Nikon Kicks Into High Gear with New Action Cameras

September 19, 2016

By Laura Brauer

Nikon is making a big move into GoPro territory with two new action cameras. The company also released more details on its first 360-degree camera, announced in January.

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KeyMission 360

The headliner of the new KeyMission action cam family is the previously announced 360, which, as the name suggests, records 360 x 360 degree footage with no blind spots. It uses a pair of 20-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch sensors and two 194-degree NIKKOR lenses to record the scene. The two separate sets of image data are automatically stitched in the camera.

The KeyMission 360 records 4K video at 24p.

The 360 has built-in Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth for wireless transfers and remote control. It has dedicated shutter buttons for movie and still recording.

The camera is waterproof to 10 meters and can survive a fall from up to 6.4 feet. It will ship with lens guards to combat distortion when filming under water. It will also include a Google Cardboard VR viewer.

It features both removable memory (microSD) and a removable battery. You’ll get roughly 1 hour of video recording or about 120 spherical stills on a fully charged battery.

Nikon will release a desktop utility and a special version of its Snapbridge app to let users view, share and lightly edit their spherical content.

The camera will ship in October for $500.

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Nikon KeyMission 170

The 170 is a more conventional action camera with just one wide-angle (170-degree) lens and a single 12-megapixel ½.3-inch CMOS.

It captures 4K footage at 30p and Full HD footage at up to 120p. It is waterproof to 10 meters without an underwater housing. The 170 features a rear LCD display with its own menu so you can change camera settings. It will also use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to enable wireless remote control and live view.

The camera will ship with mount adapters so you can place the 170 in a number of point-of-view scenarios (handlebars, helmets, etc.). Nikon will also sell a battery housing to prolong the life of the 170. Like the 360, the 170 has a removable battery and takes microSD cards.

It will ship in October for $400.

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KeyMission 80

The KeyMission 80 is a petite camera that can be clipped to clothing to use as a life-logger, cataloging your every step. It has a front-facing 12-megapixel camera and a back-facing 4.9-megapixel camera with a 25mm and 22mm lens, respectively.

You can tweak camera settings through the LCD display or wirelessly, via Wi-Fi. The KeyMission 80 will record 1080p video at 30 fps and is waterproof to 1 meter and shockproof to 1.5 meters.

You can record time lapses using the tiny camera and save them to microSD cards. Unlike the other models in the KeyMission line, the 80 has an internal battery.

But like the other models, it will hit stores in October. It will set you back  $280.