Nikon J1

The Nikon 1 J1 is available in India at a street price of 29,050 for the model with the 10-30mm lens. The pink version, which comes with a 10-30mm lens and a 30-110mm lens is available for 40,950 making it a special edition model. The Nikon 1 J1 is...

Good image quality (comparable to 12MP Micro Four Thirds sensor output) ; Very good, print-ready JPEGs - nice color reproduction, and a good balance of NR/detail ; Fast and accurate phase-detection tracking AF as part of adaptive 'Hybrid' AF system ;...

Conservative Auto ISO behavior can result in dangerously slow shutter speeds indoors (especially frustrating for social photography and continuous-advance shots of indoor sports) ; No 'live' simulation of exposure compensation, nor on-screen histogram...

The J1 will reward point-and-shoot upgraders with a noticeable bump in image quality, but often fails to deliver acceptable results in lower-light settings when operated in its fully automated mode.

Nikon’s first mirrorless camera ; Quality images in good light, solid videos ; Digital noise well under control

Photos not as good as competitors ; Limited selection of lenses ; Dated menu system

Although the Nikon 1 J1 has a lot of pluses, we feel the negatives (and the competition) make it difficult to recommend unreservedly. It’s a good, but not great, camera.

Good-looking ; Very fast focusing and shooting ; Multiple available lenses

Sensor is more point-and-shoot than DSLR ; Way too expensive ; Terrible low-light image quality

The Nikon J1 is a barely-disguised point-and-shoot with a bunch of lenses and a $650 price tag

Compact, attractive design ; Manual control in video mode ; Built-in flash

Inconsistent performance ; Average image quality ; Expensive

Nikon's first mirrorless camera has a stylish design, but performance misses the mark for pro and other advanced users.

The Nikon J1 represents the first step for the company into the rapidly growing compact interchangeable lens camera world. While most of these cameras are designed to fit DSLR quality into a compact size, Nikon seems to be aiming at that goal from the...

Compact camera with broad zoom range

Rear LCD is hard to see; no viewfinder

The highlights for my shooting with the J1 include: the broad range of focal lengths offered in a compact camera, the high speed that ensures peak-of-action capture, and the RAW format. Of course, HD video is also a plus. The downside to the J1 is the...

For entrepreneurs who rely on having a camera handy (contractors, realtors, landscapers, we're talking to you), the optics embedded in today's smartphones won't cut it. To wit: The 8-megapixel lens in the iPhone 4S falls short of the ultra-crisp...