Nikon V1 & Cheri

Cheri is a new restaurant / party place that has launched recently at One Qutub, Mehrauli, New Delhi. I had an invite to attend their new “Desi Disco Dhamaka” and I also had a Nikon V1 camera that I had to review. Two birds with one stone! I will be mentioning a little about Cheri as well as the V1. Above : before leaving for the party, a self-portrait and some night images around the residential society where I live.

This was the first time I was using the V1 and had not read the manual – since I am photographer, I prefer to play with the camera before I refer the manual. I also love keeping the shutter open for long in some of my images.

I love the looks of the V1 – white!. Susceptible to getting dirty I’m sure but very cute nonetheless. BIG BIG bummer that the camera does not have an on-camera flash! I will either have to buy a flash unit separately for the V1 particularly or try to use my Nikon SB 600 speedlight on it. The SB 600 is probably as heavy as the camera itself so I will not be doing that. [ UPDATE : I just tried fitting the SB 600 on the hot shoe of the V1 – no go. ] Most of the portraits I shot at the party are all-shook-up. Above : at @akanksharedhu’s place, chocolates and some pre-party drinks before we leave for Cheri.

If you are a casual photographer, then maybe the V1 is not for you. If you are a camera collector, however, maybe you could adding this to your arsenal – the looks, the interchangeable lenses, the opportunity to add different speedlight models, etc. will definitely keep you going for a while – also if you’re a new photographer. I personally would not purchase this camera as it does not fit my personal requirements.

The V1 has three Auto ISO settings and I was on 3200, which is the maximum available – even then lots of blur and shake – it was simply too dark. The camera does shoot RAW and I thought I could pull out some detail from even the darkest of images – which I did when I was editing but there was too much noise – I don’t mind noise – I like it a lot but I wouldn’t try it on my client assignments as a pro photographer.

Above : driving from home to Cheri. I was constantly shooting with the V1 and one of the ways I tried to get “still” images was by shooting in the burst mode. Which worked quite well most of the times. It’s not like you can’t make photographs without a flash, just that you have to try different techniques.

Above : At Cheri. The brand logo has been designed by my friend Prateeq aka @pratzy on Twitter in collaboration with Pavitr Rastogi Design. I LOVE it!

Since it was Bollywood Retro Night, Cheri had made arrangements for the guests to wear plastic wigs and marigold garlands and even had hand fans for the ladies. Delhi is quite hot these days and most of the partying was going to happen outdoors in Cheri’s courtyard. Above : @akanksharedhu & @pratzy trying on the wings and Sudeep Solanki, the owner of Cheri [ in the suit ] stops to have a word with us. Great, down-to-earth guy. And oh so handsome.

Lovely lamps, lighting and they even had a few birdcages – fortunately, no birds in them – otherwise that would’ve been minus points.

The DJ table and the controls for the projector and screens. Fantastic music! I love Bollywood Retro so I am biased. The screens showed Sridevi, Anil Kapoor, Bappi Lahiri etc. from movies from the 60’s 70’s and 80’s. Good stuff.

I snapped up some portraits quickly when @akanksharedhu was taking selfies using her blackberry – the BB flash helped light up the shot for my V1.

The terrace top with lots of seating area and trees and plants – probably impossible to sit there during the day because of the heat.

The outdoor bar was serving wine and cocktails. The snacks were being served in tiny porcelain plates but there was no way to eat them except by hand – so we put them on our wine glasses, ate and then put the plates aside. Also, could not get a single decent image of Sudeep to show how handsome he is. *grin* I am still not “into” the whole FourSquare check-ins but a lot of others are – so they checked into Cheri.

More Blackberry flash above.

The party at Cheri really picked up by 11pm – the courtyard was full and there were really enthusiastic dancing.

The customary trip to the loo, which was fortunately well lit enough to let me use the V1 to capture the lovely gold brocade wallpaper in the waiting area.

My Mojito next to the Odonil and my bag on the mirror hanger.

Very beautiful mirrors on all the walls of the ladies loo.

Above : the customary loo self-portrait. You can see the V1 in the frame as well.

I had a shoot the next morning so had to leave the party early but this was one of those very few parties where I SO DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE! I must’ve screamed that a couple of times. Loved being at Cheri. Waiting for the car to be brought in by the valet.

Bye bye Cheri! hope to see more of you soon!

On my drive back home, I shot some photographs of the drive and the road and the toll. The shutter open for a long time really rocks my boat.

Following two photographs courtesy @akanksharedhu Shot on her Blackberry.

The battery of the Nikon V1 is the same battery that I use in my D800 and my D7000, which works for the company – same parts in various cameras – but it adds weight to the camera unit. The lowest aperture value was 3.5 which is not something I’m happy with – but that’s a function of the lens and I had been given the 10-30mm 3.5-5.6. The deal breaker for me was the no on-camera flash. I will also be putting up some photographs of the V1.

If I was marooned on an island and the only camera I had was the Nikon V1, I would still make great photographs from it. But that’s my skill along with the availability of a functional camera. Also, I am biased – I love my D800 and that’s an unfair comparison. [ I do not review cameras based on their tech specs and all that jargon – it’s a camera – it WILL make photographs and all that specification “craze” is something I do not subscribe to. ]

The V1 is a mirrorless, interchangeable lens camera – it is still new technology but it’s got a long way to go. I like the above photographs but I know if I had any of my other cameras, the images would be much better. Also, for the purposes of this blog, the above images are acceptable – wouldn’t consider shooting a client job with this camera. Not at night anyway.

All images in this blog post photographed on the Nikon V1 except the last two images of me – photographed by @akanksharedhu on her BlackBerry, edited in Adobe Photoshop CS6. All Rights Reserved. The Nikon V1 has been provided by Nikon for review only & is returnable after a 10 day period. Neither Cheri, nor Nikon have paid me for the above. If you would like me to review your product / service / establishment or write a feature, please email me on [email protected]