Processing and facilities:
Already the J1 was a very stylish and well-made product. The J3 in the color white looks here from a little noble. However, you bought the weißte color with the waiver of the magnesium
So that you hold the housing elements only plastic in his hands. This camera does not feel so at dibasic as the representative in black. Also affects the camera from focusing her much objective-heavy due to the low weight of the plastic housing. However, the gap dimensions on the housing are fairly consistent, so that the processing can be described as good, though the black J1 here has the nose clear front. Otherwise, Nikon has not changed much in appearance. Unlike the J1 are a few buttons disappeared (Disp, zoom button, F button) so that it can be seen at first glance that you have to take as a user off from the menu, no matter what you want to configure. Thus the question of the target group is at least
directly answered. The mode dial is moved to the housing top and rubberized thumb rest on the back is (sadly) gone. The equipment of the camera. The sensor of the J3 still has the same
CX format as the rest of the Nikon 1 series. However, he now carries 14.2 million pixels as opposed to 10 million of its predecessors, what's wrong overly optimistic expectations, to that later.
Otherwise, Nikon seems abzudaten its J series being very cautious, the changes compared to J1 are surprisingly low. The menu was varied, the image processor seems to be a little faster and
some new Scene Shooting there were supplements that can be helpful, especially for beginners well. The flash has been redesigned, but has immmernoch the realtiv low guide number 5. a hot shoe for
external flash units, there is still not the display has 921,000 pixels with on high enough to recognize details and the outstanding feature of the camera, the hybrid autofocus is of course still available.
All in all, able to define itself in terms of equipment and processing only slightly from the J1 J3. White in color, the plastic casing is not as wertig as the magnesium case of the black representative, but just looks stylish from a distance from.
Handling and operation:
Here, the J3 has improved compared to the J1 and moves for people who make only a few settings while taking pictures at a good level. I like the menu very well, even if they differ quite widely depending on the selected mode, so sometimes you desperately looking for one or the other option, only to find that it is not in the mode available, a graying of these options would have been nice. The additional modes the division falls to two different menu levels and much more into focus. For example, the modes can also be changed with the F key (the creative mode hides among other things, aperture, time, Program AE, ...), questionable, why not just have found enough space on the mode dial, these modes. The remaining parameters then can be found in the actual menu in 6 different categories. The menu responds very quickly and very well resolved is the history that allows rapid undoing of settings. The operation is therefore quite well done in my eyes and uncompromisingly designed for beginners. The camera will use the automatic functions and only when needed
Manual settings are kidnapped. On the part of the handle has to be said that the camera only
average is in hand. I'm missing the rubberized thumb rest at the J3 compared to J1 and the objektivlastigkeit the white plastic housing that the camera at me with one-handed
Operation not very sure felt. A second hand is a must, even if you do not want back in.
Very successful is the Live Slow Motion, where you can track the subject in slow motion on the display after pressing the shutter button to then trigger the "right" moment. Which facilitates not only the beginners
one or two good reception, where you can pick the perfect moment. A successful innovation in the J3.
The Flash button that has migrated to the side of the housing, in the otherwise quite good usability is an exception because it is inconveniently located and is partially covered by the strap when it is attached.
The camera monitor is higher resolution than they were in the J1 and is now much better recorded for sharpness control photos, this was in view of the price range of the camera is a really necessary change.
Image Quality & Performance:
The relative small sensor compared to other system cameras could convince in the J1 mainly due to its relatively low resolution of 10 megapixels, even if the noise performance at higher ISO values significantly worse than for cameras with APS-C sensor failed. When J3 Nikon has the megapixel number now increased to 14. This allows for a slightly higher level of detail at low ISO speeds and good lighting conditions, but falls not visible in standard deductions on. Only when you zoom the image on the PC you see this improvement. The Rauschveralten proves as its predecessor to ISO 800 as well, at ISO 1600 you notice the engagement of the noise reduction stronger than in models with a larger sensor. But the photos are suitable for still quite normal deductions, so you can safely use the automatic ISO 160-1600 camera. The lens shows just the usual small distortions at both ends of the zoom range and shows a quite good figure line.
A special feature of the camera is still the fast autofocus. The camera has a phase and contrast autofocus. The phase autofocus really allows fast focusing in good light conditions, while the contrast autofocus in low light is used. Here the camera focuses correspondingly slower, but the focus is performance in bright light really sensational, especially in view of the camera class. The shutter of the camera also works very fast, so that the camera is able to capture images at 60 fps at full resolution, however, is to 20 images in RAW format, due to the buffer circuit. Also, the focus is fixed during continuous shooting at this speed, so it changes at a speed of 10 fps. The video recording is 1080p recording at 30 fps now a standard feature. The camera produces neat videos etc. without visible Shutterlag Only the microphone is not entirely convincing. Wind noise is clearly audible and a connection for an external microphone as well as missing a hotshoe for external flash units. The internal flash drives far enough out from the housing and also a piece to the front so that the standard lens not covering the flash. However, he has only a guide number of 5 and is therefore not very strong.
Conclusion:
The Nikon J3 is a neat system camera whose target audience is definitely likely to be beginners and Automatikfotographierer. Especially the fast autofocus is a unique selling point of the camera, however, the sensor in Nikon's J series is less than the comparable system cameras. This will affect image quality in low light just a little without one may call the picture quality of the camera as bad. It produces just for normal deductions excellent photos and offers due to its compact size and design quite a Hinguckfaktor. When white model, however, you bought the design with a waiver of the magnesium case and must make do with plastic, what the value is a little reduced.
Due to only marginal improvements and the sharply lower price of the previous one should these still pull at a purchase decision into account, as these have become a bargain (especially the J1). Otherwise, there are many models in competition with larger sensors and thus slightly better image quality (ex. Sony's NEX series, Samsung's NX series), but also larger dimensions. You should also keep in mind that buyers who want to make many settings of the image parameters are wrongly advised on this camera, all other should the J3 (or their predecessors) certainly be included in the selection, especially as the J3 some (few) interesting new Features provides.
