SeaLife Mini II

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I started a thread with a review, but thought I'd share a few photos here if anyone is interested. I tried mine out today for the first time and it took great photos. I could see my screen just fine (it's a bit dimmer than my Olympus 1030SW but I could still see it fine to line up shots) and when I wasn't in flash mode I was impressed with how fast the camera recovered and was ready for another shot. Taken today on Molasses Reef in Key Largo, FL.


queenangel by suzettetruesdell, on Flickr


hogandcoral2 by suzettetruesdell, on Flickr
 
I didnt like this camera either. At least the price is good.
 
Got it, tried it and...

PICT0048.jpg PICT0053.jpg

As you can see, it takes relatively good pics. These two are from a 5/14/11 reef dive out of Key Largo, vis was pretty good but not spectacular that day. The main disappointment with this camera is that you end up going through about two AAA batteries for every two tanks you dive (I usually take about one shot per minute when I dive and then delete about 90% of them).

All in all, not a bad starter dive camera and when I get more familiar with it, I will post more dive pics.
 
View attachment 94917 View attachment 94916

As you can see, it takes relatively good pics. These two are from a 5/14/11 reef dive out of Key Largo, vis was pretty good but not spectacular that day. The main disappointment with this camera is that you end up going through about two AAA batteries for every two tanks you dive (I usually take about one shot per minute when I dive and then delete about 90% of them).

All in all, not a bad starter dive camera and when I get more familiar with it, I will post more dive pics.
AAA batteries were a big turn off for me, yeah - as they have less than half of the power of AAs generally. Hehe, my first DC100 Sealife used 4 AAs! I don't remember if it was a power hog or if the developer just went overboard.

And you never really know what you are buying in regular batteries as they never list mAh ratings! :mad: Grrr!

Anyway, I avoid gadgets that use AAAs but now have a couple, so just ordered several rechargeables from a source recommended by a pro photographer: ThomasDistributing.com and I really like the new Low Discharge Batteries available now - so much more dependable than the previous generation of rechargeable NiMHs. For a camera, I'd suggest these 950 mAh batteries MAHA IMEDION AAA 950 mAh Rechargeable Batteries Ultra Low Discharge

A good quality charger is also important and I prefer one that will condition or drain a battery before charging. NiMHs are claimed to not have a memory but they do, just not as bad as NiCds. See Select Popular Brand AA and AAA Battery Chargers including Maha AA and AAA Battery Chargers, Maha Battery Charger They are pricey, but I have been using the Maha MH-C204W White World Charger for years.
 
Thanks for all the posts on this thread, folks. Helped me make a decision.
 
I would definately NOT recommend this camera. We bought one and are in Maui right now using it. The pictures are not that great, and close ups (macro) are always blurry. Above or below the water. But the worst part of all is the battery life and indicator. Its all over the map. It will show full strength one minute and go to zero the next and auto shutdown. But after a while, it will show 3/4 again for a few pictures. This is after contacting their tech support and getting a response like this from Karl Schuster, Sealife Technician:

"It's not a defect. The Mini 2 camera does not have a sophisticated voltage measuring circuit for the batteries. I would recommend using either Lithium or rechargeable batteries in this camera the Alkaline batteries will only yield approximately 100 pictures."

We would have been happy with 100 pictures, but too much else is wrong with this camera and we will be returning it once we get back home.
 
I guess it depends on what you want. I have had a reef mini for 4 yrs. Most of the time I was very happy with my shots. I just wanted a point and shoot. I don't enjoy being part of a group with one of those "Let me adjust my strobes for 5 minuts, readjust them for another shot, mess with focus, review first 2 shots (all the while blocking anyone else from getting in to take a shot) then start the process over kind of divers". I've loved not having to mess with a housing, being able to use it on fishing trips in the rain snow or anything else mother nature wants to throw my way. It is certainly negatively buoyant so don't be droping it while diving a deep wall.That was never an issue for me though because since it has no housing I can easily fit it in my bc pocket and I have a lanyard on a line so I pull it out of the pocket, snap, put it back and keep diving. About as unobtrusive as possible. I never had to replace the original o ring. I put about 150 dives on it. All that said my gripe has been that sometimes something goes bonkers (yes, I know that ios is actually me that is screwing up but blaming the camera feels better than saying "I'm an idiot). for some reason I get a series of photos that have pink overtones and it makes every shot look like an out of focus night shot. Then the next set of pics are fine. Anyway that has been my experience with one addendum. I didn't securely latch it shut in Roatan last week and it iws now a paperweight. The darn things bulletproofness led me to just get too lax. I'm struggling now to decide what to replace it with.
 
I try to be nice about these Mini threads, and I know that the Mini can do well in the hands of a good operator who learns how, but - it cost half as much as a DC1200. If you want a better camera, buy one.

I have not had my new DC1200 wet yet, but I have been thru the Dc100, Dc310, Dc500 series. I shoot on auto and edit later, and I take them canoeing, etc. Dang good point & shoots.

I do suggest a red or yellow float strap for all tho. I've never dropped one but I've known many who did.
 
Can anyone here compare the Mini II to the Mini I? I'm currently using the old model and considering an upgrade. I'm happy with the results I get from the Mini I and it suits my style (casual shooter on shallow dives/snorkeling).

I'm aware of the differences in specs (megapixels, video size, batteries, etc), but am wondering if people have thoughts on how they compare in the real world. Are the images any sharper? What's snorkel mode like? How does the battery life compare? Most importantly - how much different is the image quality between the two?

Essentially, if I'm happy with the Mini I, is the Mini II that much better that I should spring for an upgrade?
 
Don't buy the camera, it is junk.

Based on my experience with the first version of the Mini, which was an
excellent camera, the Mini II is a big, big dissappointment.

The first version of the Mini took great, I mean surprisingly great high quality
still images for a simple point and shoot, even compared to my digital SLR.
It had very good endurance on my AA rechargable NiMH batteries. It had
all kinds of controllability in it's various menus as far as exposure control,
selecting the ISO, and color balance. Picture quality, both in the water and on
land was so good that I could take it around with me as my regular tourist
camera and leave my SLR behind much of the time. And, taking the pictures off
it was a snap with a standard USB cable cord as I could plug it directly into my
laptop and transfer directly. It even had motion picture video, granted only
320 x 240, but it was good enough for underwater where visibilities would
more often be the limiting factor than imager resolution, and if you played
it at 200% display size in your Media player, it wasn't half bad. It even had
built in audio recording as well.

But I think Sea Life really tripped, stumbled, and threw up down the front of
their shirt on this Mini II version....

No 1 - the battery endurance is atrociously short with the new AAA battery
format. Starting with the Duracell Ultras, they claim it will take 100 to 500
pictures on the batteries, but I've gotten about a dozen, and a few minutes of
video before the batts konk out. If you wait a few minutes, it will revive again
for a minute or two but then die in the middle of another picture. When I use
rechargeable NiMH or Lithium batts, it runs for about 6 minutes before dying out.

No 2 - gone are the menus that allow you to control the ISO, color balance, and
exposure compensations. They are replaced by a bunch of useless features, like
Beep Control, Display Icons, and Sleep time.
I used to set the color balance on my old Mini to standard sun and correct
them later in my video editor, but now I'm stuck with the continuous psychodelic
color changes forced on me by the always active automatic color balance of the Mini
II. Every time you redirect the camera at a new target the overall hue of the
picture changes from green tinged to blue tinged to yellow, then red, and is
constantly shifting....it is so annoying.

No 3 - There is No Direct Way to transfer your picures off the camera onto your
PC anymore!!!!.... What the Hell were they Thinking!!!! Now you've got to use this
cheap assed special card reader which plugs into your PC USB. Every time you
need to x-fer a load of pictures, you've got to open the camera, tease out the
memory card, stick it in this chincy quality card reader (something else to either
break or get lost on a trip), plug THAT into your PC, and then do the copy/paste
thing.
With my old original Mini, I could plug a standard cable into a USB cable port
right in the side of the camera and boom, it was done!

And No 4 - and most important of all; the picture quality is just plain TERRIBLE!!
True, image size was increased from 6 Mpixel to 9 Mpixel, but the increase in
size is totally lost by the absolutely atrocious lack of image clarity and bleachy
color fields. The old original Mini took images rivaling my digital SLR in many
circumstances, but the new Mini II had such apallingly bad focus and picture
wash out, that it wasn't worth the huge file size of a 3472 x 2604 pixel image
to store it, it was more suited to a 720 x 480, and by all rights could have been
reduced to that size, for all it was worth.
The motion picture video capabilities of the Mini II were increased to 640 x 480,
over the original Mini's 320 x 240, but you can barely tell from watching it. There
is so much compression and lack of detail resolution, that just like with the still
imagery, the increase in scan lines is just a waste of storage space on your SD card....
you get a larger version of the same crappy image, but now it fills up your hard drive
faster, at least until you can run it through a reducer.

In short, I walked into getting the Mini II with high hopes, after losing my original
Mini overboard on a boat dive. But having used it so far, I'm so sorely dissappointed,
and all I want is my original Mini back. Those of you still using the original Mini and
considering an upgrade - Don't do it. Everyone Else, steer clear. One look at the
pictures and you'll be regretting the buy.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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