Nikon COOLPIX S33 Waterproof Digital Camera (White) (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

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I purchased this camera for a cruise knowing that a lot of water would be involved. My husband tested the camera in our swimming pool, prior to the cruise, and incurred zero problems. We are pleased with the quality of the pictures and videos. We were very surprised at how long it kept a charge. We went snorkeling and used the video for over an hour straight and continued to take pictures all day...only a quarter of the charge had been used. You can see the clarity of the camera by the photos in Jamaica. We were moving down river and I was still able to capture great shots. The underwater shots were in Cozumel and it was very windy that day, but the pictures and videos came out great. The camera was great in Grand Cayman. My husband took excellent videos of the stingrays. Unfortunately, I cannot get them to post here. We highly recommend this camera. It exceeded our expectations and captured great memories of our cruise!

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I was skeptical to buy this camera given that it had only review and even that was negative. But I went ahead anyway. I purchased it for my Hawaii trip where I was expecting to be on the beach and also snorkeling. I have had several digital cameras (canon/nikon) and also DSLRs. The quality of picture is actually very much comparable to my canon Elph 530HS. Bonus is I could take this one to water. I took it snorkeling one day and took several pictures and videos under water. Quality of pictures underwater was surprisingly good. But that will depend on the day and how much sunlight was going under the water. I took it about 5 feet deep into the water and no leak or damage. For the price I think it definitely is a good buy. BTW it also takes great picture out of the water ! Only thing I have not tried is taking pictures at night. Attaching a couple of pictures.

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Please do not buy this camera.....I purchased it as a present for my 16 year old daughter. She used it a few times in our pool after which we noticed water filling up inside the camera. I spoke with Nikon customer services who had me send the camera for repair under the warranty at my expense for shipping. I was shocked to receive an email back stating that water damage is not covered under the warranty. This is deceptive advertising in my opinion. Upon speaking with a Nikon customer service representative, I was told I would need to pay $260 for a replacement (which is listed currently at $129.00 on Amazon). The total life of this camera was just over four weeks. I cannot believe that Nikon would not stand by a clearly defective product. Equally surprising is that the warranty does not cover water damage on a "waterproof" camera. I certainly will never be a repeat Nikon customer.

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So why not just use my phone in an water proof case which I have...one reason...OPTICAL ZOOM!!! No cell phones digital zoom camera will ever match an Optical Zoom in a P&S! Took this to the Caribbean for a week, did the job working in the week pretty much the whole week without any problems. Battery life was great, think I needed to charge it just once the whole week. Pictures were sharp and clear and the optical zoom make close ups of skittish fish a lot easier! If youre a water bug like I am and want to preserve your memories its worth the short dollars to pick this camera (or newer models) up save your $600 smart phone for safer places!!!

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This camera while not providing the best possible images does a pretty god job. This review is written after using the camera 2x underwater while snorkeling in Hawaii. And, ij between I opened the back removed the SD card to transfer the images. I cant speak about the other reviews who complained about a leaky camera but after 2 serious excursions I had NO problems. Regarding camera treatment. To shoot underwater, I would reco setting up the settings to underwater mode. I think the facial recognition is kind of worthless unless you have crystal clear water and youre taking pictures of peoples faces. In this mode, the camera will always ask that youve taken the necessary precautions. Just say YES. Even if you turn off the camera (underwater) and then turn back on, it will repeat this caution. Regarding post-use and with the camera off (although it might not make a difference), you MUST rinse the camera under water to get rid of salt and silt, and then thoroughly dry the camera. DO NOT open the camera until it is dry. After you open the camera battery/charger and before you close it you must gently brush around the seals. Again, you want to get of any silt, etc. You close the back and you ready to shoot. Ive attached a couple of images. For full disclosure, I routinely Photoshop my images even with my expensive mirrorless digital camera. Photoshop is useless, unless you have a pretty good shot to start with, however. Also, I did not crop the images. The images are of Yellow Tang and a Threadfin Butterfly. Nikon has replaced the S33 with a newer model which as far as I know does not have additional features. Enjoy!

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After looking at several waterproof cameras, I decided to take the risk and buy this one, as it was cheap and seemed OK and considering it was a Nikon, I took the risk. When camera arrived I could see it was really cheaply made: entirely of plastic, not many options to adjust the camera, as other better models would give you. One thing that really bothered me (right when I got the camera) is how the battery has to be charged: you must open the battery door below the camera and plug the USB cable there, leaving the battery door opened at all times its charging! Since its a camera that is supposed to be sealed (for waterproof), this door should be handled carefully and leaving it open for several hours to charge the battery is, in my opinion, an issue... I have kids and eventually they would run close to the camera or try to get it and I was afraid it would simply break and then the whole cameras purpose is over... Then, we went on a trip to the beach and I started realizing the other problems in the camera: it took very long time to focus and then to release the shutter at several times... meaning I lost several moments from my kids because the camera simply didnt take the picture. That for me was really bad and made me angry... why would I want a camera that wont click the picture when I need it? also, to start taking a video, there is a huge lag after you press the record button... something like 1-2 seconds... so if you want to film something, be prepared in advance or you will lose the beginning of your movie clip... Another thing that happened to me very frequently: I forced the flash ON as I was taking some pictures with the sun in the back and the flash would not fire in several occasions, so the subject was very dark and I had to re-take some pictures (or worse, lose another moment!!)... After coming back form my trip and looking at the pictures at the computer, I realized that the video sound is horrible! Underwater I could understand - and couldnt care less - but for shooting videos in a dry scenario I was expecting some decent/average sound, but it was all muffled! So for these reasons, I decided to return this (cheap) camera and invest some more money and get something better... If these things wont bother you, go for it... The good aspect for this camera: the image quality is good - especially if its just for a weekend getaway at the beach/pool... video image is good as well... so for the image quality I decided to give 2 stars...

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This was a Christmas present for my 10 year old daughter. I am happy to say that after 8 months it is still working perfectly. She has taken pictures underwater in the pool and lake. They are great quality and so much fun! She has definitely been very hard on the camera. It has fallen WAY too many times to count and each time I think to myself "well, there goes that camera" but it just keeps plugging along! I cant believe it hasnt broken with how many times she has dropped it, throw it, and Ive watched it skid across the cement. This thing is indestructible!

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Ill start by saying that were not professional photographers by any means. We take a vacation every year where we do a lot of snorkeling, etc and have always purchased the disposable waterproof cameras. Those cameras however keep going up in price, so we were looking at over $40 just for the cameras which didnt include processing them at a photo store when we returned. We decided to make the leap and just purchase a digital, and I wish we wouldve done it sooner. The photos were super clear, even those that we took in cloudy water came out much better than our disposable ever did. The menu is very easy to navigate thru, even in the water. There wasnt much lag time in between photos, so we were able to capture multiple photos of rays, etc even when they were moving fairly quickly. The camera itself floats, but we did purchase a brightly colored floating wrist strap just to be safe. We had this camera in the water and under water every day for 8 days, sometimes up to 6 hours a day and didnt experience any problems at all with either function, leaks or photo quality. As the guide recommends, we did rinse it after every use in clean water to remove any salt residue etc. We ended up not using or regular digital at all and took all of our photos, both in the water and out, with this. Very easy to charge and the charge time was less than we had expected as well. Im not sure how this camera compares to other more professional and expensive models, but it exceeded our expectations. For the casual photographer who wants to take photos in the water, while swimming or snorkeling, I would not hesitate at all to recommend this Nikon!

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Just received the COOLPIX S33 Waterproof Dig Camera from Beach Camera - Shipping was quick and although this was refurbished, the camera was perfect. Not a scratch on it. It was pretty much almost fully charged when we got it so we started using it right away. It was in a brown box and bubble-wrapped, but no "Nikon" information other than it was refurbed by Nikon. No manuals. Easily downloaded with a search. Weve only been using the camera for a few days so this may be premature, but I love the camera. I got the camera for mostly my 5 year old to use instead of grabbing my DSLR. I looked for a camera that was good in the pool and had a little toughness to it. For the first part - the camera was fantastic in the pool. The shots underwater were fun, clear, quick and vibrant. Outside the pool, the shots were equally very nice and sharp. The camera all-in-all (so far) has exceeded expectations. The buttons are easy to use and navigate. I like that the Video button is simply a separate (single) button to push without changing modes or going to a menu. The picture review button is a single pressed button as well, which is nice for my daughter to use and review. Deleting a picture takes a couple steps, which is a nice safeguard against accidental deletions. One CON of the camera, which may only be a rookie mistake since I just got it and havent looked all through the manual yet, is when taking underwater shots, unless one can look at the display it is a guess whether the picture was taken. Would be nice if I find a light that flashes when a picture is taken (and not the flash). Ive been very pleased and will probably buy this camera as a gift for my family. We havent dropped the camera, and Im not looking forward to testing that aspect, but it seems rugged. The S33 is not manufactured anymore, so refurb is probably the only way to get one, but I may look at the other model of Nikon COOLPIX that seems to be a next version. One additional Con is the shutter button, for my five year old, requires a bit of getting used to. A half-press initiates an autofocus and then the full-press takes the shot. During darker scenes, a half-press is needed before the full to get a good focus which means a slower push of the button. My daughter presses hard and we need to teach her to press slowly and still have the strength to keep the camera level. Its not a big issue, its just a "dont forget to press slowly" sort of moment. She loves the camera and is taking it everywhere. Ill report back if my opinions change.

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Worked very well for my recent trip. Was not affected by either salt or pool water. My main complaint is how it would always ask me to review the waterproofing precautions when I changed it to underwater mode. I would buy again though. It took great movies too. The underwater shots tended to favor yellow a bit but Im sure I could have adjusted something to make it better. It probably has to do with yellow being the compliment of blue.

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