New Camera

[OnMyWay]

I had been wanting a new point and shoot camera for a while, especially one that will go underwater.  In addition to getting UW shots, if you take your camera with you when at the beach, you don't have to worry about someone stealing it while you swim!

 

I have had my last point and shoot since 2007, a Panosonic TZ-7, and it has been a good camera.  However, I noticed that it has been harder to get good low light shots and the zoom has been getting noisy during video.  I also have a DSLR but the convenience of a pocket camera results in me taking it a lot of places where I would not take the DSLR due to the bulk.

 

I had my eye on the Olympus TG-4 (Tough Series).  My friend has the TG-3 and has some really nice UW shots with it.  I went to Singapore last weekend and thought I might be able to find one.  I don't think they have them in the Philippines.  My friend in Singapore said he thought the prices would be really high, so I was not encouraged.  We happened by Courts Electronics on Orchard, so I popped in and they had a sale going on.  The TG-4 was 499 SGD, which is about 350 USD, the same as the US Amazon price.  A good deal in Asia.

 

However, the sales guy was very knowledgeable and pushed me towards the Nikon AW-120.  It was only 399 SGD, about 280 USD, also about the same as the Amazon price.  It is not the newest in the line;  they have the AW 130 now but it is similar.  I had done some research on both cameras and the big sell on the TG-4 for me was the F2.0 lens, whereas the Nikon is only F2.8.   Most of the other features are similar, although the TG-4 has a couple of higher end features like Raw and manual focus.  Both are waterproof to about 50 ft, shockproof, and have WiFi and GPS.  I had already dropped a lot of money on the Singapore trip so I decided to give the cheaper Nikon a try.

 

I didn't break it out until yesterday, after we got back.  So far, so good, but I have not taken it in the water yet.  I was pleased to find out that the video is good, and has slo mo and fast mo functions, which are a lot of fun.  Here are a couple of samples I took today.  I'll post some UW shots as soon as I get down for some snorkeling.

 

Katy in a sun / shade scene underneath the huge trees in front of the chapel where Abby and I were married.

 

 

Veggies for juicing tonight

 

 

Katy in front of the chapel, slo mo.  This is recorded at 4X high speed and then plays back at regular speed, so this is actually 1/4 speed.  There are options for 8X and 2X as well as .5X which is the fast motion.  I put this in Windows Movie Maker and added the music.

 

https://goo.gl/photos/ovAauYbbu7eMzfyaA

 

[Jake]

Love your Nikon AW-120.  That 2.8 lens is still pretty good capturing low light conditions (you didn't use the flash) of your beautiful Katy in the shade.  I really like the slow and fast motion video recording, all in vivid high definition.  

 

Thank you for sharing Don!   Camo skin

 

PS -- where would you go for underwater photography?  Somewhere inside the base or up in the beaches near Barrio Barretto?    

Edited November 11, 2015 by Jake

[Kuya John]

Katy in front of the chapel, slo mo

OMW

It's easy to spot a winner :thumbsup:

[stevewool]

I have no idea which one to go for , but me liking the Nikon brand thats the one i would chose, its all down to what you really want and what you think you may want,

[OnMyWay]

PS -- where would you go for underwater photography?  Somewhere inside the base or up in the beaches near Barrio Barretto?

 

Camayan beach has decent snorkeling and the cleanest water in the area.  It normally costs p300 to get in but I bought an annual membership the past 2 years so it is free after paying that.

[mogo51]

I bought the significant other a camera 9 months ago and she is thrilled with it. An Olympus Penlite E-PLS whatever that means.

All I know is, I turn it on, take off the cap cover, get the subject matter somewhere near the middle, press the button and it works = bloody marvelous 

[OnMyWay]

I bought the significant other a camera 9 months ago and she is thrilled with it. An Olympus Penlite E-PLS whatever that means.

All I know is, I turn it on, take off the cap cover, get the subject matter somewhere near the middle, press the button and it works = bloody marvelous 

 

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Olympus because my first digital camera was an Olympus C-2100 UZ.  They were a step ahead of Nikon and Canon when it came to digital back then.  2 mp with a big 10X zoom lens sticking out of it.  Only 2 mp but it took really nice shots, both zoom and macro.  Based on the dates on Amazon, I probably bought it in the late 90's.  Check out the reviews on Amazon.  A guy there said in 2010 he had his for 13 years!  I passed mine down to my niece and and she passed it to her daughter.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-C-2100-Digital-Camera-Optical/product-reviews/B00004Y2MM/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewopt_srt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1

[OnMyWay]

Well, the Nikon AW 120 lasted a bit short of 2 years.  I had always worried about it when using it in water because a lot of complaints in the Amazon reviews were because about it leaking.  And it finally did leak.  We went for an overnighter at the beach Sat evening / Sun morning, and as soon as I was in the water the display started acting funny, then went black.  However, I could hear it focusing and still taking pictures, so I continued to use it until Sunday morning, when the whole camera went dead.

I was always very careful about making sure the seal on the little door was clean before closing it, but it ended up being the display that leaked.  A common complaint on Amazon.  I am out of warranty so I don't think I will try to have it repaired.  I think I will try the Olympus TZ series this next time.

Here are the last decent pics taken with the AW 120.  R.I.P.  Except for the first few, they were taken without a display or viewfinder, so I was just aiming and shooting.

 

 

 

 

[Snowy79]

I've got the Olympus TG-4 (Tough Series) and rate it highly. The battery lasts a decent amount of time and with the wifi it's great to transfer the photos to your phone for forwarding quickly. I have had a n issue transferring videos to my phone. It says it's downloaded but it hasn't. I'm thinking it's my phone as on an older phone it worked fine. I was going to upload an underwater video but it's over 66mb. The video is crystal clear.

[OnMyWay]

38 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

I've got the Olympus TG-4 (Tough Series) and rate it highly. The battery lasts a decent amount of time and with the wifi it's great to transfer the photos to your phone for forwarding quickly. I have had a n issue transferring videos to my phone. It says it's downloaded but it hasn't. I'm thinking it's my phone as on an older phone it worked fine. I was going to upload an underwater video but it's over 66mb. The video is crystal clear.

Yes, I meant TG, not TZ.  My friend has some amazing underwater shots with the TG-3.  He bought a UW housing for it so he can take it SCUBA diving in addition to snorkeling.

How is the TG-4 for indoor and in low light indoors?  The Nikon was poor at getting sharp pictures in those conditions.