Nikon 1 J1 10.1 MP HD Digital Camera System with 10-30mm VR and 30-110mm VR 1 NIKKOR Lenses (White),5. ...

To start with let me tell my background, I have used few Canon and Panasonic Point and shoot cameras, and wanted to upgrade to DSLR camera without the body bulk. I was little confused to see lot of negative reviews about J1 but after looking at it in Bestbuy and using it for couple of weeks I can definitely say it takes excellent images in daylight and with little extra knowledge in night as well. For decent night pictures keep Exposure to Auto Shutter (S) and speed close to 1/20. Aperture will be set automatically. ISO could be set to AUTO 100-3200 for decent night pictures. In day time Standard Auto exposure can take excellent sharp images without much effort. Auto focus is quite fast and accurate. Having ability to focus many points in same shot is extra ordinary. It could be adjusted as well.

Best thing about J1 it has great 3" fluid LCD screen. It gives a snap-shot(just a glimpse) of picture taken after each shot. Which is good considering if the picture was blurry, you have chance to correct it. Navigating menu is simple, there is also manual mode for precise setting. Lot of People have criticized J1 for its sensor size but it double or thrice the size of most point and shoot cameras. Yes, it is lower than MFT camera like Sony Nex5 or Panasonic Lumix G3. Again bigger sensor will add bulk to body, bargain..! My preference is smaller camera which is simple to carry around and takes good picture.

If you have money take 30-100mm which is bargain at $749(if purchased with body). It would allow to zoom subject really close which is quite difficult with 10-30mm pancake lens. For daily use 10-30mm is sufficient.

Motion Snap shot dial mode is really fun, it takes amazing slow motion video with a snap at the end. For shooting moving subject and uploading to you tube its quite handy.

Video quality is quite good and it is possible to take at 1080p resolution. But the video size is quite big, i need to find ways to crop it. Probably with lower resolution would help.

To sum up if you are PS holder this one of best camera for upgrade without adding much bulk to the body. For advance user depending of their objective they may or may not like it.

Review by Ravi Ranjan