This is an intro to a camera system that is well thought out, and future proof. Nikon decided to drive the camera market forward with a new sensor size, and a new lens mount.
Some of you may know that the company has always stood for compatibility. Once they designed the F mount, they stuck with it through thick and thin.
In fact, the photo shows a V1 fitted with the 50 mm f1.8 lens that was the 'kit' lens for the F2 in the 70s! This illustrates the extremes to which the company goes to to remain backwards compatible. Using a spacer to move the lens an inch or so further from the sensor, you can shoot the old Nikor film lenses as well as the new auto focus and vibration reduced lenses. Heck, you can hold the open body behind a telescope or the bottom of a pop bottle if you don't mind getting the sensor dusty!
Begin rant
This new camera was belittled and derided upon it's release by fake experts who did not handle it. They are the same folks who care only about the size of a thing, like the horsepower of an engine, or the megahertz of a computer. Those who took photos with the little box were soon enchanted, and their main difficulty lay in figuring out how many lenses they could afford.
End rant
There and some flavors of series one camera. There is the V1, with electronic viewfinder, no built in flash, double the image buffer, and the huge battery from the professional Nikon cameras. And, there is the J1, with it's trimmer physique, tiny battery, and built in flash. In terms of operation, the V1 has a choice of electronic and mechanical shutter, while the J1 has only the silent electronic shutter. The V takes 45 photos rapidly without storing them to the card, and the J takes 22. And, by rapidly, I mean 5, 10, 30 and 60 frames per second.
The same lenses fit on both models, so the user has to figure out of they need a smaller camera, or a viewfinder, many more images/battery, and a somewhat expensive [but great] speedlight that must be bought separately. In bright outdoor conditions, i feel that i absolutely need the viewfinder. In low light, I find that i can hold the camera much steadier with it pressed to my face. I only look at the screen on the back to review images indoors, when the camera is supported on a tripod, or when I need to hold it far from my face.
The CX sensor has some advantages. Since it's size fills the huge gap between the large SLR sensor, and the tiny cell phone sensor, it offers reasonable image quality in a tiny package. Without a noisy and space wasting mirror to get in the way, the lenses can almost touch the sensor. This allows simpler and less expensive lenses, especially in the shorter focal lengths [the wide angle end]. At the same time, the mirror area can be replaced with a spacer, and many types of lenses can be fixed to the camera. This includes enlarger lenses, 16 mm film lenses, telescopes, microscopes and manual 35mm lenses from other camera systems. The high 'pixel density' realized by a tiny sensor with a lot of receptor sites provides exciting opportunities for long telephoto and detailed macro work. In a way, it is like using the middle third of the screen seen through a large camera. Only the center of the large lens is used, and the magnification rises by a factor of 2.7.
The lack of mirror, and the use of an electronic shutter allows for silent operation. With one of the smaller lenses, people think that this is a phone, and will behave normally.
It is easy to get a dozen candid shots while the subject thinks that you are composing the photo. By the time they have frozen into an awkward pose, you are done, and can snap another to meet their expectations.
I believe that the CX sensor is future proof, and purchased the 10 mega pixel model with no worries. The V2 climbed to 14.4 megapixels, and the V3 will most likely use the 20 megapixel sensor from Sony. That is the way that electronics work. More power in an ever-smaller package, with less energy used. I shoot a lot of panoramic photos, where 3 or more images are joined into one result. 10 MP is plenty of resolution for these panoramics, and there are advantages to capturing the scene in little bits.
The little sensor is well suited to video capture. You can get 20 minute clips of broadcast quality HD footage. The image quality is only limited by your choice of glass. And the fully manual lenses shine for video, where the sounds from an autofocus lens might be recorded in the audio track, and the lens sometimes spoils the footage by focusing at odd times.
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