. Max ISO only 3200. But this is enough for me.
  8. Camera menu is too simple. Good for P&S user but bad for DSLR user who wants more control. For me it is good enough.
  9. Too pricey when it came out. Single kit lens 10-30mm cost RM27000.
  10. And V1 is not the latest camera... released about a year ago. Nikon just launched the new V2 model recently.
If you have money, go buy Sony NEX-6 or NEX-7. I think they are better cameras, better spec, better function, better performance and better design too. NEX-6 with single lens kit cost you RM3000 and NEX7 will cost your nearly RM5000... or with that amount of money you can get Olympus OM-D (just the body) which claimed to be the best MILC on the market now.

On the flip side there are many advantages with V1 which other MILC don't have or only high-end DSLR have them. It is not totally a piece of crap actually. In fact it is a superb camera. Maybe Nikon has position it on the different track I guess.

  1. It has EVF. I love it! Viewfinder will automatically activate when you bring it to your eye, although the response a bit slow. I couldn't find in the menu to let it activated all the times.
  2. It has mechanical and electronic shutter. And the best part is the electronic shutter which can be silent. So, I can take photo without other people noticing it.
  3. The AF is so fast! You will never miss your subjects. Trust me. Probably the fastest out there using phase-detection compare to contrast-detection in other cameras.
  4. It has 135 AF point while other cameras have around 25 to 35
  5. Other cameras can snap photos between 5-10 fps, V1 can do rapid fire like a machine gun up to 60 fps!! Wow! But do you need it?
  6. Super fast shutter speed. Other cameras between 1/2000 and 1/4000. But this shit can do 1/16000 (sixteen thousand) !! But again, do you really need it?
  7. Big battery the same one used in D7000, photo shoot will last longer.
  8. Other than Full HD 1080p movie, V1 has slow motion movie function with 400fps or 1200fps. This one is so cool! 
  9. While capturing a movie, you can shoot up to 20 still photos. Very useful during birthday party when capturing birthday boy/girl blowing off the candles.
  10. Small size, can be put in your jacket (unfortunately not pocketable in your pants).  The lenses are the smallest among all MILC on the market. Why Nikon 1 able to have smaller lens and cheaper too?? This goes back to smaller sensor. Now we know why Nikon created CX sensor.
  11. Body made of Magnesium casing. It has solid feel in your hands like an expensive camera and I got mine in rare white color.
  12. Built-in intervalometer. You need it to create a timelapse video. Will try to create one soon.
  13. It has P&S feel even my kids can use. It will be easier when you ask other people who are not used to DSLR to take your photo.
  14. It's so cheap, I couldn't resist it!! The price dropped so much since the introduction of a new model V2. The cheapest single lens kit cost only RM1200. Cheaper than V1's smaller brothers J1 & J2. So sorry to existing V1 users who paid about RM2300 before the price drop. You have been conned by Nikon! (I read somewhere in the Internet, sudden increased of V1 users around the world after the price drop, maybe it is a good sign for Nikon 1)
Enjoy the photos I captured using V1 below. No editing has been done to the photos.
16:9 aspect ratio. Can't achieve bookeh due to small censor
3:2 aspect ratio. Dmi is so happy to have a dummy V1
Dmi took it using "smart selector"
Wide angle view with 10-30mm lens
Zoom to the max with 30-110mm lens. Nice huh?!
Night shot
View my office, grainy due high ISO
Petronas Towers at the background
Jalan Tun Razak
Macro shot on dummy V1
Fast shot under low light
Good color contrast
The telephoto lens can be used for bird watching
 The advantage of using external flash is you can rotate the flash 60 degrees angle for bouncing light to get three dimensional effect. You can see the different in photos below.
Comparison between bouncing flash (left) and direct flash (right)

Monochrome shot

Portrait can be nicely captured in black & white

Meow!
Calm before the storm
Christmas tree in Level 4
Christmas tree at the lobby


Please refer to these links for proper review on Nikon 1 V1

Comments

RaYzeef said…
Wah orang kaya!!!
I like your MILF camera, very good choice :)
Kam Kasturie said…
Duit byk2 buat apa bro? Guna utk menceriakan diri sendiri la! Tapi aku kira cheapskate jgk, sbb beli discounted items :P
erranur said…
Ok baru faham napa u always snap picture masa kt Hatyai...suka read your blog sb gambar2 u menarik
Kam Kasturie said…
I dah jual V1 ni, skrg tgh tunggu RX100 punye replacement model. I need pocketable camera.

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