Nikon 1 J4 review

[richardHaw]

https://richardhaw.com/2021/03/28/review-nikon-1-j4/

basically how i use it with cinema lenses 

[Akira]

The only Nikon 1 camera I used was the earliest models J1 and V1.  I don't remember they would display histogram on LCD.  If they did, I would have utilized it for sure.

I've never activated high-ISO noise reduction on any cameras to avoid smearing details but always activated the long exposure noise reduction.  I suspect Nikon 1 can reduce the long exposure noise even with the fully manual third party lenses, because the camera knows how long the shutter speed is, if I'm not mistaken.

[richardHaw]

the histogram is only displayed on playback if i am not mistaken

somebody really needs to update the firmware...damn nikon marketing i dont know what they were thinking

[Akira]

Given the performance of Sony's latest 20MP 1" sensor in J5, the Nikon 1 system could have been more promising.

The inability to accept third party full manual lenses is a big mistake and marketing failure.  If the system had been developed further, it would have been a very capable video-still hybrid system.

[richardHaw]

somebody should fire the people in charge of the decisions. the V3 showed that it could be a competent pro camera

[mxbianco]

I agree that Nikon 1 series was completely -and undeservedly- ignored by the public. I have two 1V1s, two 1J1s, and one each of the 1V3, JJ3, 1J4, 1J5. I only skipped the 1V2, because nobody was selling one at an affordable price. I bought some models for as low as 30€, the 1J5 (fully boxed, plus two lenses) for 180€ was almost a steal.

The 1J5 has the same resolution (20,8MP, on a 2.7x smaller sensor) as the D5 and D6 (minus 20 pixels): 5568x3712 vs 5588x3712
The 1J4 has the same resolution as the 1V3 (18MP), and they have a pixel count that's intermediate between the Df/D4/D4s and D5/D6: 5232x3488 (vs 4928x3280)
The 1J3 has the same resolution as the 1V2, and the 1AW1 (14MP): 4608x3072
The 1J2 has the same resolution as the 1J1 and 1V1 (10MP): 3872x2592, same pixel count as the D40X, D60, D80, and D3000.

Many solutions that were developed in these little cameras were included in the Z series (e.g. articulating LCD, AF-P lens compatibility), some features (e.g. burst mode @60fps) are still unique to the Nikon 1s.

The 1V1/1J1 (from 2011) are already compatible with the AFP lenses, there were no AFP lenses back in 2011 AFAIK, but for sure they were developing them...

If they kept developing, starting from the V3, with a V4 and subsequent improved models, Nikon's full fledged mirrorless cameras would have come out at least two years earlier!

Ciao from Massimo

[mxbianco]

Battery-wise, they started the Nikon 1 project very wisely: the 1V1 has an EN-EL15 battery, same as D7000, D600, D800 and a bunch of subsequent cameras, including the latest mirrorless (Z6II/Z7II, albeit in the EN-EL15c iteration, which has improvements but is dimensionally and contact-wise compatible)

... And then some commercial greed kicked in, and most of the next cameras had different batteries!

The 1V2 has an EN-EL21 (only camera I know having that battery, maybe some P&S ?)
Same for the 1J4: EN-EL22 (dimensionally quite similar to the EN-EL20, WHY become incompatible for 0.5 mm difference?)
Same for the 1J5: EN-EL24 (smaller than 20/21/22, you can use the charger for those by adding a piece of thick cardboard, and you can use the 24 in place of the 20/21/22 by using the same piece of cardboard inside the camera's battery chamber)
Luckily, most other cameras in the lineup have the EN-EL20: 1J1, 1J2, 1J3, 1AW1, 1V3 (the latter has EN-EL20a, a little more power but backward compatible with EN-EL20)

They had to reduce battery size because they started reducing body size (and weight), but they could have anticipated that, and maintained a single battery type (EN-EL20 for all).
Otherwise, what is a R&D department there for?

Yeah, commercial greed is the answer, I think R&D knew the answer too well...

Ciao from Massimo

[richardHaw]

yes the V1 has the same en-el15 which was great

i think the people who were responsible for the Nikon 1 failing were fired

whoever thought of crippling manual lenses should be named

[Akira]

Remember the aborted Nikon DL.  Apparently, Nikon is cursed by 1" sensor.   

[richardHaw]

i think im the only guy with a "review" of the DL cameras

[Akira]

i think im the only guy with a "review" of the DL cameras

Was there any working sample of DL?   

[richardHaw]

Was there any working sample of DL?   

yes, i made videos of all 3 in cp+ in my youtube page

[Ilkka Nissilä]

yes, i made videos of all 3 in cp+ in my youtube page

I googled and found the videos. Were the cameras fully functioning and did you find out what the problem was that caused Nikon to not launch them?

I think a compact camera with superwide angle zoom is a gap in the market and Nikon could have done well with it.

Canon seems to make a killing with the R5 even though there is a thread on FM about users reporting lockups so merely having the camera sometimes not work is not a predictor of lack of commercial potential (even if it is embarrassing).

[richardHaw]

they appear to be functional

compacts were on their way out at that time

[mxbianco]

I was very unsatisfied of the way they (Nikon) handled the battery matter, so I tried looking if there was a way of assuring more interoperability between batteries.

My initial findings, already reported, were that you could use the EN-EL24 (from 1J5) inside the 1J4 and the 1J1, 1J2, 1J3, 1AW1, 1V3, by adding a couple of pieces of cardboard to avoid the battery rattling iside the battery chamber (and making bad contact).
Then I started looking at the EN-EL20. Being thicker than the others, there is NO WAY you can put this battery in the battery chamber of other cameras. But then...
I looked at the EN-EL22. It is 1 mm thinner than the EN-EL20, but it did not fit into EN-EL20 chambers. They had put a greedy inappropriate plastic flange to block insertion of the battery!
A 30-second job with a cuttter liberated the battery, and now it fits both EN-EL22 and EN-EL20 compartments...
Not having a 1V2, I cannot say anything about the EN-EL21.

Enclosing a photo showing the modding on the EN-EL22 battery.

Ciao from Massimo