SeaLife DC800

[divrdrew]

My DC800 Maxx Set arrived this week and I have to say that I am quite disappointed in the strobe arms.

They are plastic and are so flexible that the dual strobes seem too have too much play. I'm not talking about the strobes themselves. They can be separately tightened to be pretty rigid.

However, one connector attaches both strobe arms to the camera and I have significant concerns regarding their ability to hold up to the demands of boat diving and shared camera rinse tanks. It seems that one more rigid arm to attach both strobes would work better.

Has anyone had any problems with the strobe arms?

I have been using the DC600 for a couple years now and have never had a problem with the strobe arm. At first, when I would try to adjust it too much, the little parts separated, but it was an easy fix, even underwater. Once I got the feel for that, it never happened again.

I have been using the DC600 Elite set with the soft case an wide angle lens. I have loved it. Took some great pictures...many of which are on my walls now. I upgraded from a Sony DSCP-10 with housing, but no strobe. About 1 / 100 shots with my Sony turned out nice. With the 600, about 1 / 10-15...I take a lot of pictures.

I agree with everyone about the 600...just one dive. I just upgraded the camera to the 800 and have not had the chance to dive with it yet. Of course, it came in the week after I got back from Key Largo. I am looking forward to a better battery life.

One question for Denise...will the wide angle lens from my DC600 work with the DC800? I have seen areas that say yes and others that say no.

 

[Former Sealife Employee]

One question for Denise...will the wide angle lens from my DC600 work with the DC800? I have seen areas that say yes and others that say no.

It will fit and work with the DC800 but it's not recommended. The DC800 is already wide angle on its own with a 28 mm lens. The Wide Angle Lens that went with the DC600 (SL970) is a 24 mm lens. If you use it with the DC800 you will see some vignetting in your photos (black corners). To eliminate this, you would have to zoom in, and then you are no longer wide angle. So, you really don't need it.

 

[divrdrew]

It will fit and work with the DC800 but it's not recommended. The DC800 is already wide angle on its own with a 28 mm lens. The Wide Angle Lens that went with the DC600 (SL970) is a 24 mm lens. If you use it with the DC800 you will see some vignetting in your photos (black corners). To eliminate this, you would have to zoom in, and then you are no longer wide angle. So, you really don't need it.

That's interesting. I had quite a bit of vignetting with the DC600. Seemed to be hit or miss. Sometimes would happen, sometimes not. Even on the same dive. Only happened when I didn't use the zoom. If I zoomed in a little, the corners went away (of course, that defeated the wide angle).

Thanks for the quick response. Nice to see good manufacturer support on these boards!

 

[divengolf]

The battery for the DC800 is 1250 mAh and should last for 2 tank dives, 2+ hours, or 200+ pictures. (It's almost twice the capacity of the DC600 battery).

Denise-What sleep & shutdown times need to be set to achieve this battery performance?? I'm an owner of a 500. If the above terms don't apply to the 800, let me now what should be specified.

Also it appears that none of the 500 or 600 batteries can be used on the 800. Plz confirm this to be true.

Thx.

 

[Former Sealife Employee]

The battery size and performance differs for each SeaLife camera, so the DC800 battery and performance specifications do not apply to the DC500 or DC600.

Here are some tips on the DC500 battery performance (can also be found on our website):

Battery performance upgraded and tips to maximize battery life:
SeaLife has recently upgraded the performance of the DC500 lithium rechargeable battery from 650 mAh to 750mAh. A freshly charged battery should yield about 1 hour of use or approximately 100 pictures depending on how you use the camera and conserve battery power. It is helpful to have a spare battery as back-up. A DC500 Spare Battery (item # SL1514) is available at your local SeaLife Dealer.

Here are some tips to maximize battery life:
1. Make sure the battery initially charges overnight (minimum 8 hours). Then, the battery must be fully discharged through normal use prior to the next complete charge. This only needs to be done the first time the battery is charged.
2. Set the power save setting (sleep mode) from 2 minutes to 30seconds. This setting is located under the set-up mode menu. The camera will go to sleep in 30 seconds and preserve battery power. Push any button to wake up the camera. The camera will turn off in 3 minutes if no buttons are pushed. Press the power button to turn on the camera.
3. Keep the camera power off as much as possible.

 

[Air On]

I found that the DC800 actially turns off and on so fast I just turn it off and on manually as i use it.

Hit on... lift camera up... its already on... click!

 

[Conchchowder]

It's too bad thet the ability to shoot in RAW, especially with SDHC cards up to 16GB supported, is still unsupported by SeaLife. I wish that in their next model that this will be offered.

 

[divergirl50]

I just got my new Dc800 and going to Cozumel next weekend for its first use. I do see it has the setting to get rid of the BLUE that my other camera did not have. I have tried using in on LAND and so far I liked my other camera better since this one has so many settings.
I hope I can just set it on the dive mode and be done ... I am going to have to get use to all the new bells and whistles this one has compared to my Cannon. I loved my cannon but after 2 floods I thougth it was time for one that didnt need to be greased and had a better housing really made for diving. The oring not needing much attention is what sold me on it!

 

[Richard Groves]

i'm a beginner - can anyone tell me about the Sealife Reefmaster Mini?

 

[worlddiver]

SeaLife was a sponsor for Kids Sea Camp in Cayman a couple of weeks ago and my whole family had a blast with it. My kids used it as a point and shoot and my wife was using all it's features. The only problem she had was that the strobe would miss fire sometimes. Great camera for all ages and priced right.