A quality fully functional 70-300 with VR on a Nikon 1 body would be a great walk around birding setup. Carrying binoculars, a scope and SLR with anything near that effective focal length is a real pain. My V1 has had my 300mm afs F/4 almost permanently attached. It's a great combination but for me I need a tripod to pull it off since my 300 doesn't have VR. A Nikon 1 70-300 with VR would allow me to bring the scope again. Hopefully the $996.95 price tag will drop a bit.

Another 10-30mm lens??
What is it with Nikon and their obsession with the 27mm starting point for walk around lenses?
Its not like they have a shortage of lenses with this focal range.
Is it so hard for them to make a walk around lens that starts at 24mm?
Please!!

at the same focal length and f-numbers, lenses for smaller sensors could be a bit more expensive for narrower angle of view demands more precise barrel and accurate smooth movement.

but this price is too much.

No manual focus ring on the small zoom??

"the new 10-30mm lens is equipped with a unique power drive zoom dial that allows for simple and smooth zoom capability, ideal for capturing sharp and steady HD video."

What is so unique about it, Olympus 12-50 did the same 2 years ago, and Panasonic 14-42PZ was very similar even a few months before. Since then Sony E 16-50 and Olympus 14-42EZ work the same way.

But that supertele opens new grounds and finally makes Nikon 1 system worthwhile for birders etc.

My J1 is just a secondary camera that I stick in my jacket pocket when I don't want to lug around my Sony A57, so big $1000 zooms don't really appeal to me. Unlike pretty much everyone else (it seems to me) I am interested in the new 10-30mm though.

I don't care about power zoom, but the greater zoom range compared with the 11-27.5mm (1mm at the wide end really does make a difference), the integrated lens cap (convenient for quick, one-handed, point-and-shoot snaps on the street), and the smaller size compared with the old 10-30mm (which renders the J1 a lot less pocket friendly), make it a nice kit lens upgrade.

Of course I'd be more excited if it was f2.8, but as long as it's sharp wide open I'll be happy enough.

I don't know what they are thinking at Nikon. Maybe counting on loyalists to buy these? That zoom is between $300 and $400 more than other mirrorless systems.

Does the 70-300 range on CX really make that much sense?

Is there more glass, electronics, plastics or mechanical parts in this lens to be almost double price than current and good FF 70-300VR ?

I can't really imagine that this new 70-300 lens will warrant the price difference compared to an (nowadays ultra cheap) APS-C 70-300mm lens with the FT1 adapter.

My own opinion is that the 70-300mm lens would have to be very, very good at that price, and that seems to be echoed by other commenters as well. Sharp, fast focusing, and very little CA. I do appreciate that at this crop factor, making a 70-300 that's still perfectly sharp at 18MP is a challenge, but at the price, not much less is really acceptable.

*cough* 1000 dollars!? To put on a 200 dollar camera? Are you freaking kidding me?!?

810mm is quite the reach for nature photogs. Not too concerned about the price. High initially then it drops later and/or there are discounts.

I have a J1 with three lenses. Only $500 invested and the first camera system I didn't want to sell off after a year or two. Very light and tiny. This new lens would be quite a reach ($) for me though.

I stopped reading after $999.95

Interesting lens, but I am wondering whether -in spite of the IS - the lens will be handhold-able. The magnification at the long end will be very hard to keep pointed towards the subject.

Some exceptionally idiotic comments here. I'm not in the market for this system, however as someone who enjoys combining walking and wildlife photography this lens on a V series body is almost certainly a terrific combination. Having previously used the Sigma 150-500 (which costs more than this lens and ain't that hot)on both DX and FX bodies I now use an OMD with the Panasonic 100-300. The difference is that I almost always have this system with me.
There are some odd - even stupid - decisions about the design of this range of CX cameras. Omitting the VF on this one is just dumb, dumb, however there are also many compelling features. Overpriced at launch, certainly, so why not just wait a while.

The price is really not that bad compared to the FF lens like the

Nikon 80-400/4 5-5.6 VR @ over $2200.00
Sigma 50-500/4.5-6.3 APO @ over $1500.00

$1000.00 is a little steep for a CX lens. $799.00 would be the perfect price if you ask me.

$1000 for a 70-300 telephoto lens.....?

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The perfect wildlife lens for the outdoorsman suffering from muscular dystrophy.

1000 bucks for a 70-300 4.5-5.6 lens? What exactly do they smoke at Nikon's? I might be interested...in what they smoke, that is :D

Just wait for another year and the price will drop to $299 including lens..happened with the V1 and J1..does it not? I'm sure most of us here have enough gear to get us by for another 12 month at least…. :)

The 70-300 lens costs 2x what the current DX lens costs for the DSLRs. That's pretty extreme.

A 24-85mm equ. lense with constant 2.8f can be very attractive as a bundle for this system! good capable video require good capable lense bundled too.

A 560g 810mm lens at f/5.6 on a 1" sensor? Interesting. Many birder are already using Nikon 1 to complement their tripod-mounted DSLR. A mobile backup is always useful. Let's see how well it does on 300mm.

Yeeeeehaaaaw!!!! $1000 for a lens for a 1" sensor system. Great time to be alive!

1000 USD?

Nikon is dying.

Whoa...crazy pricing?

The 70-300 is an interesting lens, but not at a thousand dollars.