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| B-52 Stratofortress at RIAT2017 |
A while ago I picked up a Nikon 1 series camera for probably the same reason as most of the other owners - it was being sold off on the cheap. I think it was something like an S2 or one of the other entry level models, coming as a kit with a basic lens and case. I must admit I wasn't exactly blown away on first use. There were many things to like such as the small size and surprisingly decent build quality (for the price) however there were an equal number of things not to like such as an odd lack of physical controls despite there being space. Much like making stone soup I started to purchase extra bits and pieces to go with it in the hope I'd finally end up happy, every time moving further away from the original kit.
Fast forward a couple of years and without noticing I'd amassed quite the Nikon 1 collection - apart from a couple of items I think I either have or at some point have had pretty much everything that has been made. So if you ever wondered who the mad person was that was actually buying Nikon 1 stuff then, er, that was me! The main turning point came when I purchased the Nikon 1 J5 and then shortly afterwards the 6.7-13mm lens. I've noticed that more and more I am likely to take out the little Nikon kit for the day rather than lug all my main gear (for the record when I can be bothered to carry it my main gear is based around a Nikon D700 full frame DSLR and a pile of suitably big lenses). It's just a really fun camera to use.
For the last few years I've been attending the Royal International Air Tattoo - a large airshow held at Fairford in the UK. This has become my main photo day of the year and normally the one day that I drag out all the big guns (the D700 etc). As a bit of an experiment (as well as hoping to give my shoulders a rest) I decided this year to just take my small gear and see how I got on.
The complete kit list for the two days I went was:
- Nikon 1 J5 and V2 cameras
- Nikon 1 10-100mm, 6.7-13mm and 70-300mm lenses
- A handful of Sandisk memory cards (annoyingly the two cameras take different sizes)
- Two batteries for each camera
- Manfrotto monopod
- Black Rapid strap
- Kata backpack to hold it all (plus lunch, programme, etc)
The Good:
It was a lot lighter than my usual load which made the day considerably more pleasant, as well as being more compact which made getting between crowds easier.
The high frame rate of both cameras was certainly handy keeping up with the action. I limited the V2 to 5fps to use the mechanical shutter to avoid issues with rolling shutter on things like rotor blades and it was generally quick enough. Although it was nice to have higher rates available when I wanted them.
In good light, although not up to the same standards as I was used to, I thought the picture quality wasn't too shabby.
The 70-300mm lens gave me the equivalent of 810mm to play with! Even if there was such a lens available for the D700 it would a. cost the same as a car, and b. weigh as much as a car. Many times on previous trips I wanted more reach but maxed out at 420mm.
I found the VR on the lens (especially the 70-300mm) to be really quite brilliant - I managed a number of shots taken at 1/250 shutter at a focal length of 300mm (810mm equivalent) with the camera handheld.
Metering. Despite the sun popping in and out and the usual issues of capturing dark aircraft against bright skies I didn't have a single image with a blown highlight in all 4000 that I took. Even the ones that came close had an impressive amount of detail that could be brought back in the raw.
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| BBMF AVRO LANCASTER Bomber |
The Bad:
Focusing. This was a real mixed-bag during all the shooting. There were times when the cameras would lock on in an instant on really quite challenging subjects only to then completely fail to focus on a target right in front of them. I found when reviewing the shots in Lightroom I had a much higher number of completely useless images than I was used to.
Controls. The addition of the PASM physical controls has really improved the current 1 series cameras from when they first started. However, things like moving the focus point or mode are so slow or clunky that you have to give up using them.
Picture quality. OK, this is probably the biggest one and the most subjective. In anything other than great light the images (especially from the V2) are very noisy, even at a low ISO. When it gets a bit dull things can become a real mess, especially in the shadows. The first time you hit the 100% zoom in Lightroom you get a bit of a shock!
Battery life: Not brilliant, especially the V2 which chewed through both batteries each day.
The Ugly:
Malfunctions. Just before I left for the airshow I gave the V2 a bit of a test (as I hadn't used it for a while) and found that Shutter Priority didn't work properly. Basically it would alter the ISO until it ran out of range but refused to set the aperture resulting in some totally white images. As that is my normal mode for airshows I was a little worried. However, when I arrived it was suddenly working again. I then got out my J5 and it was behaving in exactly the same odd way. Little glitches like that certainly undermine your confidence and I would be reluctant to have only access to Nikon 1 stuff if I actually relied on my camera for anything critical.
Too much reach. Not really something I can blame Nikon for to be fair but for an airshow I found the reach of the 70-300mm to actually be too much most of the time. It allows you to capture the aircraft from much further away than normal however, when you get home and view things on the big screen you realise that things like heat-haze and smoke (not to mention drizzle) have rendered the shot useless. Lesson-learnt - although the ~400mm usual max can feel restrictive it is actually probably for the best.
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| USAF CV-22B OSPREY |
Conclusion:
I quite enjoyed the freedom of being able to travel light and yet still capture some images I was happy with. The small size of the cameras meant that carrying both quite literally was not a burden and the much lower cost means that having dual bodies is a lot more realistic. Image wise for things like sticking online on Facebook etc then to be honest they are fine. However, I certainly missed the accuracy, controls and picture quality of my main gear.
In future I think I will take my main stuff with me on one of the days and concentrate on getting the pictures that I want and then on the other go back with the Nikon 1 gear and be able to relax and enjoy the show a little less hindered.
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