DC 1200 battery life

[jimmy12]

I'm thinking about getting a DC 1200 to replace my recently flooded 600. I've noticed that the 1200 uses the same battery and was wondering if it's charge life was any better than with the 600 (always less than a 2 tank dive). I've seen the great reviews, but haven't seen any mention of the battery life.

Jim
Aquanauts Dive Shop

 

[nw_diver]

My battery hasn't made it through two dives. It's worse in cold water. I don't mind too much because then I actually take some time to not take pictures.

 

[karastal]

Yeah, mine doesn't either. My husband bought 2 extra batteries when he bought mine because he had read that they don't last long. I've only had mine since Christmas and the water has been in the 60's. I look forward to see if it lasts much longer in warmer waters.

 

[streetjudge79]

Mine doesn't last more than a dive and a quarter. The Dc1000 had a much longer battery life. I could go 2 full dives and the battery wasn't even half power on the dc1000. Wasn't impressed with the dc1200 one bit. I just use it as a backup instead of my main camera.

 

[SeaLife Joe]

In response to the original question, the power consumption on the DC1200 is much lower than the 600 so battery life is better. As noted in some of the responses here, the DC1000 had a killer battery so no comparison there.

Cold water will adversly affect any battery life so in colder water expect a shorter run time.

 

[Pillpusher]

I can usually make it through two dives, but I have to keep the auto-off set to its shortest interval. It only takes a few seconds to power back up, so it's not that bad. If you leave it on the whole time though, then yeah, not a chance...

 

[flyingfrawg]

Like pillpusher, I have not had serious problems with two dives. I do notice that the batteries are near critical at the end, so I have to swap in new ones to review after the 2nd dive. Wondering still if I should just keep both for a spare or (buddy cam) loaner. Have the flash and flood on the 1200 now and really like the results.

 

[snorkymn]

Anyone buy any sort of replacement battery that had more power? (1000MaH compared to the only 700 of the Sealife battery?)

 

[Pillpusher]

I bought one that was marked as 1500 MaH, but I still didn't notice a huge difference. I still had to be pretty careful preserving it to get through two whole dives. It was an off-brand I got on Amazon though, so I'm not so sure about its legitimacy.

 

[SeaLife Joe]

A word of caution on buying aftermarket batteries, they are almost always lower rated than the manufacturers batteries. We have tested many batteries that claimed higher power only to find them fall well short of our own. This is the case with any name brand.

So best to stick with Manufacturer batteries.

Joe