Reading emails today and seeing wonderful news! Nikon finally has announced the small sensor nonDSLR mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses that opens the door to creativity anywhere. Built around new small body, 10Mpx C-MOS sensor, new lens mount. Ladies and gentlemans fastest mirrorless cameras Nikon 1 line are here.

There are two cameras from Nikon 1 line, V1 and J1. The V1 is high-end model in the lineup and features magnesium alloy body and electronic viewfinder. It also has a special port allowing the connection of new special speedlight or GPS unit (later probably other accesories). The Nikon V1 kit with 10-30mm (27-81mm 35mm eq.) lens will be $899.95, the Nikon J1 camera with 10-30mm lens kit will be available at a suggested retail price of $649.95. Nikon also announced an adapter allowing the use of Nikon F-mount lenses. The question is if AF will be available through adapter or not.

Official PR says: From Nikon, a company with more than 75 years in imaging excellence, the Nikon 1 J1 is an advanced camera with interchangeable lenses that opens the door to a fresh way to capture pictures and High Definition (HD) movies. This Nikon 1 system represents a new category of camera that challenges conventional thinking, emphasizing a pocketable form factor with unbelievable speed, combined with the high image quality that only Nikon could create. Thanks to a wealth of innovative technologies, the Nikon J1 camera is a simple to use conduit for creativity, seemingly anticipating a consumer's needs in any situation. Moments are instantly captured using amazingly fast new hybrid Autofocus (AF), and blazing fast speed with continuous AF. Users can also shoot with confidence knowing that the Smart Photo Selector will automatically capture the best possible image without a second thought. Furthermore, just a touch of the shutter button instantly captures a high quality image while simultaneously recording Full HD 1080p movies, and the exciting new Motion Snapshot mode captures fleeting moments like never before with a combination of moving and still images, bringing memories to life. To accompany this exciting new form factor, Nikon created the entirely new 1 NIKKOR lens system that seamlessly integrates powerful precision optics into a camera platform to capture more of the world around the user.

"The needs of the consumer are changing and the world is becoming one of visual conversation, which paves the way for the next chapter in image capture devices. The new Nikon 1 system is the culmination of more than 75 years of optical excellence and relentless pursuit to the unrivaled technological advancements in camera technology," said Bo Kajiwara, Director of Marketing, Nikon Inc. "Nikon's new 1 J1 camera allows consumers to have confidence in a new way to express themselves, with amazing speed, versatility, ease of use and portability."

I have been reading several discussion about what is the future Nikon product. Are we going to see an upgrade like Nikon D700s or fully working new model which could be called Nikon D800? I am going to make my personal bet not only for cheapest full frame dslr however also for top model which for sure will be Nikon D5 and not D4.

D700s vs D800

General live cycle of the Nikon cameras are slightly more than two years. So when we see current portfolio we should expect new model in full frame range, mean exchange for Nikon D700. When we see its parallel Nikon D90, it has been already exchange for D7000. Now we have two options how Nikon make it successor.

1. Updated product, thats D700s
2. New product, D800

And why D5 and not D4?

And why not D4? Asian are very much into the number and its meaning. Almost none of the asian manufacturer use number 4 as a primary digit. Simply because it is bad luck number such as 13. 40 and 400 is ok. Just 4 is not. Remember that there is no Fuji S4, Lumix LX4, Tungsten T4 etc..

Specification of D700 successor

More less the same things we see now on D3x. The only question is the price and if Nikon keep D700 in production. AF: 51 points. CAM3500FX same as D3X with Shutter: 1/8,000 ~ 60 sec, B Flash Sync: 1/250, no more Built-in Flash: GN 12, same as D700. Sensor type: 24Mpx CMOS, same as D3x Sensor resolution: 24Mpx in FX and 10Mpx in DX. Frame Rate in machine gun mode: 3 fps. 8 fps in DX mode. ISO range: hopefully 50 - 6,400 with boost up to 25 000 and no noise. :) Build in wifi or GPS could be a nice add on. Possibility of electronic viewfinder for live mode as well.

I am probably not the only one who said when first hear about Panasonic Lumix LX4 "Thats it!" LX4 was probably first compact camera with all manual feature any even DSLR user can imagine. What is more finally with real wide angle fast lens. Lumix LX3 so become another camera along with my Nikon Dslr. Now we have an upgrade: Panasonic LX5... reason enough to upgrade or not? How about LX6 rumours? :) UPDATE: Fuji X100 i is here... new man in the town?

Panasonic LX5 (or LX3): first compat camera for DSLR users

Remember the times when I almost crash my compact camera because of impotency to make pictures i want. No manual, no manual focus, no bracketing, no histogram. I always miss all potential what I have with my Nikon DSLR. I saw LX3... I bought one. And from that time, my Nikon has much more free time... Belive or not but most of the time i shot at full auto called iA. Really, unbelievable. The auto mode is so good here that I do not use all features I cried for that much as I expected. Of course the picture quality is something different... it is still just compact camera. However I do not want to write review of this camera, you can find much better articles. This is about latest comparison... the new one vs old one. Until Lumix LX6 arrive. :)

What I hate on my LX3

Well... not too many things. Just two:

• Lens distortion at wide angle - you need to be careful not to have people in the corner. They do not look good. And they will hate you! :)
• Zoom - 2.5x zoom is not enough when you start at 24mm. Sometimes I have been cheating with digital zoom, sometimes i just cried.

So lets see, what are the main difference between these two great cameras...

• Longer zoom, 30mm more... great!
• Better dynamic range
• Better video rec options
• Some new control buttons (jog dial vs joystick), battery life etc.

	Panasonic LX5 / Leica D-Lux 5	Panasonic LX3 / Leica D-Lux 4
Sensor	10 MP / 1.63″ CCD	10 MP / 1.63″ CCD
Lens	Leica Vario-summicron 24-90 mm F/2-3.3	Leica Vario-summicron 24-60 mm F/2-2.8
LCD	3 inch 460k px	3 inch 460k px
Dimension/weight	109.7 x 65.5 x 43.0 mm / 271g	108.7 x 59.5 x 27.1 mm / 265 g
Battery	battery life 400 shots	battery life 380 shots
ISO	up to 3200, expansion up to crazy 12800, usable up to 400	up to 3200, usable up to 400
Movie mode	HD 1,280 x 720 px, 30fps, AVCHD Lite	HD 1,280 x 720 px, 30fps
Continuous shooting	2.5 fps (can be more in lower res.)	2.5 fps (can be more in lower res.)
Other improvements etc.	improved(?) hand-grip, jog-dial, 1:1 ratio switch, movie recording button	strange joystick

UPDATE: Leica D-LUX 5 vs Panasonic LX5

Ultimate battle: Panasonic vs Leica. What are the difference... not much. The basic camera hardware and lens are the same. The main difference is in final design and whole bundle. So what are the main diferences between LX5 vs D-LUX5?

• Better software: Leica has Adobe Lightroom worth $200
• Better warranty: not real difference in EU, however in US it is a great value. Leica has 3 years limited warranty.
• Different design: some people like it some not. Panasonic has small hand grip on right side of the camera for better handling. Leica users do not like it... and their version is much simpler when we talk about design. I like Leica D-LUX 5 design more.
• Different menu layout. I can judge this.
• Different setting: It said that Leica has different setting of the final JPEG processing.
• Leica keep value: when you sell your camera after 5 years on ebay... you probably not get anything... until you sell Leica D-Lux. Leica is really strong brand... even very old camera such as Leica Digilux 1 is still keeping even $400 value.

UPDATE: Fuji X100 vs Panasonic LX5... or Fuji X100 vs D-LUX 5 Leica

This is the question nowdays and probably it is a topic of my next article. Fuji X100 with its APS-C sensor looks like a dream machine. There is no question about image quality and high iso performance. Panasonic LX5 is probably more versatile due to its zoom optics however AF performance could be weaker compare to X100. No personal expirience here so far.

Leica D-LUX 4 vs Panasonic LX3... or Leica D-LUX 4 vs D-LUX 5

Well... it is the same: D-LUX 4 and LX3 is the exactly same situation as D-LUX 5 and LX5. Read section above. When we compare D-LUXes... we get also the same like with Lumix. So D-LUX 4 vs D-LUX 5 is the same as LX5 vs LX3.

What about Panasonic LX4

I have been asked several times about Lumix LX4. Probably not every knows... asian people are very much into numbers and its meanings. 8 mean luck/fortune in money terms. 98 mean "forever rich", 28 "easy to get rich"... 668 "all the way to get rich" ... 58 "not getting rich" ... and our number 4? 4 means "dead" ... 48 "dead rich" etc. Thats why you do not see even Palm T4, Nikon D4 etc... it is similar as EU/US number 13.

Final verdict: enough to buy one?

No. Clear answer. Even I really miss that 30mm+ of the new LX5. Everything else remain the same. What I really appreciate from Panasonic was the fact that they really care about LX line. They made several firmware updates and add many features during product life of LX3. They probably do the same just for LX5 which is a pitty. However I stay with LX3, waiting for Panasonic Lumix LX6. Some one maybe asking what is the difference between Leica and Panasonic bundle. Well, first of all price, then better software include (Leica include Adobe Elements), nice box, red dot logo and cool image. :) Not worth of money when its arrive on the market. Later on great deal. As always with Leica compat cameras. :)

One more thing I am really looking forward to is to see lumix lx5 firmware update. Updates of my LX3 brings a lot of new features... it will be interesting to see whats new come soon and how it will look in 2012 when we see Lumix LX5 vs LX6 comparsion. Or maybe whole LX series disapear by new fight: Fuji X100 vs LX5. Just look at Fuji X100 review and you know what I am talking about.

It is always very interesting to follow whats going on at better-amateur camera market. Especially from Nikon point of view, because this company deliver new model line every year. :) This time they claim Nikon D7000 is not succesor of Nikon D90. Is it true? No one really care, important is a fact if its good camera to buy now days or not. Why I am thinking about? Well.. I have to upgrade my old D70! .

mid-range camera, high-end result

First of all do not be ashamed of buying these cameras. I meet some people who bought Nikon D300s just because they want to look better. From the other I remember several pros who bought Nikon D70 along to their Nikon D2x for just oposite reason: lower weight, low profile and good-enough picture quality. And especially Nikon D7000 is built very well. Well.. .Canon users have much better life here. There are just few models... every one knows that 500D is starter, 50D can be used even by pro. 5D is definitely pro and 1D or Eos 1Ds Mark III... there is nothing to talk about. However even Canon start to confuse their users by new Canon 7D (which is not direct successor of 5D) and Canon 60D which is definitely not better than Canon 50D. So at the end... they have the same. :)

The real difference between pro and non-pro cameras are just few features which are not important for average photographer:

• Megapixels for huge prints and picture quality in extreme conditions - however here it does not count at all D7000 has more Mpx than Nikon D300s
• Autofocus for extreme condition (mean fast and very accurate)... also not a case for D7000
• Anti-dust and watter proof protection
• Fast shutter speed and FPS
• Studio ready features
• fast control layout
• Metal body... shutter with warranty (at least 100 000 pictures)
• And few more...
Well... when I read this... it seems to me the ambitious of Nikon D7000 are really higher. :)

Megapixels are not a case anymore. Even with 4 Mpx you can make A3 prints. Sometimes I even thing it is worse: more Mpx better computer you need for postprocessing. Come on, i can not edit easily 20Mpx pictures on my PC! Studio is clear and most of the families are not having their own photo studio at home. Fast control layout means more levers and switch which are cool for professionals and pretty confusing for my mother. However this is not about pro cameras, it is about Nikon D7000 and D90

Real difference

As always I am gonna to disappoint everybody who expect long article about technical differences between these two cameras. When we see the price tag, D700 is 500 USD more than D90. What are we paying for here: more Mpx, metal body, faster speed, better AF, better video, more pro controls, better ISO. Well everything which most of the user consider to be a reason to buy Nikon D300s. Here it looks that everything what Nikon says about D7000 to not be direct successor of the D90 is true. However there is another fact: whenever new Nikon arrive it is always a little bit overpriced. Lets see basic facts:

Nikon D7000 performance

when we see it from performance point of view, the only thing what D7000 shares with D90 is the design. It is not like Nikon D80 vs D90, which can be consider to be facelift. New shutter release (better, faster), new expo metering (more segments), more AF points and cross elements, better body, faster fps. In some way it is even better than Nikon D300s. Here Nikon has to reduce ambitious of D7000, so it simply make it slower in machine gun mode and reduce buffer (also important for sport photography... less pictures can be taken in high speed mode). I really belive that D7000 can be easily what I saw in the times of Nikon D70: low cost, low profile, 2nd body even for professional photographers. The ability to use also old Nikkor AI lenses just confirming this theory. The only question is if its worth of money. Well... you get "almost" Nikon D300s, you pay for "almost" D300. It seems to be fair. :)

Final result

Well... after all I am thinking of buy Nikon D90. Why? It is always better to let new model on the market and see. New firmware arrive, they sometimes recall battery to the service. After year or two it is very clear what is real value and potential. If I buy D7000 now, I get for price of Nikon D300 "just better" Nikon D90. For the price different I can buy nice second hand lens such us 12-24/4 ("FX people" now selling that lenses because of their new full frame FX camera like Nikon D3x or D700). I remember that even my Nikon D70 i bought when D70s was already on the market and I did not like the price tag. Maybe there is a question why I did not want to take Nikon D300 or D300s. Here are my thought about: Nikon D300 is cool and nice however it is heavy and I did not appreciate anything it has better than D90. Whats more, it is bigger than D90 and I do not want to buy new bag. Maybe stupid reason however I am getting old and I hate to bulky things. :) Anyway... I am going yo some discussion to let other oppose my ideas.

Few days ago I have posted small artical about comparsion of Nikon D200 vs D300. Now I found Nikon D300 sample gallery on some chinese forum. So lets heck it out and see its noise and detail capability. Its still good time to decide if the older model is good enough or not. D300 or D200? That is the question...

Nikon D300 sample pictures gallery

Browsing on my favourite forum and finding out nice link with real sample pictures from D300. So ladies and gentlemans here is brand new Nikon D300 sample gallery. Its well done and you can compare details, noise reduction etc. there. Original non-translated link is here.

Anyway... still thinking that buying Nikon D200 in sale is better option for me. All Nikon D200 vs D300 battle seems to be pretty interesting. Btw. Where is Canon and its 40D? Or Canon 50D?

My last post about this topic: Nikon d300 better than Nikon d200?

Just 3 days after anouncing brand new Canon D40 new Nikon horse arrive as well. Welcome Nikon D300 successor of the famous Nikon D200. Thats marketing we are not that much interested in. New model come old become to be a part of history. This is the best time to decide if the older model is good enough to buy or not since the price of the older one will go down very soon.

Why to buy Nikon D300 now?

Maybe we wanna the best of the best and we want it now. However we should think about the older version Nikon D200 because its price is going down and it could be enough for our needs. Lets have a look on both and try to find difference.

Nikon D300 Key Features

These ones you can not find on Nikon D200...

• 12.3 megapixel CMOS senso (dx format -> crop 1.5x)
• Self-cleaning sensor (vibration agains dust)
• 3.0" LCD monitor (0.9Mpx), can be used as viewfinder!
• Really fast operation (powerup 13 ms, shutter lag 45 ms, blackout 100 ms)
• Improved autofocus (AF): 51 points, tracking by color, auto-focus calibration up to 20 separate settings by lens
• 6 fps (frame per second - machine gun mode)
• And more...

There is much more I just tried to find the most important features which makes Nikon D300 unique now and especially when we are going to comparte that to Nikon D200.

Nikon D300 vs. D200 main differences

Lets have a look on our difference sheet

Nikon D300 vs. D200 main differences

From average user pespective there are not many reasons to upgrade from Nikon D200 to D300. For pros (especially press and sport reporters) it could be faster shutter and better watterprofing (not everybody likes to handle bulky Nikon D2xs or D3). Everobody who works in studio enviroment enjoy 2 more megapixels. Better autofocus is good for everyone how ever most of people can stay with "just 11 points". The only real feature is live view which most of people find out to be newbie option. I do not agree at all. There are many situations where this can help a lot. I remember few shots I have made in the past with compat camera and I can not make any more with my DSLR.

So nothing special for 500 USD dont you think? From Nikon D200 the only trouble is its battery life: not everyone know that average D200 can shoot just 300 pictures on battery charge. My old D70 can do 700 more (yes, thats why most of the D200 users buying grip! :) ). Lets hope D300 can do better job. I am pretty shure about.

Result

If you want to have latest thing go for Nikon D300. If value for money is the power for you take Nikon D200 in sale (comming soon i think) or Nikon D80. In most cases you can not be disapointed by them.

It is always very interesting to follow whats going on at lowest segment of the market. Canon and Nikon are fighitng everywhere and pro level cameras are pretty much the same. Everything is just about few parameters like shutter speed and megapixels. The low ened segment is much more interesting because real featuters for common users are done here. So lets have a look on Canon Rebel Xti (EOS 400D) and Nikon D40x.

Low-end camera, high-end result

First of all do not be ashamed of buying these camers. There are low end according to the price of profesional equipment however good enough for almost everything. Lets be honest: the result you get nowdays from Canon D400 or Nikon D40x is far better you got from pro-level cameras in the past. Picture from Nikon D40x is far better than Nikon D1, Nikon D1h, D100 even D70s and most people say that it is pretty much the same like Nikon D200 (which is 3 times more expensive). The same you can find for Canon Rebel Xti: it can beat Canon 10D for sure!

The real difference betwen pro and non-pro cameras are just few features which are not important for average photographer:

• Megapixels for huge prints
• Anti-dust and watter proof protection
• Fast shutter speed
• Studio ready features
• fast control layout
• And few more...

Megapixels are not a case anymore. Even with 4 Mpx you can make A3 prints. Antidust and watter proof is nescesity for profesionals which have to work in the war conditions in any case. Fast shutter is nice for sport reporters which have to make proper picture of the match that happen just once and they must take the picture othewise got fired. Studio is clear and most of the families are not having their own photo studio at home. Fast control layout means more levers and switch which are cool for profesionals and pretty confusing for my mother.

Real difference

I am gonna to disapoint everybody who expect long artical about technical differences between these two cameras. For most of people Nikon D40x and Canon D400 are same cool cameras. The only real difference is how you feel the brand and how do you like its handling. Anyway everobody expect that so here is our difference sheet:

Result

Lets keep it short. From my point of view. Canon Rebel Xti (EOS 400D) is sligtly better camera acording to feature list. From the other hand none of them are important for most people. Nikon D40x is for me better camera according to automatic function and handling (really guys, try both and you will see. Nikon is much better here i think). My vote goes to Nikon for better design and control layout however try both for sure! Yes, Nikon is 1 mm smaller and 50g lighter. No one care about here.