Would you buy Nikon 1 System camera that would rival Nikon D800E in image quality?

Markus, thanks for your reply.

You are probably right by stating “It's doubtful there will ever be a 1" sensor that performs like the D800 sensor.”

I did some reading about sensors to help me better understand the technology. Here are the links:

http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/does.pixel.size.matter/

http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/does.pixel.size.matter2/

The only thing that has me confused is this post that asks about image quality of Nikon D800 in DX mode.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/41640533

Some say that there is a difference in image quality between FX format and DX format, some say there isn’t.

Nikon D800/D800E owner’s manual says this about DX crop under Image Recording Options

“Thanks to the camera’s FX format (35.9 × 24 mm) image sensor, you can choose from angles of view as wide as those supported by 35 mm (135) format film cameras, while automatically cropping pictures to the DX angle of view when using DX format lenses.”

“An area at the center of the image sensor 23.4 × 15.6 mm is used to record pictures in DX format. To calculate the approximate focal length of the lens in 35mm format, multiply by 1.5.”

FX (L) resolution 7360 x 4912 pixels

DX (L) resolution 4800 x 3200 pixels

In DX format D800 acts like a DX camera with DX size sensor (An area at the center of the image sensor 23.4 × 15.6 mm is used to record pictures in DX format).

Since APS-C sensor camera has worse performance than FF sensor then there should be a visible difference yet some don't see that.

If for example you put 50mm f/1.8 lens on D800 and take one picture in FX format and then switch to DX mode and take another picture in DX format as Nikon states using center of the image sensor with area 23.4 x 15.6 mm would you get different ISO performance and Dynamic Range when viewed at 100% on screen? I know about 1.5x crop and file resolution being different.

If there would be such a thing as Nikon 1 format that would use the center of D800 image sensor with area 8.8 x 13.2 mm would DR and ISO performance drop even more? I am not forgetting about 2.7x crop and different FOV and even lower MP.

I don’t own D800 to do the above test. I would love to see pictures taken in daylight to test DR as well as night time at highest ISO setting to test noise levels.

I am just curious.

If people can’t see the difference in IQ between FX format and DX format on D800 then maybe it is possible to have 1” sensor that performs like sensor in D800 at lower resolution?