Buying advice needed

[Big Fic]

morning, folks! first let me say, i am excited to see this new user group, because i know there are a lot of sea life users out there somewhere...they just have to find out about the forum.

here's my dilemma and question. we have a nikon d50 with dual strobe, multi lenses, etc and it's great. but we are considering a 2nd (CHEAPER) setup so that both of us can be 'armed' when that elusive critter turns up and the other person is looking at something else or has the wrong type of lens on, etc. we already have our starter uw camera, a canon a85 with housing, but no strobe, and of course, no attachment lenses. so we've been looking at either getting a strobe for it vs. the sea life dc600 elite (has the wide angle lens that is interchangable underwater, digital strobe, etc).

anyone have any insight over the best way to go? would like to stay under $1000 and we get cost at our lds due to my wife being dive con there. oh, and wife going on a 'girls' trip' in 3 weeks, so time is of the essence.

also would like to see some good pics, esp macro, with the dc600 if anyone has any.

thanks!

 

[dogenia]

Well my setup is the sealife dc600 plus two pro strobes and the wide angle lens. I have a number of pics up on my website, feel free to look around.

If it were me in your position, I'd wait for the new dc800 to come out and get me one of those OR wait for the new camera to come out and take advantage of hopefully lower prices on the dc600 sets.

Good luck and happy hunting.

Donald

P.S. Nikon D50 in Ikelite housing dual strobes, slurp slurp slurp....

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

I second that...

But, time is of the essence. Since you get cost from the LDS, I would go with what they have in stock... If it's the DC600 Elite, then go for it. The camera is good above the water too. You can take a look around my gallery. I've had the camera since June....

 

[prskate2]

But if you haven't used Sealife cameras before your going to have to play around with it for a while to get used to it.

 

[alcina]

If you're decided on getting a SeaLife you need to decide if having it now is more important than having any of the new features/benefits of waiting for the newer model.

For your needs, there seem to be a wide range of options outside of SeaLife, too.

As you know from your own kit, a strobe makes a world of difference to your uw photography, but there are trade-offs such as more bulk to deal with both in the water and packing for travel! There's really nothing that will allow you to improve your photography or explore as many options as having an external light, but it also needs to suit your budget and goals as very nice images can be created with just the basic camera and internal flash as long as you work within the limitations (same as when you get a strobe, in fact!).

 

[Big Fic]

Thanks to all for replies. The photos you've posted were great (of course, the Nikon is better, but we knew/expected this, and there are some really good ones, we think, for the non-SLR Sea Life). Yes, we plan to get the Elite if I get the Sea Life 600. (in fact, it's in our living room right now to play with, but lds owner of course won't let us get it wet since we haven't decided whether to buy it yet. The 800 is going to be more money and I'm not sure the new features would be worth it or not??? Besides, what if it doesn't show up before the trip (3 weeks!) and she'll need loads of practice with whatever we get.

Does anyone know anything about the Canon A85 vs. the Sea Life? We've seen a lot of posts touting the canon models, but always much higher model numbers, so not sure how they would compare to our little 85.

Also, i've noted that the manual says to set the 600 on ext flash mode and everything else to auto. what if you have a coral moving in the current (CoolTech, like your feather duster worm on one of your April dives)...can you not go in and change the shutter speed or to sport mode to prevent the blurring? My wife is not really digital camera savvy on all the manual settings, but wants to learn as she goes and get to the point of being good at understanding all the manual settings. It does look like the digital strobe can be 'tweaked' as needed to adjust light output.

 

[alcina]

Does anyone know anything about the Canon A85 vs. the Sea Life? We've seen a lot of posts touting the canon models, but always much higher model numbers, so not sure how they would compare to our little 85.

I haven't used the A85, but extensively used the A70 and would still be using it if some soul hadn't flooded it I've also used the A75 and A520 a lot. All produce lovely images and I've blown stuff up beyond 8x10 with no problems.

The upside to the newer models is the new chip and faster focus/write times. Their performance at ISO400 is acceptable whereas the performance of my A70, for example, at 400 was only acceptable when the scene was well exposed (not a lot of room for tweaking). Surprisingly, all of the older models I've used deal pretty well with noise in the blues at 400...it was in the darker shadows that I found it most annoying.

I think either system is capable of producing nice images as long as you figure out what the limitations are and work with those. I'd probably stick to what I already have until I was comfortable with settings and working with those limitations as it would then help point me in the direction I wanted to go.

 

[Big Fic]

after much hem-hawing around, i got the dc600 elite.

my lds also stocks nikon coolpix L11 (the 6 mp) and thought an ikelite strobe and the nikor lens would make for better quality pics, plus it would maybe be easier to upgrade over time. so i took the camera home with manual and fiddled with it for a while, but i really didn't think it was as intuitive and user friendly to learn as the sealife. the sealife is very easy to figure out how to navigate the menus and buttons if you've ever used any digital camera before IMO. the nikon was much like our old canon, which i never really liked. ...and, i really don't need an excuse to spend more money later anyway (tho if sealife put out a macro add-on lens for the 600, i'm sure i would be digging out the wallet!). i just wanted a cheaper (relatively, compared to the nikon d50 setup we have), user friendly, small/easy to pack and put together camera to supplement my husband's pics (and give me something to do while waiting on him to take 50 shots of the same d**n flamingo tongue! so i think the sealife will be perfect for that.

anyway, it came in today and i pick it up tomorrow and hopefully will get to play with it in the pool tomorrow while helping with a 'try scuba' event. maybe i can get some promo shops for the lds to use! anyway, will get some practice in the quarry next weekend if nothing else, while helping with nav, deep and night dive specialty courses...the students should love having their pics taken underwater, anyway. first trip with it will be bahamas live-aboard in 2 weeks--i can't wait!! a friend bought the coolpix i mentioned, so we'll see who comes back with the best shots!!

thanks to all for the advice and i look forward to posting my first photos one of these days!

mrs fic (trena)

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

... Also, i've noted that the manual says to set the 600 on ext flash mode and everything else to auto. what if you have a coral moving in the current (CoolTech, like your feather duster worm on one of your April dives)...can you not go in and change the shutter speed or to sport mode to prevent the blurring? My wife is not really digital camera savvy on all the manual settings, but wants to learn as she goes and get to the point of being good at understanding all the manual settings. It does look like the digital strobe can be 'tweaked' as needed to adjust light output.

I am still learning the camera after 100 dives with it. Most of my shots are still default settings and Corel software corrected... Well, OK... Every shot you see in my gallery was shot with default settings and Corel software adjust. I do have the diffuser, and I am getting better with every dive... it just takes time... I think I will have it in about 20 years.. :grin

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

... (tho if sealife put out a macro add-on lens for the 600, i'm sure i would be digging out the wallet!).

Agree 100%. They state there is a macro function built in, but I have not found it on the DC600... Denise?