Sealife DC800 Has EXTREMELY Poor Image Quality

[CheddarChick]

I sure hope you are happy in the end...I have had service done by Sealife and have always been happy.

 

[tomdell]

Hi, everyone.
We had a DC600 for a year and were happy with the pictures and simplicity of the model. Then we drowned it, unfortunately, and got a DC800. Since then we had three DC800 and we are still terribly frustrated with red button and with a zoom. Some buttons stuck and we have to nudge them out. It never happens on the surface, just underwater. The strobe stopped working after several months and we cannot send it back because we purchased it via Internet.
I will not even check DC1000 because DC800 is so disappointing. Sorry, if I had upset sealife fans. On the good note, I was always happy with Sealife customer service.
have fun diving.

 

[sabbath999]

The DC1000 has arrived, I took some quick images with it and I am pleased to report that it has none of the bad image problems I was experiencing with the three DC800's I had.

I will do a more complete review of it in the Sealife Station when I get a chance.

One thing I can tell is that it uses a completely different (and better designed) lens set than the DC800. The rest of the camera is fairly much the same, except they bumped the megapixels up a bit.

Look for my review over there when I get the chance.

 

[firstdive2005]

Hi, everyone.
We had a DC600 for a year and were happy with the pictures and simplicity of the model. Then we drowned it, unfortunately, and got a DC800. Since then we had three DC800 and we are still terribly frustrated with red button and with a zoom. Some buttons stuck and we have to nudge them out. It never happens on the surface, just underwater. The strobe stopped working after several months and we cannot send it back because we purchased it via Internet.
I will not even check DC1000 because DC800 is so disappointing. Sorry, if I had upset sealife fans. On the good note, I was always happy with Sealife customer service.
have fun diving.

Wow you just tweaked my memory at Coz. When I was diving and shooting one day my dc800 just stopped shooting. The trigger seemed to be stuck. i chocked it up to not cleaning or soaking enough. I always soak at least half and hour in fresh water. I just put it in the saltwater while doing my SI and when we got back on the boat I check the 800, was shooting again. I decided to do depth with it and it shot fine. I'm wondering if I just should send it back for a checkup. Lousy focus and this.

 

[deeper thoughts]

The DC1000 has arrived, I took some quick images with it and I am pleased to report that it has none of the bad image problems I was experiencing with the three DC800's I had.

I will do a more complete review of it in the Sealife Station when I get a chance.

One thing I can tell is that it uses a completely different (and better designed) lens set than the DC800. The rest of the camera is fairly much the same, except they bumped the megapixels up a bit.

Look for my review over there when I get the chance.

I am looking forward to the review because I just upgraded to the dc 1000 myself

 

[Scubi Do]

Hi, everyone.
Since then we had three DC800 and we are still terribly frustrated with red button and with a zoom. Some buttons stuck and we have to nudge them out. It never happens on the surface, just underwater.
.

Interesting how you say this. My 1st DC800 was replaced under warrant due to the housing leaking. We think the problem was the lekage at the zoom buttons.

The Aus distributor replaced the unit and housing under warrany, but what we have been finding now is that under water to zoom stops. Get to the surface and all seems to work O/K. Next dive, take a fair few photos and the zoom stops again. I do not know if the problem is with the zoom buttons, or with the actual lens housing getting caught in the rubber in the housing but each time I get to the surface, all seems O/K.

This with the other issues I have with the DC800 are really staring to peeve me off.

Cheers

 

[tomdell]

Scubi Do and Firstdive2005,
We gave up on Sealife DC800 after three units with the same problems - trigger and zoom buttons stuck, flash is delayed a bit. Unfortunately, we are on a tightest budget and have flooded our DC600, so we are stuck with DC800 until we can afford something more relaible. And all of you know how frustrating it can be when you see something that takes your breath away just to discover that zoom would not budge or trigger button is stuck and you have to dig it out with a knife.
Have fun diving and shooting.

 

[Scubi Do]

I took my DC800 out on a dive 2 days ago and again, the zoom stuck on mid zoom. In this instance it did eventually return control to me but it was after I missed out on some terrific shots I was trying to take. Again, very dissapointing.


It thus appears that this is a common issue with the DC800. I suppose I have to ask the question then, is the housing for the DC1000 the same housing and is this camera going to be plagued with the same issues?

 

[sabbath999]

I took my DC800 out on a dive 2 days ago and again, the zoom stuck on mid zoom. In this instance it did eventually return control to me but it was after I missed out on some terrific shots I was trying to take. Again, very dissapointing.


It thus appears that this is a common issue with the DC800. I suppose I have to ask the question then, is the housing for the DC1000 the same housing and is this camera going to be plagued with the same issues?

Can't say if it will be plagued by the same issues, but the housing is not exactly the same... the lens ports (at least) are different.

 

[Scubi Do]

Can't say if it will be plagued by the same issues, but the housing is not exactly the same... the lens ports (at least) are different.

Bugger, I had the idea that I could conceide defeat with my DC800 and throw it in the bin and just replace it with the DC1000. I will not do this if I have to also replace the housing as I am not going to hand over another thousand bucks to experience the same issues I am having with my DC800.