How good is the zoom range on the Nikon 1 J3 with the 10-30mm and 30-110mm Lenses?

I need a camera with very good zoom range. I will be attending a concert soon and the stage is considerably far from where I will be seated. I saw a very good offer on the Nikon 1 J3 camera. However, I'm not sure if this camera is worth investing in if it does not meet my needs. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. (mostly looking for a camera that has at least 35x optical zoom, and under $250)

The 10-30mm is a 3x zoom (10 x 3 = 30), while the 30-110mm is just a bit over 3.6x. The two lenses cover a combined range of roughly 10x, nowhere near 35x. The 30-110mm lens alone already costs what you've budgeted, and the J3 and other lens break it.

Cameras that have high zoom ranges typically have very small sensors, which mean they typically have poor low light performance.

Zoom range says nothing about how far a camera can zoom. That is what the focal length itself tells you. On the J3, the 30-110mm lens has a maximum focal length of 110mm (comparable to a 300mm on a full-size 35mm camera, or a 200mm lens on a "digital crop" camera like the D3000 series). It's fairly long, but probably won't get you close-ups of faces. The lens has an aperture of f/5.6 at that focal length, which means you need a lot of light-something that only the concert's stage crew can control, unless it's outdoors.

This is all assuming that venue security allows you to bring any such camera to the concert. Your ticket only permits you to watch and listen, not to record, and likely forbids DSLRs. There's no telling whether the security crew classifies such a camera as a DSLR.

The reach probably isn't good enough at 220mm equivalent.

In your price range, the Canon PowerShot SX510 HS comes as close as I can find, but is only 30x. I bought the Pentax X-5 for zoom, but it is only 26x.

Not good enough for a concert, but you can't afford anything that is, or the press-pass to allow you to use it.

Even for general purpose use, the Nikon 1 series are more fashion accessories than serious cameras. If you want an EVIL camera, look at Sony, Panasonic or Olympus.