The Most Durable Mirrorless Camera Ever Made

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The Nikon 1 AW1 is the world's first fully waterproof mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, and even 11 years after its conception, this is still a pretty insane camera design! Nikon claimed that it was waterproof, freezeproof and even shockproof, but how tough is this thing actually? Well, I bought one and pushed it to the absolute limit...

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⏳ TIME STAMPS ⏳
Nikon 1 AW1 - @0:00
Price - @1:59
Lenses - @2:18
Specs & Features - @5:02
Handling - @7:00
Waterproof Test - @9:04
Freezeproof Test - @10:28
Drop Test - @11:07
Confession Time - @13:45
Image Quality - @14:53

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#mirrorlesscamera #nikon #streetphotography

[TomCalton]

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[Tropic-cat]

I think AW series definitely deserved to be continued. It is the ONLY system camera that you can snork with with NO additional equipment! It is a miracle!

[joelconolly]

Nikon 1 should make a 2024 return. It's a pretty cool package NGL.

[SVInLikeFlynn]

What a treat to get another review of the AW1. I bought it in 2014 and took it snorkeling in Aruba, then Maui the next year with no problems. I did know about water intrusion issues so I stopped using it underwater (New Jersey and Chesapeake Bay are not worth it) but love it for bad weather and shooting on my sailboat and windsurfing above the water. I was lucky to buy a second at Adorama for $250 in 2020 (bad lens but Nikon fixed) and since then picked up a J5 and a J1. Take care of the waterproof 10mm lens, it took e a few years to find an affordable one.

[paperback]

I have the Olympus Tough TG6, its waterproof to 50 feet and is supposed to be drop friendly from 6 feet. It makes excellent images. Fits in pants pocket. SD card. Tiny powerful batteries. But no interchangeable lenses.

[jimmywalsh]

Great to see the AW1 getting some love. I've always been a big fan of this unique model, even thought I've had some problems with condensation.

[ChadWilson]

I have the J1 and J5, and I love them both; They are the perfect cameras for long hikes due to their almost-zero weight.

[thomasgartman]

Once again, you've introduced me to a camera that can't survive without. Thanks, pal.

Long ago, in a trailer park far away, when I was young and strong, and my hair grew in places that made sense, I was the proud owner of a nifty little point and shoot camera called the Nikon Action Touch. I bought it used from the camera shop where I worked for fifty dollars, but I think it retailed new for about two hundred. It had a surprisingly good 35mm f/2.8 lens, a manual focus mode actuated by a big-ish, nobbly dial on top of the camera, and a self-timer. There was a version that would imprint the date in a bottom corner of the image. I never cared for that feature, and mine didn't have it anyway, so it didn't matter. Oh yeah, it also had a tiny built in flash that you could turn on manually if you wanted it. It was good to about two meters with 100 ISO film, but that shortened a good bit underwater.

I took it under water a few times, in the Atlantic Ocean. It worked perfectly, and the photos are clear and properly exposed. It was most satisfying hearing people gasp as I rinsed the salt water off at a foot wash station on the way back to the parking lot.

It had a decent bit of nice, rubber armor on most of the outside, and was waterproof down to a couple of meters. It had a big, plastic slip-on lens cap that covered the end of the lens and was tethered to a camera strap eyelet. I intensely disliked the tether because if you didn't hold it between your fingers while shooting it would inevitably find its way in front of the lens; and since it was a rangefinder style camera, you didn't know about that until you saw your prints. I snipped that sucker and the lens cap automatically went into my pocket as with any civilized photographer.

I gratuitously abused mine, even accidentally dropping it from a roller coaster at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. The fall was seventy or eighty feet at least, but it was slowed by bouncing off the structures of the roller coaster before finally making it to the gravel below. The good folks at Busch Gardens sent a young fellow in to retrieve it for me and it continued for many years afterward to provide me with great photos.

Remember, these are the people who gave us the venerable Nikonos cameras. They know how to make a toughy.

[creedpowell]

I've shot Nikon for over 30 years. I still shoot with my 1AW1. The world's only interchangeable lens camera that is fully waterproof. I've had mine in oceans, lakes, rivers, and fountains. If you lube your o-ring a little the lens will slide off and on easier.

[VintageISO]

I love the AW1. I've actually been on a mission to come up with alternatives for all the gaskets including the main oring as the factory parts no longer exist. The only other failure point is both lenses aperature.

Inside the 11-27.5mm and the rare as hens tooth 10mm lenses are plastic gears on the motor that controls the aperature opening and closing. This gear is made out of plastic when it should have been metal. Metal gears have been created by a few in the Nikon community. Tearing apart these lenses is not for the faint of heart.

With the 10mm AW you can mess up the focal plane if you're not careful along with compromising the waterproofness. I've fixed my 11-27.5mm with the metal gear as it was stuck on f11. It took me about 14 hours over the course of several weekends from taking it apart and then putting it back together without any guide to go by. I could do it faster now but yea it's not easy.

When you dropped the lens I'm 100% sure you caused the aperture gear to shear as it does (although in your defense it was only a matter of time you just hastened it).

[darkangel]

My wife still uses hers on the regular. Makes for a great travel camera with kids in tow!

[jeffchastain]

I loved that little camera. I worked for a major camera retailer in the US and the silver and black ones sold like hotcakes, even the white ones didn't sell too bad, but the red, and pink and stupid blue ones, we couldn't give away. I liked the miniature system and they made rather nice images.

[RobertOonk]

Thank you Tom! This video made me aware of this little gem. I bought it in very good condition with the 11-27.5, AND the 30-110 zoom AND the 18.5 prime for 129€ 😀 It will serve me well on the upcoming ski trips!

[kodefashmodefa]

Good thing I got my Nikon 1 body before he just drove the prices up 😉😉😉

[HenryKlausEsq.]

The tilting mode toggle is sick. So many of these cool ~2010-2018 cameras would be so much more desirable with 4K. I wonder if you can remove surface-mount processors/ram and replace with more powerful processing engines the way people upgrade flash storage on Macbooks. Would make for a good niche Youtube channel.

[mmendo]

An xpan ratio video? Amazing! lovely. Thanks Tom.

[SingingSimonSagebrush]

If I'm not mistaken, they used to coat the lens seal with a light grease of some kind. So possibly after years it would get even harder to take of the lenses. When new, they were still an effort to remove.

[krism]

I owned one of these for years from when they first came out until it got stolen a few months ago. Luckily I picked up another one with the 10mm lens at a bargain price. Over the years my original camera had a pretty tough life but came through with very little wear and tear considering. Against other non “tough” cameras I’ve no doubt it won’t necessarily stand up in terms of performance but in the world of tough compact cameras I think it stands head and shoulders above the rest.

[marekpetrovicphotography]

I had s1, v1 for streetphotos. A few weeks ago I bought a J1 and a 10mm/2.8 out of nostalgia. The combo cost me 180 euros at MPB. Beautiful camera and the photos are still usable.

[countskippy]

I honestly would love to have seen the Nikon 1 series see a comeback. I have two J1 bodies (black and pink), and a V1. For what you get in the package, it's a super cool and compact system. The biggest issue they needed to figure out was the lens reliability, otherwise it was a very cool little system.