Though small enough to slip into a jacket pocket or a baggy pair of holiday shorts, the waterproof and water-resistant Nikon Coolpix W300 compact camera is packed with essentials. These include 16-megapixel resolution from the standard 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, the ability to record 4K or 1080P videos, body-integrated GPS, Wi-Fi connectivity, and more especially, even the camera itself. waterproof photo, altimeter and underwater depth gauge. This aids the more adventurous users in not straying deeper than the already impressive 30 meters indicated by the water resistance of the W300, although in practice most users will be curious in hotel swimming pool. In addition, the camera claims a degree of dust resistance, plus the ability to drop from a height of up to 2.4 meters and survive a crash. However, we still do not recommend getting sand in its internals.
Of course, given its status as a camera that can withstand a bit of shock, the relatively modest but useful 5x optical zoom lens provides a 24-120mm equivalent focal length range in 35mm stacked conditions. on top of each other. It does not protrude from the body, where it could accidentally cause harm. The range here also means that the camera is best suited for landscape and portrait photography, the two most popular photography subjects after all. The f/2.8 maximum lens aperture that comes with it is standard for a camera of this ilk.
Here stills and videos are recorded to a removable SD memory card (opens in a new tab), a slot is provided under the lockable cover on the side of the camera, which opens down and out. The small lithium ion battery needed for power is supplied in the box along with a USB cable and power plug, meaning that, as a cost-cutting exercise, the battery is charged in-camera. No separate mains charger is provided.
Specifications Nikon W300
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Sensor: 1/2.3-inch 16-megapixel CMOS
Sensitivity Range: ISO125-1600 (expandable to 6400 in Auto mode)
Video: Up to 4K . resolution
Lens: 24-120mm equivalent to 35mm condition, 5x quang optical zoom
Screen: 3 inches, resolution 921K dots
Viewfinder: No
Battery life: 280 photos or approx. 1 hour 1080p video
Color options: Black, yellow, orange or camouflage
Size: 11.5x66x29mm
Weight: 231g including battery and SD card
Rivals of the Nikon W300
Not all manufacturers currently offer compact tempered lenses, although when they do, they are often the only fixed lens supplier, or one of the very few, in the brand portfolio. their. The obvious competitors to compete with the Nikon Coolpix W300’s beefy quality and performance include the Olympus TG-6 and the Ricoh ‘WG’ series, such as the WG-6 and WG-70. Again, these are all-weather impact-resistant point-and-shoot cameras, with a modest stacked zoom lens inside, a small 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, and a still-affordable price tag. set at a high level compared to non-powered compact cameras.
Construction and handling
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Sure, with its sturdy nature with squared edges and visible screws, the Nikon Coolpix W300 is more compact than your average point-and-shoot compact. But that’s the point, the powerful digital compact camera is the only digital compact camera worth owning today, when for most of us, smartphones have replaced the sa standard. muddled, aim and shoot without force. That’s why almost no manufacturers claim to make them anymore. Fear not, though, as the W300 is still compact enough to slip into a jacket or the side pocket of a backpack, or slip into our jeans pocket with a single push.
The W300 was initially available in a variety of colors when it launched in 2017, including camouflage, canary yellow, and regular black; the second version is the one we reviewed. It carries a lot of practicality on its sleeve, or rather its wrapper, in that the core specifications are literally printed on its mask – the kind of information that will at times be transmitted. achieved via a peel-off sticker – it’s an interesting move by Nikon. In fact, there’s not much to capture here, save a raised roughened edge for the front, a roughened top plate and shutter-release button, and six raised plastic buttons on the rear. to prevent our thumb from sliding and sliding around. That said, a larger grip will obviously affect compactness and overall portability. Powerful yet practical is clearly the goal here.
Performance
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Since the lens of the Nikon Coolpix W300 is stacked and placed in the top right corner, instead of the center, it would be easy for a stray finger to poke at the edge of the frame if we pay more attention to it. our subject rather than framed. The stereo microphone is placed into the visor directly below the lens, and we also get a narrow diamond built-in flash for extra light when needed.
As we’d expect, once activated and after a one-second delay while the rear LCD flickers in action, the camera’s operation is fairly automatic, with everything automatically point-and-shoot from this. The top plate control layout is straightforward, with controls reverting back to a large, slightly raised shutter-release button and a nail-head-sized on/off button. There’s no shooting mode wheel here, so selections are made through a combination of the shooting mode button on the back of the camera and the onscreen menu.
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The 3-inch, 921K-dot LCD monitor is clear enough for composing photos and capturing a variety of subjects, although we still needed to magnify parts of the image on the spot to determine whether they were sharp enough. Additional buttons are arranged around the familiar four-way control panel on the back that also includes playback, a more extensive menu plus delete buttons, as well as a means of switching to macro mode, giving the setting offset exposure, self-timer and flash on or off, as desired. All in all, responsiveness is what we’d expect from a pocket-sized camera, which would suffice if significantly less versatile than a compact or mirrorless DSLR. Battery life is good for around 280 shots from a full charge, which is acceptable for its quality if not spectacular.
Although at the maximum setting of 24mm the image may suffer from a slight fisheye effect, simply zooming in on our subject a bit before pressing the shutter-release button serves as a form of correction/compensation in simple camera. Additionally, even in overcast conditions, the camera can provide surprising contrast and depth to JPEG images, ensuring that results require minimal, if any, adjustments later. We also prefer Nikon’s imaging interface when compared directly to similarly waterproof competitors such as Olympus and Ricoh, which means that in the end, the Nikon Coolpix W300 remains one of the cameras’ hardest’ on the current market.
Nikon W300: Sample images
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Nikon W300: Review
Suitable for use by everyone in the family, from children to adults, for both stills and video, this powerful point-and-shoot camera is perfect for all-weather use. While it’s hard to challenge the likes of the Nikon Z9 in terms of image quality or responsiveness, the five-year-old Nikon Coolpix W300 still offers the opportunity to photograph in the playful and/or adventurous situations we find ourselves in. We dare not take the risk. a more expensive camera or even our smartphone.
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