Author's product rating:
| Advantages: |
Easy to use, lets you take great photos with little effort |
| Disadvantages: |
You can't feel the half way focus point on the shutter button |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
I bought the WP DC800 to use with my Canon Ixus 500 on a marine expedition to Madagascar. It was a choice between a made-to-fit housing like this, which appeared to me to be quite expensive - I paid around £130 for the housing from Jessops, or the plastic bag type of underwater housing that will fit most cameras.
I definitely made the right decision, the housing is worth every penny. From the first day in the water it was taking stunning pictures. I was a little aprehensive about taking my digital camera into the sea for the fisrt time but after a few test runs with the empty case I took the plunge.
My Ixus 500 fits inside perfectly and all the buttons line up exactly, making use of the the camera and adjusting settings as easy as it is on dry land. From the first snorkel I was taking great, well focused pictures. I found the neck strap a bit pointless and it just got in the way so that came off pretty quickly, and with the camera inside, the housing is slighly positively buoyant, which is perfect because it doesnt affect your control over the camera while its in your hand, but if the wrist strap ever slips off or you let it go it will slowly float to the surface, which makes retrieving it easier.
There are some down sides that I found but these aren't very significant. the main issue I had was that with the resistance of the spring on the shutter button, you cant feel when the half way, focus point comes, and you have to watch the screen to see if you're in focus. This is another problem I found, the screen of the camera is quite small, and with the light refraction through the housing viewing space and a mask, it becomes quite hard to see the screen in any detail unless you bring it quite close. The only other minor annoyance is that the zoom function is reversed when the camera is inside the case because of the way the mechanism works, which takes some getting used to.
The WP DC800 is waterproof tested to 40m, but I only took it down to around 20m on dives. I used it practically every day for the 3 months that I was there and I am so glad I bought it, as some of the pictures I came back with are amazing. The housing comes with spare O-ring grease, which I have only used once, and only because I thought it was probably a good idea, not because there were any problems with leaks.
The housing also includes a removable flash diffuser, and a tripod stand socket which i assume can be used to attach weights or a strobe light
My experience with the product is limited to 0-20m underwater, and only in warm water, but after around 30 dives and numerous snorkelling trips I found it to be a lightweight, sturdy, high quality, and to me, invaluble product.
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keeping my camera safe and dry
Review of Canon WP DC800 Marine case Digital photo camera by
phil8561
Advantages: great for underwater photos
Disadvantages: fogs up after 30 mins underwater.
I bought this underwater case for my Cannon Ixus 400 (which i have also reviewed) from Camerasunderwater.com for £140 including postage in 2004 to be used to take photos of my son while he was learning to swim as my wife thought it would be cheaper to take our own photos rather than pay for the courses own ones.
The housing came with an instrution manual, neck strap (never used it) a wrist strap, spare "O" ring seal and some grease.
The case is ... ...is screwed to the case and neoprine rubber which is on the inside of the case where the cameras zoom lens fits into, there is also an opaque plastic just over the lens infront of where the flash is on the camera itself which is used to defuse the flash underwater at nighttime.
All camera functions can still be used underwater with this case as there are push buttons inline with the cameras own buttons and a rotary knob which lines up with the mode ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
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very helpful

09.05.2006
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Canon makes a splash
Review of Canon WP DC800 Marine case Digital photo camera by
ransj
Advantages: Allows you to take your camera diving!
Disadvantages: Rotary control turns too easily.
...you would expect, with a Canon product, it is well constructed out of clear plastic. (I think the colourful bits are to cater for the wet-weather user rather than the scuba diver!). The case gives access to all of the camera controls, a rocker switch for photo or review, a rotary switch for manual, auto, etc. and push buttons for the remaining controls.
All you have to do to setup is lightly grease the o-ring with the supplied silicone grease and ... ...the camera in a dry atmosphere to prevent condensation forming inside the case. On occasion I would put a silica gel desiccant in with the camera when I thought condensation would be a problem. With the camera in, the case is negatively buoyant, which I found is the best for taking pictures when diving.
The only problem I've had with the housing is when I snapped off the inner portion of one of the push buttons when inserting the camera. Not a great ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful |
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helpful

27.07.2005
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