I have been so hesitant in getting this marine case, after hearing a lot of bad reviews about its predecessors (casings for the g7 and g9) from fellow divers like myself. They claim that Canon makes bad cases, and that they haven't perfected it yet. Taking into consideration that the G10 is a pretty pricey camera, I was so adamant about purchasing the casing lest my g10 gets soaked.
However the options are waaay too pricey for me. They even cost more than the camera itself. And so I took a chance and bought it, assuring myself that I've used about 3 Canon-made housings in the past and they we're very well-built.
I took it diving with me, the deepest at 100 feet, and it never gave me problems. If you are to take it diving, I suggest that you bring down the casing first, without the camera, and put a sheet of tissue in the casing. If the tissue gets wet, then something must be wrong with how you sealed it, and check the o-ring again. I strongly suggest that you search the web for o-ring maintenance tips and follow it diligently. And keep it from impact. Make sure you wrap it in cloth or something to cushion it against blows or scratches.
I guess those that had so-called problems with their casings didn't handle the o-rings properly, or maybe they banged their casings somehow.
I just gave it 4 stars because there's no way that you can manipulate the control dial. The solution would be to create custom settings.
Go get it, take good care of it, and spend the rest of the money on a decent strobe.
UPDATE (Jan 1, 2010): This update is long overdue. Got stuck with so many things. The control dial CAN be manipulated after all. Hold down the "S" button on the G10 (found on the upper left corner of the LCD below the exposure dial), then press left or right button of the control dial. Please see the reviews of "hellfire' and "andres" for this same product. Thanks to you guys. My apologies. I change my rating from 4 to 5 stars. Canon WP-DC28 Waterproof Case for Canon PowerShot G10 Digital Cameras
I am a complete novice when it comes to underwater photography - not above water though... So I had the G10 and was going to Belize on vacation for sun and fun and snorcheling. I decided to buy this case as it actually seemed quite reasonable for what it offers. Let's get to it.
I will list the cons first.
* The plastic of the case is rather soft, so even though I only went on three snorcheling trips with it, I ended up with a ton of scratches on it, and I WAS trying to be very careful.
* The plastic of the case - and across the display - is very glossy. So when you are snorcheling close to the surface and the sun is shining, you can barely see anything on the display, it is just reflecting the brightness of the sea surface above you. I assume this would not be as much of a problem if you are scuba diving and further down in the water.
* Being spoiled from the ability to change just about any setting on this camera while it is in its case, it is a shame you can't manipulate the ring control in the back which changes aperture or shutter speed depending on which mode you are in.
Neutral:
* The flash works surprisingly well under water, however just for very short distances. It is also very close to the lens so that if the water is not perfectly clear, it will light up every dirt molecule and render the picture worthless.
* The case is surprisingly large. Originally I thought this might be a nice combo for the beach or in general maybe in the rain - but the case is about the size of a Canon XTi with a 18-55mm lens on it and really too large to casually carry with you to the beach etc... Also, at a beach in the sand I would be very worried again about scratching the plastic.
* You should know your camera well because the labels on the buttons are just stamped into the clear plastic and you really can't decipher them under water.
Positives:
* Just about everything else. The case is easy to use and all the buttons are accessible (except the ring as I mentioned). The case is completely waterproof, I didn't have one hint of water inside it. I did take it down to about 25 feet a few times.
I really enjoyed taking my G10 under water. It looks like I will keep my G10 for a long time since I don't think I will buy another underwater case anytime soon. The G10/WP-DC28 combo will be my underwater kit for the extended future...
I read a lot of reviews and tips and ended up buying a few silica gel packs from Ebay (very cheap) in order to keep possible fogging in the case to a minimum. I never tried the case without the packs, so I don't know if fogging would have been a problem, but with a pack, I never saw any fogging. I'm not a big fan of RAW with point and shoots, so I used JPG and the underwater setting of the G10. This was a pretty good combo, and I didn't have to do a lot of color correcting in Photoshop. I could imagine that if you go deeper, RAW would become more of a necessity to get the colors right. I also took some videos under water, and they came out quite nice.
All in all, I would highly recommend this underwater case despite the few issues it has. I will upload a few pictures of the case and the photos I have taken. - Housings - Canon G10 - Waterproof Housing - Waterproof Case'
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