SOUNDIMAGEPLUS: Nikon 1 V1 breaks the rules (again!)

In many ways the Nikon 1 system breaks a lot of photographic rules. Well not rules exactly, more expectations. A small camera that shoots full resolution raw and jpgs. together at 60fps. A camera that lets you take a full-resolution still image while shooting video with no interruption of the video signal. A camera that has a sensor half the size of m4/3 that creates files that are sharp with excellent dynamic range and capable of significant upsizing. Well here's another one. The 10-100mm VR PD zoom is sharpest when it's wide open.

My first experience with the zoom was somewhat disappointing. I was primarily shooting video and had the camera + the zoom on a tripod. Old habits die hard, so I was shooting at the normal apertures I would with a tripod mounted camera, i.e. f/8-f/16. The results were somewhat soft. Yesterday I went out with it hand held, set it on program exposure and let it do its thing. This usually meant that it defaulted to the widest aperture. And what happened? Well these images were significantly sharper than my tripod images. Plus I encountered some dull light and discovered I got pin sharp images at 1/10th. sec. again at maximum apertures, showing just how good the VR (Vibration Reduction) is.

Now I'm not the only person to discover all this, but where is the mention of these virtues when people are doing a hatchet job on the Nikon 1 cameras? Some of the reviews I've read from the usual suspects make no mention of any of this. Some do I know, but usually followed by some coup-de-grace such as 'Image quality however isn't as good as m4/3'. Well, from my use of the camera, that just isn't true, Certainly at base ISO my V1 is producing images from raw that are sharper, capable of more upsizing and with less luminance noise than anything I've ever got from m4/3. And I know that large numbers of people who read this just won't believe me. But then I really don't care. As far as I'm concerned, its their loss.

Quite simply, I have no reason to lie, make anything up or exaggerate. If people think I'm a fanboy, then so be it. However, if I am, then there is a reason for that. And that is the more I use these cameras, the more they give me what I've always wanted. High quality in a small package. Plus lots of handling features that mean I can constantly shoot at base ISO, create sharp artefact free files even when I upsize them, and walk for miles without having to take painkillers when I get home. Whats not to get fanboyistic about? This camera just does it for me, in almost every way. Its the camera I've been dreaming about for years. My only regret is I didn't get one sooner.