Canon D10 deepest dive?

[TunbleWeed]

hey guys i was thinking of buying a canon D10 as their small, not bulky like ikelite cases and apparently can go past their 10m depth rating.
but then again taking it past 10m is risky,
anyone got any suggestions if a canon D10 is a good idea? or if not any other suggestions?
cheers,

 

[smellzlikefish]

It depends on what you are looking for. If most of your water tie is spent surfing and snorkeling or diving in less than 30 feet, I'd say you have found your match. The D10 has great reviews and looks like a neat little camera. I almost got one when I picked up a job snorkeling for Marine Debris. We weren't allowed past 30 feet.

If you are looking for a camera to go SCUBA diving with regularly past 30 feet, the D10 is not the right camera for you unless you get a housing for it. Some people have taken their cameras below 30 feet, but that doesn't mean all D10's will go below 30 feet and be okay, it just means some have. I wouldn't do it repeatedly. For a diving camera, I'd spend the extra money and get a camera with proper housing. I would personally not go with an Ikelite housing either since I've witnessed many more manufacturer malfunctions with their design, but there are many who would disagree. I like Canon cameras, stick with the Canon housing. My $.02.

 

[TunbleWeed]

yea i was thinking about it and i will be doing more and more dives and past 10m, only issue i have is the size of the cases do they get frustrating underwater?
what do you think about the sea&sea housings for their own cameras?
cheers for ur 2 cents

 

[smellzlikefish]

Sea and sea makes cameras that are specifically designed to go underwater. In comparison to brands like Canon and Nikon, they are a small company that just can't compete with the big boys. I have seen some nice pictures taken with Sea and Sea cameras, but it is no mistake that the pros all use brand name rigs. Better glass, better processors, I'm not sure what the difference is, but Sea and Sea pics seem to have more...something that just isn't right for me.

 

[TunbleWeed]

yea kewl ill look into the canon housings, and canon cameras def sound best quality and processing speed, just the price :S haha
cheers tho,

 

[DaveLA310]

Well... I just got the D10 as a gift. I too was worried about the depths below 33 feet. I wrote to canon and they had no additional information or insight. After checking a few more websites...I found a review that said they took it to 75 feet.

"A real dive camera. Best, probably, is that Canon's first rugged/waterproof digital offering is actually useful for divers as you can take it down to 33 feet. Most waterproof cameras can only handle five or ten feet, which is good enough for snorkeling but precludes scuba. Some Olympus Stylus cameras can go to 33 feet (and we've successfully tested them as deep as 75 feet), and the new D10 matches that. 33 feet is definitely scuba territory and you can dive reefs and many wrecks within that range. With the PowerShot D10, scuba divers now have a Canon camera they can take on those dives without the need for a bulky underwater housing."

This was from Scuba Diver Info - Canon PowerShot D10

While I am sure that below 33 feet is not the best idea, at least, from this article, it seems it can handle it.

Hope that helps.

 

[bikini]

Has anyone thought about trying this camera with some kind of strobe?

 

[RDRINK25]

I have a Panasonic Lumix TS2 and it is rated to 33ft. I have had it down to 60ft without a housing with no issues. I dont think I would want to push these type of cameras that much = 2x the normal rating.

 

[evaughan3]

I have taken the D10 to 82' - worked like a champ. The buttons may stick a bit, but recover as you climb the water column.

 

[taligent]

Just returned from a week of wreck diving in Chuuk and took the D10 on the shallower dives for candid pics while my buddy had an SLR/housing/strobe rig for the real photos. At 90', the outer LCD cover plastic goes concave to the point where it slightly touches the LCD screen itself a bit, but the camera and buttons worked perfectly.

After seeing the compression on the LCD cover plastic, I mostly limited myself to 90', but ended up hitting 98-100' for a few minutes while hunting for eagle rays - the D10 was still perfectly happy at that depth.

The microphone died at some point, though I haven't had a use for a soundtrack of breathing through a reg so this hasn't affected how I use the camera (I usually use an iPhone for video on land).

I was convinced the D10 would die during the trip from the repeated exposure to depths far beyond its rating, but I was willing to sacrifice the camera if it meant capturing a even just a few memories of the trip. I was very pleasantly surprised to see the camera survive the entire week!

Attached is a pic from the deck of the Fujikawa Maru at 60', no flash, with a bit of color correction:
Full size: http://www.taligentx.com/files/Canon_D10-Fujikawa_Maru-Chuuk.jpg


The replacement Canon D20 apparently is just as well-built for depth - here's a review taking the D20 down to 100':
Waterproof cameras test 2012 - part I - Canon PowerShot D20 - Lenstip.com