Nikon Enters Mirrorless Hybrid Category

By Greg Tarr On Oct 3 2011 - 4:01am

NEW YORK – Nikon recently entered a new phase of its vaunted digital camera business by unveiling the new Nikon 1 System — the company’s first take on the growing mirrorless compact hybrid interchangeable-lens camera category.

Nikon became of first of the industry’s two dominant market share leaders (the other is Canon) to embrace the “mirrorless” hybrid market that started with Panasonic’s and Olympus’s Micro Four Thirds-sensor-based products and quickly ramped up with SXRD-based compacts from Sony and Samsung.

Nikon will not risk cannibalizing its highly successfully endeavors in d-SLR marketing and development, opting instead to cultivate a whole new user segment with the new diminutive cameras.

The Nikon system encompasses two camera models — the J1 and V1 — both based on a Nikon-made 10.1-megapixel CX-format CMOS sensor (measuring 13.2mm by 8.8mm) and a new dual-core Expeed 3 image-processing engine. Both were developed to deliver fast autofocus for high-speed burst shooting and 1080p video capture.

The Nikon 1 system, which also features three new compact-lens options out of the gate, represents the first camera system Nikon has developed from scratch since the Nikon F system was introduced for its d-SLRs more than 50 years ago.

“It’s a new market and a new category that has been started from the ground up,” said David Lee, Nikon USA senior VP.

Steve Heiner, Nikon senior technical manager, added that he expects the format will not appeal to Nikon’s traditional d-SLR users, who would be more likely to use the advanced manual P7100 point-and-shoot for a second compact alternative camera.

Instead, Nikon is looking to capture young, socially connected adults who may or may not be traditional memory keepers in the home, said Sharon Henley, Nikon product lifecycle control senior manager.

The cameras will shoot at 10 fps with full adaptive AF and full resolution, and up to 60 fps at full resolution with AF locked.

The step-up V1, which was developed to be “the world’s smallest and lightest” interchangeable-lens camera, adds a stereo mic input and multi-accessory port for an external flash, GPS and other accessories.

The V1 also includes a 1.4 million-dot high-resolution electronic viewfinder (not included on the J1) that automatically activates when the camera is raised to the eye. A 920,000-dot 3-inch LCD allows an alternative framing method as well as a playback monitor.

Both cameras capture FullHD 1080 video resolution at 30p and 60i frame rates, as well as 1,280 by 720 at 60p. Slow-motion video is captured at 640 by 240 and 400 fps, or 320 by 120 at 1,200 fps.

The V1 will capture still images and full-resolution video without interruption. Its Motion Snapshot feature captures one second of 60 fps video around the still shot, then processes the video down to 24 fps and combines it with the still image to offer a 2.5-second video clip of slow-motion action ending with a freeze-frame still.

Another new feature in the cameras, Smart Photo Selector, offers a virtually fail-safe still image shooting system that captures 20 images with one press of the shutter and then intelligently evaluates each image for focus, exposure, composition, smiling, etc., narrowing the selection down to the best five frames, the best presented first.

To support the new cameras, Nikon has developed new System 1 lenses that are smaller than those used by its traditional d-SLRs, but Nikon will offer an F-mount adapter to use many of Nikon’s traditional d-SLR lenses with the new compact camera models (at a 2.7x crop factor).

The new lenses include a 10mm, f2.8 (27mm equivalent) pancake; a 10-30mm, f3.8-5.6 (27- 81mm equivalent) Vibration Reduction (VR) II standard zoom; and a 10-100mm, f4.5-5.6 (81- 297mm equivalent) VR II long zoom.

For low-light shooting, the cameras feature a 100 to 3,200 ISO range (with one high step to 6,400), and a contrast-detect 73-point autofocus system that places the phase detect sensors directly on the CMOS imager for faster performance.

The cameras are slated for delivery in stores Oct. 20. The suggested retail for each model bundled with a 10-30mm lens is $650 for the J1 and $900 for the V1.

Henley told TWICE that Nikon is planning a series of ads supporting the Nikon 1 System cameras to begin around the market release time. It will include national spokesman Ashton Kutcher and will feature TV, print and online vehicles.