Solid construction - I cant remember the number of times I dropped it or smacked it against objects.

Very easy to use.

Huge viewfinder.

The dammed seal!

The red ring around the lens popped off one of the times I dropped it (not really a huge issue, after all, i'd just dropped my $345 camera onto the deck of the boat...)

I bought this camera in 1995 & used/abused it heavily in all manner of conditions on board a small rescue boat for two years - and then in swimming pools & loaned it for many snorkelling trips. It finally died last month after I changed a roll out on a sandy beach & it looks like I missed a grain of sand on the seal & drowned it...

Would I buy it again? Definitely (i'm trying to arrange to buy a used one right now to replace it!)

Customer Service

Up until the fatal drowning incident this camera never gave me any troubles at all....

Similar Products Used:

Nothing similar - this was my one and only 35mm point and shoot.

rugged housing, wide lens, fast shutter, large viewfinder, ergonomic and easy to use

Can dive only 5m.

Excellent camera for this price. Designed for nonprofessional underwater use. There is no digital equivelent today, unfortunately. After 3years of use, battery seal leaked during diving and saltwater damaged my camera. I was very unhapy.

SMALL, WATER PROOF, HAS FLASH

NONE

GREAT CAMERA DATAVIS WAS VERY BAD I WOULD NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THEM AGAIN

Customer Service

DATAVIS NO GOOD!! STAY AWAY!! NO DATAVIS.COM

sharp though relaible strong versatile; underwater and over

a little heavy

This is an overseen little jewel from Canon,once you get hand of a good exemplary with a good sharp lens,youre sold.If youre that lucky to find one,Youll get very good pics,and you have done a lifelong investment. Buy it. Christian M Fisker

Customer Service

nope

Similar Products Used:

none

Durable and rugged. Great for trips as you can use it on land and underwater. Picture quality on land has been quite good. Fairly light. Size is a little on the big side compared to the newer cameras today, but it was easy to hold when taking pictures.

No zoom. Weak flash. The function dial could easily be bumped so the camera is on - just means you have to check it more often.

The Canon A-1 is a tough camera that takes great pictures on land (as good as can be without zoom), and decent underwater pictures too. It takes a beating and keeps on ticking. Bought it for about $225 Cdn. I've used this camera for casual use (around town, parties, etc.) and for outdoor use both in and out of the water. I've done lots of snorkelling with it on various trips. If you don't have good lighting from the sun, you won't get a clear picture. The flash does seem weak. But unless you get a professional underwater camera, you can't expect too much. I never had a problem with it until my recent trip where I was snorkelling in salt water and it just stopped working while being used underwater. Water got in somehow and unfortunately its unrepairable.

Customer Service

I have an extended warranty through London Drugs (which has great customer service) which I recently have needed to use. I never had to deal with Canon directly for service.

Similar Products Used:

None. I have used disposable underwater cameras (Kodak) which took decent pictures. I also own an Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom.

Lower price and can have good quality picture 3R size. Tough in body and suitable for almost every occasion.

Flash seems not enough when taking photo under water

I got this camera for more than ten years. I bought it since I prefer to get a tough unit for sport. A reliable camera when you want to take snapshot or vacation with your family but you don't want to bring along with the standard 35mm camera. It is easy to use and now my daughter (7 years old) always get it to take photo for me.

Customer Service

Need forward back to the mtc center since mal-function in its data back. Not sure if it is the power issue.

Works underwater. Flash off switch. Well bulit

Mediocre lens. No manual exposure compensation(but that's asking too much anyway)

I'va had this camera for close to a year. I bought it for occasional use under water. It does this part very well - going under water, and it works there well too. I found the autofocus accurate, but then with a wide lens it should be anyway. Exposure meter is OK- it esposes at DX speed, and sometimes it is not enough. So naturally underexposure is automatic. It is not a problem with most color neg films but I tried T-max 3200 once, and I will never do it again. Contrary to some reviewers, I found the lens quality quite poor. Well, it is clearer that Holga, but not much: strong barrell distortion, low contrast, overall dullness. But then again it is a cheap camera. And it can be used well for a soft lens effect. The picture is not unpleasant, just soft. Overall I am happy with it. It is a nice camera, very strongly built too. I never expected it to have Summicron quality so pretty much got what I wanted and paid for.

Customer Service

Excellent. My camera occasionally double exposed the same frame. Fixed under warranty. Guttted out the camera and replaced a bunch of electronics. One test roll was perfect. Have not used since.

Similar Products Used:

Olympus Stylus, some other P&S, Holga, Lubitel. That's it for toy cameras. Well, Olympus was not a toy.

This is a very robust camera. Good for work sites and family/group snapshots.

Control dial can be turned to one of the "on" modes too easily by accident. The good thing is the big lithium battery lasts for a long time.

I use this camera constantly on construction sites for documentation purposes. Approximately one month after purchasing the camera, it fell out of my pocket at the top of a steep rock embankment. The camera bounced end over end and stopped about 20 vertical meters below. I walked down, picked it up and snapped a couple pictures - no problems. Since then it has been dropped in the mud, fell out of a moving truck, and other mishaps. It still works perfectly well. Great little camera.

Customer Service

Not necessary (it has been used and abused for 1 year now).

Similar Products Used:

None similar. SLRs and digital.

Logical controls. Ease of use. Nice viewfinder. Waterproof. Good snapshot camera both in and out of water that gives pleasing results.

Occasionally slow to fire. Must press firmly to shoot.

This camera performs as advertised. I took it to Disney World to get shots of my son on the "splash" rides and at water parks. I used Kodak 800 speed (Max) film and took shots both above and under water. The results were pleasing photos which, without this camera, would never have been taken. The prints were as sharp as any other P&S camera I've owned. I bought the panorama/databack model and those functions worked well though I don't find them necessary. If you want a casual, inexpensive 35mm camera for the beach, pool or inclement weather, this is the one to buy.

Customer Service

Not used.

Similar Products Used:

No waterproof products but I've owned numerous SLR's and P&S cameras.

Generally good camera, great for adventure vacations, portable, low maintenance.

None so far.

An excellent camera for the price. If you do a lot of water/hiking travel i recommend it.

Customer Service

Haven't used them (yet).

Similar Products Used:

None