Customer Reviews

DicaPac WP300 Medium 160 X 105mm Waterproof Case

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have recently purchased and used the DiCAPac WP-300 on my Canon SD700.

The DiCAPac is basically a glorified heavy duty zip lock bag with a lens adaptor built in.

The ease of use with the DiCAPac has more to do with the camera than the case. Cameras having dials instead of buttons make it difficult to use with the slippery plastic case. If you have dials that must be continually used and not set and left then I do not recommend the DiCAPac. Push button type menus are preferred for this item.

The case is a sloppy fit as it is universal. Shifting of the camera in the bag can cause the camera to capture the lens adaptor in the picture. Also as it is universal and the lens adaptor is wider than the camera lens, the flash does not work as it is blocked by the DiCAPac lens adaptor.

Underwater picture quality I would give a 5/5 and above water quality I would give a 3/5. It can be difficult to get above water pictures sometimes if the bag is wet because of water beading on the lens adaptor. When shooting underwater, set camera to underwater mode, pulls out colours much better.

It held up well in snow conditions, try to keep dry and in pocket to avoid ice fogging on the bag.

In tropical heat and snorkeling, the bag didn't have much condensation problems as the lens adaptor on the bag can be removed to encourage air flow to dry out the humidity. It is difficult to see display screen through the bright sun or if you are under water.

Overall:

If you want to take picture underwater, it is a good value. It will do much better than underwater disposables, but probably not as well as plastic cases. However the cost difference between the DiCAPac and plastic case is hard to ignore.

On the beach. The annoyance factor of the sloppiness of the camera making alignment in the lens adaptor tube to not catch black edges on your picture may be too much. Personally, I'd probably just take good care of the camera at the beach than use the bag, unless there is a lot of water around. Note: the lens adaptor glass easily scratches with sand. Make sure a cleaning cloth does not contain sand dust.

In the snow. Works good. Snow is not as damaging in most cases as a water environment. However, snow tends to get everywhere, especially in pockets. A little difficult to use, impossible with gloves on, but worth it if pictures are important and you don't mind taking the gloves off.

Value = 5 stars

Ease of Use = 2 stars

Performance = 4 stars

Design = 3 stars

We used this case heavily for 9 days during our last beach escape. One conclusion is clear: it is water/sand proof. We used the camera for snorkeling, in the swiming pool, on the beach and while the rain poured on us. Nothing got inside the pouch. The material seems to be strong enough that you are not scared that it will break at the first contact with a stick.

Now on the down side: for our camera (Sony P150) as for most cameras the button that one presses to take the pictures is on top and it is under the "crest" of the pouch. This positioning makes it very difficult to press the button. Moreover, the pouch is thick enough that it gets difficult to get a tactile feedback that you really pressed the button (we never knew for sure if we took a particular photo - so we pressed repeateadly ending up with multiple shots some not very well timed).

The other big drawback: grease gets on the front (where the lens is) and water sticks in front of the lens. Under water is fine but as soon as you get out the photos will show those water drops.

I was looking for an underwater case for my digital camera for a cruise I was going on. The prices were unbelievably high; some were more expensive than the camera! I knew that I would only use an underwater case a few times so I didn't want to purchase anything that would break the bank. I ordered the DiCAPac for my camera and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the product upon first inspection. I went scuba diving and snorkeling while I was in the Caribbean and had the camera submerged for 1-2 hours at a time. I took it to depths of 20+ feet with absolutely no leaks whatsoever (even though the packaging warns that it is only tested to 15 ft). The DiCAPac makes the camera float so you don't have to worry about dropping it while submerged. The pictures came out beautifully - there was no distortion from the lens cover. I did notice some vignetting at the corners but this was quickly remedied by slightly zooming in the camera enough to get past the lens adapter of the DiCAPac case. The housing is flexible enough to access all of the buttons on the camera. For the same price as 1 or 2 disposable underwater cameras, this product is well worth it. I took over 400 pics under the water and about 90% of them turned out beautifully; actually, the ones that didn't turn out were caused by operator error, not the camera case. I highly recommend this product!

With a Canon SD-600, it very difficult to keep the camera's lens in the center of the Dicapac housing which results in most pictures of video capturing the rubber outter ring.

You can see a video I shot here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaD6BZA-gNg

I was not satisfied with the case and had to return it, which was done easily. My problem was that my camera didn't fit very well, and I couldn't reach the buttons on the camera once it was in the case. My camera was specifically listed as "fitting". It's essentially a heavy duty plastic bag. I never got a change to try it under water.

I bought the DicaPac WP300 about a year ago for a trip to Cozumel. As the instructions say, I tested it out ahead of time by putting some tissues in the pouch and submerging it under water to see if there were any leaks. It was fine, but I still was a bit cautious so I used my older Canon PowerShot S500 instead of my newer one.

I was impressed. It was a little tricky at times getting the lens to line up so that it didn't catch the side of the opening on the case (leaving a slightly black corner to some of the photos when it did), but I was able to take some awesome photos and video. My friend who has the same model put some packing foam inside of his to keep his camera perfectly aligned all the time, but I never got around to it.

During a week of daily usage it never leaked once and I came back from the trip with a bunch of amazing underwater photos that I never would have taken otherwise. Most of the time I never took it below 3 or 4 feet, but on some occasions I swam down to about 10 or 12 feet and it was still fine. For the price it can't be beat, as there are some really expensive models out there.

One complaint I have is that after not a lot of use the velcro began to separate from the plastic pouch a bit. This could probably be fixed with a little bit of glue, but if I didn't fix it water still probably wouldn't get in as there is a zip-lock style closing just beyond it.

Overall it's a great buy. You get far better photos (and video) than you would with any disposable underwater camera, and the price is great. My only suggestion would be to try it out on an older camera just in case something drastic were to happen that you wouldn't want to happen to an expensive camera.

I'm looking forward to using it again.

Took this bag on vacation in Hawaii and used with with a Sony Cybershot snorkeling and kayaking. Took excellent pictures, better than any disposable underwater camera I have ever used. It was difficult to change camera modes (still pictures to video, etc) becasue you have to turn a dial through the plastic bag, but other buttons (flash mode, shutter, power) were easily utilized. We used the neck lanyard and could just let the camera float along when not using it so we didn't have to hold it the entier time. We had full use of the LCD on the back of the camera. In some pictures the camera was off center and you can see the black rim of the lens on the bag, but that is easily cropped out. If using out of the water I would recommend cleaning the lens cap once in a while becasue water spots will show up on the pictures. Overall, fun to use!

Great product I brought this to extend the range of options I could have with my compact digital Nikon Coolpix, which already takes great pics, had it installed in minutes and on its maiden voyage it worked perfectly.The most inexpensive way to waterproof your gear I'd recommend it.

It works! It appears as though your very expensive digital camera is going into the ocean in a ziplock, but it works! We bought one before a recent vacation to Belize & Guatemala and we had the best time when we were diving with sharks, stingrays and other sea creatures! We just set our camera to the video setting and went crazy! The picture quality was perfectly clear and we had some amazing photos from the trip underwater.

It is hard to move the dial on the camera once it is set and you are in the water, but it can be done. It was also hard to see what you were filming, but with some hit and miss you'll get something :)

Also, we used this anytime we went near the water: when we were kayaking, when we went caving (ATM tour) and it worked perfectly. You might get a little distortion on the edges, and sometimes a little moisture in the bag, but nothing that will hurt your camera.

It was a very fun thing and one that we can't wait to use again!

I reviewed this product with an ecstatic 5 stars several months ago. It worked great in several swimming pools, on a trip to Hawaii, and through half of our time in Belize. Unfortunately, halfway through a snorkeling trip, I noticed what looked like water in the bag. Before I could get back to the boat, my $300 canon was dead. Before you ask, yes I properly sealed it. My advice is to get the real case, or buy a cheap waterproof model. The only reason not to have one is that they don't do video.