The Nikon 1 spirit lives on even though it was six years ago this week that the corporation officially designated the Nikon 1 system as discontinued on its website in Japan.
NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.
More than a decade ago I stumbled onto the Nikon 1 system when I was looking for a back-up camera for my industrial safety video business. I was using full frame gear at the time, and became intrigued with the idea of being able to use my F-Mount lenses with the FT-1 adapter to take advantage of the 2.7X crop factor.
So, I bought a Nikon 1 V2 without ever holding one or seeing the camera first hand. I can still remember my feelings of disbelief when I unboxed that first V2 in the early fall of 2013
I looked so small and ‘toy-like’ that my first thought was to return it for credit even before I pressed the shutter release for the first time.
But… my ‘little voice’ inside told me there was something special about this diminutive camera body… and that I should keep it. I’m glad I listened.
Within the first couple of weeks of using that initial Nikon 1 V2 I started to really appreciate its capabilities. Soon I began adding 1 Nikkor lenses to my kit. A few zoom lenses at first… then the 10 mm f/2.8, 18.5 mm f/1.8, and the 32 mm f/1.2 primes.
As my experience with Nikon 1 grew, I discovered it was much more efficient for me to use that system for my client safety videos. My full frame equipment began to collect dust.
Two things happened that led to me to shoot with Nikon 1 exclusively for the next four years. The first was deciding to take my Nikon 1 gear to Greece rather than my full frame kit. The system performed wonderfully for travel.
The second was buying the 1 Nikkor 70-300 zoom. It redefined bird and nature photography for me. By the end of July 2015 I had sold all of my full frame gear, and I was dedicated to Nikon 1.
I loved the size, responsiveness and flexibility of the Nikon 1 system. With the V2 I could shoot at 15 frames per second with full continuous auto-focus, and up to 60 frames-per-second with the first frame locking exposure and focus. At the time that was incredible. AF-C frame rates got even better with the V3 and J5, increasing to 20-fps.
There were naysayers at every turn, claiming that the system had all kinds of severe limitations. One of the most common one was that It was basically useless in lower light and couldn’t be pushed beyond ISO-800.
I ignored all of the naysayers and set about to push my Nikon 1 gear to see what it could produce. I tried all kinds of things to stretch the envelope, including shooting at high ISO values, and using extension tubes for close up photography.
Some experiments worked. Others didn’t. The outcome wasn’t as important to me as discovering that there was a lot more potential in the system than many people assumed. That’s when I truly experienced the Nikon 1 spirit… and felt a kinship with the system.
To me, the essence of the Nikon 1 spirit was not caring about what other people thought or said. There was a feeling of marching to one’s own drummer rather than following the crowd. It was a spirit of adventure based on discovering for myself what I could produce with my camera gear. To push it… and myself… to see what was actually possible. Rather than accept the limiting opinions of others.
Photography became a journey in self-discovery. Of letting myself wander creatively… and being willing to follow ideas in my mind to see if I could make them into realities.
I discovered that the world around me was overflowing with opportunities to capture unique moments and subjects. Many of these moments demanded that I improve my photographic skills. I did my best to develop my skills accordingly.
There were delicate moments.
Moments of challenge.
Moments defined by precise timing.
Moments at locations that are now lost to other photographers forever.
There were moments in my backyard.
Moments after inclement weather.
Moments with surreal creatures.
There were breakthrough moments.
There were interactive moments.
Acrobatic moments.
Moments when I was in awe of nature.
Moments of serenity and contemplation.
That spirit of self-discovery… and the yearning to capture special moments as they happened… were already inside me of course. Just like they are inside all photographers.
A camera system doesn’t create us. It helps enable us. It is a partner in our visual experience of our world.
About a year after the Nikon 1 system was discontinued I had to adapt to changes with my business. That’s when I transitioned into the Olympus M4/3 system. The Nikon 1 spirit transitioned with me. I still love to experiment. To push myself… and my camera gear.
I found new homes for all of my Nikon 1 equipment. People who were also on their own journeys of creativity and self-discovery. People who also felt a kinship with the Nikon 1 spirit.
Even six years after it was discontinued, the articles on this website that feature images captured with Nikon 1 equipment, still get a surprising amount of readership.
I still get occasional emails from photographers asking about aspects of Nikon 1 cameras and lenses… and sharing their experiences with the system with me.
Every life journey eventually ends. What we take with us is how we chose to live each day. And, what we learned about ourselves along the route. Photography is one of the paths of self-discovery that is available to each of us. Regardless of the camera gear we may use.
Technical Note
Photographs were captured handheld with the camera equipment noted in the EXIF data. All images were created from RAW files using my standard process in post. This is the 1,398 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.
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Hi Thomas,
Thank you for revisiting this wonderful system. I took a J1 and V1 on a teaching trip to Luoyang China, and returned with a great set of images that still get complements. I remember that the J1 could get very hot if used without a break. I used the V1 for recording class activities. Both were excellent for night photography. I still have a J5 which I often use for walk around with. the 10-30mm lens and it makes great images. Shame the series was discontinued.
Thanks again.
Alan
Hi Alan,
Thanks for sharing your experiences with Nikon 1 system… good to hear that it is doing a good job for you.
Tom
Hi Tom, every now and then I check to see if anyone else is still talking about Nikon 1. So I was happy to see another article by you.
I’m like a Nikon 1 system warehouse, after accumulating nearly the entire line and multiple copies of each model, some still new in the box. It was a total commitment I made as I saw the system was discontinued. I was really hoping for a V4 with the J5 sensor but not to be.
Best,
Jae Park
Hi Jae Park,
I also had a very extensive Nikon 1 kit with 8 camera bodies (3-V2, 2-V3, 3-J5), 24 batteries (8 for each camera model), about 20 lenses with duplicates on my most heavily used zooms (6.7-13, 30-110, 10-100 non PD, and 70-300), as well as a Nikon 1 flash, GPS and shotgun mic. During the 4 years that I shot with the system exclusively I really enjoyed using it.
I had some clients wanting me to do 4K video for them which led me to Olympus. This is now the only system that I use. I was able to find good homes for all of my Nikon 1 gear with other folks who love the Nikon 1 system.
I was also hoping for a V4 that would utilize the J5’s sensor… and also be able to shoot proper 4K video… but as your comment noted that was not to be.
There are still quite a few Nikon 1 enthusiasts out there and I still hear from many of them on a regular basis.
Tom
Hi Tom,
Good to hear from you.
That’s great that you found good homes for them. A little sad to hear you’ve moved on but I do use a Point and Shoot Nikon Coolpix P950 that has 4K and a bit more reach for the nature shots if I need it. I also have a Coolpix P1000 but it’s too big and clumsy so I don’t use it. Occasionally I find myself reaching for my D750 to capture comets and other objects that need the extra ISO, light gathering.
In the meantime, I will continue to be a diehard Nikon 1 system user, although I admit being tempted to check out the Olympus system. I still have an OM1 film camera.
Best,
Jae
Hi Jae,
At the time our camera gear was on our corporate depreciation schedule, so we really couldn’t hold onto gear that wasn’t getting active use any more. From a straight business perspective we probably held on to our Nikon 1 kit longer than we should have. We were sorry to see it go. Glad to hear you are still using and enjoying your Nikon 1 equipment… it is a great system.
Tom
For me, the combination of the V2 and 10-100 f4-5.6 zoom remains unbeatable for when I want to travel light and still have the photographic bases covered. Even when I add the 6.7-13, 18.5, and 32 lens to my bag, it weighs almost nothing and still gives me enough flexibility to handle marginal light.
The pixel peepers may laugh at using a V2 in 2024, but I have still gotten a fair number of pictures from this camera on the front page of my newspaper. Thomas, through his words and photos, helped convince me that this camera is still viable and made me a Nikon 1 user.
The spirit of Nikon 1 – a camera and lens system that is small, light, and versatile – lives on in the kit bags of everyone who has discovered this really is The Little Camera That Could.
Hi Randy,
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Nikon 1 system. There are quite a few people out there who share your positive opinion about the system. A number have told me that they intend to extend the life of their system as long as possible by buying good used gear whenever they can. The Nikon 1 system was under-rated and misunderstood by many people… and unfortunately was a system that online trolls loved to hate.
We wish you many more years of enjoyable and creative use of your Nikon 1 gear!
Tom
Hi, Thom!
I still use Nikon 1 V3, 32mm,. 70/300, 6,7/13 for 80% of photos I take. The rest is heavy FF.
Thank you for all the effort you still give to this web and to all of us!
Jiri
Hi Jiri,
When I had my Nikon 1 kit I owned all three of those lenses and enjoyed using all of them. The 6.7-13 being one of my favourite lenses for landscape and travel. Hearing from readers that enjoy the website is an important factor that keeps us doing what we’re doing here.
Tom
Tom: I, too, loved so much about the V2 and the system. I also wish Nikon had released the three 1” sensor compacts they had planned. As for the V2, it was very advanced for its day with regard to autofocus and frame rate, as you point out. And it was wonderfully light and compact for travel and hiking. However, it was hampered by a mediocre sensor and a lack of a simple feature that would have really helped, an auto exposure bracketing function. Foolishly, I shot the V2 in JPEG at the time. I wish I hadn’t because today’s software, like DXO Raw, would probably work wonders with my images. By the way, I loved the 30-110 for macro. I found that my Nikon 6T close up lens would fit beautifully into the lens hood if I inserted it upside down, so to speak, and then I simply attached it with scotch tape. Worked fantastic for super sharp macro with good working distance and no loss of light. Much better than an extension tube in that regard.
Hi Doug,
Thanks for sharing your Nikon 1 experience. It is always interesting to learn about how other folks use their camera gear. I’ve been using DxO for many years so I have the opportunity to go back, if needed, to reprocess any of my Nikon 1 RAW files. I found that DxO worked very well… especially the noise reduction function.
Tom
Since about 2,5 years the Nikon 1 system is my favourite system companion for street, travel and nature photography – before that I worked with the D810 and the Df.
I started to collect lenses and I have all except the 75-300mm which is still very rare and expensive. I replaced it with a 55-200mm DX VR lens and an adapter but I was discontent beacause of lacking sharpness. Dont’t know if this is a malfunction of the VR system.
I had also very good results in videos using the 1V3 with the 10-100mm PD zoom because of the servo zoom modus,
In the mean time I collected also a lot of bodies: the J4 in white, the J2 in red and the AW1. They are all working fine but I have to issue a warning: noticed that the first version of the 10-30mm , the 11-27mm and the 30-110mm were prone to stucking aperture. On eb@y you can find a lot of those sold as defectuous. Nikon doesn’t repair them or saved replacement parts if the micro gears made from plastic are worn out. I received 4 of them in defectuous state where the seller sweared the holy oaths they were ok before shipping.
So I think these lenses should be transported with great care.
I think that Nikon was preparing its factories for the mirrorless Z series. Sorry that they did not take the panorama automatic function for the Z. I liked it and it’s the only one of the creaive functions that I have in use.
So I’d like to hear and see more of the users of the 1 series here in this blog.
Hi Jochan,
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Nikon 1 system. The original 10-30 zoom did have a service recall issued on them… but that was quite a few years ago. I had two copies of the 30-110 and both performed well without any issues. I never bought the 11-27… if my memory serves this zoom did not have VR.
The last Nikon 1 body that was introduced was the J5 back in 2015, and I don’t think that any new lenses were introduced for quite a few years. I’m not aware of the reasoning for the discontinuation of the product line, but given the lack of investment in new products there were likely other business issues at play that probably had little to do with the Z series.
Tom
Ditto, Tom. I love(d) the Nikon 1 system, and wish it had continued!
Hi Bill,
Many people feel that way! I still get folks sending me emails and asking me if I think Nikon will ever bring the Nikon 1 system back… to which I always reply “that ship has sailed”.
Tom
Lovely article Tom. I liked the references to each shot. You just prove the mantra “It’s not the camera, it’s the photographer”.
Thanks Jon… I’m glad you enjoyed the images. This article was an enjoyable journey down memory lane for me.
Tom
I always look forward to your pics that use Nikon 1 gear. After all these years, I still grab my Nikon 1 for travel, street and casual grab shots. I have an entire LUMIX kit that just sits in a case. I guess when the Nikon 1 (one V-3, two J-5s and 7 lenses) kit dies, I’ll bring out my LUMIX gear. Thanks for all the great content you post!
Hi Ray,
I’m glad you’ve been enjoying the Nikon 1 related posts. My Nikon 1 images bring back a lot of positive memories for me since my wife and I used the system for a number of trips over the years.
Tom