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Home → Reviews → Cameras and Lenses → Nikon 1 10-30mm VR Review

Nikon 1 10-30mm VR

By Nasim Mansurov 18 Comments
Last Updated On July 19, 2020

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Autofocus Performance and Accuracy

As I have already pointed out in my Nikon 1 V1 Review, the new autofocus system on the Nikon 1 system is phenomenal when compared to other mirrorless competitors. It is very fast and accurate, thanks to the hybrid autofocus system that Nikon specifically developed for the Nikon 1 cameras. Hybrid autofocus is a combination of phase and contrast detect AF that work together to obtain quick and accurate focus. For the much faster hybrid autofocus operation, Nikon had to develop a brand new AF lens motor called “Silent Stepping AF Motor” (STM). Compared to the “Silent Wave Motor” (SWM) that Nikon uses on its latest AF-S lenses, STM is much quieter and quicker.

Nikon 1 V1 Sample (9)
NIKON 1 V1 + 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 16.9mm, ISO 100, 1/125, f/11.0

I had a very positive experience with autofocus performance and accuracy of the Nikon 1 10-30mm lens. It truly does acquire focus quickly, silently and most importantly, accurately. I shot several hundred images with the 10-30mm lens and I had a hard time finding images that were out of focus. Large depth of field due to the small 2.7x crop factor sensor surely plays a role here, but I have shot with point and shoot cameras with even smaller sensors before and managed to get a lot more out of focus images.

Vibration Reduction

The Image Stabilization / Vibration Reduction technology found on the Nikon 1 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 lens is very similar to the VR technology found on modern DSLR lenses – it is very effective when shot at slow shutter speeds. There are, however, some differences in the way VR is deployed on the new mirrorless cameras versus DSLR lenses. First, VR does not engage on DSLR lenses unless the shutter button is half-pressed (or AF-ON pressed). This is not the case with the Nikon mirrorless cameras – when VR is turned on in camera setup, it is constantly on. You do not have to half-press the shutter button – it will always be active. This seems to be a flaw in the Nikon 1 system design, because having VR turned on constantly will have its toll on battery life.

Second, VR is no longer controlled through lens switches, but rather from inside the camera menu (as reported earlier). Lastly, for some strange reason, both the Nikon 1 J1 and V1 cameras were shipped with VR turned on in “Active” mode. This is rather strange, because the active mode is supposed to be used when a person stands on a moving platform (inside a car, on a boat, etc). Not sure if this is a firmware issue, but it would be interesting to find out exactly why Nikon decided to do that. Despite these differences and reported issues, Vibration Reduction works great. I would leave it on “Normal” mode within the camera setup and only turn it off when mounting the camera on a tripod.

Nikon 1 V1 Sample (5)
NIKON 1 V1 + 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 16.9mm, ISO 200, 1/100, f/8.0

Table of Contents

  • Overview and Specifications
  • Focusing and VR
  • Optical Features
  • Lens Comparisons
  • Summary
  • More Image Samples
  • Reader Comments
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Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options

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