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 »

This is my second time to use my new SeaLife DC500 Underwater Camera. It will be interesting to compare these photos with those I take later on, once I’ve had more experience.

John and I got up early last Sunday morning to go down to Byron Bay in NSW for a couple of dives at Julian Rocks.

This is one of our favourite spots to dive so we were excited and I was looking forward to using my new camera too. It was only the second time for me to use it underwater.

We got our gear ready and put it on the boat as soon as we arrived at the SunDive shop at Byron. Ruth was there with the rest of the people from the Gold CoastDive Centre. It wasn’t long and we were driving down in the truck ready to launch the boat. The surf was high and it was a bitrough getting in and riding out there. Not too bad though!!

In the boat, we divided up into 3 groups, kitted up and fell back into thewater. It was warmer in the water than out of it. We all had an easy ascent straight down the rope, and saw some Wobbegongs down at the bottom. Oops! I was taking a photo of one, and nearly leaned on another. As usual at Byron Bay, there were lots of them!

Scuba Diving with Wobbegong Sharks Read the rest of this entry »

SeaLife have announced a Universal Underwater Flash for Scuba Diving Digital Cameras:

Buy the Reefmaster SL-960D

SeaLife External Flash for Digital Cameras “Finally a universal flash for all digital cameras*. Scuba divers know that a strobe is the most important accessory for sharp, colorful pictures. Water absorbs the red and yellow light spectrum resulting in blue pictures. The powerful SeaLife® Digital Flash causes the intense colors of coral and fish to “explode” . Even two flashes can be easily mounted to all cameras. * Works with Canon, Olympus, Sony, Nikon, Fuji, Minolta, Casio, Pentax and other brands of digital cameras with up to 4 pre-flashes.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The Sealife SD-300 uses a 35 mm film and can be used in upto 80 foot deep water.
It’s a very cheap camera, ranging from $27.95 upto $35.00

It has:

• Automatic film advance
• Automatic & Manual flash activation
• Can be reloaded withISo 400 or Iso 800 35mm film
• Underwater 35 mm reloadable camera

The SeaLife DC500 was Singled out by Time Magazine

Time Magazine has selected SeaLife’s DC500 camera as one of “The Most Amazing Inventions of 2005″ and has featured the camera in the Nov 21st issue of Time as well as on their website Time.com.

Time spent over 6 months surveying the various fields looking for the newest and most inspired ideas of the year. Joe Lfi, SeaLife’s Director of Sales & Marketing says

“This is a great honor for SeaLife to be recognized by one of if not the most prestigious publications in the world alongside some of the most ingenious inventions out there”.

For more information, please visit Time Magazine or SeaLife

The new SeaLife DC500 features a new “Shark Mode” for faster and sharper pictures of moving objects underwater and in sports photography on land. Read more about the SeaLife DC500 Underwater Camera for Scuba Diving

SeaLife ReefMaster DC310

The SeaLife ReefMaster DC310 Digital Camera is specifically developed for divers to take brighter, colorful pictures underwater and on land. SeaLife’s unique Land & Sea exposure modes optimize picture quality in low-light conditions. The 3.3mp camera is compact and fully rubber-armored for ruggedness and comfortable handling to a depth of 200 feet. The One-Button-Operation allows even the novice to take great pictures, while the expert can access all Advanced-Dive controls of the DC310 while underwater. The One-Button-Operation also allows divers to review and instantly delete a picture by just another push of the shutter button while prompted. The DC310 also incorporates the Quick Review feature as well as being totally expandable with all SeaLife® accessories.

Read more about the SeaLife ReefMaster DC310

Underwater Digital Camera SeaLife DC500

The new SeaLife DC500 features a new “Shark Mode” for faster and sharper pictures of moving objects underwater and in sports photography on land. The Shark Mode is activated by simply pushing the camera’s OK button which focuses on the intended subject. The camera will now remember that focus range and take sharp pictures with virtually no shutter lag. Underwater, in diving or snorkeling, everything moves, the diver as well as sea creatures are in constant movement. In addition to the Shark Mode, the automatic Sea exposure mode will shorten the exposure time underwater for sharper pictures.

Read more about the SeaLife DC500 Underwater Camera for Scuba Diving