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1 Nikkor VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

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aksclix

Active member
@Darin Marcus
Been waiting for your post on this.. thank you for taking the time to do it.. I’ll be honest.. I AM TOO attracted to the Nikon 1 70-300 VR for its incredible range and size/weight.. then saw some sample images last night. was pleasantly surprised! However, I am a little taken back by its price as well.. :)

I’ll be looking for some deals on this to try out :)
 
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Darin Marcus

Well-known member
aksclix said:
@Darin Marcus
Been waiting for your post on this.. thank you for taking the time to do it.. I’ll be honest.. I AM TOO attracted to the Nikon 1 70-300 VR for its incredible range and size/weight.. then saw some sample images last night. was pleasantly surprised! However, I am a little taken back by its price as well.. :)

I’ll be looking for some deals on this to try out :)
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I don't know if you can still purchase a new copy of this lens, and I have not followed the used market to see at what prices they sell used. It was considered expensive among the other Nikon 1 lenses when launched, but when I looked at the cost/size/weight for reaching 800mm on other mounts, it was an easy decision for me. When the system was discontinued, people in various fora talked about buying another copy or two for backup, including Thomas Stirr (http://smallsensorphotography.com) who was shooting Nikon 1 exclusively at the time.
 
Swissblad

Swissblad

Well-known member
Lovely images - I toyed with purchasing this lens - but just too dear for me.
It's a pity Nikon wasn't able to realise the Nikon 1 system to its full potential - it really could have helped giving the the Z system a better launch platform.
 
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Darin Marcus

Well-known member
Swissblad said:
Lovely images - I toyed with purchasing this lens - but just too dear for me.
It's a pity Nikon wasn't able to realise the Nikon 1 system to its full potential - it really could have helped giving the the Z system a better launch platform.
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Thank you!

I agree about Nikon 1 - the next steps after the J5 could have been to release an improved V4 body with the J5 sensor, and to finally release the macro lens shown as prototype when the system was launched - I would have loved that lens.

Instead, in the same time frame, they announced and then canceled the DL fixed-lens compacts. I do not have any inside info, but to this day I still wonder if those cameras shared some technologies/components with the next gen Nikon 1 cameras/lenses, and they were canceled together for similar reasons, although the official Nikon 1 cancellation announcement came one year later (maybe to avoid another fire sale?).
 
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Darin Marcus

Well-known member
aksclix said:
Really good images @Darin Marcus .. I see some used 70-300 available for ~$900..
btw, have you tried the 70-300 APS-C lens on this camera?
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Thank you!

I have not tried the APS-C zoom on the Nikon 1 cameras for 2 reasons.

First, I tend to use only native lenses on a camera, so I never got the FT1 adapter. The only reason for getting the FTZ adapter was to be able to use my remaining F mount lenses on another FF camera when both my (current and last) F mount cameras stop working, something that I would have never done with a Nikon 1 camera. I have a hard time letting go any of my current cameras and lenses, so I will use them until they break :)

Second, I've never owned an APS-C 70-300mm lens. In my DX days (D40) I had the 55-200mm VR. The only other 70-300mm lens that I've ever owned is the most recent AF-P E FF version, which I use on my D810.
 
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aksclix

Active member
I understand @Darin Marcus .. I am not a fan of adapted lenses either and prefer shooting native most times.. was just wondering because of the price difference.. the difference between native and aps-c 70-300 vr is almost 6x, even in used market 😌

I got an FTZ adapter for the Nikon z50 too and I am yet to use it! Z glass is way better and compact.. I’ll sell it soon
 
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aksclix

Active member
my guess is - Sony entered the game with incredible APS-C and FF cameras with the a5000 and a7 series.. which meant smaller size options were available with pro level capabilities making the 1” sensor somewhat obsolete or unattractive.. it was time the DSLR giants like Nikon and Canon had to rise up to that challenge or they losing a lot of market to Sony.. including me 😀 I sold my most loved D810 and D4s very reluctantly.. I had a Pentax 645z as well back then but moved to 50r, a73 and a lot of lenses! 50r was much smaller than the 645z and packs incredible resolution replacing my D810.. a73 made up for the D4s with its 10fps shooting speed! Doubles up as a great video camera..

I think Nikon brought in the Z a bit late but are definitely catching up.. z9 is priced well and below canon or Sony mostly because they’re late in the game.. back in the DSLR days, Nikon used to be slightly pricier than canon
 
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Darin Marcus

Well-known member
aksclix said:
I understand @Darin Marcus .. I am not a fan of adapted lenses either and prefer shooting native most times.. was just wondering because of the price difference.. the difference between native and aps-c 70-300 vr is almost 6x, even in used market 😌

I got an FTZ adapter for the Nikon z50 too and I am yet to use it! Z glass is way better and compact.. I’ll sell it soon
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If I am not mistaken, the first Nikon 70-300mm for APS-C was released in 2016, 2 years after the 70-300mm CX. All the previous ones were FF, and not that good at 300mm.
I have not looked at third party 70-300mm zooms :)
 
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Darin Marcus

Well-known member
aksclix said:
In US, it’s $900+ that’s some crazy high pricing.. looks like it was nearly $2k new.. my jaw dropped too!
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The original price was $999.95. It would not be the first lens to hold its price (or even go up) on the used market :)

Like I said, Nikon put a number of high end, as well as brand new components and technologies in this lens, so they priced it according to their costs and the number of copies they expected to manufacture/sell. Wrong choice when taking into account the targeted customers. Given the announced price for the Z9, another lesson learned...
 
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Darin Marcus

Well-known member
aksclix said:
my guess is - Sony entered the game with incredible APS-C and FF cameras with the a5000 and a7 series.. which meant smaller size options were available with pro level capabilities making the 1” sensor somewhat obsolete or unattractive.. it was time the DSLR giants like Nikon and Canon had to rise up to that challenge or they losing a lot of market to Sony.. including me 😀 I sold my most loved D810 and D4s very reluctantly.. I had a Pentax 645z as well back then but moved to 50r, a73 and a lot of lenses! 50r was much smaller than the 645z and packs incredible resolution replacing my D810.. a73 made up for the D4s with its 10fps shooting speed! Doubles up as a great video camera..

I think Nikon brought in the Z a bit late but are definitely catching up.. z9 is priced well and below canon or Sony mostly because they’re late in the game.. back in the DSLR days, Nikon used to be slightly pricier than canon
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If I am not mistaken, the V1 and J1 released in 2011 were the first cameras with 1" sensors (Sony followed 1 year later with the RX100). Nikon's plan was to target the population at large that wanted better performance and image quality than the compact cameras of that time offered, but in a much smaller package than the entry level DSLRs. Sony targeted roughly the same customers with their RX100 series, and Canon also released compacts with 1" sensor for the same reason. In the end those customers went with smart phones. That whole segment is now a shadow of what it was. FF mirrorless (and even APS-C mirrorless) will never sell in large quantities with that crowd due to the size of lenses - even m43 did not sell well enough. Nikon would not have been able to sustain 2 such different mirrorless mounts, so they pulled the plug on the Nikon 1 system. Sony continued to release RX100 series cams until 2019, but I am not sure how many they have sold from each generation...
 
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Darin Marcus

Well-known member
I have recently searched for information on the CX mount to see how it compares with the Z mount, but I could not find anything in the official press releases announcing the Nikon 1 system. In contrast, the Z system announcement included technical details about the Z mount. Perhaps because Nikon did not have a direct competitor for the CX mount like it has for the FF Z mount (Pentax Q was smaller, m43 was larger). Perhaps because the customers for which the CX mount was intended were most likely not interested in such details.

I was able to find, from a 2020 Fstoppers article, that the CX mount has a 39.5 mm throat diameter, and a flange distance of... 17 mm :)
I also found a nice comparison of flange distances for different mounts at https://briansmith.com/flange-focal-distance-guide/
 
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