OP
SeaLife Dc1000 or Sea & Sea 1200HD
- Thread starter FrankPro1
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I'm partial to the Fuji F series but Cannon and Olympus have some solid offerings also.
I'd put my Fuji F50fd up against the 1200HD in any regard except video. IMHO Fuji F series sensors have a better color gamut than any other P&S in the compact and ultra compacts.
I'd put my Fuji F50fd up against the 1200HD in any regard except video. IMHO Fuji F series sensors have a better color gamut than any other P&S in the compact and ultra compacts.
Althought the Ikelite is a nice housing they tend to be a bit more expensive. Fuji does make housings for a number of their cameras which are quite well made and less expensive. The F50FD with a housing can be purchased new with a housing for less than $300. In another thread I read of another SBer looking at a F100fd and housing for the same price.
OP
FrankPro1
Contributor
The thing I'm most concerned about when purchasing the Sea&Sea, is the battery life of the unit. The SeaLife has 500mah and 1.3v more on its battery. With the Sea&Sea LCD being bigger, it should have come with a stronger battery. Is this a credible worry? How long would a typical 3.7v 750mah battery last underwater? I've had a lot of problems with my current Olympus dying on me mid dive and I don't want to repeat the experience with my new camera.
Any suggestions for other cameras with HD video capability?
Some DX-1200HD pics:
Any suggestions for other cameras with HD video capability?
Some DX-1200HD pics:
With the use of the strobe and display needed for underwater photography that is a legit worry for any camera. My Fuji comes with a 3.7 V 1000mah NP-50 battery and the first thing I did was order a pair of replacement batteries rated at 1300mah. Also most of the cameras have some sort of power management with sleep and shutdown. How you set and use it may help or hinder the battery life.
SeaLife Joe
Guest
There are a lot of good points being brought up in this thread.
As RAWalker has mentioned, it is always a good idea to pick up spare batteries for any camera. I noticed an error in the power rating on the DC1000 batterey somewhere, it is not 500mAh but 1250. We rate it as 2 dives but we have squezzed 3 1/2 dives during preproduction development testing.
As well there was a comment about adding close up lenses. I can't speak for the 1200HD but the DC1000 will focus down to 2 inches camera by itself. Add the wide angle and it gets even closer! Sorry but my buoyancy isn't that great that I don't bounce off something so I tend to hang back about 12 inches and then zoom in which also helps with the lighting and not blowing out my subject.
Another thing to consider is that buying a camera from a one stop comapany, ie Sealife or Sea & Sea means you don't have to deal with three different service centers when things go wrong. One company warranties all.
I will be at BTS so look forward to any questions you may have.
regards,
Joe
As RAWalker has mentioned, it is always a good idea to pick up spare batteries for any camera. I noticed an error in the power rating on the DC1000 batterey somewhere, it is not 500mAh but 1250. We rate it as 2 dives but we have squezzed 3 1/2 dives during preproduction development testing.
As well there was a comment about adding close up lenses. I can't speak for the 1200HD but the DC1000 will focus down to 2 inches camera by itself. Add the wide angle and it gets even closer! Sorry but my buoyancy isn't that great that I don't bounce off something so I tend to hang back about 12 inches and then zoom in which also helps with the lighting and not blowing out my subject.
Another thing to consider is that buying a camera from a one stop comapany, ie Sealife or Sea & Sea means you don't have to deal with three different service centers when things go wrong. One company warranties all.
I will be at BTS so look forward to any questions you may have.
regards,
Joe
MindMagick
Guest
Hi Joe,
I will DEFINITELY see you at the Beneath The Sea Conference! Will you have the DC1000 there as well as examples of video from it on your PC at your booth?
John, Pittsburgh, Pa.
I will DEFINITELY see you at the Beneath The Sea Conference! Will you have the DC1000 there as well as examples of video from it on your PC at your booth?
John, Pittsburgh, Pa.
OP
FrankPro1
Contributor
I stated that "The SeaLife has 500mah and 1.3v MORE on its battery then the Sea&Sea".... Not that it only has 500mah.
If anyone's interested.. I ended up getting the Canon G10 and Ikelite housing. A little more then I wanted to spend, but with the Manual Controls, super fast shutter speed and large bright clear LCD on the G10... I think it was worth it. I won't be able to get a strobe or wide angle lens right away, like I would have if I bought the DC1000... but once I'm done with my setup "strobes, double handled base, wet lens, video light" I'll have a pretty decent rig. Haven't taken it underwater yet, but the above water pics I've taken are pretty sweet. Also even though the video is only 640x480, the G10 uses a new video compression codec which cuts down on artifacts and other pesky video glitches.
sabbath999
Contributor
Enjoy your D10. Those are sweet cameras.
Still waiting for the DC1000 replacement for my defective DC800 to arrive, as promised (about a month ago).
Still waiting for the DC1000 replacement for my defective DC800 to arrive, as promised (about a month ago).
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