SeaLife DC800

[delray.piper]

Well, it's like this. My new DC 800 arrived yesterday. It's really nice, as you all know, and I was going to go off the beach today in beautiful downtown Delray Beach, but guess what? I'm sitting in my family room watching Tropical Storm Fay rain on my parade.

Guess I'll just go outside and take pictures of the bloody rain.

Maybe by the weekend the surf will go down and the water clear up so we can have a decent dive.

Till then, I'll read the manual, pick up all the mangos and star fruit that have blown off my trees and then just sit here and drink Guiness. :shelli:

Sigh.

John D

 

[forloveoftravel]

Hi everyone. Sounds like the DC 800 is a great camera for a newbie u/w photographer. I am interested in knowing whether there is an external wide angle lens or fish eye lens available for this camera? If it has already been asked, I apologize ) Also, does it accept regular SD memory cards? Thanks in advance for your assistance!

 

[scuba_frog]

Hi everyone. Sounds like the DC 800 is a great camera for a newbie u/w photographer. I am interested in knowing whether there is an external wide angle lens or fish eye lens available for this camera? If it has already been asked, I apologize ) Also, does it accept regular SD memory cards? Thanks in advance for your assistance!

The DC800 is already wide angle on its own with a 28 mm lens. If you use a seperate wide angle lens, like from the DC600, with the DC800, my understanding is that you will see some vignetting in your photos (black corners).

As for the memory, yes, it will take either SD or SDHC up to 4GB....which is about 1500 large pics.

 

[forloveoftravel]

Thanks for the quick response. Is the built in wide angle lens comparable to attaching an external wide angle lens on a different camera? If you were to go ahead an attach the external WA lens anyway, could you just zoom in a little to avoid the vignetting -or does that defeat the whole purpose? Sorry if these are really stupid questions, but I am new at this. I know from my u/w film camera that I tend to like to take wider angle shots than any macro type shots, so I just want to make sure that this camera can handle it. It sounds perfect for me in every other way. I held it in my hands at the local dive shop, so I know I like the looks and feel of it. Just wanted to get a couple more questions answered before taking the plunge.

 

[scuba_frog]

Quite honestly, I just got my camera last week and have not had a chance to use it. But from what I have been reading (mostly the 14 pages of this thread), yes you can zoom to help eliminate the vignetting, but that does defeat the purpose. I'm actually trying mine out next Wed. u/w for the first time. Have to wait and see what happens.

 

[forloveoftravel]

Ok - thanks. Let us know how it goes, and have fun diving on Wednesday!

 

[Cecile]

Step 1: I received my camera last month and dove twice with in the Miami area. Each time I did 2 dives in the day day. During the first dive, the camera was fine but during the second one, it got all blurry due to condensation in the housing. Since I hadn't opened the camera between the 2 dives, that was quite confusing.
A guy on the boat told me I might have a problem with the ring and that I should call Sealife for support.
So I did, and the nice person at the support told me there must be something wrong with it so I should retunr it.
I returned it and received a new one.

Step 2: With my new camera, I went o Turk & Caicos Islands for 3 days of diving.
Attached are some sample pictures. (no strobe)

Overall: I like this camera a lot:
- BATTERY: the battery life is good for at least 3 dives @ 80ft for 1hour each (I had some extra battery but went safe and changes it after 3 dives).
- PICTURE QUALITY: I let you judge by the sample pictures
- White balance setting: great with "blue ocean". made all my pics with nice colors
- FLASH: I used it only for caves and hidden fishes. The only problem I found was that when I set the white balance on "ocean blue" and use the flash, pictures turn red. I need to undo the manual white balance and then activate the flash. I need to find if there is a shorter way than that.
- LEAKING: I haven't experienced the leaking again. My first one may really have had a problem with the ring.
- The camera is fast to switch on/off. it turns off automatically after a few minutes of not being used but since it is fast to turn back on it is not a problem
- In 6 dives of 1hr each, I took 1000 pics and I can say that I may have about 40 that are good to frame. Which (since I am a beginner) looks like a miracle :blinking:

The only "issue" I found is that, you cannot take videos once you are under the water and take pictures. The "picture/video" switch is not accessible via the housing buttons so you need to decide BEFORE going into the water if you want to take pictures or videos. That can be annoying when you want to alternate between pics and videos during a same dive.

Hope that helps !
Comments and suggestions are welcome.

 

[scuba_frog]

Cecile, those are some great pics. There is a way to "toggle" between video, stills and review. I kind of stumbled on it. I don't have the camera in front of me right now, but will post here when I get home this evening.

I tried using my camera for the first time yesterday. It was very simple to operate even with gloves. My above-water pics turn out very nice, my underwater, not so nice. Seems that my strobe batteries discharged while in the carrying case. They were only there 2 days. I have another thread on this and have already contacted Sealife. Sorry to say, I was diving a cold lo-vis quarry so strobes would have been necessary. Now I know to bring a spare set of alkalines for emergencies.

 

[SkipperJohn]

Great review. & yes, I took vids and switched back and forth. With the camera in "Sea" mode, the "display" button cycles through several modes which includes video, review and other important features. And how about that bright LCD? Man I loved it! I had no issue seeing it in 99% of the time.
Here is a vid I shot in around 45' off Aruba

Seconds before I shot these pictures while rushing to get into position (my 4th dive ever, having trouble learning to be calm and patient)

(no flash, un-edited)

 

[scuba_frog]

Ok John, you beat me to it. But I think the display button cycles through in any mode. Those are some great pics and that's an awesome video. Where did you dive in Aruba to get those. I doev the Antilla and the Pedernales and never saw a sea tutle...very nice. I need to stop diving these midwest puddles and get to clear warm water.