Question for Sea & Sea Users

[H2O Photo Pros]

One word of advice, if you do go with the DX8000, one critical accessory is to invest in the rechargeable battery packs for that camera. I am not talking about NiMH AA batteries. These batteries give you a substantially longer run time, as well as an increase in the camera's internal flash recycle time. If you need further information on that, I have an email of a test done by our Sea & Sea rep.

 

[tomboytoo]

I have had 2 different answers on the RAW capabilities. Does it take RAW photos?

I had good luck with my DX-3100 in the Turks also. I just read a story on the Orinsky, that would be great to see the photos. I'd be interested in seeing what the results are with the strobe set-up. Do you use one or two strobes?

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 have had 2 different answers on the RAW capabilities. Does it take RAW photos?

It does not.

Once again, apologies for my misleading (incorrect) initial comment on this.

 

[BKP]

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.

Jim, I'd very much like to see your pics from the Oriskany.

I use the 8000 as well, and while I'm basically pleased with its size, speed, etc. However, I've found it to be a bit grainy on enlarged pics, even on the fine setting. (I'm no pro, so if there are any tips out there, I'm eager to learn).

 

[jimdiverman]

Bad news! No Oriskany trip. Mother nature is kicking up her heels. I drove all the way to Pensacola and spent the night in a hotel... sheesh !

We'll try again in a few weeks.... after Jazz Fest.

BTW, the DX-8000 DOES shoot RAW... if that was a question, and I have one YS-110 strobe now, but I am seriously considering getting another one. There is still another slot for it in the Pelican 1500 case that I bought with the camera and accessories. Anyone have any suggestions on whether I should get the same strobe or a slave?

 

[jimdiverman]

Regarding NiMh batteries...

I spent 7 days on a lliveaboard dive boat, and used about 12 NiMh batteries at 2650 mAh (I took 30 along just in case). The strobe uses 4 batteries and the camera uses 2. Just to be safe, I changed the strobe batteries every other dive, and the camera batteries every dive. Since there is no lithium option for the strobe (meaning I need to have a good supply of NiMh batteries anyway, I standardized with the one AA 2650mAh NiMh battery. I never had a power problem. On land, I have gotten over 200 pictures from a single charge.

The secret to using NiMh batteries is that you need to INITIALLY charge and discharge them several times before they are at full capacity. I have a charger that charges and discharges, and also some rapid chargers. I know about the lithium battery. It is rated at 1800 mAh. I know the Internet now has NiMh batteries in the 3000 mAh range. For me, since I had the strobe and the camera using the same batteries, I only had to charge the one battery type, and I had no problems doing it that way.

And ... If I buy another strobe, then that is 4 more NiMh batteries that I will need every other dive.

Hope this helps...

 

[tomboytoo]

Thanks, it was very helpful.

I am sorry about your trip. It sucks when you make the drive only to have to turn around. I'd like to see your photos of the Turks. I have a few posted from Grand Turk.

Tessa

 

[lancetre]

BTW, the DX-8000 DOES shoot RAW...

Hi Jim

With regard to this - how do I set my 8000 to shoot RAW? I have never been able to find this setting and everything I've read (including the S&S website) says that the 8000's recording format is JPEG.

Not trying to be smart a#@ , I am genuinely interested in this as my only disappointment with this camera has been the RAW image issue.

Much appreciated.

 

[jimdiverman]

Hi Jim

With regard to this - how do I set my 8000 to shoot RAW? I have never been able to find this setting and everything I've read (including the S&S website) says that the 8000's recording format is JPEG.

Not trying to be smart a#@ , I am genuinely interested in this as my only disappointment with this camera has been the RAW image issue.

Much appreciated.

The highest setting is uncompressed (NC3264). It stores the file as a TIFF, not a JPEG. I guess it isn't technically RAW, but it stores a 15Mb .TIF file. It takes a long time to reset in this mode (15 - 20 sec). That is as raw as this camera gets. I usually shoot in Fine (F3264).

I would be interested to know if anyone shoots in the NC mode underwater, and if so, what SD card they are using. I am using the SanDisk Extreme III, and if I could find a faster SD card, I may use the NC mode more.

Thanks.