Sealife DC600

[SmartWombat]

I picked up one second hand for £60.
It is an outdated model SeaLife Camera History | Sealife Cameras.

Compared to my Olympus XZ-1 (£400) and its waterproof case (£320) this is a real bargain at under 1/10th the cost.
It was a risk-free purchase to see if I could learn enough about underwater photography on holiday to gauge whether buying the case for my XZ-1 would be worth it.

Basically it is a waterproof custom case with a fitted 6MP point and shoot camera.
The camera is nothing special, it's the enclosure that made me buy it.

It's well made, and as a beginner's tool it worked surprisingly well.
It's restricted in aperture (f/2.8 - 4.8 ) and ISO range (64 - 200), 3x zoom and maximum 1GB SD card size.
Spare batteries are available very cheaply, and battery life is about 45 minutes in constant use, more than enough for me as a beginner. I didn't fill a 1G SD card even using 3 batteries !


Support from Sealife seems good, as the manuals are online for all their models, including this one http://www.sealife-cameras.com/sites...Manual_Eng.pdf.

The fibre optic flash trigger cable adapter for external flashes is a great idea, more reliable than backscatter to trigger the flash.

I haven't tried ordering spares, but the manual gives part numbers for the replacement o-ring and dessicant capsule. Since they are still producing cameras there may be old parts on their shelves.


There are parts of the manual that make me think I may not be cut out for this ...
"With the 24mm wide-angle lens you fit ... a 6-foot (180 cm) shark at a shooting distance of 6 feet"

But plenty of useful tips, like the hyperfocal setting:
"To minimize the shutter lag time we suggest keeping the camera set to landscape (infinity) focus [ ]. All underwater subjects beyond 11/2 feet (50cm) shooting distance will be in focus"

and the subject distance:
"Always remember to limit your shooting distance to 1/10 of the water visibility."

and the ideal distance:
"The ideal shooting distance is between 2 to 6 feet (0.6 to 1.8 meters). This distance will result in detailed, colorful pictures."


Pretty much as I discovered while learning ... without reading that part of the manual.
What can I say, I'd be letting the side down if I read the whole manual before using the camera


Sample images.
Typical of what a beginner could manage, I think
Well I was a beginner and got these on my first try!

cloudy sky does not make for good underwater photos...




and then the sun came out ...





Pictures of the camera itself.

Front:

It's missing the shiny metal bits from the front, which might be a good thing if I was sneaking up on fish.

Front and Back:


Buttons and Back:


Buttons and Open:

The desiccator has turned pink, which means it needs to be replaced. I will need to order a "moisture muncher" to be sure it's dry inside.


Battery/Card compartment


Battery and Card:

You have to hunt around to find cards as small as 1G these days, but googling Li-42B finds lots of suppliers.


Case Ready to latch:

First you press the case together against the o-ring to get it nearly closed.

Case Latch engaged:

Then hook in the first part of the latch.

Case Nearly latched:

Closing the latch pulls the case together and it snaps shut to this position.

Case Fully latched:

The small secondary latch prevents the case opening accidentally.
It needs a second push to fully secure the case.

[rebar]

Thanks for the review. Im looking for something waterproof so a SeaLife Camera is a option.

[Photo-John]

Thanks for the review. Im looking for something waterproof so a SeaLife Camera is a option.

I just added some new SeaLife cameras to our product database. They have better depth ratings than the dedicated waterproof point-and-shoot cameras and I think they're less likely to get ruined by a leak. On the other hand, I have a feeling the camera itself may not be as good as something from Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Olympus, etc. I'm actually working on updating our waterproof camera guide right now. I hope to have it complete and live before the weekend. I update it every spring so it has all the current cameras. Here's a link, although right now it is still showing 2011 cameras: Outdoor And Waterproof Digital Cameras | Camera News & Reviews

Also - welcome to the site. I am sorry about the extra step in registering. I just added the manual approval process yesterday because the number of spammers registering on the site has been ridiculous. The only way to shut it down is to go to manual approval. I'm glad you're a legit photographer and not a spammer

[Grandpaw]

If you like under water photography you might find the link below interesting. This is a friend of mine's website and pictures, Jeff

Life In The Seas Home Page

[rebar]

Thanks for the links.. Have you compared the Canon PowerShot D20 to your favorites yet?

[Photo-John]

Thanks for the links.. Have you compared the Canon PowerShot D20 to your favorites yet?

I have not. But I like the looks of it. The D10 was too chunky for my taste but I thought it had the best image quality of all the waterproofs until I got my hands on the Nikon AW100. The Nikon is my current favorite, although i have high hopes for the new Olympus TG-1, which has a new backlit CMOS sensor and an f/2.0 lens. I need to get the Canon and the new Sony TX20 for testing. Those are the other waterproofs I'm most interested in.

By the way, since I replied to you this morning, I updated the camera list at the end of the waterproof camera guide. It now has a list of all the current waterproof point-and-shoots. I think I also need to include the Sealife and similar cameras, though. Then I need to update the article with my new recommendations. But there is a complete list of current cameras now.