Nikon 1 V3 review – Noise, resolution and sensitivity
Image: The 18.4-million-pixel sensor offers an acceptable amount of detail, although it is not as strong as its rivals
The 18.4-million-pixel sensor performs well but not amazingly when it comes to resolution, delivering a reading of 24 on our resolution chart from a raw file, although this is no better than the files from the V2. JPEG images look pretty good straight out of the camera, while raw files – as expected – benefit from slight tweaks to contrast, clarity and sharpening to pull the best level of detail from them.
Despite colour and luminance noise being evident in the shadows at ISO 200, the V3 does a pretty good balancing act of delivering raw files with decent levels of detail with relatively well-controlled image noise at higher sensitivities. Files display quite a fine level of luminance noise even at ISO 3200, but that said, it’s still not a match for a larger sensor.
JPEG files at higher sensitivities display a slightly softer quality due to the noise control applied, with reduce levels of luminance noise apparent.
These images show 72ppi (100% on a computer screen) sections of images of a resolution chart, captured using the 10-30mm f/3.5-5/6 PD-Zoom lens. We show the section of the resolution chart where the camera starts to fail to reproduce the lines separately. The higher the number visible in these images, the better the camera’s detail resolution at the specified sensitivity setting.
