Blue 26319

My husband and I took this on our cruise to use for snorkeling since our DSLR was going nowhere near the water! The picture quality (while obviously not comparing to our DSLR) is pretty good and we got some great pictures of the sea turtles and other underwater creatures we saw (images posted on the product page). I tried to hold the camera as steady as possible when taking pictures, but obviously that's difficult in the water, and the turtles aren't holding still to pose! Even so, we had very few blurry pictures. I put in brand new Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA batteries before we left, and the battery indicator was still full when we we came home a week later, even after keeping it on for long periods of time while snorkeling and looking at all the photos each night. Got an Amazon basics 4 GB memory card that lasted all week as well (camera indicated it would hold about 700 pictures). The battery/card cover was hard to get open when we got back. It looks like it has some salt built up around the edges, so we'll see how it works the next time we use it. BUT, considering we took 300+ underwater pictures and the disposables would have cost about $10 each + $10 or so to develop and they only take 27 pictures each AND we'd only have printed, not digital, photos from them, it was still a great buy, even if we only get one vacation out of it. Bottom line: While I wouldn't make it my everyday camera, it worked great for underwater pictures, which is why we bought it, and I'm so glad we got this instead of wasting money on disposables. A word of caution: if you're using it in waves or taking it in and out of the water, make sure the lens is free of drops, since the screen can be hard to see in the sun. I wasn't paying attention and had some otherwise great above-water pictures obstructed by water drops on the outside of the lens.

My intended use for this camera: - Photographs of gardens and landscapes, mainly for before-and-after images, and for documenting technical aspects of in-progress landscape installation work. (Valves, wiring, carpentry, etc.) Why I bought this model: - Less than $150. - Runs on (2) standard AA batteries, not a proprietary power pack. - Advertised as waterproof to 10 feet. (Important because I may use it in wet / muddy conditions in the garden.) My experience so far: Received the camera in May 2012, took a few hundred shots, dropped it from about 3' onto a linoleum surface (really, not that big a drop,) at which point the LCD screen conked out. Warranty service was free (complete replacement) but took >6 weeks to process. Image quality is good (for such a small lens) *when the camera auto-focuses properly*, which is about 75% of the time, even in broad daylight. Frequently tends to over-expose shots in bright light. Distortion is quite noticeable, esp. when attempting portraits of faces from closer than about 6'. Macro/close-up mode is good to about 2". Flash can be set to either "Auto" or "OFF," but cannot be manually locked "ON". Can be annoying in certain low-light situations. Not sure about waterproof-ness, haven't tested the unit underwater or in heavy rain yet. (I may update my review after using the camera in the rain.) Verdict: Price a bit too high for a camera that doesn't reliably auto-focus or auto-expose. Still, for simple utility purposes, it's working OK so far. Don't expect great-quality images from it.

I bought this camera specifically for a recent vacation as I knew I would be doing some snorkeling. As I didn't want the hassle of a point and shoot disposable, but don't go snokeling very often, I wanted something digital, midprice and reliable and chose Nikon as a leading brand. When the camera arrived, I was surprised at how heavy it was and quite chunky, but it seemed sturdy and as it is also meant to be shockproof, seemed fine. I inserted batteries and an SD card and was up and running. The camera menu interface is straightforward and easy to use and it didn't take me long to find the "underwater photo" setting. I took a few snaps around a pool and everything seemed fine. However, as soon as I started to use the camera actually underwater, the LCD screen appeared to fog up, as if water had got into it and it became totally unusable. I persevered and took several more photos despite being unable to aim properly. The camera claims to be waterproof down to 3m, so about 10 feet - I don't think I even went deeper than 5 or 6 feet, so it certainly wasn't anything to do with the water pressure Once I got back to my hotel room, I opened up the watertight battery compartment and was pleased to see that both the batteries and the SD card seemed dry and unaffected - it was just the LCD screen that was now showing just a white screen with glimpses of the actual image. Over several days the LCD screen seemed to "dry out" and return to almost normal view, but now some fo the menu buttons don't work. Also the actual pictures taken by the camera underwater and video were OK, but nothing special - can't quite work out if that is the camera quality or the water visibility which was a bit cloudy, or a bit of both. Overall experience very poor and I returned the camera to Amazon - return was picked up quickly by UPS and full refund issued within three days - if only the camera had performed as well as Amazon

I was very apprehensive to get this given the bad reviews but I really needed an underwater camera without breaking the bank. I am truly happy that I did extensive research and got this camera. I want to post pictures and a video as soon as I can but it is definitely worth the purchase if you want to save on a "go pro" price. I have not tested the shockproof capabilities and I honestly do not want to. Additionally I made sure to wipe down the camera after every exposure to water and limited the time in the water environment. Pros: Great price nice design and sturdy in hand works well in water (what it was designed to do) good video quality easy to use great camera features, maybe not great, but "fun" Cons: flash capabilities limited (auto or off) if you dont have correct setting, pictures can be distorted and useless thanks for reading!! ps: go check out the pics I uploaded to support this review!!!

This is the second Nikon waterproof camera we've purchased. The first was the AW100, and I like both cameras for different reasons. I bought the AW100 for me to use while scuba diving in shallow water, and I got the S30 for the kids to use in the pool. It's perfect for them. The buttons are large and easy to use, and I like the setup - the shutter button and video record button are both on top, separated by the on/off button, and all the menu, feature and playback buttons are on the back. I think this is a great design for kids. Many of the "fun" options in the camera are definitely designed to appeal to kids, but I'm looking forward to trying some of them, too, such as the time lapse and fireworks modes. In terms of images, the HD videos are very sharp, and the photos are also good, as long as you make sure to set the camera to the highest resolution. Note that if you select the option to add an in-camera frame to your images, the camera seems to default to the lowest resolution - 2 MP - so I would avoid this setting if you want good quality photos. You can always add a digital frame later with photo editing software. I think this is a great camera if you just want something to take to the pool or the beach and you don't want to worry about the kids dropping it in the water or on the ground. It's easy to use, takes good photos, and you can't go wrong with a Nikon. The only things I don't like about this camera are the AA batteries (I wish it used the same rechargeable as my AW100) and the battery/memory card door; I have to use both hands to slide the lock one way and slide the door the other way. You won't have to worry about the kids accidentally opening it, which is a good thing, but I much prefer the design of the AW100. Other than that, however, I think this is a great camera for the price.

This camera worked great in the water and out. The pictures were only grainy when zoomed in all the way, but overall the pictures were good. This camera was perfect for snorkeling and boating. I got great underwater shots. Extremely easy to use as well. For a 7 day trip I only changed the batteries twice. It took a beating on some rocks without breaking. Most important of all it did not leak water into it and break like most of the other cameras available.

I purchased the camera and was happy at first and then about two months into using it the side buttons stopped working. Also the part that covers up the memory card and batteries is extremely hard to open. It takes good quality photos but not good enough for me to want another coolpix s30. Again I would not suggest getting this camera. However despite the many problems it was a good first camera and perfect for a snorkeling vacation. It was easy to use and convenient because it runs on AA batteries.

My daughter was excited to receive this camera from me. There are several kid friendly elements to the camera like the placement of the shutter button, power button, and video button. Also, the flash is centered, so it is much less likely she will cover the flash with her fingers. She likes the camera and the LCD screen is fine. I can attest that it is rugged and waterproof since it was both dropped on vacation and used underwater at the pool. There a few things I don't like about the camera. The shutter button is difficult for her to press. There is no way to disable the digital zoom. She likes taking closeup pictures of things, but the S30 doesn't do well unless set in macro mode. However, the macro setting is only available after a few button clicks in the menu instead of a dedicated button. Also, my daughter likes to use the Decorate option to frame her photos as she takes them, but using decorations fixes the photos at small 2 megapixel shots. Low light performance isn't great for focusing or photo quality. She still enjoys the camera and picture quality is fine in good light. Much better than the typical "toy" child's camera. Note: Twice the camera has became stuck which prevented me from changing any settings or turning on the flash. This was fixed by choosing to Reset All in the camera settings.