Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs.
In this section, We are going to illustrate Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Nikon 1 J4 has external dimensions of 100 x 60 x 29 mm (3.92 x 2.36 x 1.12″) and weighs 232 g (0.51 lb / 8.18 oz) (including batteries). Olympus E-30 has external dimensions of 142 x 108 x 75 mm (5.59 x 4.25 x 2.95″) and weighs 695 g (1.53 lb / 24.52 oz) (including batteries).
Below you can see the front view size comparison of Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30. Nikon 1 J4 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 42mm narrower, 48mm shorter and 46mm thinner than Olympus E-30.
Comparison image of Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View
Here is the back view size comparison of Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30.
Comparison image of Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30 Size and Weight - Back View
Now lets look at the top view comparison of Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30.
Top View Comparison image of Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30 Size
Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day.
Nikon 1 J4 is significantly lighter (463g ) than the Olympus E-30 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.
Also keep in mind that body weight is not the only deciding factor when comparing two interchangeable camera bodies, you have to also take into account the lenses that you will be using with these bodies.
Weight Comparison
DSLR Cameras
Thickness Comparison
DSLR Cameras
Weather Sealing
Unfortunately neither Nikon 1 J4 nor Olympus E-30 provides any type of weather sealing in their body, so you have to give extra care especially when you are shooting outdoors. If weather sealing is a must-have feature for you, check these sections: Top Mirrorless Cameras with Weather Sealing Top DSLR Cameras with Weather Sealing
LCD Screen Size and Features
Nikon 1 J4's 3" LCD screen is slightly larger than Olympus E-30's 2.7" screen.
On the other hand, Olympus E-30 sports a
Fully Articulated screen which you can change the angle and position of the screen almost freely, making it possible to shoot from waist or over the head levels, and especially very useful for shooting selfies and video. On the other hand, Nikon 1 J4 has a fixed type screen which provides almost no flexibility in shooting positions compared to E-30.
Nikon 1 J4 has a 18.0MP 1" (13.2 x 8.8 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Expeed 4 processor. On the other hand, Olympus E-30 has a 12.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features TruePic III+ processor.
Nikon 1 J4's sensor provides 6MP more than Olympus E-30's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Below you can see the 1 J4 and E-30 sensor size comparison.
Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30 Cameras
As seen above, Olympus E-30 has a 1.9x Larger sensor area than Nikon 1 J4. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
Number of available lenses is a big decision factor while choosing your interchangeable lens camera. When we look at the available lenses for these two cameras, we see that Olympus E-30 has an advantage over Nikon 1 J4 There are 45 lenses for Olympus E-30's Four Thirds mount, on the other hand there are only 13 lenses for Nikon 1 J4's Nikon 1 lens mount.
Another important factor is the availability of image stabilization. Olympus E-30 has a big advantage in this regard because it has a sensor based image stabilization which means that all the lenses mounted to this body will be stabilized. On the other hand, Nikon 1 J4 doesn't have this feature so you have to buy a lens with optical stabilization feature. Currently there are 7 lenses for Nikon 1 mount with Optical Image Stabilization features.
Lens Type |
# of Nikon 1 J4 Lenses |
# of Olympus E-30 Lenses |
Standard Zoom |
4 |
8 |
Standard Prime |
2 |
4 |
Wideangle Zoom |
1 |
4 |
Wideangle Prime |
2 |
9 |
Telephoto Zoom |
2 |
6 |
Telephoto Prime |
n/a |
4 |
SuperZoom |
2 |
2 |
Wideangle Fisheye Prime |
n/a |
3 |
Macro Prime |
n/a |
4 |
Perspective Control Prime |
n/a |
n/a |
Telephoto Mirror Prime |
n/a |
1 |
TOTAL |
13 |
45 |
In this section, we rank and compare Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.
Nikon 1 J4 for Portrait Photography
Olympus E-30 for Portrait Photography
Average sized 1″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 18.0MP
Average Ergonomics&Handling
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
Read the details
Nikon 1 J4 for Street Photography
Olympus E-30 for Street Photography
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Average sized 1″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm) sensor
Medium sized Body
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Fully Articulated LCD Screen
Large Body
Read the details
Nikon 1 J4 for Sports Photography
Olympus E-30 for Sports Photography
Fast Continuous Shooting: 60.0fps
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
105 Cross Type Focus sensors
171 Focus Points
Wireless Connection
Average Ergonomics&Handling
No Image Stabilization
No Built-in Viewfinder
Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Image Stabilization
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
11 Focus Points
Good Battery Life: 750 shots
Average Continuous Shooting: 5.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Nikon 1 J4 for Daily Photography
Olympus E-30 for Daily Photography
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Large Body
695g
Body Thickness 75mm
Read the details
Nikon 1 J4 for Landscape Photography
Olympus E-30 for Landscape Photography
Very High Resolution Sensor: 18.0MP
Live-view
Average sized 1″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm) sensor
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 12.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details
You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30, below you can find their scores in five different aspects.
Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.
Here is a summary of how Nikon 1 J4 and Olympus E-30 scores compare:
Nikon 1 J4
Ranked
#70 out of 126 in Rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked
#327 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Olympus E-30
Ranked
#54 out of 94 in Mid-size SLR cameras
Ranked
#341 out of 1220 in all Cameras
Nikon 1 J4 scores higher than the Olympus E-30 thanks to its better general imaging quality, compact size and higher value for the money. On the other hand, Olympus E-30 has some extra features which may become a game changer if you have some specific requirements.
We recommend you to read our detailed Pro's and Con's section and see if any Pro of Olympus E-30 is a must-have for you. If not, choose the Nikon 1 J4.
General |
Nikon 1 J4 |
Olympus E-30 |
Brand |
Nikon |
Olympus |
Announced |
2014-04-10 |
2009-03-24 |
Body Type |
Rangefinder-style mirrorless |
Mid-size SLR |
Sensor |
|
|
Type |
CMOS |
CMOS |
Size |
1" |
Four Thirds |
Dimensions |
13.2 x 8.8 mm |
17.3 x 13 mm |
Area |
116.16mm2 |
224.90mm2 |
Megapixels |
18 megapixels |
12 megapixels |
Max Resolution |
5232 x 3488 |
4032 x 3024 |
Max Native Light sensitivity |
12,800 ISO |
3,200 ISO |
Min Native Light sensitivity |
160 ISO |
100 ISO |
RAW Support |
|
|
Autofocus |
|
|
AF Touch |
|
|
AF Continuous |
|
|
AF Single |
|
|
AF Tracking |
|
|
AF Selective |
|
|
AF Center |
|
|
AF Multi Area |
|
|
AF Live View |
|
|
AF Face Detection |
|
|
AF Contrast Detection |
|
|
AF Phase Detection |
|
|
Number of Focus Points |
171 |
11 |
Lens |
|
|
Manual Focus |
|
|
Lens Mount |
Nikon 1 |
Four Thirds |
Number of Available Lenses |
13 |
45 |
Screen |
|
|
Type |
Fixed type |
Fully Articulated |
Size |
3" |
2.7" |
Resolution |
1,037k dots |
230k dots |
Touch Screen |
|
|
Viewfinder |
|
|
Viewfinder |
None |
Optical (pentaprism) |
Viewfinder Coverage |
n/a |
98% |
Viewfinder Magnification |
n/a |
0.56x |
Photography Features |
|
|
Max Mechanical Shutter |
1/4000s |
1/8000s |
Max Electronic Shutter |
1/16000s |
n/a |
Shutter Priority |
|
|
Aperture Priority |
|
|
Manual Exposure Mode |
|
|
Custom White Balance |
|
|
Image Stabilization |
No |
Sensor-shift |
Built-in Flash |
|
|
Flash Range |
5.00 m (ISO 100) |
13.00 m |
Max Flash Sync |
n/a |
1/250s |
External Flash |
|
|
Continuous Shooting |
60.0 fps |
5.0 fps |
Multi-Segment |
|
|
Average |
|
|
Spot |
|
|
Partial |
|
|
AF-Area |
|
|
Center Weighted |
|
|
AE Bracketing |
|
|
WB Bracketing |
|
|
Video Features |
|
|
Max Video Resolution |
1920 x 1080 |
None |
Video Formats |
MPEG-4, H.264 |
n/a |
Microphone Port |
|
|
Headphone Port |
|
|
Connectivity |
|
|
Wireless Connectivity |
Built-In |
None |
HDMI |
|
|
Physical |
|
|
Environmental Sealing |
|
|
Weight |
232g |
695g |
Dimensions |
100 x 60 x 29mm |
142 x 108 x 75mm |
Battery Life |
300 shots |
750 shots |
Other Features |
|
|
Timelapse Recording |
|
|
GPS |
None |
None |
DxO Sensor Scores |
|
|
DxO Overall Score |
not tested |
55 |
DxO Color Depth |
not tested |
21.3 |
DxO Dynamic Range |
not tested |
10.4 |
DxO Low Light ISO |
not tested |
530 |
|
Report a correction |
Report a correction |