1 NIKKOR 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 VR - Hands on impression

[daredevil123]

I managed to get my hands on a copy of this brand new ultra-wide angle lens for the Nikon 1 series cameras. I have been shooting with it, mostly snapshots of family and friends. With a good friend in town from Vietnam, I finally get to shoot some serious landscape photos with this new lens.

The 1 Nikkor 6.7-13mm VR is the newest addition to the Nikon CX format family of lenses recently. It gives a FOV similar to 18-35mm on a fullframe 35mm camera, thus is built to be an ultra-wide-angle (UWA) lens for the Nikon 1 series. The lens comes complete with a petal style lens hood, front and rear lens caps, and a 52mm filter thread.

First off, a couple of quick photos of the lens mounted on my Nikon V1 on our dining table.

The 1 Nikkor 6.7-13mm mounted on the V1.

Similar to other Nikon 1 Zoom lenses, you need to depress a button while zooming out to unlock the lens. By doing that, your camera will also be turned on automatically.

Specifications of the lens

Mount Type: Nikon 1 (CX Format)
Focal Length Range: 6.7-13mm (FF equiv FOV 18-35mm)
Maximum Aperture: f/3.5
Minimum Aperture: f/16
Maximum Angle of View: 100°
Minimum Angle of View: 63°
Lens Elements: 11
Lens Groups: 7
VR (Vibration Reduction) Image Stabilization: Yes
Diaphram Blades: 7 (rounded diaphram opening)
ED Glass Elements: 3
Aspherical Elements: 3
Autofocus: Yes
Internal Focusing: Yes
Minimum Focus Distance: 0.82 ft. (0.25m) (throughout the zoom range)
Filter Size: 52mm
Lens Barrel Retraction Function: Rotation of zoom ring
Dimensions (Approx.): 2.22 x 1.81 in. (Diameter x Length) 56.5 x 46mm (Diameter x Length)
Weight (Approx.): 4.5 oz. (125g)
Supplied Accessories: HB-N105 Lens Hood, LC-N52 Front Lens Cap, LF-N1000 Rear Lens Cap

 

[daredevil123]

Construction and Build

Unlike any of the earlier Nikon 1 lenses, the 6.7-13mm comes with a beautiful metallic (aluminum I believe) exterior. Even the zoom ring is not rubber, but fully metal. This gives the lens a very nice and upclass feel.

The zoom ring feels smooth but firm throughout the entire zoom range, with no loose play at all. As the zoom ring is turned. the inner barrel, will move in and out a little. This lens however, is internal focusing, which means that the front of the lens will not move while it is focusing. The lens, similar to other Nikon 1 zoom lenses, comes with a lens lock feature. To release the lens, just depress the lock button on one side of the zoom ring and turn the lens. As you unlock the lens, the camera will also turn on automatically. To lock the lens, simply depress the same lens lock button and turn the lens pass the minimum 6.7mm focal length to the L position. You will feel a click from the lock button to tell you the lens is locked. When the lens is locked, the entire inner barrel will be fully retracted and the lens seems really really solid when locked. One gripe I have with the Nikon V1 at least, is that when I lock the lens, the camera firmware does not automatically turn off the camera.

Overall the build of the new 6.7-13mm lens is simply very well done. It feels like a top end product, with a lot of thought and effort put into the design of this lens. Kudos to Nikon on this.


Image Quality

On the optical design, this lens boasts 11 elements in 7 groups with no less than 3 aspherical elements and 3 ED elements. It even comes with Vibration Reduction (VR)! The specs definitely looks impressive. So how does this lens stack up in real world shooting?

Here are some sample shots with the 6.7-13mm mounted on the V1. All pictures shown here are straight out of camera with no adjustments whatsoever.

This long exposure is shot with camera on a Sirui T-025x mini tripod. Shutter was released using a Nikon ML-L3 IR wireless remote.
The scene is a little hazy, no thanks to the raging fires in Sumatra.

Click here to view Large
Click here to download full size Jpeg
Exposure: 13s, F11, ISO 100
Focal Length: 6.7mm
Standard Picture Style.
Jpeg Fine straight out of camera.
No filters used.

Center 100% crop

Left extreme edge 100% crop

 

[daredevil123]

This is shot wide open in Aperture priority mode at 6.7mm

Click here to see Large
Click here to download full size Jpeg
Exposure: 1/30s, F3.5, ISO 400
Focal Length: 6.7mm
Standard Picture Style
Jpeg Fine straight out of camera.

Centre 100% crop

Extreme Left 100% crop

Extreme Right 100% crop

Initial Hands-on Impression

So far, I am very very impressed by this little lens. It is very sharp and contrasty. The VR works really great. There is very very little CA at the edges of the image, but most UWA exhibits this behavior and it is nothing a couple of clicks in PP cannot fix. Especially at the price this lens is currently selling on the street, I would say this is one great bargain of a lens for what it is capable of. Grab it, if you are already on the Nikon 1 system.

I will be adding more sample photos to this thread from time to time. For folks with this lens, you are also welcome to post your photos in this thread as well. Share the love please.

 

[daredevil123]

6.7-13mm + V1. Shot at 6.7mm @ F3.5. Jpeg Fine straight out of cam.

Click here to view Large
Click here to download full size JPEG​

 

[ovaltinemilo]

Thanks for the write up bro!

 

[richardlim31]

nice shot daredevil123 :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[kei1309]

This is shot wide open in Aperture priority mode at 6.7mm

Click here to see Large
Click here to download full size Jpeg
Exposure: 1/30s, F3.5, ISO 400
Focal Length: 6.7mm
Standard Picture Style
Jpeg Fine straight out of camera.

Centre 100% crop

Extreme Left 100% crop

Extreme Right 100% crop


Initial Hands-on Impression

So far, I am very very impressed by this little lens. It is very sharp and contrasty. The VR works really great. There is very very little CA at the edges of the image, but most UWA exhibits this behavior and it is nothing a couple of clicks in PP cannot fix. Especially at the price this lens is currently selling on the street, I would say this is one great bargain of a lens for what it is capable of. Grab it, if you are already on the Nikon 1 system.

I will be adding more sample photos to this thread from time to time. For folks with this lens, you are also welcome to post your photos in this thread as well. Share the love please.

Who is that old man in the first crop?

 

[Rashkae]

Who is that old man in the first crop?

lol a famous uncle!

 

[daredevil123]

Who is that old man in the first crop?

Call him old man... never die before har

 

[kei1309]

Call him old man... never die before har

that's why i'm still here :bsmilie: