Nikon’s 1 series is considered to be the bottom of barrel when it comes to mirrorless cameras. With a fresh makeover and beefed up features, the company’s new 1 J5, however, may finally be a step in the right direction in the face of fierce competition from the likes of Sony andOlympus.
The J5 is the successor to the 1 J4. Its construction and design is a complete revamp from the minimalist J4. The camera now sports a sleeker faux leather finish and a grip for your fingers.
Inside, the J5 packs a higher 20.8-megapixel 1-inch image sensor, faster Expeed 5A image-processing engine, 20 frames per second (fps) continuous shooting with autofocus, and ISO 160-12800.
The vague mode dial on the old J4 has been replaced with a more traditional PASM (Program Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority, Manual). There’s also dedicated programmable function (Fn) button. Lastly, in addition to built-in Wi-Fi, the J5 has built-in NFC to pair with smartphones and tablets quicker.
Around back, the 3-inch touchscreen LCD now pops out and tilts up and down. Self junkies will also appreciate the screen’s ability to flip-up a full 180-degrees.
Now for some good-bad news. The good: The J5 shoots 4K video at 3,840 x 2,160 resolution.
The bad: It can only record 4K at 15 frames per second (fps), which is far below the normal 24, 25, 30, and 60 fps that other cameras (and even some high-end Android phones) can do. At 15 fps, it might as well be useless. Here’s a good video comparison of how choppy videos look at 15 fps versus 30 fps.
You’re not confined to recording at slow frame rates, though. The J5 still does 1080p full HD video recording at 30 and 60 fps, and slow-motion video at 720p resolution at 120 fps.
On paper, the upgrades sound great, but I’ll have to reserve final judgment until I can actually test it out. Nikon didn’t announce a release date for the J5, but we do know the pricing: $449.95 with a 10-30mm lens, $749.95 with the 10-30mm and a 30-110mm lens, and $1,049.95 with a 10-100mm lens.
Source: mashable.com