My Nikon AW 130 died on the first dive...

[Hoag]

I am sitting on an airplane on my way to Manila at the moment. My plan is to use my GoPro but my wife bought one of these to use while we are in Coron. Do you guys think this camera will be suitable for shallow snorkeling and use while we are island hopping or should I just plan to use the GoPro for everything?

If it were me, I think that I would look at the Nikon as a good Point & Shoot camera and use it while above the surface. I would use the GoPro for everything below the surface. This does not mean that the Nikon wouldn't work while diving, but only that I would tend to not subject it to the stress of a dive if I had a GoPro available.

 

[john-moses]

If it were me, I think that I would look at the Nikon as a good Point & Shoot camera and use it while above the surface. I would use the GoPro for everything below the surface. This does not mean that the Nikon wouldn't work while diving, but only that I would tend to not subject it to the stress of a dive if I had a GoPro available.

I had planned to use the GoPro for everything I couldn't use the phone for. I will go with your recommendation though as I would rather not be worried about a leaking camera putting a damper on my vacation.

 

[emoreira]

I was planning to buy one AW130 after my setup flooded in the last dive excursion. I was trying to choose between the AW130 and the Sealife Micro HD. Now I'm discarding the AW130.
I like the Sealife concept Permanently Sealed.

 

[MikeyIdea]

Hi guys
I have a yellow one that I have used on a number of dives down to 25 metres depth. It is working great and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a cheap underwater water compact camera that takes good underwater pictures and videos

A few things
That it takes good underwater pictures and videos doesn't mean that there aren't cameras that do it better, just not for the same price
Handle it carefully, bumping it too much can (read will) make it leak - Nikon specifically warns about that
Make sure that camera is clean and dry including rinsing salt water off before opening the battery compartment and always use the little brush before closing it - Again, Nikon specifically points this out

Nikon has good quality control. My own experience vs. the ones reported here leads me to think that perhaps external circumstances lead to the failures. I have used mine over and over and it is still great

It is not a professional USD 1,000 underwater camera, if it is treated like one and then breaks, it's not the camera's fault.

On another note
- I do miss raw mode (can only save JPEG = difficult to correct white balance)
- Manual white balance are too many clicks away
- I do use Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Premiere to improve most pictures and videos but to be honest, it's enough for normal hobby use also without that

Mikey