Nikon 1 Series On the way out ?

Offer of the Century. Reykjavik. Panasonic FZ1000 with the versatile 'One Inch' sensor

Readers please note that I have no connection with any organisation which makes or sells cameras and I have no inside knowledge of the product decision making process used by Nikon or any other camera maker. I am just a consumer who wonders what the heck is going on behind the scenes.

Nikon entered the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (MILC) market with the V1 and J1 cameras in September 2011. These were the first models of an entirely new camera system based on the so-called ‘One inch’sensor size.

The actual size of the sensor is 8.8x13.2mm giving a diagonal of 15.9mm and an aspect ratio of 3:2.

I remember thinking at the time…. Why…?

Why did Nikon not join the Micro Four Thirds consortium ? By 2011 M43 was an established and viable MILC system. Nikon had no need to design the lens mount, just to build to the established specifications.

I think Nikon (and Canon by the way) could have done quite well in M43 but both decided for their own reasons whatever they may have been to go their separate ways for better, or for worse as things turned out for the Nikon 1 System.

The Nikon F mount for interchangeable lens cameras (ILC) made its debut in 1959. It has been in continuous use since then for Nikon ILCs and has been successfully adapted to FX and DX digital bodies and lenses.

It seems to me that Nikon could have entered the MILC realm using the F mount and the DX (APS-C, 15.6x23.5, diagonal 28mm) sized sensor.

This would allow the millions of lenses in circulation to be compatible with the new MILC system. It would also be possible to develop a new line of lenses with AF systems better suited to the contrast detect autofocus used in mirrorless cameras. In other words a new system which would be both backwards and forwards compatible.

The sensor would need on chip phase detect autofocus in addition to contrast detect AF in order to generate adequate autofocus speed with existing lenses.

All of these things were entirely possible in 2011. Indeed the ‘One Series’ cameras did, and still do, have on chip PDAF running at very fast speed.

The cameras which emerged from the ‘1 System’ showed signs of confused product concept and strategy.

Were they intended to be high powered sport/action cameras or were they fashion accessories in pretty colors ?

The current top of the range V3 model comes with no built in EVF (oh…we can sell you an accessory one at great cost) no proper handle (yes…we can sell you an accessory one of those too) and no SD card, just a micro SD.

Well….yes…of course….our DSLRs have the viewfinder and handle built in and they cost less.

So why would you buy the V3 ? …………………..? ……hmmmm…………..

At about the same time the Nikon 1 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 supertelephoto zoom lens was introduced.

The full frame equivalent focal length of this lens is 189-810mm.

This might have been of considerable interest to wildlife/bird/sport/action photographers if the camera body had been appropriately configured.

But the main problem with the 1 Series is that the 15.9mm sensor is better suited to fixed zoom lens cameras than to ILCs.

I think the photos tell the story better than words:

Photo courtesy of camerasize.com
Here are three small ILCs, each with standard f3.5-5.6 kit lens . The Sony A6300 on the left has the largest sensor but is only marginally bigger than the Nikon 1 V3 in the middle with the smallest sensor. In addition the A6300 has both built in EVF and a decent built in handle. The smallest camera is the Panasonic GM5 on the right with a larger sensor than the one found in the V3. The GM5 also has a built in EVF.
I think I could easily make a case for buying the A6300 or the GM5 but not the 1 V3.

Photo courtesy of camerasize.com
Camerasize did not have the Nikon 1 6.7-13mm lens in its files so I mocked up the correct size using the 10-30mm as a starting point.
On the left is the Nikon 1 V3 with wide angle zoom lens focal length equivalent to 18-35mm f3.5-5.6. On the right is the new Nikon DL 18-50 with a longer zoom range and two stops wider aperture throughout the zoom range. Yet the package is considerably more compact. So compact that I think quite a few camera users will be thinking it might make more sense to carry a DL18-50 than a wide zoom for an ILC.

Photo courtesy of camerasize.com
Again Camerasize did not have the exact lens I wanted on file so I mocked up the 10-100mm to correct dimensions.
On the left is the new Panasonic TZ100 travel zoom camera with the (presumably Sony) 'One Inch' sensor and 10x zoom lens (focal length range equivalent 25-250mm f2.8-5.9) with built in EVF and flash.
On the right is the Nikon 1 V3 with 10-100mm lens (equivalent 27-270mm f4-5.6) and no built in EVF.
Each camera uses the same sized sensor.
Each lens has approximately the same zoom range. The lens aperture of the TZ100 is one stop wider at the wide end of the zoom and 1/3 stop smaller at the long end.
Both cameras are pictured with the lens in collapsed position. This photo shows how using a fixed, built in zoom lens with triple extension inner barrel can dramatically reduce the closed size of the lens for carrying.

I would be very surprised if the “1 System” ILC line continues in any substantive way now that the ‘DL’ series of FZLCs has arrived.

I would also expect Nikon to announce a DX MILC using the F mount at some stage.

They need to source an APS-C sensor which has both PDAF and CDAF on the sensor.

As it happens such a sensor can be found in the Sony A6000 and the new A6300 so that is not a constraint. Most of Nikon’s sensors appear to be from Sony these days.

As a minimum all Nikon needs to do at the outset is to copy the Sony A6300 but with a version of the F mount using a 25mm flangeback distance (or close to that) and provide an adapter for standard F mount lenses which need the 46.5mm flangeback distance.

Nikon should be able to make a better set of dedicated MILC lenses than Sony.

The currently available Sony E mount lenses have a ….shall we say….mixed….. reputation with many reports of sample variation.

My guess is that the R&D people at Nikon are probably already well advanced with something like the concept which I have outlined.

If not, then I suggest they might be in trouble.

Addendum 6 March 2016:

New N1 products each year