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Nikon takes first blood against Polaroid's knock-off J1
Remember when Nikon noticed that Polaroid's iM1836 looked a little too much like the J1 and lawyered-up? The case has arrived at the Southern District Court of New York, where a judge probably took 30 seconds to nod their head and say "Yeah, that's the same device." As such, Nikon has won a preliminary injunction preventing the sale and manufacture of the suspiciously-similar shooter. If you were in the hunt for a J1 knock-off, it looks as if you'll have to take your business elsewhere -- at least for now.
Nikon goes after Polaroid, says the iM1836 is a dead-ringer for the J1
If you glanced at the Polaroid iM1836 and thought "You know, that looks a bit like Nikon's J1," you're not alone. Nikon, you see, is suing Polaroid's owner Sakar, claiming that the Android-running ILC infringes upon Nikon's trade dress and design language for its own range of mirrorless shooters. After failing to reach an agreement behind-the-scenes, Nikon is now seeking an injunction that'll prevent Sakar producing or selling any more -- so, is anyone up for a game of spot the difference?
Nikon 1 J2 mirrorless camera: minor control tweaks, $549, ships in September
Not even a year after Nikon ceremoniously entered the mirrorless world, it's issuing the followup to the J1: it's the Nikon 1 J2, and it's -- at most -- a gentle revision to a camera that was near-universally hailed as being one of the more disappointing ILC options. Disappointing, of course, because it's Nikon. A company that quite clearly knows a thing or two about photography (D3S / D4, anyone?), but seemed to miss the mark in terms of price, performance and lens compatibility. With the J2, it sort of feels like a do-over. Outside of a slightly tweaked orange color and a reimagined exterior finish, the J2 is identical in size to the J1. You'll find the same 10.1 megapixel CMOS sensor (1-inch), the same autofocus system and support for the same lens collection. What's new are the additions to the Mode Selector dial, which add a smattering of creative options and access to P/S/A/M exposure modes. The rear LCD has seen its resolution double (to 921,000 dots, same as on the D4), and the camera has been intelligently designed to turn on when extending a 1 Series lens out, and turn off when retracting it into storage. Perhaps most importantly, Nikon's finally on the same playing field in terms of asking price. The J2 will ship in September for $549.95, and that includes the same 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens that shipped with the J1. If you'll recall, the J1 kit started at $100 more, yet offered far less punch than Sony's cheaper NEX-C3. It's also worth noting that one other player has joined the ILC movement since the J1: Canon. Arguably, the EOS M still beats the J2 in practically every way; the thing that really needed an overhaul in the J2 was the meager 1-inch sensor, yet it remains. Perhaps the best news out of this ordeal is that the J1 isn't immediately going away. Nikon confirmed that it'd remain on store shelves for an undetermined amount of time, likely at a nice discount. If it's offered low enough, it may be easier to live with the shortcomings. In terms of accessories, Nikon's also introducing an optional 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 lens ($189.95; ships next month) for the 1 Series. Though similar (on paper) to the 10-30mm kit lens, this guy is nearly 30 percent smaller from a physical size and weight standpoint. And on the other extreme, there's the WP-N1 waterproof case. This one's engineered to encase both the J1 and J2 for beneath-the-sea action up to 140 feet deep, but the staggering $749.95 (!) price tag is bound to attract jeers, chuckles and blank stares. Now, underwater cases of merit aren't ever "affordable," but offering an enclosure that's a full $200 more than the hardware it protects? Questionable. That said, we'd certainly relish the chance to test one out, but you best be sure that Nikon's J1 / J2 is going to be your underwater cam of choice for a long while before plunking down that much coin. %Gallery-161985%
Nikon 1 future plans revealed: 4K video, brighter lenses, picture effects
Tetsuya Yamamoto, Nikon's head of development was at CES talking up the future plans of the company's 1 system cameras after strong holiday sales. The 10.1 megapixel sensor inside the 1 body is sufficiently capable of shooting 2 and 4K video and bringing that functionality into the unit is planned for a future edition. There's a need for a set of brighter lenses with faster auto-focusing, although we're not sure how much bigger you can get on that petite body. It's also kicking around the option of letting V1 (i.e. more professional) users get at manual AF control and in-camera RAW editing -- while J1 users can expect plenty of features they won't use much, like in-camera effects. It's exciting stuff, but let's hope these new features don't cause the price to climb any higher, eh?
Nikon J1 and V1 compacts now available for mirror haters everywhere
You heard that Nikon is releasing a couple of mirrorless compacts, right? Well, the ten megapixel J1 and V1 models are both on sale from today, sticking to their schedule despite the terrible flooding in Thailand that has already impacted heavily on Sony's camera production. The metal V1 is priced at $900 including a 10-30mm, f/3.5 max aperture kit lens. Meanwhile, the plastic J1 is going for $650 with the same glass and we've already subjected it to some full review scrutiny.
Nikon 1 J1 review (video)
Pentax Q interchangeable lens camera review Samsung's NX200 camera: 20.3 megapixels, interchangeable lenses, full HD video Two megapixel mini-camera measures in at under a cubic inch, weighs under an ounce So, Nikon finally has a mirrorless camera, after what was quite possibly the most dramatic launch event the company has ever conducted. Sure, competing models from Panasonic, Olympus and Sony have already reached the second, or even third generation before Nikon lifted the veil on its J1, but did last month's long-awaited announcement bring us the ILC to rule all ILCs? Well, no, not at all. Nikon isn't targeting pros or even advanced amateur shooters with its latest addition to the interchangeable lens camera family. Instead, the company is marketing its J1 to soccer moms (and dads), fashion-conscious young folk, and casual shooters who want some of the versatility of a DSLR, but are willing to sacrifice excellent image quality for a more compact design. But what about the rest of us? Will Nikon one day reward our patience with a true class competitor? Perhaps, but that's definitely not what we have here. Nikon built the $650 J1 "from the ground up" -- a reference to its 10.1 megapixel, CX-size sensor with a 2.7x crop factor, along with a handful of quirky features that we probably won't use, but that some of you (or perhaps your family members) may love. Jump past the break to see what we really liked about the camera, and what left us rather unimpressed. And it you're dying to judge its performance for yourself, you can check out a handful of untouched images at the coverage link below the conclusion, along with a variety of sample videos spattered throughout.%Gallery-135514%
Nikon unveils V1 and J1 mirrorless cameras: 10.1MP CMOS, 1080p video, ships in October for $650+ (video)
Rumors of a Nikon mirrorless camera have been floating around the web since the middle of last year, and recent leaks have made us wonder not if the company would release a compact ILC -- only when such an announcement would be made. Well, we finally have our answer. We journeyed to a secret location in midtown Manhattan tonight, with nary a peep from Nikon about what to expect until just before the clock struck midnight -- and only after more than two hours of laptop-free house arrest and live Counting Crows. Only the rumored mirrorless cam seemed worthy of such unusual precautions, so we were relieved to discover that Nikon had managed to justify this late night adventure. The company has finally announced not one, but a pair of compact "1 System" mirrorless cameras, and it seems totally fine with putting the focus speed up against the self-proclaimed champ. Head on past the break for more details! %Gallery-134465%
Shuttle gets serious with Pro Series, teases hexacore-ready SFF for June
Say hello to Shuttle's finest toaster-sized workstations yet. The G2 7600P (above right) is the AMD-loving variant that can be yours for $899 with a dual core 2.93GHz Athlon II CPU and low-end ATI FirePro or NVIDIA Quadro graphics options, or you can crank it up to a quad-core Phenom II X4 at 2.6GHz and up to 8GB of RAM. Switching over to the Intel channel -- with the J1 4100P, above left -- you'll find a pretty sweet $999 package built around a Core 2 Quad Q8300 running at 2.5GHz, as well as the option to upgrade to a super duper Radeon HD 5850 GPU. Should those specs be just that little bit too far from the cutting edge for you, heed Shuttle's teaser that a third Pro Series model is coming up this June, with an LGA 1366 socket that counts among its supported CPUs Intel's latest Xeons and the famed beast that is the Core i7-980X. Not bad, eh? Click past the break for the full press release.
