Sea and Sea DX 1200HD

[morg58]

Hi,
Does anyone have experiences of this camera freezing?
On a recent trip to the red sea it froze on 11 out of 15 dives, some times after 3 phots or after 20 or so. Once out of the water I had to remove battery and wait 20 mins or so before it would turn itself on again.
Ruined my trip

 

[scubabuzz]

What I have experienced is misting inside the housing. Although I have taken some fabulous pictures it seems a change in temperature from hot to cold tends to mist up the lens. Obviously not allowing me to take pictures.

 

[savholic]

I'm between this and the 1g... still undecided

 

[slowhands]

My suggestion is to be very cautious about buying anything from Sea & Sea. They make good housings and support them well, but they buy these point and shoot cameras from others. The 1200HD is discontinued and support is almost non-existent, so your purchase will be worthless if there is any problem with it. They refused to repair mine, which needed an LCD, a $40 part. So my entire system is worthless. This post is to share that with you all.

The 1200HD was made for them by Ergo, a UK company with production in China.
Ergo DS 1200HD | Digital Cameras | Digital Cameras | ERGO | ????????? | ???????? ????????????, ??????????

If you are considering Sea &Sea, their housings are good, but their cameras are variable. Do your research. If you can, find out who makes the camera, and make sure it's a solid company. The current models are DX-2G (which is a Ricoh GX200) and GE5 (which is branded GE!). I've heard good things about the 2G, but after they burned me on the 1200HD, I would not buy another point and shoot from them. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on ME!

 

[morg58]

Just heard back from sea and sea japan where my camera ended up (via sea and sea uk and Cameras underwater UK).......they deem the camera 'beyond economical repair' due to water damage. Apparantly they found salt crystal on the battery housing screw.
No word on the freezing up problem no word on replacement camera..... SEA and Sea SUCK.......

Dont touch them........:mooner: to you SEA and SEA

 

[slowhands]

I have over $1200 invested in my Sea&Sea 1200HD system. The camera LCD broke, and they won't repair it (typically that's a $40 part, with labor of perhaps $60). I would gladly pay more to get this fixed, because I liked the camera when it is working and the strobes are fine. But apparently they used a flaky vendor for the camera and now can't get parts, or some such.

That means the whole system has to be replaced.

And it will never again be a Sea&Sea. They can't support what they sell.

 

[weinerr]

My first 1200 was great no issues at all until it flooded, likely my fault. Purchased a second camera and yes it is susceptible to freezing. The reason I like the 1200 is I like to go back and forth between pics and video. It freezes all the time. When I go down I stay on photo or video, but try to avoid going back and forth.

 

[raybosd]

I purchased a DX-1200 HD system in March prior to a trip to Bonaire. The camera performed very well during the trip and I got some great photos and HD video as well, mind you the conditions were hard to beat. Vis 80'-100' , pristine reef, tons of great photo ops etc.
About a month ago I was diving the Eureka Oil Platform off San Pedro and after the first dive I noticed serious misting and water drops on the camera. It still functioned but shut off after a few seconds. I sent it to Sea and Sea and I found out that the 1200 model is discontinued as is the DX-1. I made a deal with them to credit me the full cost of my 1200 and I would upgrade to the DX-2 and pay the difference. So far it's a month later and I'm still waiting for them to credit my dealer so I can do the upgrade....I like the camera, but their service could be a whole lot better.

 

[scubabuzz]

It is a great little Camera and takes great shots but I wouldn't buy one again. I had only had it a couple of weeks and one of the buttons failed. I couldn't scroll to view my photos. Also it has been misting up on me on every dive. I was told this could be due to saturated silica gel.
To add insult to injury now it is a discontinued model and parts are not available!

 

[raybosd]

I had a similar issue, my 1200 leaked from a button o-ring. I sent it back and found out that it was a discontinued model. I was able to do an upgrade to the DX-2G system, after my dealer worked with them, I just paid the difference.
Apparently, once they run out of DX-1200 replacements they will replace it with the new DX-2G, you just have to be persistent and keep following up with them.
It did take a really long time to complete the deal however....for me it was over a month before I got the new camera.