sealife DC500

[pammyk]

I purchased the Sealife DC500 last January and have nothing but problems with it. The main problem that I am having seems to be the camera freezing up. It used to happen after I snapped a picture either on land or under water. Now, not only do I have that problem but a new problem has now begun and that is whenever I turn the camera on...sometimes it will freeze before anything at all happens. I was given a new camera a few weeks (and after my first dive trip with the camera) after I purchased it last February. It has never worked right from the beginning. Has anyone else purchased this camera and had these sorts of problems? I am going to try to get my money back ($500). What type of camera do you recommend? My friend has the Canon S70 with the housing and he absolutely loves it...AND...it takes fantastic pictures. Thanks for any help I can get.

Pam

 

[Valadian]

Ugh, and here I was considering that camera.

Just to get the story straight, your camera was freezing up, and then you were given an entirely new DC500 and it was buggy as well?

 

[seadoggirl]

Hey Pam

I also have a 500. I had the 310 and loved it but dropped it! My fault! So I brought the 500. I have the same type issue with the freezing but I thought it was me until I read this note. Let everyone know if they agree that there is a problem with the camera. I really loved my 310 but don't really like the 500.

 

[pammyk]

Yes...this is the second one...they gave me a brand new one. I used it on land for 6 months. I called sealife directly and spoke with them about it. They suggested to me to buy the 512 memory card instead of the 1 gig and it still froze up twice within that 6 month period. Then I took it to Cozumel last week and it started acting crazier and crazier and developed that second problem. It has now ruined 2 of my trips. It just upsets me so much to think of how many photo opportunities I missed. I sure hope they give me my money back. I bought it at my local dive shop and they know me pretty well in there.

 

[TN Traveler]

Go to the SeaLife wesite and follow the instructions for downloading and installing the firmware update. Some early versions had this problem and you brobably got a camera that was sitting around for awhile in the store.

Once the update is installed, you will find the camera takes excellent pictures.

 

[Bbarnes]

Yep. Upgrading your firmware to the PIE.5 version should completely solve the problems. It is easy to do too!

 

[micahjt]

Better yet....sell it to some poor sap on E-Bay and then buy a real underwater scuba camera.....

 

[keyskindagirl]

I have this camera and love it. Easy to use, easy navigation and a nice auto exposure mode for underwater, even without the strobe. I think it is a good basic underwater setup, and well suited for the average underwater photographer

 

[dherbman]

I like mine, but it was a gift. Battery life could be better and there are better values out there. Here is a link to other threads on the DC500.
http://www.scubaboard.com/search.php?searchid=3362217

 

[Jamdiver]

For $500 I don't think you'd find a better deal that the Canon A620 with Canon WP-DC90 housing, retails together for ~$400 I believe..