A-1 Panorama Date - Water Resistant and Compact Too!

As a person who loves water, water sports and the beach; I needed an inexpensive but durable water resistant camera to catch those once-in-a-life time photos of my 40 pound rainbow trout (my fish tale); taking photos while inside a tube while surfing at North Shore or snorkeling at Hanauma Bay in Oahu! I looked at Nikon's underwater camera, the Nikonos V but didn't want to shell out that much money. Finally, I bought the Canon Sure Shot A-1 Panorama Date camera!

THE GOOD The camera is capable of using both print film and slides. Slide film can be used only at ISO 25. The maximum depth you can use this camera is 13 feet. Canon will not guarantee water resistance below this depth. Underwater photos are OK for close up photography but do realize that the flash has a maximum range of 10 feet in clear water. Murky water is a different story! There is only one dial to set on this camera. It contains your Flash on, flash off, close-up and red-eye reduction. On land, the photos from this camera is sharp. I was very surprised with the quality of photos I have gotten from this camera. I had some blown up to 8X10 with fantastic results.

My one minor complaint is the tiny frame counter! Geez, you need a magnifying glass to see the number. Since you cannot fit numerals 1-36 on that small dial; the frame counter goes: 1 . . 4 . . . 8 The (.) being 2, 3, 5, 6 -- you get the point, right?

THE BAD I have seen and heard horror stories about water leakage in this camera. I was in Hawaii and I saw a lady open her film door only to find water gushing out of the film chamber. She was beside herself on her first and perhaps only trip to Hawaii. I looked at her camera and there was sand particles inside her film door gasket!

There is one orange gasket that runs around the perimeter of the film door where it makes contact with the camera body. The second black gasket is located at the mouth of the battery chamber. Canon specifically tells you to keep these areas clean of any debris. There is even a yellow warning sticker inside the film chamber! Even one particle of sand can cause water leakage. YOU MUST BE VERY CAREFUL TO MAKE SURE THESE SEALS ARE CLEAN If water should leak into your camera, the camera is history!

Suggestion After using this camera anywhere near the beach (sand) or in salt water; rinse the camera in a bucket of cool fresh water. Obviously, make sure the film door and battery cover is closed! After completely drying off the camera; remove the orange gasket around the perimeter of the film door. Use a small tooth pick to pull this gasket out. Run cool water over the gasket and make sure no traces of sand or other debris is present. Before putting the gasket back in; inspect the groove where this gasket will be going. Take a cotton swab and clean out this groove. Reset the gasket into it's proper place. Check the battery cover gasket as well. To clean this, use a cotton swab dipped in a little bit of rubbing alcohol.

If you use this camera in salt water on a daily basis, you must clean the seals after every use. Periodically, inspect the gasket to make sure it isn't deteriorating. If you see any cracks in this gasket, REPLACE it! Call Canon at (800) OK-CANON.

THE UGLY If you travel outside the United States, make sure you carry extra batteries. This camera takes one CR123 SANYO/G.E. Lithium battery. It costs about $7.00 each in the United States. My experience shows that this battery will last about 15-20 rolls of 24 exposure film. If you use 36 exposure film, it will last about 10-15 rolls of film depending upon how many flash photos you take.

Suggestion When you buy your batteries, mark the date of purchase on the side of the battery with a Sharpie pen. I'd recommend you check and/or replace this battery every May (graduation/summer vacation) and November (Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays).

Finally, if you happen to drop or expose this camera to sand/water; get the camera to a Canon authorized repair center as soon as possible. Once the camera is dropped, you may have compromised the seal around the lens (that cute red ring around the front lens)and front glass or cracked the body housing near the film door latch. By the way, if you should break the function lever off; you will need a new housing (also called body).

This is a great camera for those of you who travel a lot in humid or inclement weather like London, England; Bahamas; Hawaii; Colorado River, etc. It's small enough to fit in your fanny pack or purse without any problems!