Nikon 1 10-100mm VR Review

Summary

As I have shown in this review, the Nikon 1 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 VR has very impressive performance characteristics when compared to other Nikon 1 lenses. While it is rather slow with a maximum aperture of f/4.5 on the short end and lags behind the Nikon 10mm f/2.8 prime in the center frame, overall it is either on par or better than the Nikon 1 10-30mm VR and the Nikon 1 30-110mm VR lenses.

If it was not for the aperture differences, you could say that the Nikon 1 10-100mm VR packs the performance of the 10-30mm and 30-110mm lenses into one lens body. However, this comes at a cost – the Nikon 1 10-100mm VR is more expensive than a Nikon 1 J1 kit with a 10-30mm lens and weighs almost twice more than the Nikon 1 10-30mm and Nikon 1 30-110mm lenses COMBINED. Sure it has very impressive physical and optical characteristics to make videographers and photographers happy, however, the size, the bulk and the weight of the lens offset all of its advantages, in my opinion.

As I have already said it before, this lens defeats the purpose of a compact camera system. Even all current Sony NEX lenses are smaller and lighter than this lens and I am not even going to talk about Micro Four Thirds lenses. Unless you are into shooting videos and you really need silent zoom and focus capabilities this lens offers, I would skip it and stay with smaller lenses instead. The Nikon 1 cameras come with the 10-30mm kit lens anyway, so it would be much cheaper to get the 30-110mm zoom lens for your telephoto needs.