Yes its what it says it is, it works just fine, all controls are available and easy to manipulate.

This case was bought for a Canon Ixus 700 which is the European version of the SD500. The case worked well even though I only took it to 14 metres depth. Only two complaints being that in shallow water in bright sun light, trying to frame the subject was not easy due the sun light falling on the LCD screen. The other problem was that if held in the right hand during snorkling, diving down my thumb tended to move the function switch from underwater scene to movie mode. I now have a number of rather abstract movie clips caused by taking what I think is a picture only to start recording only stopping it when I think I have taken another shot.

The case held up good untill I took it to 90 foot it then allowed a little leakage of moisture but if your not going deepier than that I highly recommend this product..

I just bought this unit and haven't taken it underwater yet. I imagine the waterproofing will be fine. I'm a little concerned about the flash coverage. Testing it out above water, the housing causes a significant shadow on the bottom right corner of the screen (about 20% of the picture). I'm hoping the refraction underwater will take care of this but, for now, I'm seriously concerned.

If the flash isn't a problem, then I would have rated it 4 or 5 stars. If it is, I would have rated it 1 star.

I loved this - it was perfect for me. I'm not a diver, so I don't know how it would hold up at greater depth, but I took it snorkeling (that looks spelled wrong, but I'm not sure, but oh well) and got incredible pictures and videos. It also allowed me to take it kayaking without being paranoid, so it was great for me.

Bought this housing new in November 2005.In April I used it for the first time and it flooded on the first dive! Neither Amazon (since it is ouside the 30 day return policy) nor Canon will stand behind this product! Period! I got so much run around from Canon it was ridiculous. They wanted to "evaluate" the housing to determine if it was defective...DAH? They WOULD NOT tell me if I sent it back for the "evaluation" what the final resolution would be (refund, rework etc).
Coincidentally, another person on the same trip had the same housing...it flooded on their first dive too!!!!
Coincidence? No. Just terrible quality control and NO product support from Canon. DO NOT BUY CANON PRODUCTS!!!

Took mine on a trip to the Caicos island where it was promptly dropped, mauled and possibly even slightly neglected (I never soaked it after bringing it out of the saltwater). Worked without flaw. Just as easy to use as without the case. If you've got kids, for Pete's sake buy one of these. While making it not only virtually trash proof, it enables you to take it places you would probably never take your digital camera otherwise... to the beach, to the pool. Forget about it! Got mine at scuba.com for $150.

I took this to Guam and the pictures and videos came out awesome.

I read the reviews and I was a little nervous about putting my camera in a case that some people claimed leaked. I took my camera to Jamaica loaded it into the case (carefully reading and following instructions) and it work out great. The pics turned out awesome, the camera was safe from water. I recommend this to anyone who has an interest in taking their camera in or near the water.

If you want your underwater pictures to come out well, you definitely need to put the camera on the underwater setting. Because of the neutralization of the blue hues you cannot take pictures of things that are more than 20 feet away without there being blurred or hard to see items. If you switch the camera setting the pictures come out overly blue or blurred.

Another thing, it is easy to switch in between camera modes. Just be aware of what mode you're in.

Another thing to watch out for is if you are using the camera around water, but not necessarily in water, sometimes water spots get on the lens and leave a good picture with some blurry marks. It's easily taken care of by dipping the camera in the water and letting the water naturally run off or by using a clean cloth to wipe away water.

Avoid touching the inside of the case, finger prints are very annoying to try and look through while underwater or with some type of sun glaze.

I used this snorkeling in Grand Cayman and it was fantastic!
Easy to use, make sure you read instructions and seal the gasket properly. Don't be afraid to handle it, just put a little sealant between your forefinger and thumb and coat it well. Getting the gasket in is easy, taking it out...well...to be honest, is not. Look for the little area to stick something in-between the plastic housing and the ring to pop it out (it's not easy, maybe a plastic tooth pick?). Do not use anything that will damage the ring or the housing!, if you do, be very careful. Don't forget the diffuser! It works great with the flash. Also, keep the diffuser and hold it with your hand if you must but use it to take better portraits, the flash is simply to much and this will make your portraits much better (look at the skin tones after using it) I wish this camera had a way to clip this diffuser to it without the case. I didn't buy the weights but wish I did. The camera floats easily, I would get it for next time. Also, learn the buttons well before you go, really get them in your memory, its not easy to remember them when you're underwater and moving around.

The product was a genuine Canon battery and fit my SD550 as promised. I've bought a cheap one off eBay before after losing my OEM one, and was HIGHLY disappointed with it's 5 MINUTE battery life. This battery is legit as they come and lasted just as long as my original battery, Great deal for the price. Deifnitely a MUST BUY if you're looking for a similar battery!

I tried to save money by buying a Sunpak slave that was triggered (like the HF-DC1) by the camera's built in flash and was supposed to work with all digital cameras, but it failed to work with my Canon S3 IS. Even though my Canon S3 IS did trigger the Sunpak, it would not fire in sync with the S3 since the S3's (other Canon Powershot cameras do the same thing) flash sent out an imperceptible pre-flash that caused the Sunpak to fire before the real full flash on the S3 fired. I called Sunpak and they had no clue what was happening. A call to Canon, however, got me answers and also got me to return the Sunpak and buy the HF-DC1. In summary, don't play games and save money just buy the flash that is made to work with this and other Canon Power shot cameras. In any case, the HF-DC1 is really, really, tiny and light and uses the funky and expensive CR123a battery. Buying a rechargeable CR123a with a charger is also an expensive proposition. What to do if you want to save money on batteries? Nothing! Buy the CR123a on the WEB cheap and be thankful that each one will let you take a tremendous amount of flash photos before you need another. This Canon flash is quite efficient in its power usage. The HF-DC1 also comes with a bracket that lets you use the tripod socket on the S3 and other Canon Powershot cameras to mount it on the side of the camera. You can also experiment and hand hold the flash at different angles without the bracket. The HF-DC1 is silver in color and doesn't really match the S3's black body but it still looks OK. The flash has three buttons. The first allows you to set the power of the flash from min to mid to max. You will need to think this through since there are no wires going from the flash to the camera so how far the subject is from you will determine the setting you choose. Figure the HF-DC1 working with the flash on the S3, for example, will extend the distance from 15 to 30 feet and play with the setting accordingly. The next button allows you to set the flash to fire automatically or manually and is also the power on button. The word "automatic" here means nothing more than the flash firing without you touching it as soon as it sees a flash, any flash. Thus, if you are in a crowd and everyone is taking flash photos your HF-DC1 will be triggered by the flash of other cameras in this setting. What to do? Set the flash to manual and hold down the third button on the flash when you are ready to take the shot. This prevents the flash from being fired by another flash until the button is pressed This is truly a great feature and it did not exist on the Sunpak flash. The HF-DC1 is not cheap but it seems help make fairly well exposed photos most (not all) of the time. These exposures would not be possible with the camera's built in flash alone. HF-DC1 is extremely small (smaller than you think!) and is truly a featherweight. Since the Canon Powershot cameras in question have no hot shoe, you must buy a slave that is triggered by the flash built into the camera. The HF-DC1 is worth the money and I highly recommend it.

The problem with built-in flash is not only that it can be weak, but that it's right in line with the lens. This gives, at best, flat lighting and, at worst, bad red-eye. This unit solves both problems.

I was jazzed to receive mine today. It's very small and light, and seems to work as advertised. I put the unit in several different positions and it always fired. It's so great to get off-camera flash on a P&S!

It worked, that is, until I tried it with the G7's flash output set to manual. Won't work.

Turns out the optical slave doesn't react to the flash, but to the pre-flash. That might not matter to most people, but I'm bummed because I had seen use for this mixed in with studio flashes, perhaps on location, as a way to add an extra pop of light to hard-to-reach places. Oh, well ...

All in all, this is a very cool little item. I'm not going to use the bracket, because I see a great advantage in being able to move the flash off-camera. Do that and your flash pictures will never look the same. And that's a good thing ... :-)

I had been having issues with underexposure until I bought the Canon HF-DC1 High Power Flash. It was a good investment because it has added a touch of professionalism to my photography.

Except for the high price, I would recommend it to anyone who has a Canon Powershot Digital camera.I did not rate it 5 stars because I beleive it is unnecessarily overpriced.

Nice case (even luxurious I'd say) very well made and fits the camera snugly, offering excellent protection. No metal snaps. Closes with a generous-sized piece of velcro, which should last for the life of the camera depending, of course, on how often you open and close it. Has a leather sewn-on belt loop, which I use to hold a spare battery, albeit precariously. If it had even a bit more room inside to hold that extra battery or SD card (the battery is very thin) it would be perfect for me.

Right size but a little bit tight for my sd900. The leather is not as soft as I expected. No room for anything else.
One major drawback is the metal snap: when I try to pullout the camera from the tight case, the snap hits the LCD and makes a scratch on the very first day.

Good quality leather. Mag snap works good. Fits the SD630 like a glove and provides good protection.

I just recently purchased the Canon SD630 and was looking for a nice looking case that would protect my new camera. The case I recieved was a perfect fit, beautiful and well made. The shipping of this item was immediate (3 days). This case is a must and you won't find anything that comes close to the quality and price.

I bought this with the 700 IS, but the other Canon SD cameras should be similar.

Although the outside is soft leather (with silver/nickel decals), there is actually a strong hard case inside to protect the exposed LCD in particular.

The trick with using the case is to have the hand strap (that came with the camera) attached to the end of the camera and leave it hanging on the outside as the camera is inserted. The case is a snug fit, and without the strap to pull on, it can be difficult to dislodge using fingers/nails alone. A slight pull on the strap, and it slides out easily.

I wish I had purchased this case when I first got the camera, it would have prevented quite a few scratches. My only gripe is that the band isn't securely fastened to the case. It just goes through the hole without any way to anchor it to the case. Regardless, its a good fit and a decent price.

I like this case very much. It looks good, without the bulkiness and it provide protection for my SD630. I only wish I have this earlier because I already got some scratches on my camera before I buy the case (you learn your lesson once).

One minor con is that it doesn't have any pocket to store your memory card or battery. But you buy the SD series because of their compactness and this case doesn't take that away. I guess you have to store your accessories some place else (which I don't mind).

I suggest you buy a carabiner and attach it to the belt handle. That way you can clip it to your pants easy without having to take off your belt.

Took some nice pictures underwater in Cuba. Pretty easy to use. Worked fine at our depth (~8 meters, 24 feet). Still waiting for the chance to use it at greater depths.

while the manual is a little vague about how to remove the "o" ring that is used to seal the camera housing, I figured it out. Not really that hard. I applied the gel. And took it to 45-50 feet 3-4 times and it worked wonderfully perfectly. No leaks, no condensation, a no brainer actually. And it took great pictures. I would add that messing with a digital camera when you're diving makes buoyancy especially interesting when trying to do close ups of an octopus tucked away in a reef. And how to set up the Canon for nice underwater shoots is definitely something that will take some time. But by all means buy this. I have been diving for 10 years and this works great. Recommended highly.

My husband and I bought this case for a cruise we took over the holidays. We absolutely are SO GLAD we did! Yes, the waterseal ring was a little wierd to figure out at first, but really, once you get that down, this case is a cinch! I absolutely love being able to take video underwater as well as the photos. Here we are, swimming with Sting Rays and I can capture every moment of it! I can't reccomend this case more. Just follow the instructions and beware what they say about using the flash without the diffuser--- it's true, the image gets all funky if you use the flash without it, so don't. Otherwise, very simple and user friendly.

We bought this case to take on our cruise and I have to say it worked great! We took it diving to 80' several times and we went cave tubing in a lazy river and zip line through the jungle canopy. Not only does it protect your camera from water, but also sand and minor bumps and bruises. As I was swinging through the rainforest with my $400 camera dangling from my neck, I was glad it was in a big plastic case! If you have a cat I would recomend that you put the O ring on when you get where you're going - I found a few very fine hairs on mine before diving, but I picked them off and redid the seal with no problem. The flash difuser works great underwater and for outdoor shots, you definitely can't use the flash without it. Another guy on our dive had this exact case and he said he'd been using it for a couple of years with no problem! Although I did have some bouancy problems while fiddling with the buttons - got some great pictures of the back fin of the fish! (OK I'm a new diver and swiming, breathing, and pushing buttons is still a bit of a challenge).

Loved this case!!!!! Perfect for our trip to Kauai and was great capturing underwater colors. Easy to use and worth every penny!

just got back from st martin and a week of daily snorkeling. the case worked flawlessly. put on the silicon the first day, just touch-ups on the days that followed and waalaa. incedible ease of use, all functions available. used sd ultraII 2gb card and had plenty of room for videos, beautiful videos of fish swimming and fellow snorkelers amongst the fishes. disposible underwater cameras should be removed from the shelves as worthless compared to the canon set-up. only bad thing was everyone wanted to use the camera after seeing the downloaded pictures from day one--clear even when blown up on 17 inch screen.

I love this case! I bought it 2 years ago (summer 05) for shooting underwater, which it works great for, but I had no idea how much I would use it above water too. Digital cameras are just so fragile, and I do a lot of outdoor stuff so this offers it so much protection from sand and rain and splashing. So just hanging out on the beach or going out on a boat paddling or fishing, or out in the rain, I use this case and if it falls in the water, no big deal. Also makes your camera float. So 2 years later my digital camera is still in mint condition even though I've taken it everywhere. Of course the waterproof case is big, so if I'm just going to a wedding or something, I can stick my litle camera in my pocket without the big case.

I just used this thing in Hawaii and took some amazing underwater photos. It also helps to set your camera to "underwater" mode because it compensates for all of the blue colors and makes your images show up a lot better. I took such good underwater pictures that I was able to blow up a photo of sea turtel to 8x10 and it looks great.

Never buy one of those crappy disposable underwater cameras and get yourself one of these that you can use forever.