Nikon 1 J5 review with photo samples - Edward Morgan Photography

Nikon 1 J5 Review

My review of the Nikon 1 J5 is long overdue I have owned the camera two different times now and currently still shoot with it a lot.

I had my first Nikon 1 J5 when it was released. I was on a waiting list to get one and had one in the first batch out in the US. I took many images with it and loved it but I ending up getting rid of it as I was shooting a lot of MMA fights at the time in very dark places with my two D700 bodies and D750 most all high iso 5000 and up. So at that time, the Nikon J5 was not the best fit for me but I did shoot a good amount with it for other things and enjoyed it. My second J5 I just picked up in March 2017. Me and my wife are doing a lot of traveling now in a Motorhome Bus and the Nikon 1 J5 fits the bill for this 100%.

The Nikon 1 J5 is still the newest camera out in the Nikon 1 line up as of this writing with the Nikon J5 having 20.80 Megapixels almost the same as the Newer Nikon D500 I also own that has 20.9 Megapixels but is a DX sensor size VS the CX for the J5.

The reason I bring up the Nikon D500 is the D500 has a lot of the features the J5 had first like.

Both the Nikon J5 and D500 have a back touch screen, Both offer tap to focus and shoot, Both offer tap to set focus point, Both offer the same kind of swipe to next photo and so on effect but the Nikon J5 has 100% better live view shooting VS the D500 and much better autofocus for shooting video VS the D500. Then looking at focus speed the D500 is very fast but the J5 is also very fast I have not done any real focus speed tests to see if one is faster than the other but the J5 is blazing fast at focus.

There is a lot of chat online about the Nikon 1 system being a dead system with no new 1 system cameras being announced but so far Nikon has not made any official statements that the system is done with. But what if no new Nikon 1 system cameras ever come out would you still want to buy a Nikon 1 J5 or V3 or V2 camera and invest in the lens .. I say yes and I did here is why

The Nikon 1 J5 produces fantastic images so good you may never need any better then this. Can you tell a Nikon J5 shot image from say a camera that cost $3000 or more and has 42MP ?. In most cases No. If you shoot in Raw with the Nikon J5 and edit the images well no one would be able to tell a Nikon J5 image from a camera costing thousands more when shot in decent light and some even in low light.

Some of the higher priced cameras will produce cleaner images in lower light at higher iso setting but they will also cost you a lot for the camera body and lens to do so. The Nikon J5 is not a master at high iso shooting but it is not all that bad either and when compared to many other cameras out including newer ones the J5 holds its ground well. Cameras like the Sony A6000 and A6300 get a lot of talk about them I have owned both of them and the J5 for high iso shooting is right up with them but the J5 produces much better WB color images then the two Sonys I had also Sony makes many claims of being so fast with its focus speeds but the Nikon 1 J5 is faster at focus and tracks better than the A6000 and a6300 from what testing I did.

A camera system that just rocks - three lens gets you 18mm to 810mm 35mm equivalent. No other system can touch this for this price & image quality.

Just think a camera system that is small, lite and easy to take with you and with only three lens get you from 18mm to 810mm all in one small camera bag with fantastic 20MP images you can make prints from that look great even on up to 20x30 in size. Think no more it is here the Nikon 1 J5.

Why am I shooting with the Nikon J5 and the Nikon V2 camera more than using my Nikon D500

Starting with image quality in decent light you can not tell an image shot from the J5 from the D500 or most any other camera. In lower light, the J5 is as good or sometimes better than many DX cameras or Four Thirds sensor cameras.
Weight the Nikon J5 is super small and weights almost nothing in your hands it is so lite to shoot with even with the cx 70-300 lens on it.
Size the Nikon 1 J5 body and other 1 cameras like the V2 are small so you can fit the camera and three lens in one small camera bag with extra batteries.
Not big and professional looking so when you are out shooting you do not stand out but you still get professional quality images results.
The incredible range being able to shoot at 810mm is just amazing and hand hold it with outstanding VR in such a small setup.
Cost for what you get around $500 for the Nikon 1 J5 camera kit with 10-30mm lens, around $1000 for the cx 70-300 lens and around $500 for the 6.7-13mm lens then add on the Nikon FT1 lens adapter that lets you use just about any Nikon lens on your J5 and you have a super small lite camera system for around $2300. Try and put together a camera set up from any other brand that covers this zoom range for this price good luck you can not do it.

Let's Take a look at focus speed one more time I was just reading the review of the new Panasonic GH5 and how it is not all that great for focus speed and tracking but here we have the Nikon 1 J5 that is still better then another new camera coming out.

For video the Nikon J5 Shoots Full HD 1080/60p videos including time-lapse and stop-motion. They also have a special VR 10-100MM PD lens 27–270mm 35mm equivalent just for shooting video it has smooth zoom in and out controls.

Fast shooting

If you are into fast shooting for me I have never needed to shoot past 5 frames a second even shooting MMA fight with lots of fast action going on but if that is you bag the Nikon 1 J5 shoots 20 frames a second.

My Nikon 1 system

My current Nikon 1 system is the Nikon 1 J5 and V2 camera bodies.

For lens I have

10-30mm kit lens that is very sharp
6.7-13mm VR lens this is my wide angle fun shooting lens I just can't get enough of.
cx 70-300VR lens this is my rocket zoom that gives me that amazing 810mm on the J5 or V2
30-110mm lens for mid-range zoom a small lite very good lens.
10mm 2.8 for when I want to shoot in some lower light and want the 2.8 a very sharp lens.
Nikon FT1 lens adapter

I shoot with both the J5 and V2 a lot. I carry a small camera bag that fits both the J5 and V2 in the bag and many times I shoot the V2 with the 70-200 on it and the 6.7-13 wide lens on the J5 as it has more resolution for that wide area of 18mm it covers. I also keep the 10mm 2.8 lens in my bag to as it is a great lens for all around shooting

Every camera system has some bad points to it and the Nikon 1 J5 has it's not so great points as well.

For me any many users the Nikon 1 J5s biggest problems is it has no viewfinder it only has the back screen to use for shooting. This can make it hard to shoot with in bright daylight and it keeps using battery power this is one of the reasons I like using my V2 with the cx 70-200 lens as it is easier to shoot with using the viewfinder. But the J5s flip down screen I use a lot for shooting and that works so much better than the live view screen on my D500.

May times I will use a hood viewfinder on the back of my J5 when shooting like you see on cameras when shooting video covering the back screen this works out very well but adds to the overall size.

Because the Nikon J5 uses the back screen all the time it uses a lot of battery power so I would suggest to buy an extra battery for it to have with you.

What kind of shooting is the Nikon 1 J5 good for

I would say 80% or more of anything most people shoot the J5 can handle.

Outdoor daytime sports with its amazing focus speed would be great or indoor or night time games that are lit up well.
All around family shooting around the house kids and fun stuff.
Macro and close up photography the J5 will shine and using the cx70-300 it is quite amazing how close you can shoot.
Landscape photography using the 6.7-13mm lens you will be hard pressed to tell the difference of a landscape image shot with the J5 and a much higher priced camera even ones that have a much higher MP count for normal sized images.
Portraits the J5 has outstanding skin tones for portraits and at 20MPs you can print large portraits.
Food photography and studio product photos the J5 with its touch screen makes it easy to set up shots and see what it going on with its very good live back screen and tap to shoot feature.
Vacation and Travel photography the J5 is outstanding go from the wide lens to the super zoom in a compact setup.
Street photography the Nikon J5 is a superstar small lite and with the extra zoom range, you get you can be much farther away without bothering your subject.
Bird and wildlife photography the J5 rocks it with the 70-300 lens that gives you 810mm of zoom at 5.6. Many mega zoom lens are 500mm at 6.3 and on a DX camera like the D500, D7200 they turn into a 750mm 6.3 lens but on the J5 you get a 810mm 5.6 VR lens and it is under two pounds and small and still 20MP file size.

What is the Nikon 1 J5 not good for

The Nikon J5 is not a pro level wedding camera it is not that kind of camera you are better suited with the Nikon D500 or D750 do to needing to shoot in low light in churches and dark reception halls and needing a wedding camera that is set up better for flash and off-camera flash systems.

Indoor low light sports the J5 can shoot quite well for this but it is not really the camera for this kind of shooting vs others like the D500 or D5 and so on. If you shoot indoor sports for a living the J5 is not the camera for you but if you shoot indoor sports from time to time for family or friends then the J5 will be just fine as you most likely will not have a Nikon D5 sitting around to use.

What about concert photography

This can go both ways with many variables like for a daytime concert the J5 may be one of your best pick cameras do to the extra zoom range you get and its small size. For a night or indoor concert, the J5 still might be the better choice if the stage lights are bright and the stage is well lit then it is not a low light high iso shoot. I see many times people posting things about concerts being a low light shoot when in fact a stage all light up is far from low light almost any camera should be able to focus on a stage lit up subject. But if it is in a theater then the lighting can be very dull not so bright then you might be better off with something like the Nikon D5 or D750 even the D500 is not a super good low light high iso camera.

Using the Nikon FT1 lens adapter

The Nikon FT1 lets you use many of your Nikon lens on your J5 or other 1 system cameras. Unlike Sonys lens adaptor that you get a light loss when you use it the Nikon FT1 has no light loss so if you are using a F 1.4 lens on it the lens is still a F 1.4 lens but now has a better zoom range.

Some great lens to use on the FT1 are the Nikon 50mm 1.8 as it then turns into around a 135mm 1.8 lens on the J5 or other 1 system cameras. If you did need to shoot a wedding this would be a good start a 135mm 1.8 lens.

Or a 70-200 F4 or 2.8 turns into around a 540mm F4 or 2.8 lens

On The Road Shooting

I am loving shooting with my Nikon 1 J5 and my V2 cameras. I shoot all RAW 100% of the time and edit everything in Lightroom starting with a custom load in preset i made for it.

As I write this review I am sitting in my RV bus in a campground in Biloxi MS I will be shooting some around town with the J5 over the next few days then we will be heading to Galveston TX next. After 27 years of shooting photos and videos for a living I am enjoying shooting for fun now with this little powerhouse of a camera the Nikon 1 J5.

One of my favorite lens the 70-300. When shooting with the 70-300 lens I like to shoot with a added on Video viewfinder covering the back screen so I am shooting using the back screen live as I shoot.

Here are some newer Nikon J5 photo I have shot at a boat race in WA. using the 70-300 CX lens. The Nikon J5 performed better than my D500 for this.