Nikon 1 AW1 underwater mirrorless camera and two 1 Nikkor AW lenses officially announced
http://nikonrumors.com/2013/09/19/nikon-1-aw1-underwater-mirrorless-camera-and-two-1-nikkor-aw-lenses-officially-announced.aspx/


looks good, launch price around 800-1000$ with 2 lenses.
waterproof up to 15 meters, ISO 160-6400, lots of accessories available.

will this cause a flood of underwater stock images  ?
i guess so.

even if the final image quality is mediocre with a bit of PS you could do wonders, no need for overpriced clumsy plastic cases etc

i don't do underwater photos but this camera could be a game changer for some market niches.

Looks like a really interesting camera. I would love to have something that is really waterproof.

That's good. It's past time for them to produce something to replace the famous Nikonos underwater film camera system.

Nikon 1 AW1 underwater mirrorless camera and two 1 Nikkor AW lenses officially announced
http://nikonrumors.com/2013/09/19/nikon-1-aw1-underwater-mirrorless-camera-and-two-1-nikkor-aw-lenses-officially-announced.aspx/


looks good, launch price around 800-1000$ with 2 lenses.
waterproof up to 15 meters, ISO 160-6400, lots of accessories available.

will this cause a flood of underwater stock images  ?
i guess so.

even if the final image quality is mediocre with a bit of PS you could do wonders, no need for overpriced clumsy plastic cases etc

i don't do underwater photos but this camera could be a game changer for some market niches.

Clumsy housings are what creates pro level images, along with a knowledgeable photographer who understands lighting, composition, systems, animal behavior, reflectivity, habitats, territoriality, etc. Most people who would shoot reasonably good images for stock shoot with these. I do.  Tell someone to go shoot images like below with a point and shoot. Aint going to happen.

Game changer? No, it won't be.  There are tons of inexpensive point and shoots in this price range for underwater use.  I don't see a flood of images hitting the stock scenes, but the ones I do see, by in large, are fantastically composed and lit and shot with pro grade systems (big and clunky).  One of the big setback for these cheapo systems is the glass and the pop up flash. Underwater you have water between your port (or lens on wet cams) and the subject which degrades the quality.  This means that lens quality is paramount to get that tack sharp image with good colors and minimal noise when viewed at 100%.  Cheap systems lack good lenses, but they CAN get lucky and nail some winners under some conditions.  In fact, most underwater photo competitions have a separate category for point and shoots because of the limitations of the systems.

Finally, the only light you get is right smack in front of the lens, which is generally taboo for underwater because the flash lights up every floating particle in the water column in your focal range (we call this backscatter).  There are techniques we use with our big, clunky expensive housings to minimize this, along with power output adjustment, backlighting capabilities (means we can remove our strobes underwater and put them behind or off to the side of a subject, try that with your game changer point and shoot), easy on and off, diffusion capabilities, EV adjustments at the touch of a button, etc.   

One last thing.  Because of the flash limitation, you are very limited in subject matter.  You would only get to shoot medium to small animals and get reasonable lighting.  I have found that buyers like wide shots, as I have posted below where my image was purchased to use in the ads and such for a prominent dive show here in California.

So, no panic, point and shoots for underwater have been around for years (even in film days), no threat to flooding the stock imagery market.

Images below all shot with a FF fisheye.

Quote from: grsphoto on September 20, 2013, 07:46

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on September 20, 2013, 05:32

Quote from: nicku on September 20, 2013, 04:33

1/16000 sec shutter speed.... that's impressing.... compared with EOS M 1/4000 s

Full HD movie at 60 fps and VGA at 400 fps

Impressive.....

1/16 000 sec� Is it really useful underwater?

Shooting extreme sports (rafting) in a river.... yes...

Right, I did not think about that.
Thank you.

That's probably the thing that this camera would work best at.  Or other water sports like kayaking, surfing etc. where you want to take some pics and could probably get some fun ones but don't want to lug around an SLR and water proof housing.  A P&S is always a P&S though.. people lug around DLSR's for a reason (below or above the water) as Mantis thoroughly pointed out.

I want one. Normally I don't want the latest gadgets, but I saw this and thought it would very handy for beach pics, both in and out of the water. i hate taking my good camera to the beach.