Nikon's New Mirrorless ILC Cameras

There has been considerable buzz and blog traffic about when Nikon would release a Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens "Point & Shoot" camera.  I think it was a foregone conclusion and more "when" than "if".   Similar cameras have been making noise in the photo community so I figured Nikon would come up with one of their own.  They now have.

Nikon just announced the release of their first mirrorless ILC, the Nikon 1 System.  The V1 and its little brother the J1.

Nikon J1

Nikon V1

These cameras haven't been released to the public yet, but there are YouTube videos of demos & reviews and lots of information in blogs.  The main specs are:

• 10.1 MP CMOS sensor which is 13.3-by-8.8mm sensor, delivering a 2.7x crop (this seems strange and smaller than I thought)
• High-speed image processing engine, EXPEED 3
• 1080 HD video capable
• 73 focal points (this is going to be sweet)
• RAW & JPEG file formats
• ISO range between 100-6400
• 3" LCD
• SD card storage

The J1 is the smaller of the 2 cameras and publications show it will be sold at the $650-900 range (1 lens versus 2 lens price), and the V1 coming in at the $900-1,150 range (1 lens or 2 lens pricing)

The shape at first looks pretty basic and rounded.  Pretty plain, but maybe they are trying for the Apple cool effect, just simple styling.  But then WHY do they have them available in colors? I actually saw a J1 in red.  Sorry, I digress.  It will be interesting to see how it feels in your hand.  There appears to be no area to naturally grip like a DSLR.  More like your standard point and shoot.  Burst rate listed at 5fps, so I suspect the buffer is reasonable.  They are coming out with 3 available lenses: 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6, 10mm f/2.8, and 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6.  The 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 will likely be the kit lens.  Remember that crop factor! 

The cameras will be available to the general public in October.  When these cameras arrive locally I'll probably see if I can rent or borrow one so I can give it a go.   Not sure I really need this type of "point and shoot", but I'd like to see how it's designed.  Personally, I'm more interested in the Nikon CoolPix P7100 as a "throw in your pocket camera.  The P7100 is an upgrade from the P7000 which I've tried.  Honestly, if I want a camera with interchangeable lenses I'll stick with my DSLR.  Anyway, it's good to see Nikon coming out with something new.

Now if only Nikon would spend it's time and energy on coming out with a replacement to the D700 and the D300s.  Please