In the rush to get everything together for Paris, I realized that I had failed to send my Canon Rebel off to be fine tuned. (My focus is off and I need to get it cleaned and re-aligned, anyone know where I can do that?) So Jason and I decided to invest in another smaller camera, a Nikon 1 J1.
After using it for two months, I thought it was time to officially give it a thumbs up and let you know about it in case you’re considering one!
First things first, let’s talk about the J1’s size. This is not a “fit in your pocket” camera. It isn’t skinny and doesn’t fit into small areas that, say, an Elph or Coolpix would. But it is still fairly light and small and I could fit it into my small travel purse while in Paris which was a definite step up from my big DSLR! That way, I didn’t have to look like a tourist everywhere we went.
If you’ve done any research on these type of cameras, you’ll know that they are referred to as “mirrorless” or “micro four thirds” cameras. That means that even though these camera’s have interchangeable lenses, the lenses for your DSLR will not automatically fit on these camera’s without a lens adapter. To create these cameras that allow you the flexibility to shoot similar to a larger DSLR, but decrease the size, the mirror for the viewfinder was removed. Thus, the only viewing of the image that you have is through the screen. This takes a little getting used to if you’ve been using the viewfinder on your camera, but it’s an easy switch to make. It helps that the screen on this camera is huge and crystal clear!
This camera also has multiple features to allow you to (1) shoot in manual or automatic, (2) allow you to use the on-camera flash if desired but you must manually enable it to do so, (3) shoot video, (4) view images on the viewfinder (I’m viewing an image in the photo below), and (5) shoot in a bracketed layout that will shoot with three different settings and choose the best picture to get the best quality. I know that there are other neat features of this camera but I haven’t had a chance to play with them yet!
Overall, I’ve been very happy with this purchase! The outdoor photos shot with this camera are unbelievable straight out of the camera, on auto mode! It was the perfect camera to take to Paris because it didn’t load us down but allowed us the ability to capture what we wanted. I have loved it and have enjoyed shooting with it since we got home, although I’ve found that it’s hard (for me) to get great quality interior shorts of the kids with the camera.
*This post contains affiliate links and falls under my link/review disclosures. However, I was not compensated in any way for this post and all views and opinions are my own.
Ben and Christen
June 20, 2013 at 11:47 amI need to send my camera off too to get cleaned etc. If you ever figure out where to send it let me know! haha I did go in a WOLF camera one time thinking they would do it for me and the lady I spoke to was no help at all… I may try again in hopes of getting a different employee that may know a little more…
P.S. Love these reviews etc! Also love the new blog look1