Nikon 1 V3 - High ISO Shots - 01 May 2014

29mm at 20X (~1566mm), ISO 800, 1/100s, f/5.6

Last evening I received my Nikon 1 V3 from B&H Photo.  I had time to charge the battery and take it into the yard for some test shooting.  While I plan to write a more extensive review of the camera I thought I would provide some initial impressions.


First off, the camera 'feels' very solid - well built.  The new 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD lens is a 'Power Drive' lens that is a bit bigger than the older version that came w/ the V1 (bigger in that I can't use my homemade adapter for the 40X W eyepiece on the Zeiss 85T*Fl scope).  The zoom ring on the new lens spins freely when the camera is off.  When the camera is on, the the ring provides a smooth zoom from 10 - 30 mm.  Good news is that the ring still spins freely, so there's no worry about cranking the lens past zoom. It just takes a bit of time to get used to the feel.  Otherwise, its bright and sharp.


28mm at 20X (~1512mm), ISO 800, 1/60s, f/5.6
On the Digidapter™ digiscoping adapter and 20-75X Zoom eyepiece there is vignetting until about 20mm, but images seem sharp out to 30mm, which was not the case w/ the  earlier version. Better yet, I can zoom the eyepiece all the way out to 75X for a whopping 30*75*2.5 = 5625mm effective focal length!  At 20fps and Auto-ISO capabilities, I'm bound to have a few keeper images even under these extreme magnifications.

10mm at 20X (~540mm), ISO 800, 1/100s, f/3.5

This Common Grackle was feeding on the ground under the feeder less than an hour after I opened the box to the camera.  The battery had just enough juice to shoot a few (hundred) frames before it got completely dark.  The camera can be operated in 'quiet' mode, which means no sound during focusing or shooting. There is almost no perception of an image being taken, so its easy to run up a couple hundred photos by holding the shutter release down.

RAW image

This House Sparrow was digiscoped from about 30' away at 30mm and zoom eyepiece at ~60X for an EFL of 4860mm. ISO 800, 1/125s, f/5.6.  At 20X Zoom the same bird could be captured at ISO 400.

This afternoon a White-crowned Sparrow showed up briefly in the yard.  I was able to digiscope it through the back window.  

Advance Movie Options are available with this camera. Possible options include HD Movie (1080p), Slow Motion (3 seconds recorded at 400fps and played back at 30fps = 40 second slow-mo), Fast Motion (plays back 4X normal speed), Jump Cut (recording pauses every other second for a drop-frame effect), and a 4-second Movie Clip Mode.

I tried the Slow Motion option this afternoon on this American Goldfinch.  I like the slow motion effect especially when trying to record fast-moving birds.  Looking forward to try it on hummingbirds!

Time to head to the marsh to try this camera out!