I thought I would give a comparison of the Sealife DC550 with the Sealife DC600 that I received a few weeks ago. Sealife gave it to me because the DC550 was taking photos that were very over exposed.

My first thought when I turned on the camera was “great, it’s more like a computer”. Instead of the rather complicated menu system on the 550, with the Sealife DC600, there is a Mode button to select Photos, Video or Playback.

Each Mode has it’s own menu, accessed by a “Menu” button. Press the menu button, and there are 3 tabs ( like on a number of computer software applications ) Scrolling through the menus is very easy ( Much easier than on the 550 ) Even with the Underwater casing, accessing the menu is very easy.

The LCD monitor is flatter and I’m sure it’s a little larger, and it’s much easier to see the LCD display underwater.

I find the Flash setting a little confusing, and haven’t worked it out yet. The flash setting depends on what “Scene” is used.

Underwater ( with the casing on off course:-) the buttons seem easier to find, mostly because it’s more simple.

The first time I went scuba diving, I put the camera on Video mode before placing it in the underwater casing because I couldn’t find out how to change the mode back and forth between video and still photos. I read the manual a couple of times and couldn’t find out how to change it. So, my first dive was all video – it was a very bad day for diving so can’t show you the video. Visibility was about 1 foot ( maybe ).

Before going diving again, I looked on the sealife website, at their FAQs. Guess what the first FAQ says? They must have forgotten to put it in the manual:-)

1. How to select video or playback mode when the camera is in the housing.

When the camera is in Sea, Ext Flash or SplashWater modes, you can push the LCD display button to toggle between picture, video and playback modes. When the camera is in any other mode (and outside of the waterproof housing) you can use the slide switch on top of the inner camera to switch between video, playback and picture modes.

So, overall I think there’s a definite improvement in the DC600. A strange thing happened on my second dive though. My husband took the camera when we went off the boat. It was set for video and so he pressed the “Power” button, then Shutter to start the movie. He pointed the lens towards his subject for awhile, then pressed the shutter down to turn it off. And, it wouldn’t turn off. He showed me and I couldn’t turn it off either, so we didn’t know if it was still shooting movie. When we got back to the beach, the camera was still playing. By the time it dried and I was able to take it out of the casing, the battery had run out. The camera is okay, so that’s good.

One more thing I forgot, the Power button and the Shutter button have switched places which was a very good idea!

I’ll post some photos after I go diving next.

I have some video here that I took with the camera on it’s own. It takes great video.

Bear in mind though, this video has been compressed for YouTube, and the picture you see before clicking the play button has been compressed too. When the play button is hit, the picture is very clear. The first photo you see ( before the movie ) was a snapshot taken off the movie, using “Windows Movie Maker”. Very clear don’t you think – I didn’t do anything to it in Photoshop either.

G’day, this is John writing. The great thing about diving down at Byron Bay is it’s always a relaxed and fun atmosphere with the friendly staff ready to jump in and lend a hand and, these guys are a mine of information on all the the local sealife.

Here we are loading up the boat ready for our first dive of the day to the Cod Hole at 9 a.m. New South Wales time ( 8 am our time).

All these photos are taken with the SeaLife DC550

Here we are at the dive site, that’s one of the divers with the skipper checking his air before he drops into the water. Julieanne’s just dropped backwards into the water ( really easy way to get in) and on her way over to the anchor chain. Here I am holding her camera til’ she gets to the anchor chain, I pointed it in the general direction and pushed the button, seeing all that water makes me want to jump in again.

All those bubbles at the front of the photo is someone down there looking to see what the viz is like. We’re all waiting for each other on the surface, it’s pretty choppy. We’re going to descend as a group, that way we all start off with the same amount of air.

Julieanne didn’t want to bounce around on the surface anymore, so we went down first. Read the rest of this entry »

Buy the Nikon D200 here

The Sea & Sea DX-D200 Housing was made for the Nikon D200 Digital Camera

Digideep.com now have photos and a very favorable review by J P Trenque, of the Sea and Sea DX-D200 Underwater Housing J. P. Trenque’s conclusion for the Sea and Sea DX-D200 Housing is…

Conclusion
In all, I am extremely happy with my purchase. The Sea & Sea DX-D200 is not the perfect housing yet because of its viewfinder, lack of some controls and occasionally fiddly dial commands. However, it is extremely competitively priced compared to other metal housings and handles beautifully underwater. Oh, and it looks rather good and serious too!

WetPixel have a review of the Sea and Sea DX D200 Housing The author of the review, Craig Ruaux states at the end of the review…

“Overall, this is a very solid, high quality housing. I expect to get many years of good use from this housing, and I am happy with the purchase. There are some things missing from this housing that may or may not represent a problem for individual users, but for photographers like myself with a reasonable investment in Sea & Sea ports, the decision to purchase this housing is basically a no-brainer.”

Buy the Olympus Stylus 720SW 7.1MP Ultra Slim Digital Camera

The Olympus Stylus 720SW main features:

* Optional underwater case PT-033 (waterproof up to 40 metres / 132 feet)
* Shockproof (equivalent to 1.5m)*
* 7.1 million pixels
* Bright 3x optical zoom 38-114mm (equivalent to 35mm camera) 1:3.5-5.0
* Tough metal body in three colours: Dusky Pink, Polar Blue & Steel Silver
* BrightCapture Technology for better low light photography
* 6.4cm/2.5″ LCD
* 24 scene modes (incl. Portrait, Candle, Landscape and various underwater modes)
* Movie function with sound (640×480 pixels, 15fps)
* Macro and Super Macro mode for shots from as little as 7cm
* Editing functions (e.g. Red-eye Fix, Calendar Composition, Layout Composition, Title Composition)

* PictBridge compatible
* 19.1 MB Internal memory plus xD-Picture Card slot
* Multi-language menu plus possibility to download further languages from the internet
* Supplied with Olympus Master Software and LI-42B

Read the Reviews of the Olympus Stylus 720SW

Buy the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K 5MP Compact Digital Camera

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1K 5MP Compact Digital Camera can be taken underwater while scuba diving with the Panasonic DMW-MCTZ1E Underwater Housing. It has a 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom which features a refractive prism lens unit that allows zooming to occur horizontally within the camera. This camera is known by some as the World’s Smallest* 10x Optical Zoom Digital Camera and has built-in image stabilisation. * 5-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 13 x 17-inch prints * 2.5-inch high-angle LCD display with Power LCD function; 10x image-stabilized optical zoom * High-sensitivity mode (up to ISO 1600) reduces motion blur; Unlimited Consecutive Shooting at 3 frames per second * The Venus Engine III reduces release time lag to as little as 0.006 seconds * Powered by Lithium-ion battery pack (included); stores images on SD memory cards

Read the reviews of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TX1K here….

Fast Frame Rate Movie Mode allows you to record extremely smooth, full-motion movie clips for up to one minute in QVGA at 60 frames per second (fps) (320 x 240 pixels). With a highly flexible movie mode, you can create the movie that’s perfect for any application. Select from VGA (640 x 480 pixels) and QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) with frame rates of 30 fps and 15 fps for recording up to one hour or 1 GB. Plus, Compact Movie Mode (QQVGA; 160 x 120 pixels) records at 15 fps for up to 3 minutes.

There is an Underwater Shooting Mode
# Underwater: Capture underwater images with reduced backscatter effect.

The Canon WP-DC 5 Underwater Housing is used for the Canon Powershot SD700 IS. It can be taken down to 130 feet or 40 metres when Scuba Diving.

Read Reviews of the Canon Powershot SD700 IS

Reviews of the Nikon Coolpix 7900

Steves Digicams review the Nikon Coolpix 7900 Digital Camera
and state that

“These Coolpix cameras use intelligent technology to help ensure a balanced exposure and sharpness. Nikon’s exclusive new D-Lighting function is another new addition that can literally turn throwaway shots into frame-able memories. The D-Lighting feature can be selected in Playback mode — automatically compensating for insufficient flash or excessive back lighting in order to obtain balanced exposure throughout the frame. Both cameras are also equipped with Blur Warning, another feature unique to Nikon which alerts the user when a shot is compromised by camera or hand shake, allowing another shot to be taken before leaving the scene.”

The Reviews are continued here….

Read the reviews of the Nikon D200 Digital SLR Camera

Buy the Nikon D50 Digital Camera

Product Description From the Manufacturer “Nikon’s D50 interchangeable-lens digital SLR camera is designed to make it easier than ever to enjoy the thrill of outstanding digital SLR picture quality easily and instantly. Combining the outstanding response of Nikon’s patented digital and photographic performance with optical performance available only from renowned Nikkor interchangeable lenses and expanded shooting options only available in a quality digital SLR camera, the Nikon D50 makes exceptional digital SLR photography a reality for everyone.”

Read the Reviews of the Nikon D50