Roundup: Compact Digital Cameras : Canon PowerShot D10
9. Canon PowerShot D10
Accessories
You can buy a whole collection of interesting accessories to go with your Canon D10 to get even more out of this adventurous little compact. Three different colored cases are available, sold as a pack of orange, black and camouflage print clip-on cases.
If you're going to be using it out and about, there are also a series of straps and clips so as to wear it round your neck or attach it to a belt.
Waterproof as far as 33 feet down, shock-resistant for falls from a height of 4 feet, a 3x telescopic zoom and a 12 Megapixel sensor: Canon's first ever all-terrain digital camera easily matches the competition spec. It can certainly take a lot of rough treatment, but will this be enough to satisfy the most demanding photographers?
Handling
- PowerShot D10 Blue...
The PowerShot D10 has a very distinctive design, and is definitely more of a diving-bell than day wear--it certainly split opinion in our editorial team. Some thought it looked a little too stocky, or perhaps a bit too much like a toy camera for kids. Others thought it a good match of vibrant colors and modern design.
Whatever you think about the design, the shape of the camera makes it difficult to hold the D10 comfortably. All of the usual controls are where you'd expect them and it's very easy to get the hang of the D10, but its rather unusual shape makes adjusting the settings with one hand more challenging. A little more spacing between the buttons would also make configuring the camera a lot easier underwater.
Unlike the SX200 or the PowerShot SD960 IS, Canon has not included an updated menu interface, leaving simple graphic menus that are quick and easy to use.
It has a fine screen: only a 2.7-inch LCD with a 230,000 resolution, but it's responsive and the viewing angles are wide. Although it's a little more difficult to make out, it's perfectly useable in bright sunlight.
In general, the PowerShot D10 is fast and we found it quick to switch on without too much lag between photos. The AutoFocus is also speedy, with better results when in centred mode than in automatic mode, although you can't choose the focal area yourself. Face detection also works well, but the burst mode of just 1 fps is disappointing.
The telescopic zoom is an unusual feature in a waterproof camera, and allows you to zoom up to 3x, but there's no wide-angle. There's an optical image stabilization system.
Image Quality
The time when waterproof cameras didn't produce results as good as those on other cameras is long gone. Photos on the D10 are great even at low speeds. At 80 ISO, the photos are sharp and quality is even across the frame. The exposure is correct and the white balance works well, even under artificial light.
The automatic modes are tricked when you're underwater, and photos suffer a very strong blue tinge. It doesn't look out of place, and definitely creates the impression of being underwater, but it would have been better if the camera could adjust for the changes in color more accurately. Instead, you need to manually activate one of the underwater modes before you dive in. To be fair, this is a very common problem with underwater cameras.
The D10 really struggles with electronic noise. Things are fine up to 400 ISO, but beyond that, details are hard to spot, as images become increasingly blurred. There isn't too much chromatic aberration, fortunately, and even at 1600 ISO you can make reasonable A4 prints. The image stabilization is good, but we've seen better on other Canon cameras.
Canon has decided not to go for HD video on the D10, but the camera still produces good quality video with decent sound. It's a shame that you can't use the zoom while filming.
| Canon PowerShot D10 | |
|---|---|
| Pluses | Minuses |
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| The Canon D10's main strength is its shock-resistant, waterproof exterior. Fast and with great photos up to 400 ISO, this camera would have secured a perfect score if it had included a wide-angle lens. |  |
should have classified the cameras to at least price and/or final rating. i got discouraged to read.
should have classified the cameras to at least price and/or final rating. i got discouraged to read.
When you say classified, what do you mean? Do you mean the pages should go in order of price, or in order of rating? Such as the cheap ones at the beginning and the expensive ones at the end OR the best cameras at the top and the worst cameras at the bottom?
i meant group them by chosen price ranges/brackets or any feature you think is relevant since comparison between cameras is just difficult with the present format wherein it is only possible to compare models of a certain brand.
It would have been nice if all the cameras were given scores (yes I know this is very subjective, but so are all the comments and pro/con sections). Idealy they would be given su scores as well (i.e. a still picture score, a video score, a asthetics score, a usablity score, maybe some others) and then the cameras could be sorted by those scores with links, maybey a short blurb at each camera in the sorted list. Another thing that would be very usefull to myself and I assume other readers is a features table that allows us to compare all the cameras.