Customer Reviews

Canon WP-DC15 Waterproof Case for Canon SD850 Digital Camera

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had recently purchased the Canon SD850IS and wanted to purchase the underwater housing. First off, you must understand that the SD850IS is a point-and-shoot camera - nothing super fancy. I purchased the camera for its compact size and the quality of pictures given the size and that the underwater housing was fairly inexpensive (when compared to dedicated underwater digital cameras).

That being said, the underwater housing did exactly what it was supposed to - protect your camera while going underwater. I did notice some of the fogging that the other reviewer wrote about, however, I attribute that to the high humidity of the locale I was diving in (Jamaica to be precise). Hawaii is also extremely humid and I can easily see how a little moisture inside the case would cause the fogging. After I noticed the fogging the first time, I kept the housing close to the AC in our room - it dried out any moisture so that when I put my camera in and sealed it up, there was no fogging underwater.

Buttons and the scroll wheel were extremely easy to use underwater. (A little less pliable on the surfact). The only negative was that it's nearly impossible to see the button labels (as they are just raised clear plastic icons on the case). Canon did provide a small sticker to indicate the button labels, but there was no good place to put it without blocking the LCD in the back. If you are extremely familiar and comfortable with the camera - this should not be a problem. Otherise, it will take a little while before you get the hang of it. Another small con - the wrist-strap provided is pretty small and weak - my fiance had a spare bungee-cord style strap which we used instead. It worked much better than the wrist-strap as I could clip the camera to my BC and not worry about it slipping off my wrist.

Another small con is the diffuser plate. In theory it's a fantastic idea - in practice, you have to get within 12 inches of the subject you are taking a photo of to get true colors. Any further and the image has the dreaded blue-washed-out look. As the camera is so small though, I understand the flash is pretty weak. Solution is to take an external light with you even in the day to shine on when you take pictures.

All in all, does exactly as advertised for a reasonable price. Being on a budget, a dedicated underwater camera is simply out of my price reach. It was very easy to use and did take some really great photos. I would highly recommend!

Length:: 0:29 Mins

Here is an underwater video I took of sea lions at the Galapagos Islands. I was thrilled with the Canon SD850 IS Camera -Canon PowerShot SD850 IS 8.0 MP Digital Elph Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and the WP-DC15 waterproof case Canon WP-DC15 Waterproof Case for Canon SD850 Digital Camera. I got great pictures and videos for very reasonably priced equipment. The underwater setting allowed me to take pictures without getting the excessive blue coloring that you often get with underwater pictures. I highly recommend both the camera and underwater case. I considered the waterproof bags that are available, but after reading the reviews decided that it would be worth the extra cost for the Canon case, rather than taking a chance with an inexpensive bag. I was very careful to follow directions for handling the gasket and put the silicon grease on before each use to make sure it remained waterproof. When not underwater, the camera is very compact and easy to carry around and use.

I bought this case for a trip to Hawai'i and used the housing about 8 different times in various scenarios.
When we took a boat trip around the islands, I brought the housing to keep the camera dry from any splashing, etc. From this, came my primary issue with the case which is that it does not do well in an above water scenario. Not only does the glass in front of the lens smudge easily, but water droplets stay on the front glass and cannot be quickly and efficiently wiped off, I would recommend canned air, but that's overkill in most situations.
I loved the fact that the camera could go underwater and for 80% of the time underwater the photos came out fine, however the housing can fog slightly either in the barrel for the lens or on the back for the viewfinder. I was not able to troubleshoot why this happened, but I put the camera in the case and sealed in before we even went to the water and at a certain point in the water the fogging became more pronounced.
The only other problem I had was sand that got into the locking hinge for the seal and I had to shake and blow the sand out because it wedged against locking slider which wouldn't open.
All in all, I was very happy to have the housing and it gave us some great and not so typical photo ops, but it wasn't perfect.

These are great, my only issue because its 4X lense that it extends out far so that case is a bit bulky otherwise these are bullet proof

his is my first time using a underwater housing for any cameras at all. I have been doing photography for over 10 years too.

I followed the manual and this worked really great. No condensation. No leaks. No fuss. I'm just amazed how the buttons are made on the exterior to work with the camera buttons. Ingenius!

Bought it for a trip to Mexico, used it on several dives; reef, wreck, cavern, night. No complaints, Works as expected. Had no problems changing functions, such as still pics to movie mode, and features, such as scene, marco and flash options, on the camera. Buttons well spaced, even with light gloves. The flash works well up close in dark situations, night diving and cave.

I am happy with the prodcut and happy with the vendor.

I got this waterproof case for a 12 day sailing & snorkeling trip to the British Virgin Islands (BVIs) as part of a 54 person sailing club trip. I thought the case was rather expensive, but in hindsight, it was totally worth it. I never took the camera out of the case, as I had a 4 GB memory card & did only limited videos. People commented on my camera and often borrowed it to take pictures, and I ended up with almost 650 pictures on the card, which I shared with all. Many people commented on the many excellent photos taken, not all by me, but people who borrowed it with no experience with the camera or case! I noticed one picture is now the person's personal Facebook picture.

The case took excellent photos above and below the water's surface. Its excellent controls allowed easy control of the camera above or below water. The only negative thing was it was hard to see the picture in the camera's LCD display underwater, or especially the video, because of the too dim camera's LCD display. Except for the too dim display, the camera was as easy to use underwater as above and remarkably neutrally buoyant (neither floated nor sunk), which is another testament to the case's excellent engineering.

I never used the flash diffuser, which would have likely greatly helped underwater flash shots, of which I took very few and did not come out well.

Only hint I would offer is that you should have a clean, soft dry cloth handy to wipe the inevitable water spots on the case's lens window when you are near water.

Conclusion: Why get some cheap, dysfunctional case when you will likely take nearly priceless pictures on a trip costing many times more? Excellent case that is totally worth its price!

Took this water housing to Maui for three weeks. Scuba dived with it (55+ feet), got in the surf lineup to take pictures of friends shredding the gnar and the whole time it was awesome! [...]

I purchased this waterproof case for the purpose of taking underwater photos and videos with my Canon SD850 on a scuba diving vacation at the Red Sea. It performed wonderfully. No complaints at all. The case is durable and feels very well made. I had no leaks and took the camera to depths of 25 meters. The buttons are large enough to operate even with scuba gloves (1.5mm). It was so easy to use we just left the camera in the case even for dry land photos. It did not fog up and performed great. Other reviewers have commented that they purchased the weights to stabilize the camera underwater. I simply used the provided wrist strap and had no problems whatsoever holding the camera still enough for closeups and video of sealife. This is a good little case. Highly recommended.

Case did not leak, used for 7 days in St. Thomas. I added a few air dryer beads to the case to keep fog out, worked great. case in made very well, very solid.