Sealife DC800 Has EXTREMELY Poor Image Quality

[SeaLife Joe]

Scubi Do and Tomdell, have you been in contact with the Australian distributer about your problems with the cameras?

 

[Scubi Do]

Scubi Do and Tomdell, have you been in contact with the Australian distributer about your problems with the cameras?

Joe,

I have shipped my DC800, housing and strobe to the Australian distributors today. They should have it some time tomorrow and I am guessing that you will have it some time next week.

I sincerely appreciate the efforts to date in our discussions and look forward in getting some feedback as to the cause of the problems to date.

Kindest regards

Graham

 

[mpgunner]

So what is the bottom line? Is this a good camera to get? Or what should I get? I was looking at this but now have hesitations. Thanks

 

[deeper thoughts]

So what is the bottom line? Is this a good camera to get? Or what should I get? I was looking at this but now have hesitations. Thanks

I had the dc800 and upgraded to the dc 1000. The dc 800 can be had for 300 dollars on ebay, I sold mine for 315.

I was happy with the 800 and have not had the chance to use the 1000 underwater yet but on land it looks good so far

 

[tomdell]

Scubi Do and Tomdell, have you been in contact with the Australian distributer about your problems with the cameras?

Hi SeaLife Joe,
I sent the first faulty one to Sealife direct and got a new one, which had the same problems - zoom and trigger buttons get stuck in depth. Sealife technician said that they tested our camera and did not find any problems. So we just got a new one when that second camera was faulty. I mean hosuing, not camera, I am sure that camera is perfect. I am also sure that housings do have technological problems. If we send our camera back to Sealife we will get another one with problems. We manage to unstuck buttons with a dive knife and zoom sometimes works. When we have some money or credit we will be looking for something more reliable. I would like to repeat that the camera is perfect and we would never look for any other brand if this recurring problem with 3 housings did not happen. Also, as a suggestion to Sealife - it would be good to have a camera which is a waterproof for even 1 metre - you know sometimes it is difficult to avoid moist air around and Sealife is a great underwater camera.
We are really, really upset with housings for DC800, so many lost opportunities...
best wishes,
Tom and Della:depressed:

 

[mpgunner]

All, thanks for the comments and perspective. I'm I was looking at this pretty hard but now have some reseverations. I just want a nice quality camera for my underwater shots without spending a bunch.

 

[sladerer]

It's incredibly unfortunate for those struggling with DC800 issues. On our recent trip to Coz 3 people had the 800 and none experienced any issues. All were fairly new and this was the 2nd or 3rd trip for them, but no image issues, no button issues - just seems strange. I'd encourage everyone here to keep working with SeaLife as their customer service is among the best of any company in any industry I've ever dealt with.

For those of you looking for an affordable alternative, I'd highly recommend the DC600. I've been shooting with mine for over 2 years (50+ dives) and I've been very happy. My only "sticky button" issue was resolved with a good soak while depressing the buttons (my macro/landscape mode) - thanks for the tip SeaLife Joe!

For Sabbath999 - I don't know if you were using the 600 before you got the 800, but you may or may not have noticed one big difference between the 800 and 1000 is the lens. The 800 has a built-in 28mm wide angle, while the 1000 looks like it is back to using the 35mm similar to the 600. I'd strongly recommend picking up the wide-angle lens (SL970 I think). I got one on ebay from a "going out of business" scuba shop for about 1/2 price and LOVE IT! Focusing seems as good or better with the wide angle and it makes a big difference in how close you can get to big sea life. Sad to say I haven't quite figured out how to include pics in my post yet, but I'm sure one of you can help with that and I'll put some up.

Good diving!

 

[ningaloo]

As a Sea Life dealer I must say that I have had an high amount of returns on the Reef MAster and the 800. they have all come back as flooding issues on 1 to 2 week old cameras. Although customer service at Seal Life is really good: it does not really help the customer whose camera floods on the 1st day of a live-a-board trip. I think there are serious quality control problems at the company and that Sea Life has either chosen to ignore them or decided not to share them with their dealer base.

I am looking hard at changing our brand line from Sea Life to Sea & Sea or Ikelite-the cot might be a bit higher but so is the custoemr satisfaction!

 

[SeaLife Joe]

Ningaloo,

Sorry to hear you have had the problems with the flooding. We have not made any announcements on a flooding problem as the rate of return on these is the lowest we have had on our digitals.

If you could PM your name and shops name I would like to give you a call to discuss further.

Regards,
Joe

 

[sabbath999]

So what is the bottom line? Is this a good camera to get? Or what should I get? I was looking at this but now have hesitations. Thanks

The bottom line is that if you are going to buy a new Sealife camera, buy the DC1000 and not the DC800.