The Nikon V2, which sports a magnesium-alloy front to aid durability, incorporates improved AF and a shorter shutter lag than its predecessor, according to Simon Iddon, UK product manager for Compact System Cameras.

Boasting ‘second-generation’ Nikon 1 technology, the V2 houses a 14.2-million-pixel CMOS CX-format imaging sensor and an Expeed 3A dual-image processor.

The camera is built to shoot at up to 60fps, using fixed-point AF, and incorporates hybrid AF.

‘The sensor instantly switches between 73 phase-detection focus areas and the 135 contrast-detect focus areas, depending on the scene, ensuring superb images and movies in a wide range of environments,’ claimed Nikon in a statement.

Firepower also includes a top equivalent ISO of 6400 and a 1.44m-dot electronic viewfinder.

The V2 introduces a Slow View mode that aims to capture up to 40 full-resolution continuous still images, and display them in slow motion on the LCD screen so the photographer can choose the one they wish to keep.

The Nikon V2 is due out on 22 November, priced £799.99 with a 10-30mm kit lens; and £969.99 with a 10-30mm and 30-110mm zoom.

Nikon has also unveiled a new compact system flash unit, the Speedlight SB-N7, featuring a guide number of 18 and a head that tilts up to 120°.

However, the SB-N7 is not expected to go on sale until 31 January 2013, when it will be priced at £149.99.

Iddon told Amateur Photographer that customers have not been put off by the relatively small sensor inside Nikon CSCs, compared to the APS-C size sensor on the Canon EOS M for example, and that buyers have been attracted by the ‘iconic’ design of the Nikon 1 models, having stepped up from using compact cameras rather than moving from the DSLR market.

New Nikon 1 lenses

The firm has also announced the development of three new Nikon 1 lenses, likely to go on sale in ‘spring 2013′, according to a UK spokesman.

They are a 32mm f/1.2 medium-telephoto; a 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 ultra-wideangle VR zoom – the first in the range to offer a 100° angle of view; and a ‘compact and lightweight’ 10-100mm f/4-5.6.