Nikon 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30 f3.5-5.6 VR

Nikon 1 Nikkor VR 10-30 f3.5-5.6

Size: 58mm x 42mm

Weight: 115g

Aperture: f3.5 - f16

Filter: 40.5mm

Mfd: 20cm

Price: €120 used

The Nikon 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 lens is a compact, versatile standard zoom designed for the now-discontinued Nikon 1 mirrorless camera system, offering a practical focal range for everyday photography and video. Known for its small size and fast autofocus, it was typically bundled as a kit lens with cameras like the Nikon 1 V1 and J1.

Very lightweight at approximately 115 grams and features a retractable lens barrel mechanism for a compact profile during transport. Lacks a physical manual focus ring; manual focusing is controlled awkwardly via the camera's scroll wheel and is not recommended. Some features of the Nikon 1 cameras just shows the system was not fully thought out before it was brought to market. I think the Nikon managers were panicking somewhat at missing out on market share. They didn't really have a system to compete with the other maanufacturers such as Canon and Olympus.

Overall, the Nikon 1 NIKKOR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 VR is considered a very capable kit lens that delivers good image quality for its size and price point. It produces very good to excellent sharpness, especially in the center of the frame and across most of the zoom range. Its peak sharpness is around f5.6; stopping down further (above f/11) can lead to a drop in quality due to diffraction, a common characteristic of the small sensors. Barrel distortion is noticeable at the 10mm wide end but disappears as you zoom in. Chromatic aberrations (purple fringing) can be present in high-contrast areas, particularly in uncorrected RAW files, but are often corrected automatically by the camera's internal processing for JPEGs.

Reviewers praise its blazingly fast autofocus in good lighting conditions, making it suitable for capturing fast action. However, low-light performance is less spectacular. While the VR system is a useful feature, some early users reported issues with blurred shots at certain intermediate shutter speeds (1/25s to 1/80s), though Nikon later released firmware updates to address this.

Images taken with the 10-30 f3.5-5.6 VR lens