Good value for the $ and if the housing floods I'm not out a big investment

I bought this camera body to fit into a used Sea & Sea DX-400D housing. My older Rebel 300D was not compatible with the housing and was a 6 MP sensor without a dust shaker/dust delete program. This is older Canon technology but still adequate for advanced amatuer UW photography with a DSLR and housing combination. It is similar in design technically to my 40D but this used UW housing was orders of magnitude less expensive than one for the 40D ($600 vs. $2600) and would have required another $1,000.00 for a TTL converter and lens gear drives for focus and zoom controls. This will minimize my expenses for an initial foray into DSLR photograpy UW. I've tried compact cameras in housings and they are usable but have some frustrating shortcomings with focus speed and lens quality that has impacts on image quality. My older Nikonos V camers still beat the compact digitals for image quality but film is becoming obsolete compared to digital for instant feedback, image delivery and darkroom processes with digital software packages (i.e. darkroom on a laptop with no messy toxic chemisty to dispose of at the end of the session).

perfect for my needs

I had a Pentax 20D and loved it except it was soooo heavy. I finally gave it to my son and got this camera. I couldn't be happier. It's very user-friendly, much lighter, and takes great shots. Honestly, my pentax's shots were usually dark no matter what I tried and I was very disappointed. If I want to get more use out what this camera offers (lots), I can read the manual- in-hand or online. I am surprised it uses compact flash cards. Luckily, I had some from a former camera; otherwise, that would have been another expense.
What I don't like: its editing software pretty much sucks. It's very limited in what it can do and it's not very intuitive for some who might be new to using this type of program. At least my pentax editing software does some really cool stuff. Also, on the canon, to use the battery grip I have to remove the battery door and then remember to store it in the grip's special place. They should have designed another method or at least make the battery door slide open and remain attached via an attached cord.
I also would prefer that the camera be able to use other lenses with adapters- though the canon lenses are good. I just have some others I'd like to use on it but cannot. I would have liked to use the Canon lenses I already had on my pentax, but that wasn't possible either.
---- The pentax 20D is a good, solid camera, but heavy- even before a lens. I consider it a man-sized camera. It got tiresome to carry. It does have great editing software. The canon is at least as good(except for its editing software) and I don't have to think about whether I'll want to be "stuck" carrying it because of its weight. I love the lightweight backpack-style case, but find the camera easy to carry by itself for as long as I want and the pictures are great.

Best camera for beginners!

A very good cam for a beginner photographer, if you wish to introduce yourself to the world of DSLR photography. Well balanced list of features and good overal picture quality, ability to use various kinds of replacable lenses allows to improve photographic skills and also a great amusement. Short latency of DSLR cameras allows to "capture the moment" what is impossible with almost any compact digital camera. It's very good for shooting children and animals, who never sit calm and wait for you to pull the trigger :))
So it's a good choice anyways. And the price is good even for such an obsolete model which is still enough for most tasks.

A great professional camera

I love this camera, solid, reliable. With 10 Mpixel resolution one could think that this is not much (there are a lot of 12 Mp for one third the price of this) but the quality of the canon lenses and optical components will give you a world of difference. Photos are crisp and brilliant. Also the fact that you have fully automatic and manual modes gives you a lot of space to get creative, or just point and shoot. Any way you will get perfect pictures. I love the fact that Canon lenses fron my old film camera worked great on this one. One weak point though, the CF card slot: it is prone to get it's pins bent out of shape. Fixing this is not that expensive if you buy a new socket on eBay but the amount and precision of the work involved is quite large. My advice is to buy a large CF card and use the USB cable to tranfer your pictures. For regular size pictures and even larger print outs ( 8x10) the 10 Mp resolution will make you happy. Also the price difference with a newer higher res camera will make you happy.

AWESOME camera. Love it.

I have had my camera for about 4 years. I love it. Never had any problems or malfunctions (knock on wood). The original battery still holds a charge for days. I hardly ever charge it & I use the camera all the time. I use it for pictures in my auctions, sports, indoor activity, basically everything. The only negative thing about it is that when going to amusement parks or if you have to tote it around it is kinda big & bulky. So I'd suggest you have a small compact camera as well. Otherwise it is an all needs camera for day or night. For the beginner photographer the automatic preset features are very easy to understand. Just a click on the control. If your an advanced photographer it has manual features for you as well. Just a great all around camera, would highly recommend it to anybody.