COOLPIX AW100 16 MP CMOS Waterproof Digital Camera with GPS and Full HD 1080p Video (Black)

I misplaced this camera recently for about a week and it seems like everyday is was exasperated to not be able to get the shot I could have gotten with it but couldn't get with either my DSLR, Nikon 700, or with my very good and handy compact Canon S95. I bought this camera mainly to use when I didn't dare take one of the other cameras out in so much water. It is even nice not to have to be concerned about the rain, or the wet updraft from a waterfall, let alone at the beach, the river, the ocean, kayaking, rock terrain, sand, dusty riding or hiking. Yes the lens stays behind it protective glass that is itself quite will protected by the frame protruding just adequately beyond it. The other main attraction was the dropability. I was impressed by the shock-resistant aspect. I brag that I can drop it about the distance of my height onto any surface. But I can't get myself to intentionally do that. Still. I feel confident of its durability. I am also glad to have the GPS onboard. When I was considering ordering it, I was concerned about whether the resolution would be satisfactory, so, I chose to buy a refurbished one. The warrantee sounded good enough to take a chance. If I had known how much I was going to be using it and enjoying it, I would have bought the brand new one instead. But, I am very pleased with this refurbished one. No problem! One of the reasons that I can hardly stand to not have it at hand at all times is because it is so easy to take a really close shot. I am a beekeeper and I have been trying to get close-ups of the bees with the other two cameras and haven't been able to do with them what I can do with this one. The resolution isn't as good as I would like to be able to get eventually, but it is much better than anything that I have gotten at the beehive previously and the images that I send to the newspaper look good in print. This is the third water camera that I have gotten, and by far the best so far. I am very glad to have this at hand. Oh, and by the way, almost every time I open and close the water-tight door to the battery and SD card, I realize how much I appreciate the technology of that door and its latch and remember that comment about one of the reviews that criticized the latch as overly complicated and difficult to use. I get a really satisfied feeling from closing this particular latch that seems to have the feel of closing a submarine hatch. And opening the latch with only one hand is a skill that is pleasing to be a master of and takes little effort in accomplishing. And yes, if you guessed, I relocated the missing camera in the pocket of my beekeeping jacket. Now to get some close-ups of the kittens that are just beginning to get a little tiny bit of their eyes open. Of course, I can't get quite as close to them as I get to the honeybees that I can be almost touching with the lens and fill the frame with the bee and get fairly good focus and detail. Good enough for most uses, at a price that you wouldn't expect to be getting gallery quality, anyway. Yes, I did get the orange face. Sometimes I am really glad when it is so easy to find. In the beginning, sometimes I couldn't find it because I didn't see any orange face anywhere. That is when I learned to always set it monitor down. That side is all black. I like the looks of the black better, but the orange is handy and it is good for me to set the monitor face down to protect it from anything damaging it from above. Oh, and I really like how well it rides with me when the strap is around my neck. Excellent that it wears like a necklace, secured at with each end of the strap at a side of the camera instead of the wrist strap kind of tether. It is so easy to wear and to just lift and shoot. Easiest of any compact camera that I have ever used. It is when I am wearing it, though, that I would prefer that it had a the dignity of a black face. But, such a good image buddy, I can't complain. If you get one, I hope that you enjoy it at least as much.

UPDATE 20120801 - Amazon would not allow a separate update for a similar product purchase so I have to update this review ...I just bought the replacement for the AW100 that rests on the bottom of the Pacific. It is ORANGE (Nikon COOLPIX AW100 16 MP CMOS Waterproof Digital Camera with GPS and Full HD 1080p Video (ORANGE)).I am not all that "keen" on Orange; however, the price was $40 less (now $268) than the original Black. It takes good pictures. I say this because the original black unit would have difficulty sometimes taking a closeUp picture. The "new" orange unit works near and far. Now, I have to put it in water to make sure it is waterProof for its up-and-coming adventure.Oh, I have upgraded the AW100 to five (5) stars. For several reasons: 1) I bought another unit; 2) The orange works in my mix-and-notMatch world; 3) Maybe, just maybe, it will be easier to spot if it gets away from me; and, 4) It was $40 less expensive.I continue to recommend this product!***********************************************************20120322 ... The Nikon aw100 (BLACK) actually went to Hawaii as planned. It took pictures on O'Ahu, and then on Hawai'i. It was also supposed to be used on Maui. It was a great camera. It did almost 100% of what I thought it should. It took surprising panorama shots. It took amazing underwater pictures at the sea horse farm. It took wonderful pictures in two lagoons while snorkling to approximate depths of 20 to 30 feet without any leakage. It even got pictures of my spouse snorkling. Then the camera did the most unspeakable thing. It became a $400 "disposable" camera when it untethered itself and went to the bottom of the Pacific. It was missed only when the Zodiac stopped in the third lagoon.It is a long shot to ask, "If anyone locates the camera I would place no claim; however, I would greatly appreciate getting the 16gb SDHC card that has many pictures that can never be replaced."Now, for the next adventure where the "camera" will not run away?-------------------------------------------------------------20111212 ... For some reason I always need another camera. The Nikon AW100 will fill a niche I have for something that can get dunked. It will be a good companion to the Nikon S1000pj (the one that projects the image on a wall).Another important piece is that both the AW100 and the S1000pj use the same EN-EL12 battery. Speaking of that, you just have to get the TWO EN-EL12 Replacement Battery (1050 mAh) + Battery Charger FOR Nikon CoolPix S1000pj / S610 / S610c / S620 / S630 / S640 / S70 / S710 / S8000 Digita ... offering here on Amazon.com since these two cameras can consume a lot of batteryJuice! I got four (4) units of the above mentioned charger and got eight (8) EN-EL12 batteries as well as four car adapters and four wall chargers for under $35 TOTAL - "Oh, and they work, too!" which really surprised me.There is a lot about the AW100 I have not used. My first curiosity was the battery. I just wanted to see what the maximum burn might be. I turned on all options (at maximum) and tinkered with everything to use as much batteryJuice as I could. The result was something like 76 pictures - "Acceptable" to me.I inserted a Transcend 32 GB Class SDHC 10 Flash Memory Card TS32GSDHC10E into the AW100. 4,000 plus pictures at maximum resolution for under $40.The GPS. Seem to sensitive enough to work inside most buildings even where DeLorme and Garmin GPS units cannot get signal. The map is very general and is really useful, for me, for GeoCaching. To get the coordinates from the jpg image requires Photoshop or other software that can access this meta data. One curiosity is the possible map updates. This feature shows in the menu; however, so far I have not been able to find out much more about it.The Compass. The neighbors thought I was a little confused/touched as I stood in my front yard waiving this small black object in a figure-eight motion as the snow fell around me. For some reason I felt that I needed to be able to get a good compassReading in my yard in the snow to learn how well the "first" pictures might look (BTW, they looked good if I might say so!).The Lens position. The position of the lens is where one can take marvelous pictures of parts of one's fingers. I have a whole set of them that I might put on display in a gallery?The Camera with Heart. The AW100 has numerous settings. When you get the camera you will see this icon (camera with heart) on the screen. It basicially means the camera will take a picture - results are mostly surprisingly good.The Camera without Heart. I mostly use this setting.The Panorama (sp?). It is most curious. I am more accustomed to the larger images available in the Sony A900 and the like that are stitched using something like Photoshop. The AW100 does a grand job of creating a panorama. Now, the camera is a little to smart AND you have to do the way the developers intended which I remain a little uncertain about the 360-deg version. I have gotten insulted using the 180-deg version by being informed I am not doing it right. You can only go in one direction with either horizontal or vertical movement - BUT, not both. The end result when I do the right thing is a strip photo that seems a whole lot better than I thought that I would get.Up Close. I like microPhotography. This camera does a good job.Low Light. I am not certain that the camera was responsible, more so than the operator, when taking low light photographs. The camera seemed to have a difficult time focusing even with the assist light that is built into the camera for these situations.Light Assist. This is an annoying light that is disruptive because I have not found the setting to keep it extinguished when I do not want it startling the photoObject or announcing that a photograph will be taken.Opening the Housing. The battery, SD card, USB and HDMI connectors are located behind a door that is sorta a mess for big fingers to open since the button on the top must be pressed and then a counterClockwise turn must be done to get the door open. The space is "real" tight and I did find that some SDHC cards were not all that easy to extract or to determine if properly seated. If this happens, just remove the battery and it is easier to slip a fingerNail into the SD card crease for extraction.Menu. The menu is not the best Nikon has offered. I have finally located most of the features I think should be available. Some I am still seeking.Documentation. The userGuide and userManual are a poorExcuse and an exercise in futility. They follow the typical mentality of "trial and mistake" to learn how to meaningfully use the camera features.Waterproof. I was going to take the camera into the bathtub to do some underWater shooting of a rubberDucky. I was advised that this was offensive to the rubberDucky and possibly illegal and probably an issue of privacy so I will have to wait until I am in the ocean.Strap. It really makes no sense to include a nonWaterProof strap with a camera that is to be used underwater. I do not have time to get a waterProof strap so I will have to makeDo with some fishingLine. Oh yes, there was as sorta piece-of-string that was supposed to be used with the camera in the water. I really need a strap that can just stay connected to the camera so when I fall out-of-the-boat I do not have to spend a whole lot of time trying to change to the waterProofStrap before I hit the water ("Oh yea, where, in this instance do I put the nonWaterProof strap?).Pictures. The camera takes great pictures in a snow setting where other cameras straight-out-of-the-box fail. Night photographs are a little iffy. In-the-water pictures have not been tried, yet!Zoom. It also has digital zoom. I find, as with most digital zoom, it adds more noise to the picture than the implied benefit from the apparentCloseness provided by the inCamera crop. It might be okay for those that do not have something like Photoshop. The lens zoom was adequate and allowed me to capture deer in the snow at some 100 yards that will, of course, need Photoshop.Slideshow. I am using slideShow two ways. The first is to display the individual pictures that have been collected on the SD card. It works okay. I usually do not use a camera for this purpose. I would much rather shoot pictures and then get back to the 27" colorCorrected monitor and photoshop at some later time. The second part of the slideShow is used with panoramas. In this case, the picture is moved smoothly across the entire vista of the scene. A bit impressive but lacks the usefulness of portability to be able to share with friends.Buttons. Like buttons on anything small if big fingers are involved. "Ya just has to deal with it!"Overall Impression. The Nikon AW100 hasn't leaked yet (of course not, I have not put it into the water). It has taken an assortment of pictures that I think exercise its capabilities. I am impressed. So, let's learn how well it does underwater. More on this soon.

My new AW100 replaced a Kodak Easyshare Sport C123 and a Canon SD400. The SD400 has been a great compact camera for the past 6+ years, but was getting long in the tooth esp since I bought a Windows 7 PC and couldn't get a driver (which created all kinds of issues with deleting subdirectories on the memory card). The Kodak went back within a couple days of use because a) it didn't have an optical zoom and I found I really missed that, and b) the pictures were too 'contrasty' where the highlights were blown out and the shadows all clipped to black. I guess for $80 the Kodak delivered its price-performance, but I only take pictures once and I want them to be good. I also have a Canon SLR but I don't take that fly fishing, backpacking, winter camping, nor to the beach.I've only had the AW for about a week, but so far really enjoying it. The image quality is as good as any Canon point-shoot (my wife has a newer Canon SD). The menus are not quite as intuitive, and I had to spend a half day reading the 100 pg manual to really get a feel for how best to use this. Still, there are a lot of flexible options including control over ISO and shake, and it has some cool modes that the Canon's don't have such as shooting 8 or 10 consecutive pics and auto-saving the least blurry to the memory card. The 5x zoom is further augmented by a 5x digital zoom where the pixels are interpolated rather than cropping in. I haven't tried the digital zoom yet, but I think this will be superior if/when I need that extra close up.I was also looking closely at the Panasonic Lumix but I chose the AW for superior video. I really like the stereo sound it captures, and the slow-motion video shots have already been a lot of fun. It allows you to record at 1/2 to 1/8 speed, or 2x speed, and you can even shift during the video shoot from normal speed to high or slow speed, and back. The other thing I liked about the AW over the Lumix is the 5cm macro. Have seen some stills on Youtube that looked pretty cool, and plan to try this out more now that I have a camera that can do it.I probably won't take this scuba diving since it's only good to 33 feet, but that's about my range for snorkeling and I'm sure it'll come in handy next time I'm someplace I'd rather be. I'm also looking forward to shooting some underwater video of trout, and not having to wrap this in 3 ziplocks for a rainy day on the river (or just insurance against an unforeseen swimming opportunity). Video'ing a buddy fighting a fish, toggling to slow-motion during a reel-screaming run and jump -- yep I think this will be a fun toy.Attaching a recent vid from the dog park, shot at 1/4 speed.

Rugged waterproof camera that takes decent pictures. I bought this for a more portable solution than my Nikon DSLR and because it is waterproof (we were about to go on vacation to Cabo San Lucas). The picture quality is good, not as good as my DSLR--though that's to be expected--but a thousand times better than a Samsung camera that I returned a month before buying this model.There's a few things I wish it had:1) I have found in more than one place (even Nikon's website) that this camera has wifi. It does not. It has GPS, but it most definitely does not have wifi or bluetooth. That's too bad.2) Why, dear Nikon, must you force yet another battery type and cable connector on us? I'm sure the data transfer off this camera could be handled by a mini or micro USB, but no, Nikon had to go and make a dedicated cable. Grr.3) Modes: there's an Easy Auto and a Auto mode. Using the camera for a few months, I still can't tell the difference.4) Battery life is poor. I know Nikon can make a battery with tons of life. My DSLR battery lasts for weeks and hundreds of shots. Granted, it's bigger, but I think my expectations that PnS should last at least half as long are realistic.5) Battery: when it goes, it goes. One moment you'll look at the charge indicator and it will be full. The next minute, dead. This one makes me nuts. I recently returned from a trip to Mexico City. The battery, appearing fully charged, went from full to insufficient in about 4 shots. For the remainder of the day I took less quality pictures with my cell phone. This problem really irks me as it can leave one with a "brick" instead of the camera they wish they had to take decent pictures!6) The pictures are a little dull. The color range seems off and a little bit unrealistic. It's not a show stopper, but I find I have to post processing to make the pictures look more realistic. Typically a contrast adjustment is an absolute must.i was a little hard in this review for a 4-star review. I should point out that it is a nice, rugged little unit that I've fallen into the Pacific Ocean with and it has survived. In fact, it seems to work best when it's under water! Also, it's a real champion in low light. It's pretty amazing in that regard, actually.

This camera takes exceptional pictures on land, and good pictures under the water (filters are needed to take better pictures). I bought this camera for a trip to the Virgin Islands - I snorkeled at Buck island and took pictures of underwater creatures. The camera works well under water, no leak and the battery lasts for a good 2 hours (continuous use). It is little hard to take pictures under the water, because it was a very sunny day and I hardly could see anything on the screen because of the reflection. But I guess all cameras have that kind of problem. The zoom in function works great with this camera, which allows me to focus on the fish 15 feet deep while I was at the surface. The camera automatically turns into underwater mode once it hits the water, so there is not a lot of learning to be done; it is pretty simple to use right out of the box. As for the land picture, the quality of the picture is really fantastic. I would buy this camera just for the fact that it is waterproof so that I would not need to worry about the rain. I did purchase the orange float so that I won't lose my camera in the water.A lot of people complaint that this camera leaks. Either they are getting a lemon or they didn't follow the instruction. Any tiny fragment such as sand or dust or salt would prevent the waterproof door from closing properly. So before changing battery or retrieving SD card, one must submerge the camera in fresh water for 10 minutes to wash off the salt or sand. Also, one must replace the rubber seal every year to maintain waterproof integrity.

I just purchased this camera as I am going to Hawaii this Friday and wanted something for snorkeling. I haven't really tried out the water-proofing feature (my main reason for purchasing), but upon trying to register my product on Nikon's website I found out that it is a grey-market camera. I tried to use the serial number, and even after triple checking, it told me the serial number wasn't valid and that my camera is likely grey-market. I have shown a photo above of the screenshot of Nikon's warning. Please read what I have copied below from the Nikon website regarding grey market cameras. When I received my camera, the entire box besides major type was in Japanese (I didn't think anything of it), and there was no users manual, just a basic sheet with waterproofing information (also, mainly in Japanese). BUT here's where the problem comes in "Additionally, a genuine Nikon Inc. USA product will include an Owners' Manual and Warranty Registration card in English. It will also include power cables (if applicable) designed for US style plugs. Any other language on the printed material or wrong cables indicates a Gray Market item."So, the verdict is grey market. I give this one star because of it. However, I am going to try out the camera as I will be home before the 30 days return policy is up. If I find that nothing is wrong and everything operates properly I will update this review. If something does go wrong, I will be returning this camera and I will indicate here what happened.What is "Gray Market" ?Generally, a manufacturer works with a single importer who can sell and support their products in a given region. The importer usually has local dealers and distributors who resell the imported products; this is called a "distribution channel". Gray Market refers to merchandise that is imported and sold by methods other than these normal channels.For local safety regulations and certifications (FCC, CE, UL, etc.) and government requirements a manufacturer provides special packaging (manuals in the appropriate language, power cables designed for the local receptacle, etc.) and product engineering designed to meet local codes. Manufacturers also have service and support agreements with the authorized importer.Gray Market items are not designed to be sold in a particular market and cannot be supported by the authorized importer because they may not meet mandatory safety and certification codes. Because these items are not designed for a particular market they may not function properly, or the authorized importer may not be equipped to provide service, support or software.With the opening of international borders and the use of the Internet to sell goods, Gray Market equipment has become extremely common in the photographic and consumer electronics markets. Many different types of equipment are brought into North America for sale without the proper documentation and US consumers do not always know what they are purchasing.Because the resellers' cost is less they can sell Gray Market items for less. Unfortunately this price savings is only on the initial purchase; because service and support is more difficult to obtain it may end up costing the consumer more in the long run.Who is the authorized importer of Nikon Equipment into the USA ?Nikon Incorporated USA is the sole authorized importer of Nikon Corporation of Japan for photographic devices. Nikon Inc. USA pays shipping into the USA, import duties and taxes, and provides service, support and downloads for these products. Nikon Inc. USA ensures that the products they import are fully certified and safe for use in the USA market.Nikon Inc. USA cannot provide service, support or downloads for products that have not been imported by Nikon Inc. USA.How do I know if my Nikon product is "Gray Market"?If the deal was just too good to be true, it probably was. One of the first indicators that a piece of Nikon merchandise might be Gray Market is if the price is considerably less than most other resellers.Additionally, a genuine Nikon Inc. USA product will include an Owners' Manual and Warranty Registration card in English. It will also include power cables (if applicable) designed for US style plugs. Any other language on the printed material or wrong cables indicates a Gray Market item.Another indication of a Gray Market product would be photocopied manuals or manually created software CD's. Nikon Inc. USA always provides professionally printed or duplicated materials with genuine products.What does owning a "Gray Market" Nikon product mean to you?Nikon Inc. USA cannot provide any technical support or warranty service on Gray Market items. Additionally Nikon Inc. USA cannot perform any fee-based repair work on Gray Market items. Please do not contact Nikon Inc. USA for help with any Gray Market products. Please contact the reseller or importer of your Gray Market items for warranty and service information as well as software updates and downloads.Does owning a "Gray Market" Nikon product mean I don't have a warranty?No! All Nikon products come with a warranty by the manufacturer. The designated Nikon service center will always repair "in warranty" Nikon products and perform "out of warranty" repairs. If you own a Gray Market product it will need to be returned to the reseller or importer for service. Refer to your reseller or to the warranty cards included with the product for service contact information.

I purchased the Nikon AW100 after researching the waterproof pocket size offerings of the dominant manufacturers who have similar cameras. Through the reviews found online, and comparing the specifications, the Nikon seemed a bit too good to be true. It was spec'd to have higher resolution than the rest (16MP), better zoom (only 5X, but better than 3X or 4X of competitors), and it is lighter. I was a little concerned with the $300 price tag, but I figure the waterproof capability alone saves me from destroying cameras or having to deal with dry bags/boxes to protect fragile equipment is well worth the investment.When I received the camera, I dug in and checked out all the accessories. The reason I call it a "near perfect" camera is because you have to remove the battery to charge it. If you could recharge it through the USB cable that is used to offload the photos, I would definitely remove the "nearly". The charger included only works on AC power, so if you are on a long adventure, you will either need an aftermarket charger that works on 12VDC, or USB, or make sure you have plenty of extra batteries to get you through. I found that a battery will last through an active day of taking photos and videos, so I would recommend one battery per day with an extra if you are a real shutterbug If you aren't constantly turning it on and off and snapping shots, you can obviously get by with less. It remains to be seen if there is a loss of capacity in the Li-ion batteries as they age. Typically this cell chemistry does well over time.Right out of the box, I got the battery charged and installed it, and couldn't wait to get it wet. I turned it on, and filled up a large tumbler with water and plunged it in. After all, if it is going to fail on me, I want it to happen at home, not out on the trail when I am depending upon it to capture the memories of a lifetime. I let it soak for a little while and was comfortable that this little gem was definitely at least splash proof. That weekend, I went out kayak fishing offshore with some friends. I was still learning how to use many of the functions, so I accidentally left it on several times, and other rookie mistakes, but it held up perfectly and I got some good photos and video of fish being caught and released.A couple weeks later, the reason I made this purchase came up and I headed for Montana. I learned more about the functions and the panorama function was again worth the cost of the camera. When you are in the midst of enormous vistas that you have no idea how to capture, this mode is the best way to try to show your friends what you experienced. This camera takes fantastic panorama shots that capture mountain views better than I have ever pieced together in Photoshop. One click of the button and pan 180 or 360 degrees and you get the whole thing holding the camera landscape or portriat.The macro mode is also very good. I took many photos of wildflowers, of which, the ones where I remembered the macro mode, turned out fabulous. I also took some great shots of a flyfishing lure in front of a sunrise that look like postcards. Having the camera halfway submerged is the only way to get the angle and the sharpness that I achieved. Knowinig a few basics about how to frame a photo and a good camera that figures out all the little details while protecting itself from the elements makes for some amazing memories to share with friends and family.Some of the mountain lakes filled with fish were a great opportunity to video some of them swimming around. I started the video, and sank the camera into the icy water and followed the fish for some HD video that is hard to beat by National Geographic. The camera handled everything without a hitch. It was even blown off a rock a couple times while I was trying to take a self portriat using a small tripod. A four foot tumble down a boulder into the rocks didn't even scratch it.This is a tough camera, for those who need a waterproof camera that is light, reliable, and easy to use. It is the point and shoot that you have been dreaming of.Get out there!

I was nervous when I bought this because I read reviews of it leaking and it working then not working. I wanted this for a vacation I was taking to the Bahamas since I planned on going snorkeling. I ordered it really close to the day of departure so I was crossing my fingers that on my test it was no defective. I submerged it in my bathtub and took pictures of things and it worked great. I let it dry and powered it on again the next morning to make sure it was functional. My concern was salt water so I was uneasy still. I took it out in the waters of the Bahamas took videos and pictures in the water and it worked great. video was incredible and pictures were as well. I submerged it as the directions state in water to rinse it took it out and let it dry. I powered it on the next day and it worked great. I am thinking some people may have issue because the seal for the battery is very fragile as the directions state. The suggest opening the door and holding it upside down so any particles such as sand or whatever do not stay in the seal. If you close the air tight seal with an obstruction then water can seep in. Design flaw? no just reality. Make sure you do not close anything in the seal such as camera strap or sand and the seal should not be damaged. as a precaution I have affixed my camera strap to the opposite side of the door to avoid such a mishap. Anyways its a great product and I have yet to have any issues. To the people who are saying it takes crap pictures underwater I say this. Murky waters will not take awesome pictures. I have used underwater surveillance equipment in waters that are dirty and even with intense lights designed to offset murky waters you still cant see anything so make sure a) your camera is set to underwater mode and b) make sure your not in dirty water.