Rich Keller
Contributor
I am looking for opinions about the Reef Master DC300 camera with housing. I will be using it in shallow clear water. I do not need anything too fancy, I would prefer a simple point and shot.
Reef Master DC 300
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Rich Keller
Contributor
The one I am looking at is used, rated for 200' and they are asking $100. Has anyone ever used one of these? If you feel this is not a good camera what would you suggest along the same lines of a simple point & shot and around the same price?
If the camera itself works this is a good little item. I have one with the strobe. The unit with the strobe originally retailed for over 700. I got mine new old stock for 375. The camera itself is a 3.2 mega pixel vivitar like this:
Vivitar ViviCam 3715 3.3 MP Digital Camera - Silver 0019643600829 | eBay
So you can get replacements cheap! All sealife did was change some of the icons on the lens. Added a fish under the mountain on the land version and made the case black instead of silver. It works well as a P&S but the camera flash is a little weak for anything but macro stuff. I have taken over 800 photos with mine to depths of 140 feet with no housing issues. You should be able to find o rings as well for it. The camera itself seems to like sd cards up to 512 meg. bigger than that I have not tried. The battery door you need to be careful with as the hinge is ok but not going to take a lot of abuse. Battery life is pretty good. In Bonaire I got around 150 shots on 2 double AA duracells. The Strobe though is another story. Not a fast recycle and 30 shots or so and it needs new batts. I'm going to try higher rated lithium rechargeables for it.
There is a new one on ebay here to compare with SeaLife ReefMaster DC300 Underwater Digital Camera NEW | eBay
Vivitar ViviCam 3715 3.3 MP Digital Camera - Silver 0019643600829 | eBay
So you can get replacements cheap! All sealife did was change some of the icons on the lens. Added a fish under the mountain on the land version and made the case black instead of silver. It works well as a P&S but the camera flash is a little weak for anything but macro stuff. I have taken over 800 photos with mine to depths of 140 feet with no housing issues. You should be able to find o rings as well for it. The camera itself seems to like sd cards up to 512 meg. bigger than that I have not tried. The battery door you need to be careful with as the hinge is ok but not going to take a lot of abuse. Battery life is pretty good. In Bonaire I got around 150 shots on 2 double AA duracells. The Strobe though is another story. Not a fast recycle and 30 shots or so and it needs new batts. I'm going to try higher rated lithium rechargeables for it.
There is a new one on ebay here to compare with SeaLife ReefMaster DC300 Underwater Digital Camera NEW | eBay
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