sabbath999
Contributor
Let me preface this by saying I am an extremely experienced land photographer (check out my website http://www.zoopictures.net to check this statement) who shoots everything from DSLR's to $100 Kodak point & shoots.
I recently bought a DC800 Maxx kit from ScubaToys, and it has been sort of a saga.
The first camera I received had obvious defects in the lens... It would not focus sharply throughout the zoom range, In fact in the mid-tele range (I would guess about 3X) the camera had half of the picture in focus (the right half) while the other half was badly out of focus. BTW I was testing it out in the parking lot of my business, not underwater.
I contacted ScubaToys (who are awesome by the way) and the very same day they shipped out a replacement at no charge. I received the unopened replacement, opened it up and noticed that it had a large dent in the front of it under the flash... it appears to be completely cosmetic. I called ScubaToys and they again shipped me at no charge out ANOTHER camera on the same day. Out of curiosity, I took the camera with the dent out to see if it was any better, and it did focus better than the first one... it was still pretty bad in the mid-level ranges, and again the upper left corner of the frame never came into focus at all at any focal length (or even close to it).
The third one arrived a couple days ago. I took it out, and it was better than the first two in that the middle and lower half of the frame are in focus at all focal lengths. However, it is still EXTREMELY blurry at all focal lengths in the upper left hand corner.
I am not expecting DSLR quality, but I am thinking that for the price of the camera, it should at least be able to take pictures as sharp as a $100 KODAK point & shoot. It doesn't even come close.
So... either I have received 3 defective cameras in a row, or the image quality of the DC800 is absolutely horrible.
I like almost everything else about the kit (the only exception is that I don't care for the frail looking plastic baseplates for the two flashes... those would be much better made out of aluminum) but the image quality has me a bit flummoxed.
I think I have about run ScubaToys (who, again, have been great) out of DC800's trying to find one that will focus correctly.
Look, I shoot point & shoots all the time, I understand they won't have the image quality of my D300 with a 105 Macro on it. I get that. All I am saying is I think it should at least be as sharp as the cruddy little camera in my cell phone.
I am open for suggestions, although I don't know of any technique that will make a flawed lens or flawed design any sharper.
I recently bought a DC800 Maxx kit from ScubaToys, and it has been sort of a saga.
The first camera I received had obvious defects in the lens... It would not focus sharply throughout the zoom range, In fact in the mid-tele range (I would guess about 3X) the camera had half of the picture in focus (the right half) while the other half was badly out of focus. BTW I was testing it out in the parking lot of my business, not underwater.
I contacted ScubaToys (who are awesome by the way) and the very same day they shipped out a replacement at no charge. I received the unopened replacement, opened it up and noticed that it had a large dent in the front of it under the flash... it appears to be completely cosmetic. I called ScubaToys and they again shipped me at no charge out ANOTHER camera on the same day. Out of curiosity, I took the camera with the dent out to see if it was any better, and it did focus better than the first one... it was still pretty bad in the mid-level ranges, and again the upper left corner of the frame never came into focus at all at any focal length (or even close to it).
The third one arrived a couple days ago. I took it out, and it was better than the first two in that the middle and lower half of the frame are in focus at all focal lengths. However, it is still EXTREMELY blurry at all focal lengths in the upper left hand corner.
I am not expecting DSLR quality, but I am thinking that for the price of the camera, it should at least be able to take pictures as sharp as a $100 KODAK point & shoot. It doesn't even come close.
So... either I have received 3 defective cameras in a row, or the image quality of the DC800 is absolutely horrible.
I like almost everything else about the kit (the only exception is that I don't care for the frail looking plastic baseplates for the two flashes... those would be much better made out of aluminum) but the image quality has me a bit flummoxed.
I think I have about run ScubaToys (who, again, have been great) out of DC800's trying to find one that will focus correctly.
Look, I shoot point & shoots all the time, I understand they won't have the image quality of my D300 with a 105 Macro on it. I get that. All I am saying is I think it should at least be as sharp as the cruddy little camera in my cell phone.
I am open for suggestions, although I don't know of any technique that will make a flawed lens or flawed design any sharper.