This Tiny $250 Camera Is A Pocket Rocket!
This Tiny $250 Camera Is A Pocket Rocket!
This small, classically styled mirrorless camera has been largely branded as a failure. But, overlooked the Nikon 1 J5 at your own peril as I personally believe this is one of the stealthiest street photography cameras you can buy! Plus, it can currently be purchased on the used camera market for between $200-300 (usually with a lens or two) making it a great budget camera to consider.
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โณ TIME STAMPS โณ
Intro – @0:00
A Rocky History – @0:50
Why The J5? – @2:06
My Biggest Gripe – @4:02
Small But Speedy – @5:13
4K Video!? – @6:43
Rapid Autofocus & Silent Shooting – @7:32
Image Quality – @8:19
The Lens – @9:02
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โ PLEASE NOTE โ
All of the opinions expressed in this video are my own based on my personal experience whilst using the equipment/software featured. Whilst some videos may include paid sponsorship, I never allow manufactuers to dictate what I can or can’t say about their product(s). Their money helps to cover the cost of video production, it does NOT buy my opinion.
My videos are designed to be both informative and entertaining and are made to the best of my abilities. I am only human so I do occationally make mistakes, and whilst corrections are always welcomed in the comments, please be polite and courteous and refrain from being a total cockwomble. ๐
#nikon #mirrorlesscamera #streetphotography #streetphotographer #travelcamera
I think I will stick with my Panasonic Lumix GX800! ๐ค
You’re easily the funniest camera Youtuber. And I like that you focus on older and exotic systems.
There was a reason to discontinue this slough of models. Nobody wanted them because for 50 dollars more you could get a camera loaded with more features.
03:27 ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฑ
How would this do for a first camera ? Looking for landscape and wildlife so feel the crop may be an issue ?๐
Tom, this is an excellent and refreshingly honest review. After years of relying on high end cameras for my professional work, Iโve decided to slow things down and get back to basics. I want to explore more experimental approaches, especially with cameras that are no longer in production. Lately, the Nikon J1 has caught my attention, and itโs been surprisingly rewarding to use. Iโm thinking of investing around ยฃ300โยฃ400, which should be enough for a pristine J1 along with the 10 mm and 18 mm primes, and seeing where the journey leads.
Hi Tom. Of any of the Nikon 1 cameras you’ve tried do any have a screen that can flip up or even to the side ala selfie mode?
Nicely done review. I’ve been looking at the micro 4/3 cameras but am now interested in this one… Hmmm…
Very helpful but I pray to all the gods that you retired that popping sound. Think of eleven things that drive you cRaZy. โค
the lenses malfunction
Nothing like having a view finder on bright days. Cameras without view finders look like toys to me.
Just received this camera today. Got a good deal at $182 here at local online shop. I have to say "wow!!" … this small camera really performs. The AF is great and the image also very good.ย
Since it will be used by my little daughter on her photography class, so some setup was made:
– turn off image preview (for faster response)
– turn off touch for shooting (so she will not be accidentally touch the screen)
– make sure the auto ISO to 6400 (too bad I haven’t found the configuration to set minimum shutter speed to 125)
– set to P mode
– set the focus for single point
– teach her how to turn off-on, zoom, and see results.
Hope the camera will be "survived" in the school hahaha …
Maybe I will "borrow" it for some weekend street snapshots
๐
And with very limited lens selection with literally zero third party lenses.
Price not possible but yeah
No hotshoe. Game over
Man trying to get into photography and I see these videos and see why camera cost so much๐ข
NO Way ๐
This has got me wanting to pull mine out of the cupboard! ๐๐
Great video. I use a J5 and V1, for me they are fine. I keep taking pictures I also can’t afford to change with a young family. I’m out of the neverending camera race and will keep going with what I’ve got.๐
Sony should the system.
And now the price has sky rocketed
3:27
Idk, every time i found your video, i just wanted to buy the cameras ๐ .
Iโve owned this camera for almost a year now and Iโve never hit the wifi button by accident
Great video
TLDR: Nikon made some hot garbage. If you’re at all interested here’s my advice. Don’t bother, try some panasonic mft or compacts instead, they are literally better packages and the MFT are better sensors too.
Hello, do you think i can resize the video in obs for using it as a webcam?
Are you in Peterborough? If so im so close to you in spalding
Mate I’ve been watching your videos for about two days and every time I just go to Amazon and wishlist the cameras you mentioned, my wallet is gonna die because all these cameras look amazing-
I do think this is a brilliant camera I mostly leave my Lumix g80 at home because it’s so heavy take the j5 and put it in my pocket I got three lenses which are brilliant including wide angle.
8:18 blimey! That was quick & quiet. But you know itโs not the size of the sensor if you know how to use it. (:
I will rather chose a Nikon 1 V1 or V2, especialy a V2, because it has built in flash. All V series cameras have a hot shoe, even though it’s proprietary. And I will also buy an FT1 adapter for F series lenses.
It’s a quite an investment, but I think it will be good when I will be financialy ready.
Now I shoot with my Fujifilm FinePix S4200 camera, which it’s a bridge camera, but I really like the results.
IMO, for $500 you cannot beat the Olympus OM-D E-M1 – $350 + Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 for $150 – used off MPB – combo weighs less than 1lb.
You should try c mount lens on it
The big drawback I think is that the lens of selection was pretty mediocre compared to the competition. The only really fast lens is the 18.5mm f1.8 and the 32mm f1.2. All the other lenses are pretty slow at F3.5 or F3.8. This is compared to the RX100, which whilst being a fixed lens compact was f1.8-2.8, came with a viewfinder and a much more flush lens.
At the end of the day an interchangeable 1" system is less compact than a 1" fixed lens camera whilst also being less versatile than a compact m43 or APSC alternative. The people who prioritised maximising portability could get a more compact system in the Sony RX100 with generally faster aperture settings (albeit at the cost of interchangeable lenses). Whereas people cared more about an interchangeable lens system could get a better system (which was only slightly larger) by going for a compact M43 system (like the GM5) or a Sony A5000/5100/Nex camera.
I recently bought a second-hand J5, which was bundled with the 10-30, 18.5 and 30-100 lenses. To me, the 30-110 lens is the essence of the Nikon 1 system, since it provides a 300mm-equivalent telephoto reach in a very compact package, while delivering decent quality photos, making the most of the 2.7x crop factor of the CX format.
Instead of a street photography camera, I think the greatest value of the Nikon 1 series lies on the telephoto side, acting as a 2.7x teleconverter. Mounting a F-mount 70-300 lens to the J5 through a FT1 adapter gives you 810mm-equivalent, which I find very useful in some occasions. However, it limits the AF to single point center AF, which make it less capable for demanding scenarios like sports or wildlife.
My gripe about the J5 is the lack of a "Display" button, which means I cannot switch between the "full picture" view and "detailed info" view in the playback mode without going through the main menu. I don’t understand why Nikon decided to put a dedicated Wifi button that is far too handy (which locks up the camera if you press it unintentionally) instead of a much more useful Disp button.
the launch of Sony rx100 and PowerShot g7x have passed the death sentence on the entire Nikon 1 range Nikon 1 is unreliable. I put in a SD card after i haven’t used it for a long time, the J1 simply died. My other j1 have LCD screen problem, it darkens after 1 shot rendering it unusable. I don’t bother to repair them as the J5 performs poorly against Lumix GF 7 or 6 in a consumer report, the j5 4k video is not as good as the lumix GF7’s HD 1080, it weighs heavier despite the smaller sensor size.
very inferiorconsumer reports. pity that all my Nikon 1 lenses sitting around doing nothing, Nikon is wise to have discontinued the J1 series
If Nikon makes a full frame body like thisโฆ๐คช๐คช๐คช
I love my J5
I hated that button for wifi so much I 3d printed a cover and super glued it.
Great video! I just picked up one of these about three weeks ago and have been enjoying using it. I agree the WiFi button is wasted space (wish it can be reassigned to something else) but it is fun to play around with 20 FPS when shooting images of fast running dogs. The AF is very, very accuate and the 18mm f1.8 lens is a nice lens. One thing to note, many of the zoom lenses, particularly the kit 10mm-30mm lens, were plagued higher than normal failure rates, with ribbon cables breaking prematurely and the plastic aperture drive gear wearing out. There is a gentleman, I believe in Taiwan, who can fix them, however.
Nikon pulled the plug a bit early on this model. And they REALLY pulled the plug early on the outstanding Coolpix A with the 16mm sensor.
Fast forward 1 year later and the $250 on e-bay now become almost triple. Sad
If only nikon j5 had a EVF, change the micro SD into a faster memory card, firmware update and upgrade the processor, this camera could be a little monster
Could it take a 1tb micro SD?
There is no denying that if MFT had been perfect this Nikon system would not have been born.
one word : h o r r i b l e ( J series were made for law enforcement hence the WIFI kill joy button )
what is it with your infantile penis obsession? for me, it’s one of these silly jokes too many and I unsubscribe.
J5 plus the 32mm 1.2 lens is an astonishingly good street photography set up.
Hi, is it possible to use the J5 to take nice pictures and videos of southern lights? If yes, any recommendation on the settings? ๐
Hi Tom, thanks for the review! Which lens would you suggest for this camera?