sea and sea dx-8000g

[KazooDiver]

I am thinking about purchasing this camera with an external flash for myself for my birthday...I have been giving my self a birthday gift for a while.

Has anyone had any personal experiences with this camera? Which flash would you recommend with it? Any other thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Cecil]

It's not a bad camera but it is very expensive for what you get. You would be much better served to get a high end Canon or Olympus. It will be less expensive and a much better camera. Get an Ikelite housing and you can have TTL flash control and a wide array of add-on lens and attachments.

 

[Rick Murchison]

It's not a bad camera but it is very expensive for what you get. You would be much better served to get a high end Canon or Olympus. It will be less expensive and a much better camera. Get an Ikelite housing and you can have TTL flash control and a wide array of add-on lens and attachments.

I'm real curious to see the math on this one
Rick

 

[BKP]

I am thinking about purchasing this camera with an external flash for myself for my birthday...I have been giving my self a birthday gift for a while.

Has anyone had any personal experiences with this camera? Which flash would you recommend with it? Any other thoughts?

Thanks

I have the DX8000g for about six months now. It's been with me to the Bahamas, to 90 feet in 52 degree quarries, and it's coming to Key Largo in a couple of weeks.

At about 9 bills it's certainly not cheap, however, at 8 megapixels, and with the all the important adjustments built in and made simple (such as white balance), it offers awesome pics above and below the water, in a point 'n shoot form factor. (Although, I learned the hard way to *definitely* use the small desiccant capsulated bags it comes with if you're diving cold water).

The housing is extremely well thought out, and makes access to all the controls simple, even with gloves on. I've pulled off the plastic strap the housing came with, added a low-resistance retractor, and it's almost unnoticed hanging off a lower D-ring (it's slightly positively buoyant, which was lucky for me, first time I took it down!).

I've always used Canon for land-based photography, however, after doing a bit of research, I settled on the Sea & Sea (which is an OEM'd Ricoh, btw), because of the matched housing and camera, and the extremely fast shutter delay (I believe among the fastest in it's category -- relatively important when you're shooting marine wildlife).

I never did buy the strobe (was looking at the YS-25 with the articulated arm), because the camera's compact size was one of its selling points, and I didn't want to add any bulk. However, I'm still considering it...

Good luck with whatever you choose...

 

[sharky60]

I have the DX5000G, it's pretty much the same camera other than the megapixel difference. they use the same housing so the buttons are the same.

I really like my camera, I purchased it in a package through Island Photo and Video on Cozumel, (see link below), the entire package which included the camera, housing, ys-25 strobe package, (light, arm, diffuser, sync chord & hardware), wide angle lens, extra sync chord, 2 sets of o-rings & pelican case for right at $2000. not sure of the price difference between the 5 & 8.

other photographers I have talked to are really impressed by it's small size and weight, even in the housing and with the strobe arm on, it is easy to handle and work with.

As really still a novice in underwater photography I'm really glad I bought this unit for my first camera, I think the learning curve with a more advaced and high-end camera like I originally was looking at would have been frustrating. where after renting the the 3000 for a couple of years, and now owning the 5000 for a couple, I have been VERY happy with the results.

visit my website, linked below, all underwater pics have been taken with either the 3000 or 5000, macro seems to be the camera's strongest suite, at least they are becomming my favorite shots with it. I have lowered the resolution of some of the pics to cut down on the website bit consumpsion, but you can still get a feel for what it can do.

 

[KazooDiver]

Thanks for the info!
I have a Canon EOS 10 D DSLR that I love, found out that a for a housing and strobe, ports and such would be about the same as the Sea and Sea...but much more bulk!
I currently use a Sea and Sea MX10 for my underwater...and I like it except the film runs out too quickly...

Have any of you noticed any Cons to the system?

 

[deeper thoughts]

I have the 8000, ys 25 strobe and the wide angle lens. Very happy with the purchase

 

[Cecil]

Rick the Sea and Sea is $900 while a Canon A620 is $250 with another $200 for the UW case. Let's see a better camera for $550 less. Seems pretty clear to me.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You really should listen to the newbie UW photographers vs. experienced UW photographers who will all tell you to look elsewhere. Your choice.

 

[deeper thoughts]

I talked to some very experienced photogs and they liked the 8000, I guess everyone has there own opinion Rick, so good luck

 

[deeper thoughts]

Sorry not rick,kazoo diver