Nikon S8100

Does anyone have this camera? I think it's fairly new to the market. I have my D90 for topside, but looking for something small for underwater to replace my old Canon P&S.

I just got this camera for my wife for Christmas. So we only have a one day review. So far, it's great! Shoots nice video and stills. She has a D60 for topside stuff. I'm hoping Ikelite makes a housing for it soon!!

Read the reviews for this camera on Amazon. There are a lot of positives, but also some negatives. In a nutshell, people love the still photos, but complain that the autofocus is noisy for video. Some had reliability complaints - autofocus did not work for spot subjects, or simply failed. Some people preferred the image quality over Canon S95 in a direct hands on comparison, so this is a seriously fine camera, but seems somehow inconsistent in quality. Some quirks/irks: They only provide a cheat sheet guide as a manual, with the main manual on CD for you to print - a pain. You have to charge the battery in the camera by USB cord, or buy an aftermarket charger for maybe $10 if you want to have a ready battery to swap. Come on Nikon, this needs a charger and printed manual.

I am a Nikon nut, so I am hoping they will make a serious answer to the Canon S95, but there are questions whether this cam made the grade. I have not found any housings for it. Perhaps Ikelite later on, maybe Fantasea (they do Nikon housiings).

Read all the reviews on Amazon and see if the positive features are what you are looking for, and the negatives are not deal breakers.

Ikelite has a housing for this, so far they are the only one. I contacted Fantasea and they said they have no intention of producing one. I hope to get one soon. I was hoping for one before Coz in a couple weeks, but I will definitely have one before I head to Bonaire.

I have this camera and it takes very nice pictures. I am also considering purchasing the Ikelite housing before our trip to Cozumel in August. Did you buy the housing Doug, if so, do you like it?

Reidkon:

I have this camera and it takes very nice pictures. I am also considering purchasing the Ikelite housing before our trip to Cozumel in August. Did you buy the housing Doug, if so, do you like it?

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I purchased it on Friday from Helix Photo in Chicago. It's supposed to be here sometime today!! I love this little camera. I've been using it more than my D90!

Great! I am looking forward to seeing some diving pictures from your next trip.
FYI, here is a comment I received from a camera store manager in Calgary regarding using the S8100 for diving:

" Just to provide you some feedback, I do have some experience in diving and doing underwater photography. The Nikon S8100 is a decent enough camera but having the huge optical zoom is not at all useful underwater, likely it will be a bigger problem as you will be inclined to use the zoom but due to the buoyancy underwater all your images will be very blurry with the zoom lens extended. And again using an off-brand housing can present some challenges."

The camera should produce nice pictures at shallower dives without an external flash, but according to him the use of the zoom should be avoided. However, having no experience with underwater photography, I am not sure why images would be blurry when using the zoom.

Update

I got my wife the Ikelite housing for our trip to Roatan. She loved it! It was our first attempt at U/W Photography but I think it turned out great. We need to learn more about flash and exposure but I think the S8100 and the Ikelite housing is a great setup. I'll try and attach a couple photos...

These photos look great, but I would love to see more! I am also about to purchase this housing.....

shafe5858:

I got my wife the Ikelite housing for our trip to Roatan. She loved it! It was our first attempt at U/W Photography but I think it turned out great. We need to learn more about flash and exposure but I think the S8100 and the Ikelite housing is a great setup. I'll try and attach a couple photos...
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