Nikon COOLPIX AW110 Wi-Fi and Waterproof Digital Camera with GPS (Blue) (OLD MODEL)

I bought our Nikon AW110 just over a year ago in preparation for a family vacation in Florida. We were destined for the usual tourist destinations--including Disney World, Sea World, and Daytona Beach--and I wanted something that I could keep out & at the ready rain or shine, surf or turf. The size (approximately 4.25" x 2.5" x 1") makes it easy enough to carry around or put in a pocket or purse. Out of the box, the camera takes lackluster pictures. You have to go into the soft menu to increase the image quality (up to 4608 x 3456). The image quality is quite respectable once that is done. At the larger image sizes, it allows you to do decent 8" x 10" prints--even with a bit of cropping. On the waterproof side, we have gotten it wet with no ill effects. It has survived water rides at amusement parks and a couple excursions into a hotel pool. Best yet, we have some great underwater pictures. Make no mistake though. This is not a DSLR replacement. The shortcomings for this camera are a bit harder to explain. It is, after all, a relatively affordable and small point & shoot camera. To keep the size & price down, Nikon has used less sophisticated & more compact optics & imaging chips and a compact battery pack. All of this is pretty standard fair in a camera this size, but it does impact the overall performance of the camera. Action shots & quickly taken photos can create varying levels of blurriness in your pictures. To put it into some perspective, we (primarily me & my 11 year old daughter) took about 80 pictures at Sea World's dolphin show. I deleted about a dozen pictures due to our own framing issues; like cutting off a dolphin's head while trying to capture its jump out of the water. I deleted about another 15 pictures due to blurriness. The roughly 50 remaining pictures came out great. We have some excellent pictures with dolphins jumping six feet (or more) out of the water, and even the water droplets streaming off of the dolphin's tale are clearly captured. Flash memory is pretty cheap these days. So take a lot of pictures. You will be rewarded. And to revisit my earlier comment on the battery, the battery life can be lackluster. You will probably want to buy & carry a spare battery for longer day trips--especially if you plan on taking a fair number of pictures (100+). A single batter will probably suffice for shorter adventures where you will only be taking a couple dozen pictures. In closing, it is a great, pocket-sized & waterproof camera. I would not hesitate to buy another one. Overall image quality is quite nice. But, its size & price point can make it behave a bit like Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde: some of your pictures will be stunningly clear and others blurry.

I bought this camera for a kayaking trip. We would be going through rapids, so I didn't want to risk taking pics with my iPhone or other Nikon (non-waterproof) camera. This camera took AMAZING pictures! The features are well worth the money. The key is picking the right setting for the right kind of lighting. The pics are crisp, clear and true. It's also very tough! We took turns with the camera as we each got pics of each other making it over the waterfalls. A friend who had the camera at the time, capsized and got pinned against a boulder. She was fine, but the camera really took a beating. It was fully submerged and hit the rock before she did. Not a scratch on it, though! Nothing slowed this camera down. I absolutely love it and based on it's rugged durability and picture quality, it's now my go-to camera whether I'm on the water or not. I spent weeks researching cameras and I'm very happy that I went with the Nikon COOPIX AW110 The GPS comes in handy when you're hiking or kayaking pretty far. We kayaked 8 miles the first day and there were several times the river split and we weren't sure which direction to go. My friends couldn't get a signal on their phone to use their map, but we could use the GPS on the camera. If you have any trouble picking the right settings for the right set-up, just go to youtube and search for this camera. There are MANY helpful demos. If you're still trying to make up your mind, youtube also has some great reviews that compare this camera with several other top brands. Can't wait to hit the next river with this thing! Oh and it takes pics in a flash, too. There were many times we caught wildlife along the river that we had no warning of and only seconds to get a good shot. I kept the camera hooked to my life jacket (when it was my turn to carry it) so it was always within reach. I also purchases the Nikon float for the camera....you don't want this thing getting away if you do capsize! Many people lost cameras going over the waterfalls b/c they didn't have a float. The cameras just sank to the bottom.

I bought this camera for scuba diving prior to a trip to the Philippines, and I picked this one because it has the best depth rating within its product category. It's rated for up 18m in depth, the maximum depth for PADI Open Water certification. This camera is loaded interesting features. GPS, compass (which was useful while underwater), and wifi, which allowed me to transfer pictures to my android phone. This with an adapter for 40.5mm filters that allowed me to use an underwater red filter with this camera. The battery life is good, although the bulky charger could be smaller. The manual white balance feature has been very useful. This camera doesn't save images in RAW format, which would've been very useful for adjusting color balance after taking pictures. During the 1st dive on my trip, I noticed the outer window of the screen concaving inward as I went deeper. Then at around 10m, the window was touching the OLED screen. There's a sealed air gap between the window and the screen which cannot be pressure-equalized, causing the window to bend inward as you go deeper underwater... not a good design. However, I went down to 15m with no functional. I have read other reviews where this camera failed while snorkeling/diving during vacation. Fortunately, this wasn't the case for me. A few weeks later, I took further PADI certification and had this camera with me. While in the middle of an underwater photography session at no more than 8m depth, the screen suddenly failed with no warning signs. The rest of the camera was still functional, but it was useless without a working screen. After soaking the camera in cool fresh water and letting it dry, I opened the battery cover and did not notice any moisture, dirt, or anything unusual. I called Nikon and sent my camera in for warranty repair. Nikon repaired the camera under warranty and sent it back within a week, although they denied this being a common issue with this particular model, despite this issue not being an isolated one. This fact leads me to believe that the underwater design flaw is still in existence of this model. This is a good camera if was more reliable at being waterproof up to 18m. If you're a scuba diver and plan to buy this camera (or already have it), do yourself a favor and get an underwater housing for it. They are pricey, but they are more reliable and generally allow for far greater depths.

I am currently on my second AW110. I purchased the AW110 2 days prior to going on vacation to Bermuda. I was expecting to take great photos while snorkeling with this camera. The camera is rated for underwater use at a depth of 59', and not to exceed 1 hour. I snorkeled for 30 minutes, and did not reach a depth greater than 10' (which is a generous over-estimate). Upon coming out of the water, the camera would turn on, but the screen would not illuminate. The screen remained black and is no longer functional. While the camera has many nice features like integrated Wi-Fi, GPS, and the ability to take 3D pictures, the camera just didn't hold up to even 1/6th of the promised depth. I contacted Nikon Customer Support/Service which was a complete and utter joke. The representative that I spoke with claimed to be both customer service and technical support; she was neither technically proficient nor friendly. I was told to send my camera into Nikon at my own expense for it to be evaluated and Nikon would repair it if possible. If the camera was not repairable, they would "possibly" replace it. I am extremely thankful that I purchased the AW110 from Amazon.com as they just replaced the entire Camera with minimal questions asked, prepaid return shipping, and the postal carrier picked up the package at my front door. Lastly, I read many reviews before purchasing this camera and this has happened to MANY MANY individuals. A basic search on the Internet as well as Amazon.com will show an overwhelming community of consumers that have been viciously bitten by this product. When I mentioned this to the Technical Support Representative, she exclaimed that she had never heard of this issue before... I'll leave the readers of this review to generate their own opinion on that note. If I didn't already have a Nikon DSLR prior to purchasing this AW110, I'd be sure to shop with the 5 - Letter competitor that starts with C and ends with anon. Furthermore, I urge any representative of Nikon with any level of pride in their organization that may be reading this review to contact me. Update #1: Nikon rejected this very same review on their website for "One or more reasons" which are unnamed. Only positive reviews are allowed. ;)

This little camera is awesome! Done. We are planning a trip out of the country, and we plan on going scuba diving or at least snorkeling around some shallow coral reefs in a few months. I only plan on taking this down maybe 20 feet at most, so it should do just fine for that application. I've been playing around with normal pictures. This camera is totally awesome. It's one of those cameras that the display ON the camera, is just that.. a display. Meaning, when you put the picture on a HD tv, or computer monitor, the picture is a ton better! The camera has all kinds of preset modes. Pet, low light, party indoor, macro, fireworks, etc. You can easily / quickly navigate to the presets and manual settings. The zoom is all digital - so .. it's.. okay. But, at 16 megapixels, you can zoom all you want to, later at home. The battery life is average. If you are using the GPS, and tracking yourself, and doing all of this optional stuff, yeah - the battery dies out decently fast. Otherwise, it's average. So I purchased a 3rd party battery and charger kit for super cheap here on Amazon.com. The build quality on this camera is super solid. It is somewhat beefy and has a heft to it. Nothing that will tear your pants off of you or anything. But, it's not dinky feeling by far. The memory card and battery pack are inside of a closed water-tight hatch. Thats where the connectors are too. So, you don't have some junky little plastic flap covering a USB connetion - hoping its closed when you get under the water. heheheh. It's a sure closure, with a lock mechanism. I don't think you could accidentally open it under water by bumping it. Awesome camera. Highly recommended. Geeky. GPS and workable map installed. Very cool.

After 7 months of use (and 12+ years of 6 other digital camera models), I am very satisfied with Coolpix AW110's performance, HD quality, and reliability. It truly is water-proof. Though in my case, it's only been through shallow water and occasional splashes, I wasn't really looking for, say, deep-water dive resistance anyway. There are only two minor drawbacks. (1) The factory-shipped battery's capacity; it only lasts up to about 2 to 3 hours of continuous use outdoors (depending on the level of usage). But carrying around a spare battery solves that "problem." Note that some manufacturers' compact models do not offer interchangeable batteries (only not-easy-to-remove, built-in battery). I'm glad Coolpix has interchangeable batteries among other bells and whistles. (2) The lens window in front seems to collect or attract tiny dust or pollens sometimes. Though I don't particularly think it is a flaw of this model, on occasions, those tiny dust particles get picked up subtly by the HD video recording. But I just gotta remember to gently wipe the lens before shooting a scene at dusty places.

I bought this camera because I needed a camera I could take underwater for vacation, use in the snow for snowboarding, and throw around in the cockpit when I'm flying. Needless to say, this camera met and exceeded my expectations in performance. When I bought it, I expected some sort of picture-quality tradeoff for all the features this camera has. It didn't. The camera still delivers high-definition photos and videos. 1080p. Sound quality on the videos can suck if the source is farther away (such as at a live concert). If you're recording someone talking, you won't have a problem with it. I took this camera snorkeling, into the pool, and scuba diving down to 25 feet, and it's still kicking strong. I was worried at one point when there appeared to be a hazy film of moisture in the screen after leaving it in the pool for about an hour, but placing it in a sunny spot on some towels remedied that problem. Its auto mode is great for new camera users, but if you're a more advanced user, you can select different modes for different situations (there is a mode for every situation thinkable...from low-light outdoor landscape shots, to food shots, to pet shots). It also features a GPS system, which logs the exact coordinates (and compass direction you were facing!) of *almost* every photo you shoot (depends on GPS uplink connection). I thought that was pretty cool, because I travel a lot and think it's pretty interesting to be able to pull up a map of every location I've snapped a photo. I bought the 110 model, which features a wifi app that allows you to wirelessly link this thing to devices that do not have a SD card slot (e.g. Apple products). You'll have to install an app, but it's worth it. This app allows me to wirelessly transfer photos from my camera, take photos using my iPhone as a remote, and view albums from my phone. A feature I have yet to use is the I-have-fat-fingers/I-am-wearing-snowgloves button on the side of the camera. By depressing this button, you can flip through different commands such as "take photos," "view photos," "change mode," etc. by simply shaking the camera. I expect to use this button a lot when I take my camera snowboarding this year. It has the qualities a Go-Pro, but with more options. Bottom line: If you're a world traveler, and are expecting to do a lot of diverse things on your trips, from the skies to the oceans, or from the slopes to the backpacking trails, this camera is for you.

I personally love this camera. I took it with me on a 3 month trip abroad and it went pretty much everywhere. I used this camera underwater on multiple occasions and I didn't have any problems with it. Of course, the efficacy of the water seal will depend on how you take care of your camera; sand or dirt would probably negatively impact the seal, but you're provided with a convenient little brush to help you clean. Also, you should make sure you soak your camera a bit in fresh water after you've been using it in the ocean and then dry it off properly. My order also came with a super convenient floating strap, so that was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. Overall I think the picture quality is great, you have a lot of different options that you can select in order to change the file size of the photos. You can also change the resolution of the video if for any reason you don't want to shoot 1080p. There are a couple of features that were useless to me but may be useful to other people, like the depth gauge, however those can be turned off if they bother you. This camera is super quick to focus and takes great pictures even if you're on a bus/train, or you don't have time to stop walking and take a pic. There are a lot of useful settings on this camera, and the auto feature is great. However, if you're a more experienced photographer you can change a lot of stuff and shoot more manually. The video on this thing is great and the sound quality is pretty good; there is a wind reduction setting but I personally found that turning that feature off led to better audio. The audio underwater is also pretty good, granted it will get a bit distorted if you're repeatedly taking it out and putting it back into water. Zooming in isn't the smoothest while you're recording, but its one of those things that you get better at with practice, also there is a slight buzz noise while zooming but it's only detectable if you're filming in complete silence. This camera is the perfect size to fit in your pocket comfortably. The screen is pretty big and the buttons are comfortable to use. I will mention however that the screen picks up small scratches relatively easily, but you can just cut up a phone screen protector if you have one lying around and put that on if you think it'd bother you. It really isn't that noticeable unless you're looking for it. Overall, I'd highly recommend this camera. I think it's a good value in terms of image quality as well as versatility. I'm sure professional photographers could probably find some faults in it (as with any camera), but if you're just an average person or you don't want to spend all that money on a gopro then I think this is perfect. You pretty much have all the same capabilities of a gopro except you can take way better photos (whether or not you actually know what you're doing).