Today is shaping up to be a big day for new camera announcements. First we had the new P7100 from Nikon, and next up will be some news from Sony. Now, though, we look at Nikon's first ruggedized point-and-shoot, the Coolpix AW100.
As you'd expect of a rugged camera, it can be used underwater (to 33 feet), survive drops from five feet and keep working down to a chilly 14˚F (-10˚C). It also comes in a hard-to-lose orange (as well as black and boring blue), and weighs in at just 6.3 ounces (179 grams).
But that's just the entry fee to this game, and Nikon ups the ante with some very smart outdoorsy extras. First is GPS, which not only geotags your images but tracks you as you trek. There's also a digital compass which can be displayed on the rear screen, and built-in maps.
Also very clever is the shaky-cam feature (a name I just made up). You can assign one of several functions to be switched when you shake the camera, letting you keep your gloves on.
As to the camera functions, the sensor is 16MP, the LCD three inches, the top ISO is 3200, the 5x zoom goes from 28-140mm (35mm equivalent) and the movies are 1080p (with a slo-mo option up to 240fps).
In short, it has pretty much everything you need, and is tough enough to come with you. The AW100 will cost $380 when it goes on sale in September.
Nikon Coolpix AW100 product page [Nikon. thanks, Geoff!]
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