Nikon J1 a good option for a sub £200 travel camera? or save for X100?

daygo30

daygo30

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Daryl
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I have a D700 with 35mm 1.8 and 85mm 1.4 and in August I have my first family holiday abroad to Spain with my two little ones and my wife. I have traveled with the D700 when I am on my own and it is fine, but with a holiday with the kids, swimming pools etc it will be hard to juggle the size/weight of the 700 and primes.

I will be looking for a used camera that is lightweight and offers good IQ for under £200, if that is possible I don't know and will leave it to you lovely lot to tell me and recommend as required.

It is going to hurt leaving the 700 at home as I love it and the images it produces. I have been advised by a colleague that the Nikon J1 with the 10-30mm will fit the bill but wanted to get other peoples opinions on this. I would love to get a X100 but it is more than I am looking to spend.

Looking forward to your comments and thanks in advance :-)
 
I've got the v1 and its a lovely little camera, the J1 is the same sensor so I'm sure the images will be indistinguishable. People love to knock the 1" sensor, it's crap at ISO 1600 etc etc. Speaking as a bloke that grew up on Kodachrome 64 I find it awesome the images these cameras can produce. I find the screens on the back of cameras tiresome to use in bright weather so for that reason I'd recommend the V1 with its evf over the J1
 
:plusone: for the EVF on the V1 over the J1's rear screen only. Especially in bright conditions. If you can find a cheap FT-1 adaptor, you can use your F mount AF-S lenses on it too...
 
The straight out of camera jpg's from the J1/V1 are fantastic, really really nice, the kit lenses are fantastic too.

If you can live without the shallow depth of field they are cracking cameras.

edit. by the way, I was actually pretty happy with ISO1600. Yes it is grainy but it is pleasant grain and not very noticeable at small print sizes.
 
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Thanks for the replies so far, the J1/V1 sounds encouraging which is great. So the main difference between a V1 and J1 is the EVF? Do they use the same lenses?

Is there much difference between the J1, J2, J3 etc? I only ask as the used prices of them are near enough the same which is odd.
 
The main difference is the viewfinder but also the V1 takes bigger batteries (same as the (D7x00, D6x0 etc - not the D700) which is always a bonus with CSC cameras which eat batteries. Also, the V1 DOESN'T have a built in flash (and you don't get an external one with it), flash on the J1 is pretty lame but useful at times.

Lenses are the same across all the 1 series cameras.

I believe the J2 is basically the same but with slightly better button placement and the J3 has more MP but this comes at the price of noise handling. From the J series I'd probably just pick whichever was cheapest.
 
Thanks Ned, this is great advice.

I don't suppose anyone has any images they would like to share from their 1 series, or similar priced camera?
 
The J5 has just come out, so you should be able to pick up a bargain, I bought a brand new J2 with a 10-30 lens for £129 just over 10 months ago at Jessops, so just keep checking the prices on the web. One slight thing the 10-30 has been recalled because of a problem, so if buying used make sure it's been sorted out by Nikon
 
I keep looking at the X100, they cost about £250-£300, has anyone used one and compared with a Nikon 1??
 
Have you considered a second hand Sony RX 100 Mk1? They tend to go for £200 or under on eBay.

I've been using one for a walk round camera the past couple of months (cost by the way £190 delivered).
I'm well pleased with the IQ and general features. In fact I struggle to see much difference between it and my
60D / Tamron 17-50 combination. That's printed at 18 x 12.
 
Personally I think the Nikon 1 is a great little camera, if you are after a light weight, fast focusing interchangeable lens camera and are not printing out large images. I miss my V1, nearly brought a V2, for the slightly quicker access to certain functions. I just wish it had a standard hot shoe.

One from the V1

View attachment 36912
 
zendog said:
Have you considered a second hand Sony RX 100 Mk1? They tend to go for £200 or under on eBay.

I've been using one for a walk round camera the past couple of months (cost by the way £190 delivered).
I'm well pleased with the IQ and general features. In fact I struggle to see much difference between it and my
60D / Tamron 17-50 combination. That's printed at 18 x 12.
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve for your feedback, it is another one I will put on the 'list', there are so many options it is driving me mad lol.

I love the results my 700 and primes give me and it pains me to leave it at home for a family holiday but it is just not practical to take with me.
 
I've not used the nikon, but I have used the x100 and it's a great travel camera. I pushed the boat out and got the wide and tele converters. They really complete it for me and I've done whole trips with just the x100 and converters. You can't switch the converters with the same speed as a proper lens change, but that's not the point for me - they are really light, keep the full optical quality in the images and I tend to think of them as 'semi-permanent'. I'll put one on for a couple of hours at a time, rather than for a couple of images.
 
Cuchulainn said:
I've not used the nikon, but I have used the x100 and it's a great travel camera. I pushed the boat out and got the wide and tele converters. They really complete it for me and I've done whole trips with just the x100 and converters. You can't switch the converters with the same speed as a proper lens change, but that's not the point for me - they are really light, keep the full optical quality in the images and I tend to think of them as 'semi-permanent'. I'll put one on for a couple of hours at a time, rather than for a couple of images.
Click to expand...

Thanks Brian, I think I need to start saving, I have gone from a cheap J1 for approx £100, to a X100 lol. It is hard to put a price on pics of the kids whilst on holiday, if all else fails I could sell it on when I return if I need the funds but very much doubt I would want to reading reviews.
 
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