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Comment on Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera by Nancy Mckarney "cambriaphotos"

Nancy Mckarney "cambriaphotos" — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:28:35 +0000

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

a bit snug, September 7, 2010

Nancy Mckarney "cambriaphotos" (Cambria California) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Canon PowerShot Blue Mini Glove Bag Carrying Sleeve For Slim Digital Camera and Camera Accessories: models Canon PowerShot SD1200IS, Canon PowerShot SX200IS, Canon PowerShot D10, SD890IS, SD780IS,

although you can zip it closed it is a bit snug making it difficult to store much of anything in the side pocket like cards or battery. However the "Live, Laugh, Love" bracelet was a great bonus.

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Comment on Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera by Bulag

Bulag — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:27:51 +0000

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Too small for Canon D10, January 6, 2011

Bulag -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

Got this while buying the Canon D10, since it stated it was made for the camera. Too small though, camera barely fits.

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Comment on Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera by cfowler

cfowler — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:31:55 +0000

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Too Small for D10 Camera, September 21, 2010

cfowler -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

I love the case but it's too small for the Canon D10. Once the wrist strap is attached, a necessary accessory for me, it's impossible to put the camera into the case. Either way, there's no room in the outside pocket for a battery or memory card. I found that the Case Logic case that I had for my old camera works perfectly.

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Comment on Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera by Roy

Roy — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:06:26 +0000

207 of 217 people found the following review helpful:

Water leaked in, July 22, 2009

Roy (Penryn, CA, United States) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Electronics)

I was disappointed in the fact that the camera does not have a setting for action shots. Used it for first time in Hawaii as I stood in the surf and took photos of son standing on boogie board. Generally the photos for other circumstances are good.

Really disappointed when I used the camera in just two feet of water, just to take a photo of my son ducking his head under the water. The next day the camera was kaput, with the viewing screen obviously damaged by water. The areas inside the battery compartment and USB port appeared to be dry, so the water apparently came in elsewhere. Leaving these camera doors open dried out the screen, and the camera would turn on but work no further than that.

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Comment on Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera by D. Bell

D. Bell — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 02:47:38 +0000

342 of 354 people found the following review helpful:

Great waterproof camera, May 26, 2009

D. Bell (Phoenix, AZ USA) -

This review is from: Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Electronics)

I've been playing with my new Powershot D10 for about a week and really like it. I have been using Canon SLRs for 25+ years, AE1 Program, A1, Elan 7e, and Digital Rebel. When I started looking for a waterproof camera to take snorkeling, my first choice was Canon, based on my many years of satisfaction with their products, and I was very lucky that this camera was released two weeks before leaving for vacation. (Amazon had been showing the camera as available for pre-order until earlier today. I purchased mine from a local camera store.)

I'm very impressed with the picture quality on this camera. The 12 megapixel sensor, coupled with a dozen shooting modes, produce an excellent image. I'm used to controlling aperture and shutter speed on the SLR, so simply selecting "portrait" or "night exposure" mode and letting the camera do all the work just seems too easy. Or, if selecting "portrait" is too difficult, you can select "auto" and just let the camera do it all. Movie quality is also quite good. The LCD screen on the back of the camera seems huge compared to the 1" screen on my old Digital Rebel. It's a great display.

The controls are conveniently arranged, and easy to use, and the associated icons displayed are both informative and intuitive. You can choose to display all the settings or turn them off and just see the image. One of the useful display options is a grid overlay on the screen to assist with shot composition and the "Rule of Thirds." The optical zoom works great. By the time you get to 12x with the digital zoom, the image is kind of grainy, but that's to be expected.

You can take macro photographs an inch or two from your subject. I've had trouble focusing my Digital Rebel in the dark, but Canon seems to have improved low-light focusing quite a bit. It has a manual focus feature that indicates the distance to the subject as you adjust the focus, just in case it can't get the focus right.

I like the Panorama feature, which displays the previous shot on the viewfinder while you're composing the next shot, allowing the photographer to closely match subsequent shots, resulting in panoramic photos with less distortion when they're stitched together. Panorama mode also locks in the exposure value of the first shot so that the exposure in subsequent shots all match the first shot.

The face recognition and blink detection both seem to work well. As the camera focuses, it will zoom in on one of the faces so the photographer can verify correct focus. After the shot is taken, if someone blinked it will identify the face of the person blinking so you can take another shot. These can be turned on or off according to user preference. Images seem very crisp, which I attribute to the image stabilization features, which can also be turned on or off.

I've had the camera in the sink, and it handles six inches of water with no problems. I'll see how it does with thirty two and a half more feet of water when it meets the Atlantic Ocean in a few weeks! The wrist strap attaches to any one of the four corners of the camera (convenient for carrying in either left or right hand) and seems to be pretty secure, so no worries about losing it if you get knocked over by a wave.

I use Photoshop Elements, so I haven't loaded the Canon software and can't comment on that. And since I edit photos on the computer, I doubt that I'll use some of the in-camera editing features, such as black and white, sepia, color swap, and the various color enhancements. I could see that would be useful to those who print directly from the camera, without editing on a computer.

The camera doesn't allow you to shoot in RAW. I generally don't shoot in RAW with my SLR, so that doesn't worry me. It has a number of white balance modes, custom white balance, and auto white balance. It seems to do a good job selecting the correct shooting conditions in auto mode. Colors appear correct.

A couple of drawbacks: The camera isn't threaded so you're not able to attach filters. There's also no lens cap, and I worry about the lens surface getting damaged. For a rugged "adventure" camera, I'm also surprised that there's no GPS chip so that photos can be tagged with the exact location. I look at old slides taken while I was hiking and think "that's neat, why can't I remember where I took that." It would be nice if the EXIF data included lattitude and longitude. (Watch Canon come out with the Powershot D10 "Gold" six months from now that incorporates these features. The curse of being an early adopter.)

The microphone picks up every movement your fingers make as you hold the camera, so it's difficult to capture movies without some camera noise. The speaker on the bottom of the camera is also difficult to hear when playing movies back on the camera, but movies sounds fine when I pop the memory chip into the computer and watch... Read more

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Comment on Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera by Anjana Nigam

Anjana Nigam — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 02:39:31 +0000

199 of 201 people found the following review helpful:

Finally, a "full service" waterproof camera for all those fun-filled vacations, let the kids go crazy!, June 10, 2009

Anjana Nigam (Minneapolis, MN) -

This review is from: Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Electronics)

So many of our family's vacations are at beaches, lakes, water-parks, or hikes and bringing along the sensitive digital camera has always been a problem. If I carried it then I could not get in water and I spent more time worrying whether the sand would damage it than taking pics of my family. I lost a camera on a Disney Park fun ride when water suddenly splashed into the ride and we were miserable for losing all our pics. With this camera you can drop it in water and not worry about your pics unless you lose the camera (happened to me another time when I fell overboard and dropped a camera in the open sea). I have other cameras that I have been too lazy to review but I am excited about this one so I sat down to write this review.

This is like a regular Canon Camera with all the features and the added waterproof feature. It can be compared to the new SD780 IS which sells for fifty bucks less. The features are similar, except that this one is waterproof and bulkier and does not have a viewfinder (not that you can see much through a fogged up viewfinder in humid conditions).

Some great features:
- Good looking waterproof camera, "cuteness" is very important, I disliked those clear cases that you have to screw on your camera and as one reviewer reported they can still get fogged up
- Rainproof/Waterproof up to 33 ft, good for most pools or waterparks
- Freeze proof lens up to 14 deg F
- SMART Auto mode that detects the right scene mode for each shot (works great)
- Digic 4 processor, auto shots are nicer than some older Canon cameras, optical image stabilization and motion detection to prevent blurring of images
- 2.5 inch extra bright LCD that's covered by a protective surface to prevent scratches and looks good in bright sun
- 3X optical and 12X digital zoom
- Face detection
- "Blink" detection - the camera gives a blink warning if someone's eyes are closed in the picture
- Contrast correction - Can be set while taking picture or even afterward to correct darker areas
- Continuous shooting lets you capture the perfect water shot
- Scene modes - The auto mode does a good job of sensing the conditions but if you want to set a mode you get the choice of - Night exposure, Panorama (stitch together shots in one), programmable mode, portrait, sunset, beach, fireworks, aquarium, underwater, snow, indoor, kids and pets, foliage, long shutter, color accent (keep only one color in a pic, so the water and jeans will be blue while the people black and white) and color swap (change one color to another, swap the color of your boat from beige to red).

Negatives:
- Slightly bulkier than your typical Canon SD, it's built for water, beach and rugged use, and it's rounder shape with no hard edges can take a fall or two
- No threads for filters
- No RAW mode
- No lens cap but the glass shield is scratchproof

The back panel is pretty intuitive and you probably won't need the manual to figure it out. The buttons have been designed for waterproof operations and the zoom in and out is done through buttons on the back of the camera rather than with the shutter button lever like with other Canon cameras. The photo and video mode is toggled through a round button next to the shutter button.

The best thing about this camera? You can give it to your 6 year old to take underwater pics and not worry about it, how many other "real" cameras can you do that with?! Now I can float down that lazy river at the water park with my family and take some nice shots rather than running along the edge trying to capture the perfect moment. And the best thing is that this camera works just as well on land. It's the perfect no-nonsense take along everywhere (really every where!) vacation camera.

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Comment on Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor by M. Leuzinger

M. Leuzinger — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:28:44 +0000

483 of 486 people found the following review helpful:

All I hoped for!, August 28, 2006

M. Leuzinger -

This review is from: Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor (Electronics)

With a few one-star reviews, I was a bit hesitant to order this. Now, after two weeks of use (10 runs of 2 to 2.5 miles each), I have no regrets with the purchase whatsoever.

I haven't had any of the problems reported by any of the one-star reviewers. It syncs to the satellite in a reasonable* amount of time, seems to track my pace very well, tracks distance well, and the heart rate monitor seems WAY more accurate than the dedicated exercise machines at my local gym.

*by reasonable, it does take a minute or two to sync to the satellites each time. That's the only thing I could possibly think of improving, but it's not a big deal. Being the super-impatient person I am, I often turn on the watch, set it on my front porch, go back in and change into my running outfit, and by the time I come back out it's ready to go.

I haven't seen the pacing issues others have reported. I'm a beginning runner... but if I keep a solid pace... it reports about 10mins/mile... if I push a little harder... about 9mins/mile... if I let up... about 11mins/mile. It seems very consistent over my entire 2-2.5 mile run.

I have a 2.1 mile run where I've done the same exact route about 6 times... and when I compare the maps of each run... they overlap almost exactly.

I have thyroid and heart issues, and this watch gives me the confidence to know I'm not exceeding my max hr for too long (I can easily get into the 180's) and gives me the feedback and stats to keep me motivated.

Last but not least, I've bought dozens and dozens of items from Amazon over the years, and this is the first review I've taken the time to write - hope that gives you an indication of how happy I am with this product. ;-)

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Comment on Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor by Y. R. Wu "The will to win is nothing without ...

Y. R. Wu "The will to win is nothing without ... — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 07:36:40 +0000

401 of 402 people found the following review helpful:

Better than 405 & Polar...GOOGLE EARTH alone is worth the upgrade!!!, May 27, 2009

Y. R. Wu "The will to win is nothing without ... (Ann Arbor, Michigan) -

I use mine for cycling and running, the direct link to see your workouts mapped on GOOGLE EARTH is FANTASTIC!!!! (the included software is far more stable than the junk Polar included with their HRM's.

Heart rate strap with replaceable battery is coded and comfortable. It's better in my opinion than the Polar products (of which I've owned three)

This is much better than the Forerunner 201 which I previously owned (locks on satellites 10 times faster) and I'd avoid the 405 unless you really want to use this watch as a normal day to day wristwatch (check out the 405 reviews)

One nice feature is being able to customize the display screens. Another review criticized the 305 for the numbers being too small to read while exercising. I don't have an issue but would point out that you can significantly increase the size of the display by simply displaying fewer fields.

My only complaint is that it's easy to leave it on and run the battery down - which is a bummer if you're just about to work out. I wish there was an "auto off" feature which would shut it down if it detects no movement or heart rate within an hour or so. Fortunately, with Li-Ion batteries, as little as a 10 minute charge gives you enough juice for a 90 minute run.

If you've found this review to be helpful, please let me know!

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Comment on Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor by PAZMAN

PAZMAN — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:39:42 +0000

910 of 916 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent workout tool, May 3, 2006

PAZMAN (Chicago, IL United States) -

This review is from: Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor (Electronics)

I like this thing quite a lot. I've had it for about three weeks, and have used it on 12 workouts so far. I use it primarily for running, with biking a secondary usage. The main reason I wanted it was for the instantaneous readout of distance, running pace and heart rate, the latter needed for the speed work I want to do this running season.

The core functionality (distance and heart rate monitoring) works perfectly. There's none of the signal drops I've had with other heart monitors. Once the satellites are initially acquired, I've only had one dropout when I was outside. The initial acquisition of the satellites can be quirky and can take some time. The accuracy (according to the readout) is +/- 25ft, depending on how many satellites can be found. I've compared the distance measurement on the GPS with a known, measured distance on one of the trails I run on (the Chicago lakefront path). The GPS always increments a mile when I'm within 5 or 10 feet of the mile marker sign on the path. Well, I guess that's the least I should expect from a $350 GPS unit! Of course it's bigger than a normal running stopwatch, but that hasn't bothered me at all. The heart rate strap is also very comfortable and well-designed.

The display is crisp and has one outstanding feature: The information presented on the various pages can be completely user-customized. The default screen layout is rather poor, but in just a few steps I could replace it with the information I wanted to see while I run. There are almost 40 different data fields you can choose from for display. Examples: current pace, average lap pace, average run pace, heartrate, distance.

The only disappointment is the point-in-time (instantaneous) pace measurement: It varies wildly during a run. I see swings as big as +/- 3 minutes/mile. I'm a marathoner and I know my pace is fairly consistent during a run. I just looked at my run today, and according to the data the first mile varied from 5:57/mile to 12:06 mile. I suspect the problem is either in the averaging algorithm (too short a distance?), or in the uncertainty that results from different satellites coming in and out of view. The variations seem to get worse under tree cover compared with an open area. Luckily there's a lap-average pace that can be presented, and at least that value is useful and more accurate. The bottom line is that you can't look at the watch and say "right now I'm running 9 mins/mile". There is the ability to specify a pace smoothing factor, but I have it maxed out and still see the variations. The elevation readout also seems inaccurate, but that isn't important to me.

Upload of workout data to the PC software (Training Center) is transparent. The PC software is very good for presenting time/distance/pace/heartrate/calorie data. However the maps it shows are very crude. I've worked a bit with one of the online, subscription services (MotionBased). That looks really good and provides some additional functionality beyond the included Training Center software, although I still haven't decided if it's worth the $$$ yet for long-term data storage. MotionBased allows export to Google Earth, and it's tremendously cool to see your running path superimposed on a satellite image. You can recharge the unit through the USB port on your computer, although it's slower than using the dedicated recharger.

I had hoped that owning this device would prove motivational for me, and indeed it has. I can't imagine running or biking without it. Updating my training log is trivial now: Plug this thing into my computer, and it's done. My hope is that a future software update will do something about the pace calculation (maybe a few additional levels of smoothing?). If so, the Forerunner 305 would earn 5 stars+++.

Positives:

Flawless heart rate sampling
Great distance measuring and lap-average pace calculation
Seamless integration with a PC
Fully-automatic training log update
User-customizable display

Negatives;

Wildly-varying pace readout.

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Comment on Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas by Isabella

Isabella — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 06:46:43 +0000

A weekend getaway is another great gift idea for Valentine’s Day. my hubby have just booked flight tickets to Bahama…