Nikon 1 V3 Review

June 9, 2014 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star

Introduction

The Nikon 1 V3 is a compact system camera featuring a new 18.4-megapixel "CX" format sensor with no low-pass filter and the Nikon 1 lens mount. Boasting continuous shooting speeds of 20fps with continuous autofocus and 60fps with fixed-point autofocus, 1080/60p Full HD movie recording, an ultra-fast hybrid auto-focus system with 171-points and 105 on-sensor phase-detect auto-focus points, WiFi connectivity, ISO 160-6,400 (expandable to ISO 12,800), Best Moment Capture and the unique Motion Snapshot Mode, the Nikon V3 also offers more conventional shooting modes like Programmed Auto, Aperture and Shutter Priority, as well as Metered Manual. Also on-board is a high resolution tiltable 3-inch LCD touchscreen display with 1037k dots, both an electronic and a mechanical shutter, a built-in pop-up flash, and an accessory port for attaching an an add-on EVF, flashgun, GPS unit or one of a number of accessories. Available in black or white, the Nikon 1 V3 is priced at €849.00 body only, €949.00 / £799.99 with the new 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-Zoom lens or £1,049.99 / €1249.00 / $1,199.95 with the lens, DF-N1000 external EVF and GR-N1010 grip.

Ease of Use

The Nikon 1 V3 has undergone another rather radical redesign since the second V2 model was launched in late 2012. The Nikon V3 now has a much less prominent handgrip and has lost the V2's electronic viewfinder, which is now only available as expensive accessory. On a more positive note, it's subsequently an altogether more svelte and slimline proposition than its utilitarian predecessor, and certainly more pocketable. Still made of aluminium with magnesium alloy reinforced parts, the Nikon 1 V3 is heavier than you would think based on its size alone, weighing in at 282g body-only, smaller but actually slightly heavier than the V2.

The V2 continues to use the Nikon 1 lens mount. Instead of being a scaled-down version of the good old F mount, it's a new design that provides 100% electronic communication between the attached lens and the camera body, courtesy of a dozen contacts. Just like on the manufacturer's F-mount SLR cameras, there is a white dot for easy lens alignment, although it has moved from the 2 o'clock position (when viewed front on) to the top of the mount. The lenses themselves feature a short silver ridge on the lens barrel, which needs to be in alignment with said dot in order for you to be able to attach the lens to the camera. While this may require a bit of getting used to, it actually makes changing lenses quicker and easier.

With no lens attached, you can see the image sensor sitting right behind the plane of the bayonet mount. Measuring 13.2x8.8mm this "CX" format imaging chip has double the surface area of the biggest sensors used in compact and bridge cameras, but only about half the area of a standard Four Thirds sensor. In linear terms, a Four Thirds chip has a 1.36x longer diagonal than the Nikon CX imager. Given that Four Thirds has a 2x focal length multiplier, the CX "crop factor" works out to about 2.72, meaning that a 10mm lens has approximately the same angle of view as a 27.2mm lens on an FX or 35mm film camera. The new Nikon 1 Nikkor 10-30mm power-zoom lens is thus equivalent to a 27.2-81.6mm (or, practically speaking, 28-80mm) FX lens in terms of its angle-of-view range. It's also much more compact than the standard 10-30mm lens, making it possible to just about squeeze the V3 into a coat pocket even with the lens attached.

The rest of the Nikon V3's faceplate is almost empty, featuring only the lens release button, a receiver for the optional ML-L3 infrared remote control, an AF assist/self-timer lamp and the small, rubberised handgrip. One very useful new addition is a second forefinger operated command dial, which joins the one on the rear and makes it a cinch to shoot fully manual.

Nikon 1 V3 Nikon 1 V3
Front Rear

There are two ways of powering on the Nikon 1 V3. You can either use the relocated on/off switch that now surrounds the shutter release button or, if you have a collapsible-barrel zoom lens attached, you can simply press the unlocking button on the lens barrel and turn the zoom ring to unlock the lens, an act that causes the camera to switch on automatically. This is an ingenious solution as you need to unlock the lens for shooting anyway. Start-up takes just over a second - nothing to write home about but still decent and entirely adequate.

You can now only frame your shots using either the rear screen (unless you add the optional electronic viewfinder). The LCD is an improved three-inch, 1037K-dot display that boasts wide viewing angles, great definition and accurate colours but only so-so visibility in strong daylight. It can now also be tiilted up and down to act as a waist level viewfinder or for overhead shots, although not enough for the ubiquitous selfie. Nikon have also added touch functionality to the V3's screen, offering the ability to tap almost anywhere to either focus or to both focus and take the picture at the same time. You can also interact with some of the onscreen settings and use the main menu system too. The new virtual horizon displays roll (horizontal inclination) and pitch (forward or rear inclination) information, useful for keeping everything straight.

The Nikon 1 V3 also has a physical control layout that's clearly been designed to appeal to the serious enthusiast photographer. There's a shooting mode dial on top of the camera that provides quick and easy access to the conventional P, A, S and M modes, something that the original V1 conspicuously lacked. The same dial also houses the Video, Motion Snapshot and Best Moment Capture modes, plus the green Auto mode for beginners. The tactile thumb-operated control dial which makes it much easier to set the shutter speed and aperture in the advanced shooting modes, especially in conjunction with the new front control dial.

Nikon have also beefed up the ways in which the V3 can be customised. The rear command dial doubles up as the Fn2 button which accesses the ISO options by default, again a big improvement on the V1 which suffered from having no direct access to this important function. The Fn1 button below accesses the white balance options, and the F button now opens a mini GUI with aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus mode, metering, picture control white balance all available at the touch of a button. Both buttons can be reconfigured as you wish.

The four-way controller on the rear has four functions mapped onto its Up, Right, Down and Left buttons, including AF mode, exposure compensation, flash modes and burst/self-timer, respectively. Also on the back of the camera is a thin circular scroll wheel around the four-way pad which is used to set the aperture in the Manual mode and select menu options. Last but not least, there are four self-explanatory buttons positioned to the left of the LCD screen, which include Playback, Menu, Display and Delete. New to the V3 is the useful thumb-operated AE-L/AF-L button, which again can be configured to suit you particular way of working.

Nikon 1 V3 Nikon 1 V3
Front Top

The Nikon V3's Scene Auto Selector is a smart auto mode in which the camera analyses the scene in front of its lens and picks what it thinks is the right mode for that particular scene. You can also choose one of the conventional PASM modes, which give you full menu access and the ability to manually set the aperture, shutter speed, or both (Program AE Shift is available in P mode).

Auto ISO comes in three flavours (Auto 160-800, 160-3200 or 160-6400), allowing you to specify how high you want the camera to go when the light gets low. You can also choose from three AF Area modes, including Auto Area, in which the camera takes control of what it focuses on (this isn't a great mode to have as your default as the camera obviously can't read your mind and may focus on something else than your actual subject); Single Point, in which you can pick one of 171 AF points by first hitting OK and then moving the active AF point around the frame using the four-way pad; and Subject Tracking, in which you pick your subject, press OK and allow the camera to track that subject as it moves around, as long as it doesn't leave the frame of course.

The V3 is the first Nikon 1 camerato offer built-in connectivity. The wi-fi function essentially pairs the V3 with an iOS or Android smartphone or other smart device, and allows you to edit and share images directly to social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. It also makes it possible to control the V3 remotely via a smart device using the free Wireless Mobile Utility app, and set the focus point using the smart device's touchscreen.

The Nikon 1 V3 has an intriguing hybrid auto-focus system that combines 171-point contrast- and 105-point phase-difference detection systems. This allows the Nikon 1 V3 to focus extremely quickly in good light, even on a moving subject. When light levels drop, the camera switches to contrast-detect AF which, though faster than on most cameras, isn't nearly as fast as the other method. It's always the camera that decides which AF method to use - the user has no influence on this.

Generally speaking, the V2 will usually only resort to contrast detection when light levels are low. Manual focusing is also possible, although the Nikon 1 lenses do not have focus rings. If you want to focus manually, you first have to go into the main menu, find the Focus Mode option, choose Manual Focus, press OK and then use the scroll wheel to adjust focus. To assist you with this, the Nikon V3 magnifies the central part of the image and displays a rudimentary focus scale along the right side of the frame - but those are the only focusing aids you get. There's also a handy new peaking function available.

Nikon 1 V3 Nikon 1 V3
Pop-up Flash Side

As noted earlier, you can choose from two different shutter types when shooting stills, mechanical or electronic. The mechanical shutter is the way to go if you shoot with flash as it can sync at shutter speeds as fast as 1/250th of a second. The Nikon 1 V3 has an on-board flash with a guide number of 6.3m, but it still cannot accommodate the regular Nikon Speedlights, although it is compatible with the tiny SB-N7 that slots into the top of the camera. With the mechanical shutter selected, the Nikon V3 can shoot as fast as about 6 frames per second, with auto-focus. In continuous shooting mode, the EVF freezes for a split second after each shot, but with some practice, you will be able to track your subject unless it moves in a completely erratic fashion. The shutter is not very loud but you can hear the sound of the motor that's used to cock it.

In most shooting situations, you will probably want to use the electronic shutter as it's completely silent (the focus confirmation beep can be disabled from the menu), allows the use of shutter speeds as fast as 1/16,000th of a second and, with the Electronic Hi setting selected, lets you shoot full-resolution stills at 60 frames per second. Note however that while this is a major achievement, it's limited by a buffer that can only hold 40 raw files. Additionally, the use of this mode precludes AF tracking - you have to lower the frame rate to a still very fast 20fps if you want that - and the viewfinder goes blank while the pictures are being taken. About the only application we can think of where shooting full-resolution stills at 60fps could really come in handy is AE bracketing for HDR imaging. At this rate, a series of 5 bracketed shots could be taken in less than 0.1 second, rendering small movements that can otherwise pose alignment problems - like leaves being blown in the wind - a non-issue. Alas, the Nikon V3 still doesn't offer such a feature - in fact it does not offer autoexposure bracketing at all, something that was also missing in the V2.

The Nikon 1 V3 can be set to shoot Full HD video footage, and you get to choose from 1080p at 60fps or 30fps or 1080i at 60fps, a step-up from the V2's 60i mode. If you don't need Full HD, there's also 720p at 60fps, which is really smooth and still counts as high definition. Secondly, you get full manual control over exposure in video mode. This is an option; you don't have to shoot in M mode but you can if that's what you need. Thirdly, you get fast, continuous AF in video mode, and it works well, especially in good light. Movies are compressed using the H.264 codec and stored as MOV files.

There are separate shutter release buttons for stills and video, and thanks to this - as well as the massive processing power of the Nikon V3 - you can take multiple full-resolution stills even while recording HD video. This works in the other way round too - you can capture a movie clip even when the mode dial is in the Still Image position, simply by pressing the red movie shutter release. We found that in this case the camera will invariably record the video at 720p/60fps. New to the V3 is the Auto Image Capture mode, which analyses every video frame and automatically records a sill image when conditions are best, while the addition of Fast Motion, Jump Cut, and 4-Second Movie modes extend the V3's video versatility even further.

Nikon 1 V3 Nikon 1 V3
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

In addition to being capable of shooting regular movies in HD quality, the Nikon 1 V3 can also shoot video at 400fps for slow-motion playback. The resolution is lower and the aspect ratio is an ultra-widescreen 2.67:1, but the quality is adequate for YouTube, Vimeo and the like. These videos are played back at 30fps, which is more than 13x slower than the capture speed of 400fps, allowing you to get creative and show the world an array of interesting phenomena that happen too quickly to observe in real time. The Nikon V3 goes even further by offering a 1200fps video mode, but the resolution and overall quality is too poor for that to be genuinely useful.

There are now three Best Moment Capture modes. Smart Photo Selector allows the camera to capture no less than 20 photos at a single press of the shutter release, including some that were taken before fully depressing the button. The camera analyses the individual pictures in the series and discards 15 of them, keeping only the five that it thinks are best in terms of sharpness and composition. This feature can be genuinely useful when photographing fast action and fleeting moments. The new Active Selection mode takes up to 40 full-resolution shots in less than a second and lets you choose the one to keep. The Slow View mode captures up to 40 full-resolution continuous shots and displays them in slow motion on the LCD screen, making it easier for you to select the exact moment that you want to keep from the burst sequence.

The new Creative Palette is available in the camera’s Creative Mode and effectively allows you to adjust the brightness, saturation simply by sliding your finger around the ring on the touchscreen or by rotating the multi selector dial, with a live preview before the picture is taken. In the innovative Motion Snapshot mode the camera records a brief high-definition movie - whose buffering starts at a half-press of the shutter release, so again includes events that had happened before the button was fully depressed - and also takes a still photograph. The movie and the still image are saved in a single MOV file.

The Nikon V3 now stores photos and videos on microSD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards, seemingly a consequence of the camera's reduction in size. The V3 runs on the new EN-EL20a Lithium-ion battery which is capable of producing the same amount of shots on a single charge, 310, as its predecessor. The camera's tripod socket is made of metal and is positioned in line with the lens' optical axis. This also means that changing batteries or cards is possible while the V3 is mounted on a tripod, as the hinges of the battery/card compartment door in the handgrip are positioned far enough away from the tripod mount.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 18 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 8Mb.

The Nikon 1 V3 captured images of high quality, especially if you consider the relatively small size of its sensor and the increase from 14 to 18 megapixels. Noise is kept to a minimum, and only becomes disturbing at ISO 1600 in very low light, although the much noisier RAW files indicate just how much noise-reduction the V3 applies to the JPEGs. Colours are perhaps somewhat muted for a consumer camera but you can easily add a little punch by switching to the Vivid picture control. The Nikon 1 Nikkor 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens performed admirably, with good sharpness throughout the frame and negligible purple fringing. The close-up performance of the 10-30mm lens is also surprisingly good. The night shot came out well even with long-exposure noise reduction switched off, and the Vibration Reduction feature of the lens worked very well.

Noise

The base sensitivity of the Nikon 1 V3 is ISO 160 and the highest setting is ISO 12800. The 100% crops below show what the quality is like at each setting for both JPEG and RAW file formats.

JPEG RAW

ISO 160 (100% Crop)

ISO 160 (100% Crop)

iso160.jpg iso160raw.jpg
   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

iso200.jpg iso200raw.jpg
   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

iso400.jpg iso400raw.jpg
   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

iso800.jpg iso800raw.jpg
   

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

iso1600.jpg iso1600raw.jpg
   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

iso3200.jpg iso3200raw.jpg
   

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

iso6400.jpg iso6400raw.jpg
   

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

iso12800.jpg iso12800raw.jpg

Sharpening

The out-of-camera JPEGs are quite sharp but still benefit from a little sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

sharpen1.jpg sharpen1a.jpg
   
sharpen2.jpg sharpen2a.jpg

File Quality

The JPEG quality settings available on the Nikon V3 include Normal and Fine. The camera can also save photos in Nikon’s proprietary raw file format, NEF.

Fine (7.09Mb) (100% Crop)

Normal (4.33Mb) (100% Crop)

quality_fine.jpg quality_normal.jpg
   

RAW (16.7Mb) (100% Crop)

 
quality_raw.jpg  

Flash

The flash settings on the Nikon 1 V3 are Fill flash, fill flash + slow sync, red-eye reduction, red-eye reduction + slow sync, rear-curtain sync, rear curtain + slow sync. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (28mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (28mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (80mm)

Flash On - Telephoto (80mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are a couple of portrait shots. Both the Auto setting and the Red-eye reduction mode caused a small amount of red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
flash_on.jpg flash_on1.jpg
   

Red-eye reduction

Red-eye reduction (100% Crop)

flash_redeye.jpg flash_redeye1.jpg

Night

The Nikon V3 has a minimum shutter speed of 30 seconds, with a Bulb setting also available for really long exposures. The shot below was captured at a shutter speed of 10 seconds, aperture of f/8 at ISO 160.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

night1.jpg night1a.jpg

Vibration Reduction

The Nikon 1 V3 does not offer body-integral image stabilisation, but the kit lens bundled with the camera features Vibration Reduction, Nikon’s proprietary lens-based optical stabilisation system. This allows you to take sharp hand-held photos at slower shutter speeds than with lenses that lack this function. To illustrate this, we took two photos at the 28 and 80mm focal lengths, one with VR and another without. You can see that this feature really works and could mean the difference between a ruined shot and a sharp capture. Note that even though VR is lens-based, you need to activate it via the camera’s menu as the lenses do not feature a VR switch. The available VR modes are Normal, Active and Off.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Vibration Reduction Off (100% Crop)

Vibration Reduction On (100% Crop)
1/8th sec / 28mm antishake1.jpg antishake1a.jpg
     
1/5th sec / 80mm antishake1.jpg antishake1a.jpg

Active D-Lighting

Active D-lighting is Nikon’s dynamic range optimisation tool that attempts to squeeze the full dynamic range of the sensor into JPEGs. On the Nikon 1 V3, the strength of the effect cannot be modified by the user. The only available settings are on and off.

Off

On

dlighting_off.jpg dlighting_on.jpg

Picture Controls

Nikon’s Picture Controls, similarly to Canon’s Picture Styles, are preset combinations of different contrast and saturation settings. The available Picture Controls are Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Monochrome, Portrait and Landscape. The following series demonstrates the differences across these settings.

Standard

Neutral

picture_control_standard.jpg picture_control_neutral.jpg
   

Vivid

Monochrome

picture_control_vivid.jpg picture_control_monochrome.jpg
   

Portrait

Lansdscape

picture_control_portrait.jpg picture_control_landscape.jpg

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon 1 V3 camera, which were all taken using the 18 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Nikon 1 V3 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Nikon RAW (NEF) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 60 frames per second. Please note that this 23 second movie is 101Mb in size.

Product Images

Nikon 1 V3

Front of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Front of the Nikon 1 V3 / Lens Fitted

 
Nikon 1 V3

Front of the Nikon 1 V3 / Lens Zoomed Out

 
Nikon 1 V3

Front of the Nikon 1 V3 / Pop-up Flash

 
Nikon 1 V3

Side of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Side of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Side of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Side of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Side of the Nikon 1 V3

 

Nikon 1 V3

Side of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Rear of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Rear of the Nikon 1 V3 / Image Displayed

 
Nikon 1 V3

Rear of the Nikon 1 V3 / Turned On

 
Nikon 1 V3

Rear of the Nikon 1 V3 / Main Menu

 
Nikon 1 V3

Rear of the Nikon 1 V3 / Fn2 Menu

 
Nikon 1 V3

Rear of the Nikon 1 V3 / Fn1 Menu

 
Nikon 1 V3

Rear of the Nikon 1 V3 / F Menu

 
Nikon 1 V3

Top of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Bottom of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Side of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Side of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Front of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Front of the Nikon 1 V3

 
Nikon 1 V3

Memory Card Slot

 
Nikon 1 V3

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

Nikon have made some big changes to their flagship compact system camera, which is now seemingly targeted at more casual consumers, rather than the keen enthusiast that the previous V2 specifically catered for. The removal of the electronic viewfinder in particular, now only available as an expensive and bulky add-on, along with the much smaller, less secure handgrip and the switch to microSD cards are testament to the V3's new focus. It does now offer a useful second control dial, tilting touchscreen LCD and incredibly fast burst shooting speeds (even with autofocusing) in a smaller, more pocketable body, but overall we can't help feeling that the new Nikon 1 V3 is a less well-defined product than its predecessor - too expensive for the mass market and with less appeal as a photographer's tool.

Concessions have also been made with regards to the Nikon 1 V3's image quality, with the jump in megapixels from 14 to 18 making the resulting images objectionably noisy at ISO 1600, rather than at ISO 3200 as on the V2, especially for the RAW files. 18 megapixels is a little too much for the small 1-inch sensor, despite the removal of the optical low-pass filter. The Nikon 1 V3 also has rather a high price tag for a camera with such a small sensor, with lots of competition from very capable Micro Four Thirds and even APS-C sensor camera at this price-point, not to mention the likes of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III compact, which offers the same-size 1-inch sensor in a smaller body complete with a faster lens and built-in viewfinder.

All in all, despite the Nikon 1 V3's appealingly quick burst shooting, focusing and general responsiveness, plus the ability to use Nikon DSLR lenses via an adapter, the latest redesign leaves us scratching our heads about who this camera is actually aimed at. We're not too sure that Nikon know either...

4 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 3.5
Features 4
Ease-of-use 4
Image quality 4
Value for money 3.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Nikon 1 V3.

Canon EOS M

The Canon EOS M is a new compact system camera that boasts 18 megapixels, full 1080p high-definition videos with continuous auto-focusing, and a touch-screen interface. Other key features of the EOS M include a 3-inch LCD screen with 1,040k dot resolution, ISO range of 100-25,600, and a flash hotshoe. Is Canon's new mirrorless model a real contender? Read our Canon EOS M review to find out...

Fujifilm X-E2

The new Fujifilm X-E2 is a faster, more full-featured version of last year's X-E1 compact system camera, promising better image quality too. Can this gorgeous retro-styled model improve on one of our favourite cameras of 2012? Read our Fujifilm X-E2 review to find out...

Olympus E-P5

The Olympus E-P5 is a new compact system camera that's both old-fashioned and cutting-edge, with a gorgeous retro design that harks back to the 1950s and the very latest digital technologies. Read our expert Olympus E-P5 review to find out if this is the best PEN camera yet...

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 is an exciting new compact system camera aimed firmly at keen photographers. With a built-in tilting electronic viewfinder, 16 megapixel sensor, 3 inch tilting LCD touchscreen, pop-up flash, 60/50p high-definition video, integrated wi-fi and NFC connectivity, both lens and in-body image stabilization, and a stylish design, is the GX7 the ultimate interchangeable lens camera? Read our expert Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 review to find out....

Pentax Q7

The new Pentax Q7 is the smallest compact system camera on the market. Offering a new 1/1.7"-type back-illuminated CMOS sensor, improved low-light auto focus and an upgraded Shake Reduction mechanism, can the Q7 compete with its bigger rivals? Read our Pentax Q7 review to find out...

Samsung NX mini

The NX mini is the new entry level model in Samsung's compact system camera range. The tiny Samsung NX mini features a a 1-inch CMOS sensor with 20.5 megapixels, 3-inch swivelling touchscreen, 1080p video recording at 30fps, built-in wi-fi and NFC connectivity, and 6fps burst shooting. Read our in-depth Samsung NX mini review to find out if it's worth upgrading from your cameraphone...

Samsung NX300

The Samsung NX300 is a new mid-range compact system camera featuring a 20.3 megapixel APS-C sensor, hybrid AF system, 3.3-inch tilting AMOLED touchscreen, 8.6fps continuous shooting, Wi-fi and NFC connectivity, full 1080p video, and an ISO range 100-25,600. Read our in-depth Samsung NX300 review now...

Sony A6000

The Sony A6000 is a new compact system camera that features the fastest auto-focusing system in the world. With a 24.3 megapixel APS HD CMOS sensor, 1080p HD movies, high-res 3 inch OLED screen, electronic viewfinder and built-in flash, the Sony NEX-6 also offers 11fps burst shooting, wi-fi and NFC connectivity, and downloadable PlayMemories Camera Apps. Read our full Sony A6000 review to find out if it's the best Sony NEX camera yet...

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 II

Last year's RX100 premium compact camera proved to be a runaway success for Sony - can the new Mark II version improve on the original? Read our expert Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 II review to find out...

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Nikon 1 V3 from around the web.

ephotozine.com »

The Nikon 1 V3 replaces the Nikon 1 V2 and is the premium mirrorless camera in the Nikon 1 series, the new Nikon 1 V3 no longer features a built-in electronic viewfinder, but comes with an accessory port on top that supports an optional electronic viewfinder. The camera has a new 18.4 megapixel CX (1inch, 13.2x8.8mm) CMOS sensor, shoot at up to 20fps with continuous AF, or snap 40 RAW images at up to 60fps with focus fixed at the first frame. The Nikon 1 V3 is available as a kit with a VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-Zoom for £799.99, and with the same lens plus an EVF and grip for £1049.99.
Read the full review »

amateurphotographer.co.uk »

Nikon's advanced offering from its system camera range hasn't really hit the mark. The V1 didn't offer the level of control expected of an enthusiast camera, and while the V2 addressed some of these issues, it was far from perfect. The question is, then, is it third time lucky for Nikon with the V3?
Read the full review »

Specifications

Lens mount Nikon 1 mount
Effective angle of view Approx. 2.7x lens focal length (35 mm format equivalent)
Image sensor CX, CMOS, 13.2 x 8.8 mm
Dust-reduction system Image sensor cleaning
Effective pixels 18.4 million
Storage - Image size (pixels) Still images taken in auto, P, S, A, M, best moment capture, and all creative modes other than easy panorama (aspect ratio 3 : 2) 5232 x 3488 3920 x 2616 2608 x 1744. Still images taken in normal panorama mode with camera panned horizontally (aspect ratio 120 : 23) 4800 x 920. Still images taken in normal panorama mode with camera panned vertically (aspect ratio 8 : 25) 1536 x 4800. Still images taken in wide panorama mode with camera panned horizontally (aspect ratio 240 : 23) 9600 x 920. Still images taken in wide panorama mode with camera panned vertically (aspect ratio 4 : 25) 1536 x 9600. Still images taken during movie recording (aspect ratio 3 : 2) 5232 x 3488 (1080/60p, 1080/30p) 1472 x 984 (720/60p, 720/30p). Motion Snapshots (photo portion, aspect ratio 16 : 9) 5232 x 2936
File format NEF (RAW): 12-bit, compressed, JPEG: JPEG-Baseline compliant with fine (approx. 1 : 4), normal (approx. 1 : 8) compression, NEF (RAW) + JPEG: Single photograph recorded in both NEF (RAW) and JPEG formats
Picture Control system Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape, Selected picture control can be modified; storage for custom picture controls
Media microSD (micro Secure Digital), microSDHC, microSDXC
File system DCF 2.0, DPOF, Exif 2.3, PictBridge
Shooting modes Auto; creative, with a choice of the following options: creative palette, 5HDR, easy panorama, soft, miniature effect, selective color, cross process, and toy camera effect; programmed auto with flexible program, shutter-priority auto, aperture-priority auto, and manual; best moment capture (active selection, slow view and smart photo selector); advanced movie (HD movie, slow motion, jump cut, fast motion and 4-second movie), motion snapshot
Shutter type Electronically-controlled vertical-travel focal plane mechanical shutter; electronic shutter
Shutter speed Mechanical shutter: 1/4000 to 30 s, in steps of 1/3 EV; Bulb; Time (requires optional ML-L3 remote control) Electronic shutter: 1/16,000–30 s in steps of 1/3 EV; Bulb; Time (requires optional ML-L3 remote control)
Flash sync speed Mechanical shutter: Synchronizes with shutter at 1/250s, or slower Electronic shutter: Synchronizes with shutter at X=1/60s or slower
Release mode S (single frame), Continuous, Self-timer, Remote, Interval timer shooting
Frame advance rate Approx. 6, 10, 20, 30, or 60 fps
Self-timer 2 s, 10 s
Remote control modes Delayed remote (2 s); quick-response remote
Exposure metering TTL metering using image sensor
Metering method Matrix; Center-weighted. Spot, Center-weighted: Meters 4.5 mm circle in center of frame. Spot: Meters 2 mm circle centered on selected focus area.
Mode Programmed auto with flexible program; shutter-priority auto; aperture-priority auto; manual; scene auto selector
Exposure compensation –3–+3EV, in steps of 1/3EV
Exposure lock Luminosity locked at metered value with (AE-L/AF-L) button
ISO sensitivity (Recommended Exposure Index) 200 to 12800, in steps of 1EV, ISO 160; 6400 (NR); 12800 (NR); auto ISO sensitivity control (ISO 160–6400, 160–3200, 160–800) available (user controlled in P, S, A, and M modes)
Active D-Lighting On, off
Autofocus Hybrid autofocus (phase-detection/contrast-detect AF); AF-assist illuminator
Lens servo Autofocus (AF): auto AF-S/AF-C selection (AF-A). Full-time AF (AF-F). Single AF (AF-S). Continuous AF (AF-C). Manual focus (MF)
Focus area Single-point AF: 171 focus areas; the center 105 areas support phase-detection AF; Auto-area AF: 41 focus areas
AF-area mode Single-point, auto-area, subject tracking
Focus lock Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single AF) or by pressing AE-L/AF-L button
Built-in Flash Raised by pressing flash button
Guide Number (GN) Approx. 5/16 (m/ft, ISO 100, 20 °C/68 °F; at ISO 160, Guide Number is approx. 6.3/20.7)
Flash Control i-TTL flash control using image sensor
Flash mode Fill flash, fill flash + slow sync, red-eye reduction, red-eye reduction + slow sync, rear-curtain sync, rear curtain + slow sync
Flash compensation -3 to +1 EV in steps of 1/3 EV
Flash-ready indicator Lights when flash is fully charged
White balance Auto, incandescent, fluorescent, direct sunlight, flash, cloudy, shade, preset manual, all except preset manual with fine tuning
Movie Metering TTL metering using image sensor
Movie Metering method Matrix
Frame size (pixels)/ recording rate HD movies (aspect ratio 16 : 9) 1920 x 1080/60p (59.94 fps) 1920 x 1080/30p (29.97 fps) 1280 x 720/60p (59.94 fps) 1280 x 720/30p (29.97 fps). Slow-motion movies 1280 x 720/120 fps (aspect ratio 16 : 9; plays at 30p/29.97 fps) 768 x 288/400 fps (aspect ratio 8 : 3; plays at 30p/29.97 fps) 416 x 144/1200 fps (aspect ratio 26 : 9; plays at 30p/29.97 fps). Fast-motion, jump-cut, and 4-second movies (aspect ratio 16 : 9) 1920 x 1080/30p (29.97 fps). Motion Snapshots (movie portion, aspect ratio 16 : 9) 1920 x 1080/60p (59.94 fps) (plays at 24p/23.976 fps)
Video file format MOV
Video compression H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding
Audio recording format Linear PCM
Audio recording device Built-in or optional external ME-1 stereo microphone; sensitivity adjustable
Maximum recording time Auto, creative, P, S, A, and M modes: 10 minutes. Advanced movie mode HD movie: 10 minutes. Slow motion: 3 seconds. Fast motion: 20 minutes. Jump cut: 20 minutes 4-second movie: 4 seconds (The approximate maximum recording times for individual movies shot at the default frame size and rate in each shooting mode).
Monitor Size: 7.5 cm (3 in.) diagonal. Type: TFT vari-angle LCD touch screen with brightness and angle adjustment. Resolution: Approx.1037k-dot
Playback Full-frame and thumbnail (4, 9, or 16 images or calendar) playback with playback zoom, movie and panorama playback, slide show, histogram display, auto image rotation, and rating option
Interface - USB Hi-Speed USB equivalent
HDMI output Type D HDMI connector
Audio input Stereo mini-pin jack (3.5mm diameter)
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) standards IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) communications protocols IEEE 802.11b: DSSS/CCK. IEEE 802.11g: OFDM
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) range (line of sight) Approximately 10 m/33 ft (assumes no interference; range may vary with signal strength and presence or absence of obstacles)
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) operating frequency 2412–2462 MHz (channels 1–11)
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) data rates (actual measured values) 54 Mbps. Maximum logical data rates according to IEEE standard. Actual rates may differ.
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) security Authentication: Open system, WPA2-PSK. Encryption: AES
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) access protocols Infrastructure
Supported languages Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Marathi, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (European and Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Battery One rechargeable Li-ion EN-EL20a battery
AC adapter EH-5b AC adapter; requires EP-5C power connector (available separately)
Tripod socket 1/4 in. (ISO 1222)
Dimensions (W x H x D) Approx. 110.9 x 65.0 x 33.2 mm (4.4 x 2.6 x 1.3 in.), excluding projections
Weight Approx. 324g (11.4oz.), with battery and memory card but without body cap; approx. 282 g (9.9 oz), camera body only
Operating environment - Temperature 0 °C – 40 °C (+32 °F – 104 °F)

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