Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon WP-DC16 Underwater housing for Canon A720IS Digital Cameras

I purchased the Canon A720IS and the WP-DC-16 about two weeks before a trip to Belize. I had enough time to familiarize myself with the camera before leaving, and was pretty happy with the camera in general before taking it diving and snorkeling. The combination of the housing and the camera makes for a great underwater setup for snorkeling and diving. The colors come out just about perfect down to about 10' (similar to using a red filter on a "regular" camera) when using the underwater setting, but going deeper than that tends to produce images that are slightly blue in tint, which need to be cleanup up using an editing program later. The camera (with the little diffuser plate) even worked well on a night dive (in conjunction with my flashlight). For serious underwater work you'll want to add an external strobe, but for my purposes (and I would guess most other recreational type folks) this combination fits the bill with flying colors. Do get the little weight kit that they offer, with two plates the camera and housing is just slightly positively buoyant, without the weights the camera is constantly tugging at your wrist while diving (you can probably skip the weights if you are just going to use it for snorkeling).

After having great success with a similar product, the Canon WP-DC2 for the Canon Powershot A540, we decided to get this underwater case for our Canon A720IS digital camera. The case is light, compact, easy-to-use, and works great for our snorkeling photos during the daytime. However, when we tried using it at night with the camera's flash enabled, the waterproof case design casts a shadow over much of the photo. Perhaps our results would have been better had we attached the flash diffusion plate to the WP-DC16, but this was not necessary with the WP-DC2 in order to take high-quality, underwater night photos. Nevertheless, an very good product!

Recently purchased this housing in conjunction with Canon A720IS. The camera is a great inexpensive P&S. The housing worked well during a trip to Akumal, I do however have one suggestion/warning to potential buyers.

In full sunlight, the lcd screen is almost impossible to see underwater, while wearing a mask. So you are pretty much shooting blind. If I was not, a former pro shooter, it would have been horrible results. I have seen comments that there is a shade available, this is not correct (yet) -I have contacted Canon and shades are NOT avaiable. I will be working on a modification for myself. Also - familarize yourself with all the functions, underwater, the markings are impossible to see.

Other than those two issues, it worked great - No leaks - suggest getting the weight kit. And use the CHDK hack on the 720IS, it makes all the difference.

I've done three dives so far with my A720IS in this case, and it's worked great, with nice pictures (though the camera does have a slightly harder time focusing underwater compared to topside). As the other reviewer noted, the flash doesn't cover the whole field of view of the lens when it's set wide (which is usually the most useful setting underwater). The diffuser *does* help a lot with this though (especially with macro shots), so it's worth using. All of the camera controls are easily accessible in the case, so there's nothing you can't do. The camera in the case is positively buoyant, so buying the extra weight attachments (or creating something yourself) may be a good idea. Remember to check the o-ring before every dive, the case seal does tend to accumulate some sand if it's in a harsh environment, like shore diving.

We love this housing! We thought long and hard before settling on the Canon Powershot 720 IS, and the Canon housing DC-16. We did not buy the strobe, and did not need it for daytime diving. This product is fantastic! Easy easy to use! The camera takes clear gorgeous bright shots. We got some incredible pictures. Perfect point and shoot and you can get the fish action fast because you're not messing with settings. I only wish the housing lens had a cover but it is recessed and does not. Camera and Housing - Highly recommended.