Nikon KeyMission 170 camera: Product test

A NIFTY little bit of gear we’ve been playing with over the last couple of months is the KeyMission170 action camera from Nikon.

No doubt capitalising on the popularity of action cams such as the GoPro, the KeyMission 170 (and its KM360 brother) bring the quality and optics of one of the world’s leading camera companies to the booming segment.

The KeyMission 170 is super-compact at 66.4 x 46.8 x 42.7mm (W x H x D) and comes with a range of mounts to secure it to a supplied suction mount or to flat or curved surfaces such as helmets. It also comes with a battery, charger, lens covers and a lens cover for underwater use. There’s also a remote control, so you can trip the camera if it is mounted on the outside of your vehicle while you are driving off-road.

The KM170 is waterproof to a depth of 10 metres, cold-proof down to -10°C, shockproof and dustproof, so it should easily cope with all the adventures you get up to with your 4x4 and other action toys.

The 170 shoots through a super-wide 170° lens, so it’s ideal for panoramic shots and movies, as well a close-ups. In video it shoots UHD 4K quality and includes special shooting modes such as slow motion, super lapse and time lapse. We’re still getting our heads around the whole moving pictures thing, but we’ve been having fun trying. The camera is easy enough to use and shoot with – it’s just editing a movie together that we’re working on.

The camera has 37mm screen on the back, so you can review your pics and films easily or, for a bigger screen, sync the camera to your smartphone or tablet using the Nikon SnapBridge app. This also allows you to instantly upload your pics to your favourite sharing or social media platforms.

We’ll be taking the little Nikon out with us a lot more in the future and working on our video skills, but you can check out a video we shot when we went out with the Jeeps from Double Black Off-Road here.

AVAILABLE FROM: www.nikon.com.au

PRICE: $480 approx. (online)

WE SAY: Simple and compact way to capture action.