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Here Comes the New Nikon 1 V3 with Faster Shooting Speeds, Plus Two New Lenses for Nikon 1

By Alvin Soon - on 13 Mar 2014, 3:01pm

Here Comes the New Nikon 1 V3 with Fast Shooting Speeds, Plus Two New Lenses for Nikon 1

Nikon has just announced its newest mirrorless system camera with the Nikon 1 V3. The V3 sports a new 18.4MP 1" sensor without an optical low-pass filter, making it the highest resolution Nikon 1 camera to date (previous Nikon 1s have maxed out at 14MP). The hybrid autofocus system has also been updated with nearly 100% phase detection coverage. 

Combined with a Expeed 4A image engine, the V3 can shoot up to 20 frames per second with continuous AF, and up to 60 fps with single AF. That's blazingly fast, consider that Nikon's flagship sports camera, the D4s, can reach up to 'only' 11 fps with continuous AF. While 20 fps will be more than enough to capture running children, it remains to be seen if the V3 is any good as a sports camera, since the V2 blacked out after burst shooting.

Other new features include twin dial controls (the V2 had one), a tilting 3" touchscreen monitor, 1080/60p video and built-in Wi-Fi (unlike the entry-level D3300 DSLR, which has no Wi-Fi). The V3 removes the built-in electronic viewfinder found on the V1 and V2, but you can mount an optional EVF on the camera. There will also be an optional grip accessory for the V3. Curiously enough, the Nikon V3 uses microSD instead of SD memory cards.

Local retail prices and availability have not yet been announced, but DP Review has it going for US$1,199.95 in the U.S. with the new 10-30mm kit lens, grip and EVF accessory. That's approximately S$1,520 at today's exchange rate, which would make the V3 slightly more expensive than the D5300 with 18-140mm kit lens, which retails at S$1,499. That's however, according to our own direct conversion and not the V3's official retail price. Still, that's quite a bit to pay for something with a compact sensor whose biggest advantage is speed plus a high crop factor.

Together with the new camera, Nikon has also announced two new Nikkor lenses for the 1 system. The 1 Nikkor 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-Zoom will ship with the new V3. Thanks to the Nikon 1's 2.7x crop factor, the 10-30mm has a 27-81mm field of view equivalent in 35mm. It comes with a built-in lens cover.

The second lens is a 1 Nikkor VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6, which is a very far 189-810mm in 35mm. The two new lenses brings the total number of lenses available for the Nikon 1 system up to 13. Local pricing and availability for the two new lenses are yet to be announced.

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