You can't access all the camera's functions using this case. It does not give you access to five buttons on the camera. I have a Canon underwater case for the A570is, which led me to purchase this one, and you are able to access every button on the camera while it's inside the case. This case only gives you access to: power, zoom in/out, shutter, left (macro/landscape), right (flash) and playback. You do not have access to: Disp, Menu, Func/ok, up or down. This is not mentioned anywhere in the description.
So what does all this mean? You are limited in the camera modes and options. You can't customize your features in the P mode. Out of all the modes the camera supports, you can only use: Auto, Underwater, Snow, Beach and whichever video mode you have it set to (you can only change it if you take it out of the case, it would have been nice to have a Underwater, Beach and Snow video mode as well, but that's a drawback on the sd1400 not the case). You can't: set the white balance, playback video, delete photos, change exposure, zoom in on playback, use the timer, use the histogram, change iso... . I didn't have enough time with the case to see what else I couldn't do with it. This camera case turns a feature rich p&s camera into a stripped down p&s camera.
They did do something interesting though, the case holds down the disp and menu buttons which on start-up defaults it to the underwater mode. If you hold down left and turn it on, it puts it on the snow mode. If you hold down right and turn it on, it puts it in beach mode. It's a bit of a hack. If you have a sd1400 take it out of the case and hold down Func and Menu and hit the power button, it will go to underwater mode.
Also, this case is made to fit the sd1400 pretty tight, which is good because it reduces the size of the case, but it's bad because I couldn't put any silica gel packs in there to remove condensation. They could have made this case so much better if they expanded the size of the case allowing room for the 5 buttons they took out.
I am very disappointed in this product and I'm surprised that Canon even decided to release a product that basically cripples the camera. I decided on returning this product 5 minutes after I opened the package. I was really disappointed in the lack of buttons. I really wanted to like the sd1400 and wp-dc37 combo, but now I'm returning both and probably getting a Panasonic DMC-TS1. Both my wallet and I will be happier. Canon WP-DC37 Waterproof Case for Canon SD1400IS Digital Camera
Love this camera and housing. I wrote my first review on just the 1400 camera. Check that out too. As the reviewer said above you are limited to certain buttons, but I guess as a novice photographer I did not notice how not having extra buttons hindered my photography. We bought this camera for a scuba diving trip and log in about 15 hours diving time and probably another 25 snorkeling hours.
Never had a leak. Did get some condensation once, but left the camera and case in ac overnight. Put them back together, with gel pack and did not have any other problems. I used the macro, normal, and infinity modes on camera and all worked well. Underwater photography is tricky with the blues so I would just take a lot of pictures in many different ways. I was not disappointed. You still can zoom in on objects and take great pictures. We took this on a night dive, and it was the time it had condensation in it, and the pictures still turned out impressive. We just had to wait a little while for the fog to go away. The next morning we loaded the camera in air conditioned room and used a gel pack, like I mentioned before we did not have that problem.
Would recommended housing to everyone!!
I bought this case for a dive trip to Cozumel. I read both of the other reviews on Amazon (a one star and five star), and was a little concerned about the price vs. the value of the case.
I purchased this case for $197 on another site and had absolutely no problems. The features of the camera are limited, but for underwater photographs and video and had absolutely no problems. There was no fogging of the lens and my pictures were clear. I dove to 70 feet without any leaks.
Definitely worth the price for the memories of diving in Cozumel.
I've used a variety of underwater products and shot extensively with a Backscatter video housings; I wanted a basic point-and-shoot setup for underwater "memory and identification" shots on a recent dive trip to Dauin (Negros Oriental), Philippines. The housing is simple and reliable - the o-ring is easy to clean and does a very good job of waterproofing this housing (I only took it as deep as 90 fsw / 28 meters). If what you want to do is take shots you can use for later checking, to show friends or share on the Internet, this housing and camera combo will work well; a friend in Hawai'i always carried a point-and-shoot and shared some interesting photos of critters and behaviors the Bishop Museum was happy to have. If you want to take specialist macro or ultra-wide angle, this is definitely not your camera and housing setup.
The pros: Easy to operate and reliable. Insert the camera and it will automatically be placed into the "underwater" mode. You can perform some very basic control functions, like control zooming, select video or photo, turn flash to auto on, off or mandatory full. The photo you are about to take shows up on the LCD, and you can review photos after taking them. DO use the diffuser for flash photos to avoid overly-harsh highlights and possibly intrusive shadows from the lens and housing. The camera and housing setup is extremely small, highly portable and is slightly negative buoyant.
The cons: Flash intensity is pretty basic, as described above, and you can easily find yourself with washed out over-exposed photos of close-up critters if selecting mandatory flash. The provided holes for the wrist lanyard are useless to attach a more substantial lanyard to tether the system to your BCD; use an adapter for the tripod adapter for that. The flash diffuser is tethered to the camera, but can come loose in currents.
Tips: Change the battery every two or three dives, be sure the o-ring and mating surfaces are absolutely free of excess silicon grease, dust, hairs, etc. and keep the camera out of the sun - the small clearances in the housing do not allow any space for moisture-munching packets or tubes of silica gel, and you will develop a spot of moisture in the center of the lens. Do find a way to tether the camera to your BCD. Do download photos every day, "just in case" anything does ever happen.
I did get some "memory" photos I am not ashamed of sharing of Wonderpus, poison ocellated octopus, ornate and robust ghost pipefish, various scorpionfish (including Ambon), frogfishes, lionfishes, sea moths, snake eels, nudibranchs and other invertebrates, etc. but was unable to test any larger fish freeswimming due to the high particulate load in the water at the time (ergo unacceptable backscatter). This is a good tool for its planned purpose, not professional level photos, at a good price. - Accessories - Waterproof Housing - Canon Digital Camera - Digital Camera'
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