Want more battery life for your DC500?

[Mrs Fic]

Mis Fic, you're right about the 600. The contacts dont line up, I checked mine just now. I wish they were compatible cuz I just got back from the pool....I was test shooting with it in complete darkness and i got 96 pictures and my battery light was at the last bar and red.
I need another battery before I go to PCB on the 31st.
Mike

One thing that might help is that I realized too late that when you run the battery down to a red x over an outline of a battery, you still have many shots left. Without the strobe just messing around in the house (but internal flash going off), I got 10-15 more shots after that symbol appeared, or quite a bit of video also. On vacation, I had thought that that symbol meant I was completely out and camera would shut down on the very next photo, so I would just turn it off and give up for the dive. Makes me mad now, as you know there are always great shots that come up at the end of every dive!

Look at the specs on this charger: It states that the charging current limit is 650 mA max. Will this still fully charge a 1200 mAh battery?

Hey, the contact parts look different from the dc 500 on this charger...you sure it's the right charger that will work?

 

[DandyDon]

Ok, so my cool NP-900 finds will not work on the DC600...!

I did some searching for the "Sealife DC600 Battery," "Sealife DC600 Charger," "SL1614" and "SL16135" on Google Shopping, Nextag, Bizrate, and Ebay. There is not much out in the US, yet anyway. Be careful as some sites that show up on Google are in UK and the shipping will be high.

1: For batteries: I found some higher prices in $30s, $40s, even $50 but found one considerable better buy. In some cases the site pic may not actually match the product. Some of these sellers are using stock Sealife pics that don't match, but if they say it's for the Sealife DC600, you're probly good - or have grounds to complain anyway.

Battery Gallery offers a "Battery For Sealife DC600 740 mAH Li-ion" for $18.24 including shipping: Battery Gallery That's a little more power than you have now, and the shipping is very reasonable.

Mariner-electronics.com offers one for $21.50 + $12 shipping :dunce: = $33.50 Marine electronics and supplies store

Tristatecamera.com claims to offer one for $20 + shipping but when you go to the link, the part number is wrong. :silly:

If you search Google for "SL1614" and click Shopping at top of page you'll see others.


2: For spare chargers: As I doubt that you want to want to have 2 batteries that have to be charged inside the camera sitting on the dock - I didn't, I look for a charging tray. I think that these trays will accept the power cord that you plug into docking tray much like on the DC500. On a liveaboard, I'll shoot one battery in the morning while the other is in the charging tray, trade out at lunch, trade again at dinner. Again, in some cases the site pic may not actually match the product. Some of these sellers are using stock Sealife pics that don't match, but if they say it's for the Sealife DC600, you're probly good - or have grounds to complain anyway.

I'm going to list several with similar costs in case of any problems or mistakes, and in case you want to see if you can safe by ordering the battery there - but you may be insulted at their battery prices. I was.

Waterproofcameras.com offers one for $28 + $6.75 shipping = $ 34.75
SeaLife DC600 Lithium Battery Charger

Joediveramerica.com offers one for $30 + $5.80 shipping = $35.80
SeaLife Battery Charger for DC600 Batteries - Underwater Camera Battery Charger: at JoeDiverAmerica.com

Scuba.com offers one for $20 + $10 more for DC600 + FREE shipping = $30
Buy Sealife Battery Charger SL 1515 with reviews at scuba.com

Sailgb.com offers one for $22.34 + $10.91 shipping = $32.25
Sealife Dc600 Digital Maxx Camera

Unrealfind.com offers one for $30 + $3.78 First Class mail = $33.78
SeaLife DC600 Charger: unrealfind

Since I don't have a DC600 and it seems that few do, it would be good if one of y'all post a new thread like this one after you find and receive your best buys offering suggestions and your experiences to others.

 

[Dive Turkey]

Thanks Dandy for all the good stuff!! We appreciate you doing all the leg work.

Mike

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks Dandy for all the good stuff!! We appreciate you doing all the leg work.

Mike

Sorry I couldn't find better alternatives, but that $18/740 mAh battery looks like a nice alternative, and the $30 tray should work.

 

[SkipperJohn]

Sorry I couldn't find better alternatives, but that $18/740 mAh battery looks like a nice alternative, and the $30 tray should work.

I should think you should be able to find that tray for less than $30. I paid $45 for the entire travel kit which included another battery and a 12v DC adaptor cord.

 

[DandyDon]

Got a link...?

 

[DandyDon]

Okaaaay, so my cool find will not work for the DC600, much less the DC800. Different models, different batteries, so goes marketing.

It's been also suggested that charging a larger battery in a DC500 could cause overheating? I guess it could be possible; I never charge mine in the camera tho - always using the spare battery charger tray. Since they're lithium with no memory effect, I'll charge one while using the other then trade out.

As notorious as the DC500 is for short battery life, I'm happy with this upgrade that almost doubles the battery life/charge

 

[DandyDon]

We got one of these in for my bud. Seems to work well. The charging platform is oddly configurated in a way, to accept different batteries - not sure which all...?

 

[427Dave]

The Olympus battery is the same as the DC 600, except it is 3.6 vdc @ 1000 mah. I bought 3 of these on ebay over a year ago and have used them. They do not seem to have much more power than the 650 mah. 3.7 x .650 = 2.4 watts, 3.6 x 1.000 = 3.6 watts, therefore they should last longer. The number for the battery is LI-40B/LI-42B. At one time ebay listed these batteries with 3.7 vdc @ 1000 mah. I actually think I got some batteries that were not very good quality. I had one go bad in 6 months and will not charge anymore.