New! Nikon's V1 Mirrorless Camera

As readers of this blog know well, I am a big fan and supporter of the interchangeable mirrorless cameras. I have the Panasonic Lumix GF1 that I just love and while it's a shame Panasonic decided to pimp it up so mindlessly with its new GF3 iteration, the fact remains that I believe this type of cameras will eventually be preferred by enthusiasts and professionals over bulky (and overly complex) DSLRs.

Nikon has just announced a new crop of such cameras, and the one that caught my attention is the Nikon V1.

The Nikon V1 is claimed to be the world’s smallest and lightest camera with interchangeable lenses and an electronic viewfinder. It ought to be in retail stores on October 20th with a 10-30mm lens for $900.

Nikon also released a collection of 4 news lenses (Nikkor 1 System) for its new cameras: the 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, a 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 (81-297mm equivalent) for $250, a 10mm f/2.8 (27mm equivalent) for $250, and a 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 (27-270mm equivalent) power zoom lens for $750.

Intelligently, Nikon also announced a FT-1 F-mount adaptor that will allow Nikon fans to use their SLR lenses. This indicates to me that Nikon predicts that many photographers will be encouraged to migrate (as back up or second body) to its new system since their investment in lenses will be preserved.

Good move, Nikon! Let's see what Canon (and perhaps even Leica) has in store.