Stills camera- Nikon aw110

    Anyone have experience with the Nikon aw110? http://reviews.cnet.com/digita…4505-6501_7-35599831.html Wondering mostly about overall photo quality more important than features and all. For that matter if anyone is really knowledgeable about cameras what is the ultimate underwater camera rig for <500$ or so? (the Nikon aw110 is around $250)


    I appreciate any input :thumbsup5:

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    Steve o buddy. Get yourself an olympus tg-2.
    Frank has one.



    Actually never mind. I forgot your diving depth. You would need the extra case which basically doubles the cost to 650$ ish

    i like to spear fish

    I read a review on it and it does look awesome. I only NEED it for very shallow in which case I think the tg-2 performs great but man now that ive been researching I totally want a badass $1400 rig:rolleyes1:

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    Steve,


    When I was shopping around for an U/W rig, I looked at many options. My ideal would have been to upgrade my DSLR, throw it in a Nauticam housing, add a strobe or two and slap a big ole dome fisheye on it. However my budget did not meet my dreams as is often the case. So I set out on finding a cheaper alternative that would give me a bit better quality and control over the photos than what I was getting with my GoPro 3.


    I found that if I was't going to be using a DSLR, I had two primary options...


    1. Buy a good compact and throw it in a housing.
    2. Buy a camera that's already waterproof.


    Option 1 would have been good but it was still a bit on the pricey side. One of the best compacts out there right now is the Canon S110 and that plus a housing was over $700. The 4/3 cameras are awesome as well but most of the cams and lenses I was finding were over that $500 mark and still out of reach. Plus I figured if Im gonna drop a grand into a compact u/w set-up, I might as well just buy a case for my SLR.


    So I chose option 2.


    Option 2 basically broke down into 3 camera that were all similar.


    1. Olympus TG-2
    2. Nikon AW110
    3. Panasonic Lumix TS5


    After watching this video:
    Underwater Camera Shootout: Olympus TG-2 vs. Panasonic TS5 vs. Nikon AW110 - YouTube


    And reading these in-depth articles:


    I was impressed with the TG-2 and it' fast f/2.0 aperture lens (which is good for lower light shots). So I made the purchase and a week later ordered the Wide-Angle from Olympus. It also has one of the closest focus distance for macro shots out of any compact camera.


    Here are some samples from the TG-2 that I have taken over the past couple of months.












    And here is a sample video from Hollywood on Saturday:
    Olympus TG-2 Underwater Sample - YouTube

    Thanks for taking the time to do this write up, Frank. Your pictures are undeniably awesome. Especially those macro shots. The TG-2 does seem to be the best of the compact cameras, if that's the route I go the choice is clear. Some of those shots look like they'd be in one of those coffee table picture books; truly epic

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