Nikon D3200 DSLR or Nikon 1 J2 Compact System?

Nikon D3200 DSLR or Nikon 1 J2 Compact System?

Depends on your needs. The D3200 is going to give you more flexibility and better performance, but the 1 J2 is going to be more portable (smaller).
http://snapsort.com/...ikon-D3200

If you need an optical viewfinder, get the dSLR. If not, the CSC will do.

Both are great cameras. It depends on your budget. The J2 is great and compact and much lighter to carry around, however over the time you will need to invest in some lens, the 1 series lens are very expensive, and hard to find. Keep in mind the J2 is a CX format, so it has a crop factor 2.7x, so the 10-30mm becomes a 27-81mm. The d3200 is more high end, and will get you into the DSLR game quick and easy. The lens are much cheaper.

Both are great- Use both cameras and see which is better and easier for you.

If you are looking at the Nikon 1 system, get the V2, as it includes an electroinc viewfinder. The usefulness of which can't be underestimated.

I own the Nikon V1, and it is a fun camera. It is my backup camera when I can't take my D7100.

It is a lot lighter and more compact than even the D3200, but it is most lacking in the High-ISO department. Still, it is manageable, and it's other attributes far outweigh the low-light issues - especially if you get the FT-1 adapter and use fast DSLR lenses.

Surprisingly, for a small camera, it does a couple of things no other camera can. It has a low shutter lag that is better than most entry level DSLRs, including the D3200 (which itself has a better than average short lag). And focusing is crazy fast - rivaling or besting even $6, 000 DSLRs.

And the continuous buffer can take up to 60 shots per second, something no other camera can.

Along with 1080p, they can do 30p or 60p, and if you can accept a slightly lower resolution, it can do a crazy 400 fps. It can also do an unheard of 1, 200fps, but the resolution is so low that it is not much more than a novelty.

Again, these things make this camera fun.

However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the Nikon 1 is still a bit overpriced. The camera I have - the V1 - retailed for $899. But last Dec, Nikon put them on sale for $299 and that is when I bought mine.

Nikon is likely to refresh the Nikon 1 line next month (J4, S2, and V3), with a couple of new lenses, so you may want to wait and see if the newer cameras offer anything significantly new, or if the older cameras (including the J2) come down any in price.

Also I recommend buying the 2 lens kit from Nikon. The camera comes standard with a 10-30mm lens, which is good enough for a starter lens. But a 30-110mm telephoto lens is also available in a 2 lens kit for $100 more. If you buy this lens separately, it is $250, so you save $150 if you buy the 2 lens kit (assuming you want to buy the 30-110mm lens at some point).