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<br>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.<br>
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<br>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.<br>
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<br>D700, 300F4 + 1.4 teleconverter. A true 420mm. Uncropped, but resized for the web. <br>
February 8, 2013
D700, 300F4 + 1.4 teleconverter. A true 420mm. Uncropped, but resized for the web.


February 8, 2013<br>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.<br>
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<br>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.<br>
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<br>The D700 shot, cropped and then resized to look about the same size as the V1 shot.<br>
February 8, 2013
The D700 shot, cropped and then resized to look about the same size as the V1 shot.
February 8, 2013<br>The D300 shot, cropped and resized to look about the same as the V1 shot.<br>
February 8, 2013
The D300 shot, cropped and resized to look about the same as the V1 shot.


 February 8, 2013<br>The V1 shot, not cropped, but resized a bit for the web.<br>
February 8, 2013
The V1 shot, not cropped, but resized a bit for the web.


 February 8, 2013<br>The male owl stays near the female while she sits on the eggs. He tends to hide behind a lot of branches, so it's very hard to get a clean shot of him. This was taken with the V1, 300F4 and 1.4x teleconverter and is uncropped.<br>
February 8, 2013
The male owl stays near the female while she sits on the eggs. He tends to hide behind a lot of branches, so it's very hard to get a clean shot of him. This was taken with the V1, 300F4 and 1.4x teleconverter and is uncropped.
March 6, 2013<br>Sometimes you just get lucky! I came around a bush and saw one of my local owls just sitting in plain view, and at JUST the right distance for the lens I had mounted. 300F4 with 1.4TC on the Nikon V1. This image is UNCROPPED. Mr. Owl was kind enough to sit there while I took 30 shots of him, including removing the teleconverter, setting up the camera for remote release and careful framing. Processing was done in Capture NX2, including sharpening of intensity 100, radius 2 and threshold 0.<br>
March 6, 2013
Sometimes you just get lucky! I came around a bush and saw one of my local owls just sitting in plain view, and at JUST the right distance for the lens I had mounted. 300F4 with 1.4TC on the Nikon V1. This image is UNCROPPED. Mr. Owl was kind enough to sit there while I took 30 shots of him, including removing the teleconverter, setting up the camera for remote release and careful framing. Processing was done in Capture NX2, including sharpening of intensity 100, radius 2 and threshold 0.


 March 6, 2013<br>This image may look like the previous one, but it was taken with just the 300F4 and then cropped down. This gives some idea of whether or not it is worth getting the teleconverter, or just cropping down. I did use less sharpening on the images without the teleconverter. Processing was done in Capture NX2 with sharpening of intensity 33, radius 3 and threshold 0.<br>
March 6, 2013
This image may look like the previous one, but it was taken with just the 300F4 and then cropped down. This gives some idea of whether or not it is worth getting the teleconverter, or just cropping down. I did use less sharpening on the images without the teleconverter. Processing was done in Capture NX2 with sharpening of intensity 33, radius 3 and threshold 0.


 March 6, 2013<br>This image was taken with the 300f4, cropped down, and then resized down for the web. (1280 pixels on the short side). Processing was done in Capture NX2.<br>
March 6, 2013
This image was taken with the 300f4, cropped down, and then resized down for the web. (1280 pixels on the short side). Processing was done in Capture NX2.
March 6, 2013<br>Here is the uncropped version of the 300F4 shot. (Sharpening and post-processing was done prior to cropping and resizing. Post processing included setting Standard picture control, daylight white balance, a slight shadow boost, a small lightening of the shaded side of the owl, an increase in saturation of 15, and sharpening of intensity 100, radius 2 and threshold 0 in CaptureNX2.)<br>
March 6, 2013
Here is the uncropped version of the 300F4 shot. (Sharpening and post-processing was done prior to cropping and resizing. Post processing included setting Standard picture control, daylight white balance, a slight shadow boost, a small lightening of the shaded side of the owl, an increase in saturation of 15, and sharpening of intensity 100, radius 2 and threshold 0 in CaptureNX2.)


 March 17, 2013<br>Nikon V1 with 300F4 at the Phoenix Zoo.<br>
March 17, 2013
Nikon V1 with 300F4 at the Phoenix Zoo.


 March 17, 2013<br>Nikon V1 with Nikon 300F4 at the Phoenix Zoo.<br>
March 17, 2013
Nikon V1 with Nikon 300F4 at the Phoenix Zoo.
March 17, 2013<br>Nikon V1 with Nikon 70-200F2.8 VR II at the Phoenix Zoo.<br>
March 17, 2013
Nikon V1 with Nikon 70-200F2.8 VR II at the Phoenix Zoo.


 March 17, 2013<br>Nikon V1 with 300F4 at the Phoenix Zoo.<br>
March 17, 2013
Nikon V1 with 300F4 at the Phoenix Zoo.