Sealife DC600 - External flash or not ?

[jmlyon]

Hello,

I'm going next october to NYC for professional reasons and thought of buying a SEALIFE DC600 as a first underwater camera. The opinions are shared (especially in France) between the purchase of this camera and the purchase of a camera like Nikon or Canon + housing but the Sealife seems to be good.

As the exchange rate at the moment between Euro and Us Dollar is very good for us, I thought of buying the Sealife DC600 with the SL960 strobe for 680 USD (instead of 500 USD for the camera) but I would like to know if the strobe is really necessary?

Are other accessories also necessary ?

Thanks by advance

Jean-Michel

Ps : Oups a translation problem... "Flash" in french mean "Strobe"

 

[Darnold9999]

Get the strobe, your pictures will be much better. Had a DC500, did one dive with the strobe and one without to see the difference and never dove without the strobe again. You can get great pictures without the strobe, and it is useless for pictures of things beyond about 6 feet, but for most things the added light will make a huge difference.

 

[mar-y-sol]

Hey jmlyon,
I would definetly get a strobe but not the strobe that you are talking about. If you are going to buy it with a strobe buy the digital strobe where you can actually regulate how much light its going to give. The one that you are talking about just has the on and off so it gives you the same amount of light everytime and its going to ruin alot of your shots. I have the maxx that comes with two digital strobes it retails for around 1500, but there is also another package that comes with 1 digital strobe and the wide angle lens for around 900. To be honest while the DC600 can take alot of really good photos but looking back I would have rather gone with another camera that would have given me more control over fstop/shutter speed, etc. The dc600 only gives you manual white balance and iso, but if you just want a camera that you can take and just shoot without worring about all that stuff then this is the perfect camera. Also a good editing program would help. Here are some more shots that I've taken with it, they are not edited because I dont have a program, sorry that I didnt post them on my thread.

 

[mar-y-sol]

if you look at the sticky chompers I also have some more photos and in my thread, C&C Octopus you can see some more photos and what some people have done to them on photoshop

 

[jmlyon]

Hi Mar-y-sol.

Thanks for your help concerning strobe but oups... more and more expensive if I take the digital strobe and the lens... help me santa claus... lol

Very great pics.

I think I'll going to dive in US because the sea seems to be clearest than in France...

Regards.
Jean-Michel

 

[mar-y-sol]

Hey Jean-Michel, actually these pictures were taken in Dominica thats why the sea is so clear. I am actually from Miami and we have clear water but not as clear as we do in Dominica

 

[JillGadget]

I have the maxx that comes with two digital strobes it retails for around 1500, but there is also another package that comes with 1 digital strobe and the wide angle lens for around 900.

Mar-y-sol, I have a question about your DC600 Maxx. This is the system I am looking at. I currently have a Sony that I converted to go underwater but can attach a stobe with it, so I am re-thinking. DSLR's are out of the question as I am new to this and I don't want to be bothered with fstops or anything (I know nothing) After seeing your pics from your set up I am more comfortable with that decision. I think after 5 years or so, I can upgrade to a DSLR.

Question: Is there only 1 lens that goes with it? I think that is the wide angle, right? Can't seem to find out if there are additional to use like macro. Your strobes regulate, right?

Im getting ready to leave in 2 weeks or Fl. so majorly searching.
Thanks,
Jill

 

[mar-y-sol]

Hey Jill, the only lens that can be attached to it is a wide angle and to be completely honest it doesnt work that good. When you shoot completely zoomed out you can see the borders of the lens so you have to zoom in inorder not to see them which in my opinion if you zoom in you are just ruining the wide angle effect. There is not macro lenses since this is a digital and you can just set it and my strobes are adjustable, which is what I would recommend if you dont want to ruin 90% of your shots. I just took some photos yesterday on scuba so I took my strobes with me. Will update tonight with some shots.

 

[mar-y-sol]

Ok so here are the new shots are promised. They were all shot in Toucari Reef, Dominica with the double digital strobes.
Shrimp on Mushroom

 

[mar-y-sol]

Crinoid, first one I have ever seen