I Dropped The World's TOUGHEST Mirrorless Camera Off A Bridge

Given how tough it's suppose to be, I'm rather disappointed it doesn't have a guard which automatically closes over the sensor when you remove the lens. Really wish that was a more common feature on cameras.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Another near impossible accessory to find is the Nikon 1 AW1 silicone jacket.

why is your channel dying? did people catch up to the fact that youre insufferable?

I wonder how the market would have turned put if Nikon kept at their 1 series and Canon had kept at their EOS M. Sony showed that compact mirrorless interchangeable cameras had potential, and the moment Canon and Nikon gave up, Sony ate their lunch.

To have sent back for repair many, many AW1. People are dumb when they read "underwater camera" and still open to replace the battery under water. Ocean salt water is not good, if anyone, somehow, wonder.

Hi had 2 and I had water seeping in. I think Nikon replaced one and I ended up selling the second. I now use DJI or GoPro and I never get any leaks. I also had another Nikon 1 series camera with the dive housing and it never leaked. The battery door of the AW1 seems under engineered for going under water in salt water.

Still I kinda regret selling it. I would not use it for diving but it would be handy to use on the surface, when I go spearfishing. Keep it in a dry bag on my float. But 12 megapixels is not much these days. Or is it 14? But it makes me cringe to see the drop test of a still working camera. It can be great to shoot during rainfall, snowstorms, or to take on a boat.

I think for a rugged camera its pretty good, but a sensor size like that is going to fail you when the light levels go into the late evening and night

the "o-ring" cap is easy to find in the net. just look on the right places. i dont know where to send you a message so not everybody will see the link and may stealbuy it right in front of you.

I mean... They built cameras for NASA so...

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.

rather incredibly...No.....haha

Imagine adapting nikonos lenses on one of these

I got one in a local camera shop for 350€ new a few years ago as an ex demo one because they did not sell. Used it in horrendous conditions and it never skipped a beat.

I’m using nikon 1 j1

Jordan would be pissed! Hes been looking to play with a Nikon 1 for a while lol

Can it take time-lapse?

I still use my Nikon J1. Great images in good light.

Too bad all the care and engineering were washed away by poor sale figure.

I have two of them - I wish Nikon would update it and simplify the waterproofing. The AF tracking, image quality is still very good. I have had images in a magazine printed as double A4 pages (A3). Almost unique is you can shot still full frame jpegs during video - and the there is no disturbance in the video roll. Not seen that in any other camera.

Your videos are hilarious and wonderfully informative! Carry on.

the problem is the lenses for this system. it seems like most people either have "known good" lenses (which they will never sell), or have just resigned themselves to having a lens failure brick their setup, since nikon isn't repairing them any more. i looked into this a few months back, and seeing only the less reliable lenses on sale, decided it would have to remain a curiosity .. the bodies themselves are pretty cool and nikon briefly leaked a followup line before cancelling it :(

The shutter of this lens series is easy to get stuck!

Love your channel. Haters gonna hate.

I have had several J series Nikon 1s and two Nikon 1 V1s (the first one was stolen,)

They were an almost excellent camera, though, being an EVF person. I always prefer the somewhat chunkier V series. Sadly, the lenses let them down, with a bad habit of failing due to the use of tiny plastic gears which would break.

With a 10-30mm lens, it was a really good street camera, and the 30-110 lens gave it the equivalent zoom range of any of its comtemporary DSLRs. Of course you are right that it doesn't do bokeh all that well. My comment is, "whatever that is."

I loved to put the camera in one jacket pocket, the longer telephoto in the other and take photos around town or go on a walk through the park. I even rook my V1 to the snow, tucked inside my jacket, and stowed back as soon as I took a photo.

At a time when flip up/flip out screens were used on other cameras, their lack in all but the final J5 was irritating, and the addition of top deck controls in the J5 was a great move as the controls on earlier models could be fiddly and easily inadvertently changed .

Overall, though, if they brought out a V5 or whatever -- or, better, an all weather V5 (ie with an EVF) with some kind of moveable screen, 14-20MP (approx), and reliable lenses, I'd definitely be interested.

"This camera is a total baddie, and likes it rough" 😂

это плохая камера, её только об землю бить, тут согласен.

so this camera won't work in normal AB winter

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

The Leica XU is thougher and better ;)

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

You basically did the equivalent of Snape killing Dumbledore who was already dying.

I feel like Tom is trying to see how far he can push the jokes before he gets demonetised, let me know when you find the line because I'm interested

Naturally, I find powerful 1" systems very relatable so I almost bought this a while back, but after owning some of the 16mp Fujifilm cameras I feel like I minimum need pixel remapping on my old cameras — does this have that option? Hot pixels drive me up the wall.

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.

If you're going to rate a camera well without a viewfinder would you please do some kind of visibility test on the screen? If you live pretty much anywhere west of the Mississippi in the US you need a viewfinder unless it's a very bright non reflective screen. Pretty please.

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.

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.

i just bought me one for 250 CHF with the adventure set.

I have the j4 and i really am liking it. I really hope nikon revises the 1 series.

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!

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).

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.