So many of our family's vacations are at beaches, lakes, water-parks, or hikes and bringing along the sensitive digital camera has always been a problem. If I carried it then I could not get in water and I spent more time worrying whether the sand would damage it than taking pics of my family. I lost a camera on a Disney Park fun ride when water suddenly splashed into the ride and we were miserable for losing all our pics. With this camera you can drop it in water and not worry about your pics unless you lose the camera (happened to me another time when I fell overboard and dropped a camera in the open sea). I have other cameras that I have been too lazy to review but I am excited about this one so I sat down to write this review.
This is like a regular Canon Camera with all the features and the added waterproof feature. It can be compared to the new SD780 IS which sells for fifty bucks less. The features are similar, except that this one is waterproof and bulkier and does not have a viewfinder (not that you can see much through a fogged up viewfinder in humid conditions).
Some great features:
Good looking waterproof camera, "cuteness" is very important, I disliked those clear cases that you have to screw on your camera and as one reviewer reported they can still get fogged up
Rainproof/Waterproof up to 33 ft, good for most pools or waterparks
Freeze proof lens up to 14 deg F
SMART Auto mode that detects the right scene mode for each shot (works great)
Digic 4 processor, auto shots are nicer than some older Canon cameras, optical image stabilization and motion detection to prevent blurring of images
2.5 inch extra bright LCD that's covered by a protective surface to prevent scratches and looks good in bright sun
3X optical and 12X digital zoom
Face detection
"Blink" detection the camera gives a blink warning if someone's eyes are closed in the picture
Contrast correction Can be set while taking picture or even afterward to correct darker areas
Continuous shooting lets you capture the perfect water shot
Scene modes The auto mode does a good job of sensing the conditions but if you want to set a mode you get the choice of Night exposure, Panorama (stitch together shots in one), programmable mode, portrait, sunset, beach, fireworks, aquarium, underwater, snow, indoor, kids and pets, foliage, long shutter, color accent (keep only one color in a pic, so the water and jeans will be blue while the people black and white) and color swap (change one color to another, swap the color of your boat from beige to red).
Negatives:
Slightly bulkier than your typical Canon SD, it's built for water, beach and rugged use, and it's rounder shape with no hard edges can take a fall or two
No threads for filters
No RAW mode
No lens cap but the glass shield is scratchproof
The back panel is pretty intuitive and you probably won't need the manual to figure it out. The buttons have been designed for waterproof operations and the zoom in and out is done through buttons on the back of the camera rather than with the shutter button lever like with other Canon cameras. The photo and video mode is toggled through a round button next to the shutter button.
The best thing about this camera? You can give it to your 6 year old to take underwater pics and not worry about it, how many other "real" cameras can you do that with?! Now I can float down that lazy river at the water park with my family and take some nice shots rather than running along the edge trying to capture the perfect moment. And the best thing is that this camera works just as well on land. It's the perfect no-nonsense take along everywhere (really every where!) vacation camera.
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