LOOK & FEEL
Out of the box the camera shows the significance of the case: the metal front is semicircular connected with sturdy plastic and distinguishes itself through a harmonious design of the soothing of the competing products. Alone by the weight of about 228 g and the dimensions of approximately 112.3 (W) x 70.8 (H) x 28.0 (T) mm is firmly and securely in your hand. All materials used valuable aspect and give the impression of high precision and stability.
HANDLING
Handling is Canon typically kept very intuitive, and you will be guided through the menu items by means of additional explanatory text. Who has already z. B. an IXUS camera is at home right away. In mind, one should have in this compact camera, that you can not manually like a DSLR camera aperture and shutter speeds, but always works in an automatic mode, but which is not necessarily a disadvantage ultimately for these types of cameras. This only in PDF format manual but you should still work through in order to really get to know all functions again. A small downside is that the camera is simply overloaded with too many functions, programs, and special effects - but this is certainly an individual taste.
The memory card and the battery can be easily by a brilliant, absolutely waterproof lock, insert. This shows a blue slide switch to lock status precisely on: is a red mark visible, is still open the lock. Inadvertent opening is not possible through the sliding-pull mechanism. I have loaded the daily photos via USB cable from the camera and learned to appreciate the ease of use of the closures. Even direct jumps from a point approximately 2.5 m above the water bridge were in the sea water for the camera no problem - there was never any leakage problems. The hand strap is attached to the bottom corner of the camera and can be solved easily by pressing two small bolts and simultaneous rotation of the camera. The locking of the loop goes through the metal shutter a very solid impression, which also has never achieved in my extensive snorkeling gears. In order just in case (Note: the camera does not float and is immediately below) to secure the camera even further, I recommend another foating strap on closing the loop to attach and wear on your wrist. I've bought the strap from Pentax (for W-series). This keeps the camera defies their relatively high weight, reliable on the water surface. Worn on the wrist of the buoyancy of the straps is not noticeable under water and also restricts the operation of the camera in any way.
OPERATING UNDER WATER
Just under water to show the strengths of the camera: the housing is completely non-slip and I never had the impression that the camera could get out of hand. After switching on the camera is ready for use within one second. Underwater shooting are two scene modes to choose from. The normal program is well suited for taking pictures of landscapes and underwater fishing. Here you can the 5x optical zooming is used very well, which also focuses fast enough to get sharp photos even in swell. Can focus more quickly, if one turns the underwater program via the mode select button to fast focusing. This feature is very useful when taking pictures of fish. The second motive Program, the Underwater Macro mode is perfect for taking pictures of non-moving objects such as coral and shells - me are so photos with excellent quality of color and contrast and high sharpness succeeded. The maximum optical magnification is in this program four times (the digital zoom at cameras I inaktiviere principle to simply not to reduce the resolution). It is important to have enough time to give especially when such recordings the camera to focus accurately, so only easy to press the release button and after focusing (indicated by a green frame) completely blind (as with all popular cameras available). Blurred images can thus be contrary to some reviews otherwise avoided. All of the buttons are easy to use thanks to its ergonomic arrangement under water - only the two zoom buttons are positioned somewhat impractical for me, so you usually need both hands to zoom and trigger.
Very good indeed is the 3 "LCD monitor which is to be regarded glare under water and even there the menus are easy to use.
A funny gimmick is in the consideration of images in playback mode that you can scroll by tapping the side of the case or by simply tilting, through the recorded images.
POST-PROCESSING underwater shots
Despite the various underwater camera programs and the concomitant correction of the white balance I recommend reworking of underwater shots. Especially with many suspended particles in the water or recordings in very shallow water, which acts very often yellowish, a realistic color balance is no longer given by the camera. With programs such as Adobe Photoshop can be personalized with the Auto-color "produce untroubled and radiant colors that look absolutely natural.
OPERATION USING WATER
For me the underwater characteristics of this camera were buying decision in the first place, but even in daylight they made a surprisingly good figure. Convinced me have their properties during an evening camel safari, where despite the wobbling motion of the camel (Anyone who has ever ridden a camel, know what I'm talking about) exactly focused images have emerged (the Image Stabilizer makes this very good service). Also contrast and color reproduction were very good even with slightly dim lighting conditions. Fill flash is, despite its small range, sufficient to expose portrait or people shots correctly. When shooting indoors and artificial light, however, the camera loses its color fidelity and a tendency to higher ISO speeds, which is reflected in a poorer resolution, but for such a compact camera is quite acceptable.
VIDEO RECORDINGS
Video recordings both under and above water succeed in a really very good for a compact camera HD quality. Even zooming during recording is possible. The Movie located on the back button that starts with a single keystroke in each mode, the movie recording, their genius showed here that a suddenly appearing beneath me full-blown giant moray was filmed by a simple press of this button. For once, a really sensible idea!
BATTERY LIFE & GPS
I have about 60 daily - taken 100 photographs and about 5 small and Movies (three strokes) lost only two days a dash in the display. In the evening, the battery is recharged - so a fully adequate capacity, with a replacement battery is therefore not absolutely necessary.
A really nice feature is, however, engaged in cameras ever passing through GPS feature. Upon reception of the GPS signal, this is displayed by means of a satellite symbol and then stored with the image data as a meta file. The geotagging works flawlessly over the water, but with few centimeters is no longer detects the signal below the water surface. This Geotagging has proven to me to be very useful because I was able to identify several bays using the program Canon ZoomBrowser EX (or Google Earth) so that have been under way only by boat. The well integrated Geotracking function, be included in the location information over a longer period, however, I have not used.
ACCESSORIES & CLEANING
As an accessory, I would in addition to the previously mentioned floating strap if you want to take it again from the wrist camera or unintentionally, these triggers, recommend a good camera bag. And I've had very good experiences with Lowepro bags for many years. For the Canon D20, the Lowepro Apex 20 AW've gained for this reason. It fits the camera almost like a tailored suit: one pushes the camera best with the locking side down and the screen inward pointing firmly into the pocket by sliding it with the thumb on the opposite side with the Karabinergurthalterung. The wrist strap can remain attached to the camera. So the camera remains perfectly protected - but the bag only has room for one more SD card and possibly a spare battery. Practically on this bag is also the sewn-all-weather cover, which has proven itself just on the beach, where it also protects before sand.
The camera I have flushed to clean after each use with fresh water and sea water in the evening completely dried in the hotel room with paper towels prior to opening. Back home the camera for about 1 h was inserted in distilled water to remove the last remnants of mineral salt water. After this two-week deployment in Egypt, the camera sees practical nor factory and also shows no scratches or scuffs, which really impressed me, when I think what I have done everything with her.
My personal conclusion
The Canon PowerShot D20 is recommended without reservation for an outdoor camera. It scores through their outer valence, easy and intuitive operation, also just under the water, and its very good image quality. Therefore, from my unique five star!
