12.1MP | 28-140mm (5X) Zoom | $279/£269/€318
This is the first in a series of short underwater/rugged camera reviews on DPReview. We're testing the cameras concurrently, and once all six cameras have been reviewed, we'll publish a roundup of the class, comparing them directly.
While other camera manufacturers have been making rugged cameras for many years, Canon didn't enter the market until early 2009 (preferring to create optional waterproof housings for many of its 'regular' compacts instead). Canon's first truly waterproof digital compact camera, the PowerShot D10, had a rather unique (and chunky) design, but its solid performance photo quality earned it a 'Highly Recommended' badge in our 2009 Waterproof group test.
Three years later, the PowerShot D20 emerged, whose colorful, curvy but less bulbous design appears to have been be inspired by tropical fish. The D20 offers a host of improvements over its predecessor, that include the use of a CMOS sensor (which Canon touts as 'high sensitivity'), plus a 5X zoom lens (versus 3X), larger/sharper LCD, built-in GPS, and 1080p video recording. While the D20 can be submerged as deep as its predecessor underwater (10 meters), it's slightly more shock resistant and able to take a slightly higher drop than before (1.5 versus 1.2 meters).
While the D20 has the same number of pixels as its predecessor - that's 12.1 million - its use of backside illumination technology promises better low light picture quality. That said, the D20's lens is on the slow side, with a maximum aperture range of F3.9-F4.8. This compares especially badly next to competitors like the Pentax WG-3 and Olympus Tough TG-2 (at least at wide-angle) - so the sensor has its work cut out for it.
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The PowerShot D20 features an F3.9-4.8, 5X optical zoom lens, with a 35mm-equivalent focal range of 28-140mm. The folded optics lens design allows the camera to stay relatively slim.
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While its feature set is typical Canon, the PowerShot D20 has more than enough bells-and-whistles for casual everyday shooting and underwater use. On the next page of this review we'll take a look at at its design and some of the key features.
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If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital
Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help
you understand some of the terms used).
Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C. |
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Canon PowerShot D20 12.1 MP CMOS Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Image Stabilized Zoom 28mm Wide-Angle Lens a 3.0-Inch LCD and GPS Tracking (Blue) | $279.00 |
Canon PowerShot D20 12.1 MP CMOS Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Image Stabilized Zoom 28mm Wide-Angle Lens a 3.0-Inch LCD and GPS Tracking (Blue) | $279.00 |
Canon PowerShot D20 Shock & Waterproof GPS Digital Camera with 32GB Card + Case + Battery + Tripod + Float Strap + Accessory Kit | $329.95 |
Canon PowerShot D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-Inch LCD | $495.99 |
Canon PowerShot D20 Yellow Digital Camera | $199.00 |
Canon PowerShot A2300 IS 16.0 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Black) | $84.99 |
Canon PowerShot A2500 16.0 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 720p HD Video Recording (Black) | Too low to display |
Canon PowerShot SX280 HS 12.1 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 20x Image Stabilized Zoom 25mm Wide-Angle Lens and 1080p Full-HD Video (Black) Super Bundle- Includes camera, 16 GB SDHC Memory Card, BP-6L Battery Pack, Carrying Case, SD USB Card Reader | $279.00 |
Canon PowerShot S100 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide-Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black) | $279.99 |
Canon PowerShot D20 Shock & Waterproof GPS Digital Camera with 32GB Card + Case + Battery & Charger + Flex Tripod + Float Strap + Accessory Kit | $334.95 |
Canon Powershot SX10IS 10MP Digital Camera with 20x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom | $535.00 |
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