I love the bitter comments :) Really…

December 29, 2011 Nikon, Rants 90

So I woke up this morning and checked my e-mail, checked and approved all comments awaiting moderation and then made my coffee. As I sat down at my cluttered desk I saw a comment pop in that I had to moderate. I put on some headphones, started jamming some music and started to get to work. Yep, listening to some music right now with some AKG 701’s and the sound of the music puts a smile on my face. This is good because sometimes I get some funny comments that some people would construe as negative. I get these things all the time these days, and today I decided to post one here because I felt the comment was entertaining to say the least.

So here is the comment that was posted in a Nikon V1 post from a couple weeks back:

1. No Grip
2. not particularly small considering sensor size
3. Crazy expensive.
4. lenses look cheaply made.
5 comes in pretty colours!
6. lack of buttons
7. smoothing used on raw output.
ps Nikon fanboy much?

I mean, now I am getting called a Nikon fanboy? I never get this fanboy nonsense. So I really enjoyed  the V1 (and still am enjoying it) yet someone with a closed mind who never even shot with one decides I am a fanboy because damn! The V1 CANT BE GOOD! I mean look at the reasons above! I have been called a Leica fanboy, an Olympus fanboy and even a Sony fanboy. Now you can add Nikon to the list. 🙂 Guess I am just a CAMERA fanboy in general!

Also REMEMBER, my reviews are MY OPINIONS. I am not the final word and not everyone will like what I like. It’s almost like I am a movie reviewer. I remember in the 80’s I used to watch Siskel and Ebert and when Roger Ebert loved a movie I usually hated it. When Siskel liked one, I needed up liking it as well. My tastes were more in line with Siskel. So maybe I should hire on another reviewer and do dual reviews of each camera. Hmmmmm. Just remember, if I love a camera, you may hate it. BUT I do try to state facts and show actual  real results from each camera, not just spew off a bunch of opinions. I feel backing up those opinions are important!

Anyway, this was my reply to the comment above:

1. There is a grip available, and not everyone needs a grip. I shoot my M9 without a grip and have for years.
2. It is smaller than the E-P3, and very solid. Feels the best of any mirrorless I have tried.
3. Not so, the E-P3 is $800, GX-1 $800 yet the $850 V1 is better made, faster AF, better high ISO, better OOC color, sharper, etc
4. Lenses are fine. They feel great and perform wonderfully. This is what surprised me the most. Built in VR as well.
5. Only black or white. White is not in the USA. So only black here.
6. Not so. I can control my Aperture and shutter speed and change ISO super quick.
7. Not so. I show examples at ISO 3200 and up with razor sharp details. No smoothing if you turn off NR in RAW processing and use ACR instead of Nikons software. Shoot RAW! 

Funny, I am a Nikon fanboy now because I tell it like it is with ONE Nikon camera. Lol. Why don’t you try one sometime, the V1, not J1. Buy it and give it a whirl for a coupe of weeks. Have an open mind. Ill tell you this, I chose to keep the V1 over any other mirrorless. I use it daily. Fact.

So thats it! Just a small rant and still stand by my Nikon V1 thoughts. It is a fantastic camera system that delivers consistent results every time I use it.

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90 Comments

  2. Unfortunately, whilst you seem to have taken this person’s comments very personally and tried to belittle them in retaliation, in doing so you have been factually wrong (fact, not opinion) in some of your responses (which is why I make it a point to never laugh at someone for their stupidity unless I am absolutely sure I am not actually MORE stupid).

    1) Yours is a fair response.

    2) The posters comment was a fair assessment. The sensor area of the Nikon is approximately half that of the Olympus m4/3, yet the body is about the same size. You could state this is “unimportant” etc (it might be important for some), but it is a factually correct comment.

    3) 4) and 5) Your responses were fair and valid.

    6) You may be able to change the common settings quickly – but with direct access buttons (or dials for that matter), you may be able to change them even faster. Having limited direct access controls (“lack of buttons”) seems a fair enough thing to complain about.

    7) This is just factually incorrect. The Nikon V1 has RAW smoothing which cannot be turned off (even if it says it is “off”) and this has nothing to do with ACR versus Nikon’s software. This function is carried out in the Expeed 3 processor in the camera itself. Depending upon the way you view “RAW” files, you could argue that the camera smoothing the “RAW ” output as though it were a JPG means that the Nikon does not really HAVE a true RAW function. This has been verified in several locations, but here’s one:

    http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/News/DxOMark-news/Nikon-1-series-The-tests/Nikon-V1-review-of-the-high-end-Nikon-1

    • Well, in my high ISO RAW samples I see no smoothing effect whatever. Just razor sharp details of my subject. If I shoot JPEG I see this effect. If I process the RAWs with the Nikon software I see it. I do not see it in my high ISO RAW samples processed with ACR. If it is there it is not a problem as the results are much sharper than any M4/3 or even the NEX-7 at that ISO. The RAW files are very nice from the V1, much more robust than the JPEGS.

  3. Steve Huff is the best photography reviewer on the internet! And I’ll explain why.
    Although I love photography, love to shoot pictures (just for fun and also for our own publications) and love beautifull cameras, I had an education in music. In our publications, we publish product reviews on musical instruments and equipment (in Dutch and French, sorry guys) – comparable to what Steve does on photographic equipment – so we deal with the same issues of how to formulate our opinion in the most meaningful way.
    Now I’d like you to consider the following. Would you prefer to listen to beautiful music on a cheap sound system or to bad music on a first grade system. My point is that first of all it’s “the eye” of the photographer that makes all the difference. And of course everybody loves to work with good material. But the main thing is to communicate through pictures. And to make something that moves people, or that makes you feel good… The equipment IS important, but is subordinate to the message.
    When reviewing equipment for a living, we need to be aware that there is no single truth. We can like a certain product because it serves our needs, or because it makes us feel good, or because we have a certain history with it… I for instance like Zeiss lenses fanatically. Besides being good stuff, I clearly have a sweet spot for them. And I now how it comes. More than fifty years ago, my father thought me the principles of photography with a Zeiss Ikon 9×6 camera. It didn’t have a light meter, so we interpreted the light by the season, the clouds, the colors of the environment. It didn’t have any focusing system at all, so we learned to estimate the distance and to work with the death of field scale. And the Ikon made the most wonderful, razor sharp pictures, thanks to its Carl Zeiss optics and 9×6 format. I shot with that camera for many years and was really heartbroken when it eventually got a hole in the leather bellow (is that the right English word?). So Zeiss has always moved me. But that’s OK, isn’t it? To you, Zeiss is probably nothing more than a manufacturer of good lenses. And that’s OK too, isn’t it…
    Not being able to bring the one and only truth (and certainly not everybody’s truth), it’s essential that a reviewer, besides knowing a lot about the material, remains faithful to himself, remains consistent. If you, being reader, have a different opinion, there’s no harm done. After a while you’ll know exactly how much you differ from the reviewers opinion, and you’ll know exactly how it will work for you, reading his opinion. But when somebody accuses the reviewer of not being objective, that’s another story. Here is something to think about. Being not objective is something completely different from having a personal opinion. Being not objective means not being consistent, not being faithful to yourself – in other words being bribed. Now that’s a serious accusation. Because if a reviewer brings a not consistent opinion, he puts the whole of his publication at stake. It’ll simply loose all of it’s value. Eventually he will lose everything he’s got.
    One can not have a successful website for so many years, like Steve does, without being consistent. It simply wouldn’t last. Still it’s perfectly possible that what he writes doesn’t (completely) count for you. I personally have a different opinion from Steve on the subject of shooting wide open. Even when trying to achieving a shallow DOF, I’ll often reduce the aperture a few steps, because I want to have total control of “how deep the field exactly is”. Steve shoots in a much more direct way, spontaneously (that’s my impression anyway), with much more virtuosity. He has a much better eye. He’ll now immediately when an image will work. His Seal pictures are more than proof of that. I simply can’t do that. I have to think and “calculate”. I have to work more on my pictures. So I use my equipment slightly differently. Although I love his pictures so much more than mine, still I slightly differ in opinion about the material that works the best for MY pictures.
    So, I don’t always completely agree with what Steve says, but I can always completely rely on him. To me he just makes the best reviews of the internet, because what he says is so close to the real world, so close to what it’s really all about: how a camera can inspire you to communicate with pictures, to make you feel good, to evoking emotions… (I’m sure you can ad some of your own reasons why to shoot pictures.) The camera is not the goal. Even the picture is not the goal. The goal is the message, through the picture, with the camera. To talk from the heart, in good faith, about how a camera serves him during this process, to communicate about how a lens inspires him, that’s the best any reviewer can do. And that’s exactly what Steve does like nobody I know. Hence his enthusiasm in so many reviews. So guys, don’t be mistaken here. This is simply the best what can happen to you!

  4. Morons will always be with us. You do a fine job, Steve. Ignore the whiners and move on. I’ve been an active photographer for 50 years. At one time or another I’ve used most major brands of cameras, and some minor ones as well, and you know what? They all take good pictures (at least if their owner knows how to use them).

    There was a 20-year period when I used nothing but Leicas. I bought my first, an M3, in 1963, and subsequently owned an M2, and an M4. I dropped out of Leicaland for a while because of their refusal to incorporate TTL metering, then later returned, owning an M6 TTL, an M7 an M8, and an M9. All are great cameras — especially the M3, M7, and M9. And Leica lenses truly are unequaled IMHO.

    But I also used Nikons and Canons along the way for their metering, their telephoto capabilities, and their optics which, are competitive with Leica, especially when you consider cost. One of the finest cameras I’ve ever owned was one that is widely reviled by people who’ve never tried it: the Nikon D2Hs. It is without question the finest 4MP camera ever made, a camera that makes you wonder what the megapixel race was all about. Does it produce output as good as the M9 — NO. But, really, do you usually need to print at 20×30? I don’t, and I would still be using that Nikon except that as I get older my cameras have to get lighter, and that Nikon was a tank.

    At the moment I own an M9 and an E-P3. There’s no question which is the better camera. The M9’s output, in my opinion, is unmatched. But I’ve got to say that most of the time my constant carry is the EP-3. It’s light, it’s fast, its output meets 95 percent of my requirements for maybe 15 percent of the cost of an M9 system. In fact, in daily use the E-P3 often seems more Leica-like than the M9.

    The gear you need depends on the kinds of photos you like to take, the system that best supports your style, the camera that feels best in your hands, and, let’s face it, your budget. It DOESN’T depend on the opinions of others.

    I haven’t tried a V1 yet because I’m happy with what I’ve got. But Nikon has a long history of breakthrough designs, and it has the resources for the long haul. So I’ll be watching the V1 and its successors with interest.

    Meanwhile, keep up the good work. You’re doing a GREAT job.

    • Hey Tom, I read your comment after writing my own. But you are so right! Especially when you wrote “…and you know what? They all take good pictures (at least if their owner knows how to use them)” you hit the nail on the head. It probably takes some 50 years of experience to be able to see that… 🙂

  5. Controversy is great stuff, especially for a website review.
    Anyone reading visitor comments knows instinctively they are dealing with opinions but all the comments help us users/buyers connect the dots in one way or a another. Indeed, comments are more often than not, just as essential as the article.

  6. I drive a 1997 Honda CRV with 248,000 miles on it, the engine is as smooth as a sewing machine, it doesn’t leak a drop of oil, the paint is Coming off though because of the HOT Florida sun, and I have NO payment. I’d recommend a Honda to anyone because they are reliable and fairly inexpensive to operate. Tell me, does this make me a Honda fanboy or just smart? All those out there calling names and acting CHILDISH, get over YOURSELVES! You are not real photographers anyway!

  7. My Nikon SP does not have a grip, either. Comes only in Black or Chrome. Lack of buttons. More expensive than used Leica M8, and WAY older. Raw output only, no smoothing unless you use a diffusion filter over the lens. At first, the lenses were all brass- but moved to aluminum. Prefer the older Brass lenses. Does not stop me from using them.

    Steve, I am glad you like the Nikon. That’s all that counts.

  9. I’m surprised your not classed as a canon fanboy too, or do you dislike them? Got canon DSLRs myself and a Fuji X100. I see plenty of idiots on sites just for canon, people whining about full fame vs crop and noise at 100% viewing online. these people need to get out and shoot and perhaps once in a while print some photos. I doubt any camera is perfect for everyone, I know mine all have their pros and cons, I just use them for what they are best at.

  10. Im suprised your not classed as a canon fanboy too, or do you dislike them? Got canon DSLRs myself and a Fuji X100. I see plenty of idiots on sites just for canon, people whinging about full fame vs crop and noise at 100% viewing online. these people need to get out and shoot and perhaps once in a while print some photos. I doubt any camera is perfect for everyone, I know mine all have their pros and cons, I just use them for what they are best at.

  11. Steve I hope you can get your hands on the FT-1 adapter to try the NIkon V1 with the regular Nikkor-F mount lenses and post your thoughts on it. I imagine the 2.7x crop would make it a bird/animal shooters dream setup!

  12. Steve, ignore them.
    I appreciate your articles as well as a lot of other people. Happy New Year!
    Andy

  13. The Nikon 1 series just doesn’t cut it for me, but that does not mean it’s not a decent product. I want a full frame FM dammit with no junk on it! Give me basic metering and 9 autofocus points for convenience use and I’m good – keep the video, horizon indicators and all the other crap I never use.

    I get ragged on all the time because I don’t like Canons. That’s just me. And I get laughed at because I still love my old Oly 5MP C-5050. Don’t even get me started on what some say about my Leica fetish. Doesn’t matter – people can think or say what they like.

    Keep up the good work and Happy New Year.

  14. Love your taste in both camera and headphones. You are right on the money for my style anyways. Have a great new year

  15. Hi Steve,
    I don’t think it’s something particular to your site, many blogs/forums on the net (covering various topics) are having the same issue.The reason is that many readers no longer trust what they read, they see the sites being sponsored by certain companies, some sites have signed NDAs and others are posting articles and reviews that read more like adverts.
    As a reader I wonder why a particular product is praised so much on one site while most other sites are luke warm on it, is it because of a conflict of issues?, is it to keep sponsors happy ?
    Some sites are playing a dangerous game because once you lose the faith and trust of your readers all the “free” give aways in the world won’t bring them back.
    Personally I like to hear different views, isn’t that what the internet is about ?…but it’s becoming more and more difficult to seperate honest opinions and sponsors marketing (I don’t mean your site but sites in general).
    Everyone’s entiltled to an opinion, as long as it is their opinion and not one passed down to them in return for advertising money.

  16. May be The guy just arrive to This blog we all know You aré a Leica fanboy and i pretty sure You onley eat red m&m.

    Have a great NEW YEAR!!!!

    Greg

  17. Hey, Steve, or anyone… does the Nikon 1v1 have a macro mode? I kind of dig close ups of bugs.

  18. A thread that was intended to address a social, communications, issue, predictably derailed into a debate about gear. Not social conventions, not images, gear. Great.

  20. Steve,

    Based on your review and Kirk Tuck’s, I bought a V1 before Christmas and really love it. I’ve been shooting it with the 10 prime over the holidays and the results are really pleasing. Although it may not be important to alot of your readers, the video was a selling point for me and I have to say that the V1’s video is the best I’ve seen on any digital camera. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction and happy New Year!

  21. Hi Steve,
    Thank you for all the work that you have put onto this website.I think its honest ,straightforward, real life comments that appeal to me that make me visit your site daily .Through your site and a few others incl Thorsten Overgaard I made the decision to purchase the Leica m9 , Fuji x100 and Nikon V1 over the course of 18 months. They are all wonderful cameras BUT one should respect that there are different cameras for different occasions. I loved my Nikon D3X ,but found that the bulk of the kit was killing my back, let alone the customs inspections…….the images were faultless. I am trying not to be labelled fanboy here. Recently I went to my daughters university graduation and took the M9 and V1. I felt totally under the radar using the v1 ..great size .My reasoning behind the V1 was to replace my Leica Dlux5 ,because the size difference is not much ,but I wanted the larger sensor.So I was not looking for a DSLR replacement but rather a more competent smaller camera to use at family events ,office parties,travel etc
    The V1 fits the bill perfectly for me.. its not pocketable and needs a small bag as all of the micro 4/3 etc But it does not shout out in a crowd. I can remember taking big bazookas to school and university events and felt uncomfortable .The v1 with accessory flash was perfect.
    I used the Leica outside and the results were superb.Did not want to use it with flash indoors in the hall.
    I have found that I can trigger my SB 800 Nikon flash with the V1 flash and the results are great.
    I will attach a few pictures to show you the results.This now makes the V1 fairly versatile .
    My opinion The NIKON V1 is a good camera only missing a few fast lenses which we are all waiting for.
    Thank you and every best wish to you for 2012

  22. Steve, I read your review regarding the Nikon V1 and decided to purchase it with the zoom kit. I have to say your review was spot on. In my opinion the V1 is easy to use and takes amazing pictures.

  23. Steve,
    In your original response you said about the V1 that it “…is smaller than the E-P3, and very solid. Feels the best of any mirrorless I have tried.” I have the NEX-7 on pre-order, but have never actually handled one. I have however handled the V1, and have a few questions if I could have a moment of your time:
    1. Would I be right in assuming you’re including the NEX-7 when you say the V1 feels better in hand than any other mirrorless?
    2. What do you mean that the V1 “feels the best”? (better constructed/feel of materials, or that it handles better/better ergonomics)
    3. When is the NEX-7 Vs. V1 Head-to-Head Battle coming??? 🙂

    • Hey Caesar,

      What I mean by “feels the best” is that in my hand, when holding the camera and shooting with it. Yes, for ME the V1 wins. The NEX-7 feels great as well but the eyepiece gets uncomfortable around your eye (found this out one day after shooting for 4 hours). The plastic around the eyepiece is hard and started to hurt my eye. The body design is great but it is still light, which is a good thing. But when I hold the V1 and shoot with it, it feels super solid, and the viewfinder gives me no problems.

      These are two different cameras though. The NEX-7 will give you better IQ due to the larger sensor (not as sharp though, and not as good of color out of cam as the V1) and is a more “enthusiast” model that can be tweaked to no end. The V1 is for those that want superb quality and want it quick and easy…and foolproof.

    • BTW…my comment above is TOTALLY tongue-in-cheek. Steve, you always do your BEST to present EVERYTHING that you talk about on this website. No doubt about it. We may not all agree…but I respect your efforts. Always.

    • Lol, they are the Q701 and am testing them out. Have to say they were ear piercing at first but seemed to smooth out quite a bit and now are very balanced. Most balanced headphones Ive ever heard. But I am running them off of a tube amp so that is helping. The Q’s seem to have more body than the stock 701’s and 702’s. 🙂

  25. Inspired to rant…Let me add my opinion to the mix!
    1. More pictures are taken by non-pro’s than pro’s.
    2. I am not a pro and I like to shoot the most important subject in my life, my family. If I ever hope to have great photos of me with them…then I need a camera my wife or children can shoot and capture great shoots. The Nikon 1 / V1 does that better than any camera I have owned.
    3. I can take the v1 + accessories everywhere and not look like a camera geek father
    4. THANK YOU STEVE FOR YOUR HONEST AND HELPFUL REVIEWS. I RESPECT YOUR OPINION. It was Steve’s review that influenced my purchase decision in favor of the Nikon 1 / V1

    Final thoughts…HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL TO ALL THE FANBOYS IN THE WORLD.

  27. He..he. nice.

    Just one thing – don’t understand that you say “V1- NOT THE J1” – the J1 may suit some people better than the V1 and it is cheaper, but with exactly the same sensor and IQ as the V1.

    Build quality of the J1 is very good. I dropped it on a glas table recently and I thought oh no, my new camera is already getting scratches and dents. But no, nothing to see after the drop.

    The V1 is of course a better built camera and with a view finder etc. But again the J1 has a built-in flash that is actually really good considering the very small size. Also the J1 is smaller than the V1.

    Just my opinion. Happy New Year.

    • Agree with you regarding J1. Everything I’ve read about it says it has the same IQ as the V1, and I hope they are right;:-).

      So far I have had no problem with its shortcomings in use. It fits in my jacket pocket and operating it is easy. Fast menues too!

    • Yes, the J1 is great for some, but he was talking about “pretty colors” so wasn’t sure if he was thinking of the J1 in his comments. The J1 takes the same quality photos, just has a smaller buffer, lower res LCD, no mechanical shutter and different build quality…oh, the EVF. But both take the same quality photos! Thanks, enjoy your new year as well.

  28. Addendum:

    After I went the Pentax/NEX way I bought two compacts – one for video (Sony DSC-HX9V) and one for street photoraphy, and at work: Olympus XZ-1. It feels like these will be the last I will buy, as the NEX-5N, that came later, excels in both these respects. I do have an underwater housing for the XZ-1, so yesterday, during a 60 knot storm, I made good use of that!

  29. A fanboy of all those camera brands, eh?

    Gebbers, whatever you do, PLEASE DON’T write a product review of an Apple product, you will be drawn and quartered and called, yet again, a “fanboy”!

  30. Hi Steve,

    That is all very nice, but you can’t say “I put on my AKG 701′s” and not mention what music was playing 😀

    So, I’m waiting for an update of this blog entry. Seriously.

  31. I too have been following you for about a year, and you sure have influenced my purchasing ;-)! Just as any good review does (I don’t call repeating the sales blurb as review, by the way – too many photo magazines do that, You haven’t, as yet). To me the negative aspects of a camera/tripod/monopod/lens/book is even more important than the positive:

    I don’t like heavy cameras with overly complex menus, I do not like tripods that are difficult to set level an a sloping surface [I prefer panorma heads (aka video heads) to ball heads], nor do I like flimsy tripods – you can then as well use a monopod. I don’t like noise, so I prefer big sensors, to small. But big sensors usually mean heavy lenses – not least if you like teles, and superzooms.

    My first digital was a Konica KD-500W, which was a very good buy: Little noise, small size, and brilliant colours (it’s follow-up, after the Konica Minolta merger, the Minolta G600, eked out more pixels of the same sensor, thus was very much noisier, and the menus were more complex – and the colours were not nearly as good – dropped it into the sea, rest in peace).

    I that I bought a Konica KD-500W depended on the fact that I before that had owned some Konica Big Minis, and been very pleased with those.

    The next camera I bought after having read a glowing review by DPReview – I still got it!:
    The Olympus C-8080, the Rolls of compacts (superb lens, magnesium body, lery good grip, nice styling, lots of buttons, two cards, and a whooping 8MP!), actually proved, after a while, to be useless when photographing backlighted subjects – both the display, and the EVF, were totally washed out in a purple flood. The actual photos were not quite as bad. Lovely macros though, and one of the better cameras for flash photography, even to this day! And not bad for macro work either, equipped with a superb lens. It’s maximum useable ISO, around ISO 200, wasn’t great even then. The C-8080 is the size of a small DSLR, with the functions of an Olympus XZ-1 (with EVF). If Olympus one day would resurrect the C-8080, with the original, superb, lens, with the display, and viewfinder, of the XZ-1, they would have a killer. Still got it, and still use it, if occasionally!

    Then came a few others, no names, of other brands, that I prefer to forget (I’ve since then learned that reading the CONs is more important than the PROs, and you should take great interest in the sample pictures).

    I switched to DSLRs due to two things: Dust will eventually get inside your compact, and there is just nothing you can do about it, except sending it off for an expensive cleaning. And most compacts have small sensors, thus are not speed wizards, so I decided I wanter bigger sensors, not necessarily higher number of MPs! The NEX-5N is superb in most situations, the K-5 a bit better :-)!

  32. Looks like many people who are hating the V1 either do not have one or still did not understand what this was made for. And they also seem to like bullet points!!!
    What is the point of bashing a guy for liking a camera. If you would be the only one … maybe. But you are not. So, people grow up. If the V1 is not for you, fine. Just let others enjoy it.

  33. Look at it like this – he probably values your opinion very much and are frustrated that his and yours opinions are not the same on this!

    I have the J1 myself (mainly thanks to your review of the V1, but I wanted something smaller) and while “the grip” could be better, it is way better than the S90 it replaces as a P&S! I don’t always look for the same thing in a camera that others are, but their opinion often helps me make up my own mind. It’s a balance between the technical stuff like AF, IQ and responsiveness on one side (which I prefer to listen to others on), and the more personal ones like joy of use and new gear factor on the other side. I’m partial to Nikon since I have been using Nikon (D)SLRs for a long time but wasn’t ready to go out and get the V1/J1 based on the technical data. I was actually very disappointed. So I guess the subjective personal stuff was positive and your review convinced me that the technical stuff wasn’t that bad either (and that I didn’t expect)! 🙂

    As a side note I’m very much looking forward to your review of the GX1. I have never had so much fun with a new camera as when I got the GF1. But it got old and new cameras came along that stired my curiousity.

  34. Don’t Feed the Troll!

    There are thousands of people who read your website. If you spend time responding to the people who don’t understand it, you are just encouraging them. If you must respond, just type: “Hahahahaha.” It isn’t your job to sell cameras.

    Based on your recommendation (and other reviewers) I tried out the Nikon in our local store. Blazing fast autofocus. If it weren’t for the fact that our local camera store has such a great selection, I would have gone with the Nikon. (In a dimly lit store it was easily as fast as the EP3, and almost as fast as the 5Dmk2, which I crave.)

    Important point, though: If I buy the Nikon, they won’t pay you a commission. No matter how many trolls you smack down. it would be nice if Nikon sent you a $ or two, but I bet they don’t.

  35. That`s wonderfull attitude Steve. I hope it will help me to break my blogblock scare regarding your site.
    You remember that last time, some time ago I got a flackfire salvo from you (something about smartass remarks of a sour old geezer) , for a remark about you not listening (something about using 25mm lenses, the expensive Leica, less so Zeis and cheapest VC, in a test of Nex). Maybe I desered it but it felt a bit harsh to me. Especially when a couple of stray guys wrote their share as if they wanted to invite me for a fight. I remember long time ago I together with couple other guys set off an avalanche of replies ( something about Frankens view on X-100 and general M-9 philosophy9), that made you exclaim “wow so many replies!”. By the way I don`t think that the guys complains about V1 gives Mick Spivey right to call him moron. Or mayby it`s usual american “cmon let`s have it” style which I overdramatise.

    • Hi Stanis, yes, that is one of the wonderful things about this site. You are allowed to express you opinion and it is not censored in any way as far as I know.

    • I do remember that Stanis but instead of getting into it again I will say I apologize if I was harsh, didn’t mean to be. In any case, sometimes I have a bad day so lets make 2012 have less drama 🙂 Have a good New Year! Hope toe ee you back here.

    • View NX2 which is included with the camera has a very good raw converter and a lot of other options for tweeking images.

      Usually I use Acdsee PRO 5, but currently there is no support J1/V1 NEF, so I was forced to use View NX2 and was surprised how good and easy it is to use.

  37. I had a good go with the V1 in my local camera shop. When it was announced I wasn’t impressed, but handling it, it certainly feels very solid and well built and nice to use – though why the left off PASM modes from the dial is a mystery to me! But I wouldn’t buy it for three reasons (at the moment). Oh, and I am a Nikon fanboy!

    1. I love to shoot with a shallow DOF, and it just won’t give me the look I like.

    2. I know there is an adapter for the Nikon lenses, but with a 2.7x crop they are almost all completely useless – I mean you need a 10mm to get 27mm, a 30mm = near enough 100mm etc. etc. it kind of puts most all of my f-mount lenses into the wrong place for me. One of the advantages of buying a Nikon CSC should have been the ability to (really) use f-mount lenses with full auto control.

    3. I like to shoot wii….iide and that’s a no go either with the current line-up.

    This might change though depending on what native lenses Nikon are planning to introduce over the next year or so, two or three primes at the right focal length would help. A 6mm 2.8, 12 and 30mm 1.4’s should change my mind!

    • Obviously the V1 is not for you, you have to look elswhere. I would say keep on searching and reading the web and writing your comments in the forums, also a nice hobby 🙂 Or go out and take some pictures…..

      • It’s kind of hard to take photos of the things I do when it’s dark outside! Not quite sure how you have any idea how many, or when I take photos! 🙂

        What I was saying is that I like the Nikon 1 after initially thinking it was a waste of time, and it *could* be a camera I would buy by adding some decent fast lenses as it does appear pretty good to actually use. I actually re-bought the Olympus E-P2 recently just because of the new native Oly prime lenses!

        No camera is perfect, my X100 produces amazing images, but is flawed in use, my Oly E-P2 has a couple of great primes, but IQ isn’t as good as I’d like – I don’t think the E-P3 improves on that so I’m hoping for totally new sensor in the next gen model, my NEX-5N produces great images, nice detail and great high ISO performance, better than my D300s, but is let down by rubbish lenses! I think everyone (me included) was hoping the Nikon CSC would bring all the best bits together with their background in pro camera equipment, and it just didn’t happen as most existing Nikon customers wanted. If the perfect system existed, I would only have one camera and that would just be boring!

        • Thanks Matt for your well-weighted comment!

          Steve, as others have mentioned, “raw” Raw at high ISO it isn’t 🙂 with the V1/J1.
          Of course the pictures then look much better with Nikon. While this is inline with your preferred mode of “just-using-the-camera-and-evaluate-it-by-theoutput” which I agree to, this is not quite fair to the M43s.

          The V1/J1 seems have to have found its place as a better-than-compact camera with fast AF for those not willing to wait for better lenses with the Nex.

  38. Hey Steve,
    This is one of the biggest reasons i’ve decided to shut down ProPhotoResource.com. While there are many wonderful members on the site the handful of ingrates that constantly complain, send nasty emails etc… just don’t make it worth the effort for me to publish the site any more.

    It always amazed me when guys like you and I who are out there giving away free content and education that people have the nerve to still complain. I guess it’s just human nature.

    Oh well keep up the good work, you are a better man than I… HaHa.

    Cris Mitchell

  39. Steve, I don’t have a horse in this race, but, FWIW, the smoothing being mentioned is cooked in the raw. This isn’t a jpeg thing. The DxO Mark review of the V1 mentions that the V1 is the first Nikon camera they’ve tested with cooked raw and “…such smoothing artificially suppresses noise by lightly mixing neighboring pixels, but comes at the price of a loss of resolution.”

    There’s no free lunch with a smaller sensor.

  40. I have a M9 with a 50mm Noctilux, 24, 35, 50mm summilux along with a S2-P with the 35,70, 120 and 180mm glass. I guess I am a Leica nut.

    However, I was not in the mood to take all my Leica gear to NYC for Christmas last week so I picked up a V1 with 10mm, 10-30 and 30-110 mm along with a 11inch macbook air.

    I have to say, I love this little camera. I am very much impressed with the picture quality, feel and build quality. I think Nikon did a fantastic job with this camera. They have a winner.

    Take a look at a few pictures from my NYC trip with the V1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sxudfm/

  41. Steeve, i dont get it, something gotta give

    Any direct comparison of Nikon 1 with modern M43 (like G3) results in a humiliating result for the Nikon,
    The m43 simply destroys the nikon at high ISO’s,
    you can see it again and again from ISO 800 to 6400, on Dprevew and Imaging-resource,
    here is a crop at ISO 1600 from IR,

    Crop:
    http://d-spot.co.il/forum/uploads/monthly_12_2011/post-9160-132515652802.jpg

    I dont like to flash others tests in front of everyone, but i also cannot ignore it.

  42. Steve, currently, I shoot with Canon gear as that’s what I have right now (perfectly content with it), however, ever since I started reading your site, I’ve itched for Leica gear, Olympus gear, Panasonic gear, Sony gear, Fuji cameras, and now, that Nikon V1, so I have a hard time finding you to be fanboy of any brand. Perhaps you are a photography fanboy, which I think most of us are, ahaha…

  43. I started reading your reviews this year, Steve, and your thoughts seem very well considered and I don’t find you prejudicial regarding any type camera. Your V1 review was great and without it I never would have considered buying one from the specs alone. I still haven’t bought one because I’m waiting to see if they produce a fast 45 equivalent prime. In fact I don’t even own a digital camera yet because in the ten or so years I’ve been considering one I still haven’t seen one that isn’t loaded down with more complexity than I even want to think about or is exorbitantly expensive or both. I’d be very happy with a Contax G2 that had a 100% viewfinder with focus confirmation and a good sensor in it. Photos I took with their 45mm lens were phenomenal. But I digress or regress … my main thought when I read your comments about the idiocy you get to read was a description of a good reviewer I heard years ago. The main quality was intelligent commentary from which you could deduce what your response would probably be. As you described with Siskel or Ebert, whatever, no matter what the judgement was, you had a competent springboard to determine if you wanted to see that film. You’re a great reviewer and if I get around to buying a digital camera I’ll launch the purchase through your website. Thanks much. KvB

  44. What is the opposite of fanboy? I’m referring to the people like the original commenter that seem to take personal offense at the mere existence of certain cameras. There’s clearly no such thing as the perfect camera — it all depends on the photographer, their needs, preferences and individual biases. If it doesn’t float your boat, fine, but freaking out and name calling over the feature set of a camera seems insane. Perhaps it’s an outlet for emotions they’re not able to express otherwise.

    This is a particularly tough time to be one of those people, too, as manufacturers are really having to re-think the basics of camera design. Now that high quality camera doesn’t simply mean SLR, there’s less certainty to cling to than ever. Already, the variety of great mirrorless cameras is impressive, but it looks like the creativity of the manufacturers is increasing rather than decreasing with new offerings like the Nikon 1, NEX-7, and whatever that new Fuji system gets called. It’s a great time to be into cameras, but a bad time to try to cling to religious beliefs about what constitutes a great camera.

    • The Nikon 1 system seems to have been one of those cameras that people wanted to hate – even before the first ones got in to photographers hands.

      For me, I was luke warm to the Nikon 1 with just the stats. But using the V1 over a long weekend gave me an appreciation of what it can do. With what I have invested in Oly/Pani glass at this time, as much as I want the V1 I will have to wait to see how the GX1 and any new camera from Olympus shakes out…

  45. Hey Steve!

    Como le decia Don Quijote a su fiel Sancho:

    “… si los perros ladran Sancho, es signo de que estamos avanzando.”

    Glad to read you took the poignant comment from that lad with humor and a grain of salt. Your opinions are very good and helpful and all your work and dedication much appreciated.

    Now please get back to work on that GX1 review… 😉

    Thank you Steve.

  46. I am an Olympus fanboy here; have quite a few of Olympus and Pani lenses, and three Olympus M43’s cameras in our household.

    I also work in a camera store, and like you have been taken by the Nikon 1 system, in particular the V1. Your site on the V1 are one of the few that I point customers to for an opinion other than mine. 🙂 I respect your opinions, and remind folks that they are opinions. But one of the few on the web that I feel I can trust.

    Keep up the good work!

  47. When one is trying to capture an emotional moment using a machine, the machine can be blamed for a thousand shortcomings….God forbid, the operator…..that is what Life is all about….someone cannot understand their feelings…..how short sighted

  49. Steve, haven’t you learned that when you respond to these guys, they win? Unfortunately, that stuff goes with the territory. And as far as responding to each point, using logic on a moron is irrational.

    I don’t really care if you post this or not. Just FYI

    Have fun in 2012.
    Mike

    • Exactly. Making posts like this just recognises that the idiots had an effect on you and it is a victory for them.

      Never argue with an idiot. They’ll lower you to their level and beat you with experience.

      Delete this article and next time just brush off those comments in the first place!

      • Oh I never delete posts. Unless there is some sort of legal issue which there neve has been. That’s the beauty of a blog. You can read the articles you want and skip others. I get comments and emails like this daily and they really don’t bother me, more so make me chuckle. But this was a comment and thought it would provide for some entertainment 🙂

        • Well, whether the original commenters ‘win’ or not, that’s besides the point. But I respect Steve for replying with objectivity and clarity, despite being called something he knows isn’t true.

    • I was going to do a response then Mike summed it up…….I’ve lost count of the times I read and learnt something on this site, on occasion I’ve changed my view on an issue, unfortunately not everyone has an open mind, it makes me wonder how they get through their daily lives…

    • I like it when he answers morons… it helps point out some other aspects that I may have not considered. After all… if someone is a moron, then you gotta’ try and help a bit…hahaha. Keep up the great (patient) work, Steve!

    • I agree with you.You would not really have to take some of the comments seriously..You need not to react.As long as what you posted is right and there will be no other people that will be hurt by your post…Just keep up the good deeds and I am sure that there will be no problem. 🙂

  50. Haha, it is very common in the forums the see people like this. Sometimes I am like that too 😉
    I guess we just need to tell what we think without judging others, like “you are…because you like….”. Internet communication shouldn’t be taken so seriously.

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