Kept my camera clean and dry
I took the waterproof case on a cruise to the Bahamas and went snorkeling as one of the excursions. Everything worked as advertised. It is a little difficult to hold the camera so that it is always lined properly, but over-all it works. You can't see the LCD display very well while it is inside the bag, but considering the price, I'm very happy with the purchase.
I'm looking forward to using it again.
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Good for carrying things, not much else
I bought the AquaPac based largely on the glowing reviews I read from all over the Internet but I was very disappointed. I tried it first with a Canon G6 and it barely fit; when it was securely in place and the camera was turned on the bag almost prevented the lens from extending. I tried pictures indoors with a flash, which produced an image of a large, white blob, then without the flash, which produced out of focus images. My G6 never properly focused while in the bag, so I tried my Minolta Dimage X60, which fit very well but gave the same results. I tried the bag with the X60 in bright sunlight and out of about 6 pictures only one was acceptable, but even it had a bluish haze. The other photos had a more pronounced haze and not a single one was in focus -- and this was in bright sunlight! I'm not sure what I can do now beyond paying nearly $200 for a camera-specific waterproof case, but the AquaPac is definitely not the solution.
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BUYERS BEWARE!!
I bought another pack from this company (BeltPac), and while I did test the pack as described in the instructions, the pack leaked when I used it in the sea, destroying my phone and my mp3 player. I contacted Aquapac, as they claim to have a warranty if the pack if used apropriately, but they refused to refund me the pack or the content that was destroyed (MP3 player + phone).
BEWARE WHEN YOU BUY ON OF THESE PACKS: EVEN IF YOU FOLLOW ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS, THE PACK MAY LEAK AND THE COMPANY WILL REFUSE TO REFUND YOU.
AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COST!
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Not a "professional" solution, but affordable for basic use
I purchased this product to use with my Canon Powershot S3 IS.
Let's face it, I was nervous. It is a plastic bag. But I really wanted to take some shots while snorkeling in the Bahamas. I did try it in the sink, empty, to try and gain some confidence in it. The first time out, I stayed close to shore and watched very closely.
It is a tight fit to get *this* camera in, and it takes a lot of effort to get the camera to properly turn on. It is a bit tight for the lens to adjust so the camera beeps and turns off. You can get it to work after a couple of tries. For cameras with fixed lenses, this may not be an issue. On this particular camera, the screen would also not be available so you are stuck trying to use the viewfinder through the plastic and a mask. It's not great, but I am not a professional photographer so my expectations weren't high. Besides, the great thing with digital is you can take loads of pictures and a few will turn out (get a big memory card).
It is a bit hard to manipulate the settings through the bag. It is thick plastic. I did grow pretty confident, though, in the design. Nothing leaked, though you will get condensation out of the water and a few drops when you open the case. The camera does move around a bit, as do the bags with dessicant, and this can be a pain. You may have to wrestle with it, since it floats very well (not a bad thing) and the strap is pretty big. If you are a snorkeler that likes to dive a lot, this could be an issue.
Overall the pictures were OK. There was a lot of distortion on some underwater shots, in part due to my type of camera. I did try to keep the plastic flat in front of the lens. The zoom seemed to result in additional distortion around the edges of the pictures. IF you had clear water, bright sun, and a nearby subject you could get some nice pictures. Land photos seem just a bit less crisp than they would be without the bag. Nonetheless there were at least two trips where I really wished I had my camera and this bag.
I suspect with a different camera it would be pretty good. I am considering getting the SLR version of this bag but would get a hard case if prices come down. I think it did what I expected. It was reliable, kept the camera dry on boat trips, and turned out decent quality photos. The defects were more likely due to the camera being a bit large for this bag. However, there is room for failure (including user error) and the results could be bad.
It is NOT comparable to a "hard case" waterproof housing. It you are looking for that sort of performance, buy that type of housing. Nothing is 100% fail safe when combining standard camera equipment and water, so if it would be the end of the world to damage the camera, leave it onshore. :)
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