Question for Sea & Sea Users

[tomboytoo]

I am upgrading my camera set-up. I love my Sea & Sea DX-3100, but it flooded on me while on a trip to Mexico this month. I am looking at a few options, but I wanted to get some feedback before making my final decision. I REALLY like that the Sea & Sea camera is very easy for me to manipulate above and below water. I also like that my camera set, including all the gadgets, can easily attach to my BC while I'm exploring the ocean. I can be hands free one moment, and taking photos the next moment. The camera is very easy to use, download, etc. I've been on boat trips and beach entry dives, and have seen a lot of different camera/strobe set-ups, but I like that mine is easy to work with and not as bulky as some that I have seen. The only drawback I have found is that my camera was only a 3.1 megapixel. I would really like to blow up the photos I take to at least a 8x10. Will the newer DX860G or DX-8000 (6 megapixels or 8.2 megapixels) work for 8x10's, and is anyone out there working with one of these cameras currently?

Option 1: Upgrade to an Ikelite housing, and purchase a Nikon, Cannon or Olympus digital camera, and try to work past the fact that it will be heavier and bulkier than what I currently use. The one benefit I can see going this direction, is that I can go with an even higher megapixel option.

Option 2: Upgrade to the 8000 Sea & Sea with dual fiber-optic cable connectors for my strobes, and not have to purchase a lot of the accessories (which I already own).

Option 3: Upgrade to the DX-860, with only one cable connector for my strobes.

Thanks for the help in advance,

Tessa

 

[renthal]

The camera will do good 8x10's even after cropping. See photos posted by me on this forum, "Belize March 07 Pics"

 

[tomboytoo]

Thank you. I know the camera takes good photos, I am just worried about the resolution for printing larger photos. My DX-3100 takes awesome photos, but I am limited on the resolution with a 3.1 megapixel. What size photo paper have you actually printed your photos out on?

 

[renthal]

No problems with 8x10 photos, even after 50% loss due to cropping. I think there is a guideline for max size of print compared to pixels, maybe someone knows what that is.

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Tessa, if you would like to stay with a compact, yet high quality camera, the DX8000 would definitely be my main recommendation. Our customers have been very happy with the performance of that camera. It has excellent macro capabilities, as well as a nice wide angle lens option, and of course Sea & Sea makes excellent quality products. Definitely one of the best options for the compact digi-cams. Housing a nice Canon or Nikon in an Ikelite housing is great, but it sounds like compact is very important to you and the Ike system may be a bit bulky for your liking.

 

[lancetre]

I use the 8000 and the quality of the photos is great. One thing to be aware of though is that the 8000 will take images in RAW format (if this matters to you). Other than that, I cannot fault system - as you say, compact and easy to use while still allowing control of the image.

 

[tomboytoo]

Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it. I thought that RAW format was actually better for blowing up photos? I've been diving for years, but I just got into underwater photography 2 years ago. I'm still not using a program like photoshop to help make my photos look better, but I'm hoping with better megapixel action, I can finally get some experience using photoshop or other software programs that will make me "look" like I know what I am doing.

Thanks again for the help,

Tessa

 

[JMcBrew]

One thing I would mention is that pixel resolution is not the only determining factor on how large you can print an image. I have a Sony (land camera) that is 3.3mp, but the images look a lot better in large prints than those of my mother's Pentax, which it 4.1mp. The lens has a lot to do with it, and I don't think her picures would look any worse if the imager on her Pentax was only 2mp.

I have enlarged a few pics from my 3.3mp Sony to 30x20 inches, and they look great in a frame! Not that a similar or better quality camera with more pixels might look better, but you still have to get close to one of those 30x20s to see artifacts.

In contrast to that, the 7.2mp Sony that I dive with doesn't have that much more useful information than the 3.2, when it gets right down to it. The 7.2 has a smaller lens, so it gets less light and probably a bit more distortion. In my opinion (and we all them, don't we?) once you get above 3mp, it really start to have more to do with your lens. Much the same way, computers with processors over 2ghz start to show weaknesses in other components, like video cars, etc.

 

[jimdiverman]

I use the DX-8000. I recently spent 7 days aboard the Sailing Vessel Juliet in the Turks and shot over 500 pics and over an hour of u/w video. I am using the Sea & Sea housing and arm with the YS-110 strobe and fish eye lens. (Note the fisheye lens says DX-5000, but its the same housing.) I am also using the SanDisk 2Gb Extreme 3 memory card. It has a 20Mb/sec read/write capability.

There are a few things you need to know about this setup.

I am using rechargeable AA batteries to power the camera. There is a lithium option, but the AA batteries, using flash on every picture, are good for over 100 shots. Get the highest Ah batteries you can find. I am using Duracell 2650mAh. I have seen 3000mAh advertised on the Internet. That is insane, 3 Amps! The strobe uses 4 AA batteries. When I was on the Juliet, I had my cabion setup with my laptop, external 120Gb hard disk, and external SD card reader. I transferred the photos after every dive. I never had a single problem with the housing or the firing of the strobe.

If you are going to use RAW format, be prepared for long wait times underwater. I am using Fine for the most part. I found that at the highest resolution, it writes a huge file (13Mb).

I took all my pictures to Walgreens when I got home from my Turks trip, and all the pictures came out great. You can crop them, and they still come out great.

Overall, I am very pleased with the camera. Tomorrow I am leaving for Pensacola, and I am diving on the Oriskany on Sunday. I plan on taking the Sea & Sea down on both dives. If you are interested, I can post some pics from this camera from the Turks and from my dives this weekend.

Hope this helps.

 

[lancetre]

I use the 8000 and the quality of the photos is great. One thing to be aware of though is that the 8000 will take images in RAW format (if this matters to you). Other than that, I cannot fault system - as you say, compact and easy to use while still allowing control of the image.

Apologies - bad typing and failure to review before posting. What I meant to say was that the 8000G will not take RAW images.