Nikon Mirrorless System

2011.09.21

Today Nikon is unveiling its Nikon 1 system of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras with two cameras and four lenses. The new system is built from the ground up to maximize the advantages of compact cameras while embracing the versatility of interchangeable lenses.

The all new mount, called Nikon 1, is made for a sensor with a crop-factor of 2.7X compared to full-frame cameras. This makes it much larger then the Pentax Q system and a little smaller than the Four-Thirds system used by Olympus and Panasonic.

Both new models, the V1 and J1, feature a unique 10 megapixels CMOS sensor with high-speed electronic-shutter and focal-plane phase-detect autofocus capability. The electronic shutter can freeze ultra-fast action at 1/16000s. The V1 also adds a mechanical shutter with a maximum speed of 1/4000s.

Even more incredible thanks to the electronic shutter is a top full-resolution continuous drive of 60 FPS, although there is no time to autofocus at such speed. Full autofocus is available though at 10 FPS. The high-speed CMOS sensor is also used to record full 1080p HD video and high-speed motion at up to 1200 FPS at QVGA resolutions. An intermediate VGA resolution mode records action at 400 FPS too.

For the full specifications of these cameras see the Nikon 1 V1 and Nikon 1 J1 pages.

No new mount system would hold without lenses and Nikon is already introducing a basic set of lenses. There is a 10mm F/2.8 prime, equivalent to 27mm, a 10-30mm F/3.5-5.6 stabilized zoom equivalent to 27-81mm, a 30-110mm F/3.8-5.6 stabilized zoom to complement the shorter one, and a stabilized 10-100mm F/4.5-5.6 lens with power-zoom, equivalent to 27-270mm.

The new camera and lens lineup is scheduled to be available on October 20th. The J1 carries a suggested price of $649 CND and the V1 one of $899 CDN.

• Digital Camera