Hi,
I'm looking for a good point-n-shoot with decent underwater capability, and I narrowed it down to the Nikon AW100 and the Panasonic FT4, and maybe the Olympus TG-1. Specs-wise, it seems the Olympus wins - but it's also the most expensive of the bunch, for around 600 dollars, so I actually not really consider it. For the FT4 and AW100 I find mixed reviews, some claiming the AW100 delivering poor IQ, others stating the FT4 UW not being reliable. I actually wanted to get the FT3, but all the stores I asked either don't stock it anymore or ask for a price similar to the FT4, which seems to be 500+ dollars. The Nikon on the other hand can be had for <400, making it the most attractive option to me right now.
So I'm hoping to hear from some first-hand experiences with the AW100 and FT4, concerning: Normal IQ, UW IQ, reliability, and how are the controls? Plus any advice on where to get either camera from for a good price would of course be appreciated.
edit: I looked at a lot of sample shots for both FT4 and AW100... horrible! maybe I'm spoilt by my (old, entry-level) DSLR, but man, these images are not much better than those taken with my cellphone. on the other hand, to me they look equally bad, only the higher MP count will make the bad quality even more obvious for the Nikon.
I'm looking for a good point-n-shoot with decent underwater capability, and I narrowed it down to the Nikon AW100 and the Panasonic FT4, and maybe the Olympus TG-1. Specs-wise, it seems the Olympus wins - but it's also the most expensive of the bunch, for around 600 dollars, so I actually not really consider it. For the FT4 and AW100 I find mixed reviews, some claiming the AW100 delivering poor IQ, others stating the FT4 UW not being reliable. I actually wanted to get the FT3, but all the stores I asked either don't stock it anymore or ask for a price similar to the FT4, which seems to be 500+ dollars. The Nikon on the other hand can be had for <400, making it the most attractive option to me right now.
So I'm hoping to hear from some first-hand experiences with the AW100 and FT4, concerning: Normal IQ, UW IQ, reliability, and how are the controls? Plus any advice on where to get either camera from for a good price would of course be appreciated.
edit: I looked at a lot of sample shots for both FT4 and AW100... horrible! maybe I'm spoilt by my (old, entry-level) DSLR, but man, these images are not much better than those taken with my cellphone. on the other hand, to me they look equally bad, only the higher MP count will make the bad quality even more obvious for the Nikon.
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