Lens testing - Nikon V1

Lens Testing - Nikon V1 with 300F4, 70-200vr and Nikon 1.4 TC compared with D300 and D700 - page 1

I recently got a Nikon V1 and a FT-1 lens adapter. This combination allows me to mount my regular Nikon lenses on a small point-n-shoot type of camera. With AF-S lenses I even have some autofocus. The intriguing aspect for me is that the small sensor size of the V1 gives me more 'reach' with my regular lenses, and could be useful for shooting wildlife. So I mounted my longest lens combination - a 300F4 and a 1.4x teleconvert on it and went out to see how it performed. I set up my D700, my D300 and the V1 with the same lens at the same spot and took some photos of an owl in a nest. I've also added some shots from the Phoenix Zoo. Results are below.

The weather was not good for this test - a lot of wind. Sometimes the feathered 'horns' on the owl were blowing sideways. The owl was also not cooperating much, sitting back in the shade and hard to see.

Click on the images for larger size versions. Keep clicking to move to the next image.

February 8, 2013 The Nikon V1 attached to a 300F4 lens with 1.4x teleconvert. BH-55 ballhead, Gitzo 3550 tripod. I also use the Nikon ML-L3 wireless remote release.	February 8, 2013 This shot, taken at about 50mm on a D700 (full-frame camera) shows the relative position of the camera and the target. There is an owl in a nest in the big cactus.	February 8, 2013 D700, 300F4 + 1.4 teleconverter. A true 420mm. Uncropped, but resized for the web.
February 8, 2013 D300 with 300F4 and 1.4x teleconverter giving a true 420mm focal length. Same spot as the D700, but the D300 has a 1.5x crop factor due to the DX-sized sensor. Compared to the D700, this means the lens plus teleconverter 'becomes' a 630mm lens in terms of magnification.	February 8, 2013 V1 with 300F4 and 1.4x teleconverter giving a true 420mm focal length. Same spot as the D700 and the D300, but the V1 has a 2.7x crop factor due to the CX-sized sensor. Compared to the D700, this means the lens + teleconverter 'becomes' a 1134mm lens in terms of magnification.	February 8, 2013 The D700 shot, cropped and then resized to look about the same size as the V1 shot.