Questions about the Sealife Reefmaster DC310

[Jon_Rhea]

Does anyone have this camera?? If so, how good of a camera is it? I am thinking about buying the DC310 with the Pro package. If anyone has pictures that have been taken with this camera, I would love to see them. Also, where would you recomend buying it? Thanks guys/gals!!

 

[mack50md]

I have a DC310 with a SL962 single strobe. Took it out first time last month in Florida, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. So far so good. Here is a link to my web page. Put some shots in the photo gallery. http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7fqeh/scuba/

Still getting used to it. Hoping the pics will get better with experience.

Had one lens fogging incident in St. Thomas. Operator error. Make sure you load the moisture munchers and seal the housing in a dry environment, not the boat.

I did get the 25MM wide angle lens. I did purchase a ballast weight after the trip. It was bouyant and sometimes floated on my lanyard behind my shoulder when on the BC D-ring. Thinking the strobe diffuser and the optical flash link is a good idea too even though the strobe fired everytime.

I purchase my camera from Larry at ScubaToys. I feel I got a good deal and great support.

 

[Cecil]

IMHO that camera is overpriced junk. You too can spend a $1000 to get fuzzy pictures. Mack this in no way is critical of you. You did a good job within the serious limitations of that camera.

As a comparision, look at Mack's pictures then look at Josh's first UW pictures with a Canon A80.

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Gallery

The Canon pictures are way sharper and clearer. That Canon camera and housing is half the price of the Sealife and a way better camera.

 

[wolves64t]

Wow I always thought everyting underwater was either green or brown. Oh well, what doesn't support tropical marine life preserves wooden wrecks.

 

[*Floater*]

Sea-life claims you can take pics like this with their DC300/310: http://www.sealife-cameras.com/onlineguide/digital_gallery300.html

I presume those were taken by professionals with all the appropriate add-ons and in ideal conditions and cleaned up with the best software.

Also, I've heard that they have discontinued their DC310 model and are coming out with a new one, DC500. I have the DC310, which I bought used from ebay for $250 - haven't used it yet though.

 

[divetahoe]

Does anyone have this camera?? If so, how good of a camera is it? I am thinking about buying the DC310 with the Pro package. If anyone has pictures that have been taken with this camera, I would love to see them. Also, where would you recomend buying it? Thanks guys/gals!!

I have it and like it just fine. I find that it eats batteries when the screen is on though, so I dive with it off. All the pictures in my gallery were taken with it.

 

[mholmes]

Does anyone have this camera?? If so, how good of a camera is it? I am thinking about buying the DC310 with the Pro package. If anyone has pictures that have been taken with this camera, I would love to see them. Also, where would you recomend buying it? Thanks guys/gals!!

I did some color correction to these but I am happy with the camera. The 300 is the same internal camera as the 310 but with fewer buttons on the back of the housing. Keep in mind that it is a "point and shoot". These pictures were taken on my first (and only to date) outing with the camera and I am planning to use it as a land camera just to make sure that I understand how to use it. It is bouyant so I am considering the weight but am holding off for a couple of more dives to see if it is warrented. These pictures were taken using the on-camera flash.


Mike

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I used one for quite a while before purchasing an Olympus 5060. My buddy bought one when we got certified and he didn't dive much so I got to use it. I have several hundred pics with it. I wasn't completely satisfied with the quality of the pictures so I went with the Olympus route.

Its definately a 'fun' camera though. Real easy to use, since you don't really have the options to change settings for the most part.

What are you expecting from this camera? If you just want a fun setup and nothing that you'll be wanting for taking postcard quality pics, it may be the camera for you.

 

[Jon_Rhea]

What are you expecting from this camera? If you just want a fun setup and nothing that you'll be wanting for taking postcard quality pics, it may be the camera for you.

Well I saw those pics that Floater posted and thought that would be what this camera is capable of. Now that I have had a few days to really think about it though, I think I too am going to go the Olympus route with the C-7070. I think that it would be better to get a good camera for both in and out of the water. I have found a few websites that have the C-7070 for under $400, and the PT-02 housing for under $200. So for about the same price as the DC310 w/ pro package, I can have a 7.1 megapixle camera and housing. Thanks everyone for all your input!!