Sealife Micro HD

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mchiapetto

Contributor
Messages
145
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8
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
# of dives
200 - 499
Has anyone purchased one of the new Sealife Micro HD cameras? I would like to hear about what you think of it. I was thinking about getting a GoPro but I like some of the features on the Sealife and have been leaning that way. I would like to learn from the experiences of others who have purchased the Micro HD. Does anyone want to share?
 
Has anyone purchased one of the new Sealife Micro HD cameras? I would like to hear about what you think of it. I was thinking about getting a GoPro but I like some of the features on the Sealife and have been leaning that way. I would like to learn from the experiences of others who have purchased the Micro HD. Does anyone want to share?

Great question. I would hope more people would answer. My husband, and I are debating on whether to go Sealife or GoPro. I came across this article, and hope it helps you as well. If you buy the Sealife, and go diving please let me know your opinion :)

SeaLife Micro HD Review | Dive With Seaman
 
Hello there Mchiapetto and Yudi,

As I have written in my article (thanks for your trust and sharing Yudi), what is important in this point is what you guys really need.

GoPro is a very good action cam.

4K @ 30 fps is cool (Hero 4).

But, GoPro is still an action cam. Nothing less, nothing more.

Producers tried to add some photography values to this new version like exposure value and white balance, but GoPro is not for serious U/W photographers who want to improve their photoygraphy skills and maybe considering a carrer in this sector.

We should understand why GoPro became so popular. What was the need?

The need was the ability to shoot what people see.

It had to have a hard and waterproof case, had to be light in weight and small. Majority of the users even don't need an LCD screen.

I suggest my fellow diver friends to buy a SeaLife Mico HD if they want to take U/W photographs and to learn it deep.

On the other hand, I have several diver friends who prefer to record their dives (especially wreck and cave divers) from the start till surfacing.

At this point, SeaLife Micro HD is clumsy. GoPro has the advantage of being small and light weight.

First, know what you really need.

I can help you more if you have any questions in mind.

Stay golden.

Murat DEMIRAG

Founder, DiveWithSeaman.com



 
One thing I would like to see is some videos shot with this camera. YouTube is filled with excellent diving videos shot by many different folks with varying levels of expertise from novice to professional. I can't find any videos shot with this camera other than a few 10 to 30 second clips put out by Sea Life. I am disappointed by the level of support the manufacturer has put into this camera. I would think they know that they are up against serious competition with Go Pro. Would it kill them to spend a few bucks to really show us what this camera can do, especially since it's their newest product.
 
This is a cool video. I use a GoPro and having sat through a SeaLife presentation from the local rep at our dive shop I would buy one and use it. The editing program I have allows me to capture stills from video so I always have that option as well. I like the light tray setup, in the presentation it seemed like a good sturdy base for the lighting and camera.
 
I have a friend who bought one just before we went to Roatan. It crapped out on her mid-trip...I personally would wait for the next version.....
 
I own a Micro HD+ with the Sea Dragon 2000 light and have had the setup on one dive trip (18 dives). Although I took a few videos I used it mostly to take photographs. Over all I was very pleased with the results. The camera is well constructed and easy to use. Its compact size and feel I also found as a plus. I also experience excellent customer service from Sealife both when i called with questions and when I returned the light because I was having trouble at times with the unit flashing or "blinking" under water. The service department could not duplicate my problem but as a courtesy they replaced my light with a new one at no charge.

I took a few pictures above water but mainly shots on the dive boat. The boat, the guides, shots of the shore line etc. I would fear taking my good "land camera" on the boat so to get these shots with the HD was a plus. That said the HD will not replace my land camera so I guess from this point forward I carry two cameras.

Ok a few things I would change or add:

The light comes with a really nice padded case. The camera on the other hand only has a padded cover that keeps the dust out but that is about it. SeaLife really need to find a way to have the case hold both the light and the camera. I think it is just a matter of how you cut the foam in the case.

The shortest distance the camera will focus is one ft. In my mind that leaves a lot of macro shots out. Although I took many pictures of cleaner shrimp, arrow crabs etc. I have but few that will be keepers. The best one I took was from farther out than 12 inches but held up when I cropped the picture down on the computer. Needless to say these result may easily be the photographer and not the camera. I will keep practicing and see if I get better at this.

The process of "sending" the pictures by Wi-Fi from the camera to my ipad I found pretty easy the first time I did it. But the second time I did it I found the App could not detect what photos had already been down loaded (when you select down load all) as a result every pictures from the first session were duplicated. There are several solutions to this problem, down load one picture at a time (really!), Erase the pictures from the camera after each down load or down load using the cable and skip the App completely. I am sure there are even more ways to do this that I have not found yet. I also have found to get a photo out of the App in its original form I need to use Dropbox. So in shot I don't find the App (Action Cam HD) helpful and certainly think it could be improved on.

Let me leave you with one other thought. That little light (Sea Dragon 2000) is a power house. On one dive we did we entered a cave which after a few turns was very dark until I turned on the dragon to take a few photos. The whole room light up! How nice to have a really bright light when you need it. I have carried a dive light in my vest for 20 years it may have just been made obsolete.

Yes I would buy this setup again.

T
 
I own a Micro HD+ with the Sea Dragon 2000 light and have had the setup on one dive trip (18 dives). Although I took a few videos I used it mostly to take photographs. Over all I was very pleased with the results. The camera is well constructed and easy to use. Its compact size and feel I also found as a plus. I also experience excellent customer service from Sealife both when i called with questions and when I returned the light because I was having trouble at times with the unit flashing or "blinking" under water. The service department could not duplicate my problem but as a courtesy they replaced my light with a new one at no charge.

I took a few pictures above water but mainly shots on the dive boat. The boat, the guides, shots of the shore line etc. I would fear taking my good "land camera" on the boat so to get these shots with the HD was a plus. That said the HD will not replace my land camera so I guess from this point forward I carry two cameras.

Ok a few things I would change or add:

The light comes with a really nice padded case. The camera on the other hand only has a padded cover that keeps the dust out but that is about it. SeaLife really need to find a way to have the case hold both the light and the camera. I think it is just a matter of how you cut the foam in the case.

The shortest distance the camera will focus is one ft. In my mind that leaves a lot of macro shots out. Although I took many pictures of cleaner shrimp, arrow crabs etc. I have but few that will be keepers. The best one I took was from farther out than 12 inches but held up when I cropped the picture down on the computer. Needless to say these result may easily be the photographer and not the camera. I will keep practicing and see if I get better at this.

The process of "sending" the pictures by Wi-Fi from the camera to my ipad I found pretty easy the first time I did it. But the second time I did it I found the App could not detect what photos had already been down loaded (when you select down load all) as a result every pictures from the first session were duplicated. There are several solutions to this problem, down load one picture at a time (really!), Erase the pictures from the camera after each down load or down load using the cable and skip the App completely. I am sure there are even more ways to do this that I have not found yet. I also have found to get a photo out of the App in its original form I need to use Dropbox. So in shot I don't find the App (Action Cam HD) helpful and certainly think it could be improved on.

Let me leave you with one other thought. That little light (Sea Dragon 2000) is a power house. On one dive we did we entered a cave which after a few turns was very dark until I turned on the dragon to take a few photos. The whole room light up! How nice to have a really bright light when you need it. I have carried a dive light in my vest for 20 years it may have just been made obsolete.

Yes I would buy this setup again.

T
Thank you very much for your reply. My husband, and I have been debating which way to go Sealife or Gopro, and we mainly shoot videos. We have made up our minds it looks like we are buying the Sealife. We are heading over to Indonesia so let's hope we can shoot great videos.

Thank you again

---------- Post added January 5th, 2015 at 09:59 AM ----------

Thank you for your reply. We had been going crazy on whether to purchase Sealife or Gopro, and specially we mainly shoot videos, but Gopro has so many issues that I cannot bear the thought travelling all the way to Indonesia, and stops working. I think Sealife would be the way to go.
 
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