Nikon Coolpix W300 rattle when off?

[RCB1882]

Hi Everyone,

In preparation for an upcoming trip I recently purchased the Nikon Coolpix W300 to replace a flooded AW130 (caused by a botched repair job).

When the camera is turned off and you gently shake it, so do produces a rattling noise from inside it. This is true with or without the battery inserted. However, when you turn it on (obviously with the battery inside now), the rattle disappears.

The only mention that I can find of this is on Amazon's product page, where someone posed this question and received several responses, which I reproduce below:

(1) "I have the W300, and mine also has always made a "click" or "rattle" sound that emanates from inside the camera when I gently rock the camera back and forth, when the camera is turned off. This sound is completely normal, and my local camera store explained to me that it is related to the camera's vibration reduction and image stabilization mechanism. My local camera store has three W300 cameras on display, and they ALL make this sound when the camera is turned off and rocked gently back and forth. So the sound is normal. Someone else asked the same question about the previous version of the camera, the AW130, as you can see here: [link omitted]"

(2) "Contact Nikon."

(3) "mine does not make any noise like that; I'd take it to a Nikon service center in your area and have it looked at. might be some loose solder. don't open it up yourself, that will probably void the warranty. there should be an authorized Nikon service center near you."

I called Nikon today and spoke with someone who said it was "okay" but was unable to tell me what was causing the rattle, which makes me nervous about taking the little guy underwater with me.

I'd appreciate if any W300 owners -- particularly those that have taken it underwater -- with their thoughts/experiences. I have ordered another one that is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, so I will have a second sample to compare it against (and I will report back the results).

(I've cross-posted this to DPReview forum, as well, so apologies if you're seeing it twice)

cheers,

Ryan

 

[RCB1882]

Hi All,

As I'm sure everyone was waiting around with baited breath for the riveting conclusion to this drama...Second W300 arrived today and also had a rattle noise consistent with what I reported above. In the interim, however, I heard back from a couple of folks on the DPreview forum, who said:

(1) "I have two waterproof cameras with in-lens optical image stabilization: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT1 (TS1) and Canon PowerShot D30. The both behave the same way as yours."

and

(2) "Go in to a shop and give any sigma 30mm f 2.8 lens a shake. The rattle from that when detached with no power should cure you of worrying about noises from equipment that is working perfectly well and will continue to do so.

To elaborate the linear focusing motor in the sigma which makes it silent in operation makes it noisier at rest with the magnets off so the powered off noise is in inverse proportion to the working noise."

So, I'm going to give it a go. I had already purchased the damage insurance after my experience with my AW130 and I'll be bringing a GoPro as backup in case things go screwy. Will again report back here after my trip for the sake of photographer posterity.

cheers
-R

 

[ljpm]

So, how did the camera work out. I'm heading south this winter and was thinking of picking up a w300. What is the quality of the photos?

 

[RCB1882]

I wish I could tell you. Took it down on the first dive only to see that I hadn’t closed the battery door fully. So, I flooded it!

 

[ljpm]

Ouch. I got one for Christmas. Hopefully I don't do the same.

 

[RCB1882]

Yeah, certainly not one of my finest moments. The good luck continued: our GoPro was stolen from a suitcase while in Atlanta (same trip!). Good news was the between the insurance check for the Nikon and Delta ponying up for their sticky-finger employees, we were able to upgrade to the Olympus TG5. Good times. Enjoy your Nikon. Those are really nice little cameras.

 

[ljpm]

Well, that's not too bad. My last trip I uploaded all my gopro dive videos onto a portable drive. After most of the microSD card were reused I dropped the hard drive. Unrecoverable! I'm really hoping for a better trip this time out. My daughter obtained her OW that trip. Luckily I was able to get a couple pics from friends. This trip is my 12 yo son's first dive trip and he really wants to dive with the sharks (they don't allow gopros hence the W300). I'm backing up that video 5 times.