Nikon 1 J3 first impression

I've bought J3 with 2 lens combo to take advantage of $100 off deal which expires in a week or so. Frankly, I didn't know what to expect out of it as the overall reputation of Nikon 1 series seems rather low.

Still as a big fan of Nikon who likes the small size and don't want to deal with AVC format that Sony and Panasonic are forcing us to use while it's annoying to use them on Macs, I've decided on J3. Finally, I can copy my movies as one file and have them show up on Picasa without doing anything; is it too much to ask, Sony?

I'm pretty impressed by the speed of focus, which is definitely DSLR class not PS class. I'm still being used to the control but in overall, all the things are organized logically, although I would've preferred to have PSAM on the main dial. I guess, they really want us to use automatic mode and such.

IQ-wise, I'm pretty happy with it as I wasn't expecting my D700 out of this small sibling. I want good low light performance out of my cameras, but in part because what I've read, what J3 seems to deliver is not too bad. My main purpose of this camera is to record videos and I'm happy with IQ even in low light. The characteristic of images is typical Nikon that I'm used to (sharp contrasty abit overpowering at time for portraits). I'm also pleasantly surprised how useful the little pop-up flash is. At least, it's powerful enough to naturally light my single subject unlike PS cameras with blow out highlights. Sure, it's no my SB900, but I don't expect it to be either.

Speaking of being small, I have relatively bigger hand and it's a struggle trying to use zoom while recording videos; it's just too small and I can't quite turn the zoom without shaking the camera.

I'm still learning about this camera and there are things that I want to try. For example, actually trying their automatic mode to understand why they want us to use it. Probably, I'll report back here because I'm disappointed by the total lack of discussion of this camera. I'll see how much I'll like/dislike this camera as I get to know more about it. So far, pretty good, though.