DC1400: Your Thoughts on Ease of Use

[mjarens]

Greetings. I will be replacing my 7 yr old Canon Elph 700IS setup (3rd camera body I've owned, original u/w housing). My u/w experience is strictly point & shoot. Tried the GoPro Hero 2 last year. Sold it as I couldn't remember which button does what. Want clear, simple marked buttons. Never had a problem remembering how the Canon worked.

Thus, I am looking at the SeaLife DC1400. Would like the external strobe & light and the fisheye, all of which will be a first for me. Hoping that these extras will improve my photo quality, after a learning curve, of course.

Read all of the threads you have posted, and appreciate your ideas.

Any other comments on ease of use of the DC1400 kit would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Pillpusher]

As far as ease of use, I don't know that you'll find any simpler setups while still getting good results. It offers very few manual options (making it ideal for you), and the auto setting typically does very well. To keep things simple, if you're shooting on auto and your shot is a little over or underexposed, just turn the knob on the flash to adjust the strobe strength appropriately. Easy. Also, the piano keys on the back are clearly marked to let you know what does what. Much more user friendly than all the indistinguishable unmarked knobs and buttons that you'll find on most other housings. HTH.

 

[Rayallyn]

Nice little set up the only problem I have is the delay time from pressing the shutter button to the time the shutter takes the picture when I first started using the DC1400 I had a lot of fish tail images.

 

[Pillpusher]

Yeah, the shutter lag can be an issue at times. But if you're taking pics of something from a couple feet away or more, just put the focus on infinity mode (just one or two pushes on the "focus" piano key) and that reduces the shutter lag quite a bit. With macro shots (when the shutter lag seems to be the slowest), your subject likely isn't moving much, so it's not a big issue.

 

[mermaid0sea]

I got the lights and fish eye. Haven't gotten to use those yet but assembling the lights and camera together was pretty easy. You do have to make sure the cable goes in far enough. My first time using an external flash so if i got it set up... Seems pretty easy so far. I may go away this weekend to try it.

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk

 

[iluvtheocean]

I was thinking in regards to the "shutter lag" -- since these are digital cameras -
There are three distinct components of shutter lag: Autofocus lag (1/2 press), Shutter Release Lag (from 1/2 press to full down), Total Lag (full press w/o pre-focus).

there will be a distinct difference in the lag time between the 1st 2 and total lag -- meaning if AF is on, the lag is less when you press 1/2 way and it brackets green -- then you press it fully. It's going to be slower going with a full press to start unless you're using the quick shot mode on the dc1400.

in general - pressing down 1/2 way will help with the shutter lag on most digital cameras.

i'm getting this info -- a tiny bit from sealife's website, & various digital photography books & websites -- but they are all saying the same thing.

the only "digital camera" i don't think it works on is the one on your "phones"

 

[mjarens]

Thank you all for your suggestions. The DC1400 w/ lighting is on my short list. I just think that, knowing myself, a full set up that is built to work together would be my best "next " move. I'm trying to keep it simple. Thank you each for your suggestions.