Sealife or Ikelite?

[firerescue434]

I am wanting to get an underwater camera..I am trying to decide between the sealife DC800 or the Ikelite housing with the Nikon camera. Anyone recommend one camera over the other? I would really like some help, please!!

thanks!

 

[oly5050user]

I am wanting to get an underwater camera..I am trying to decide between the sealife DC800 or the Ikelite housing with the Nikon camera. Anyone recommend one camera over the other? I would really like some help, please!!

thanks!

All comes down to what you want to do.And what you are willing to spend.
Swim around and take "snapshots" to take home and say "look where I've been"--sealife
OR take images and use some creativity to create something that you may want to print out and frame or maybe even be high enough quality to sell. nikon p5100/p6000/cannon g9 type camera or dslr -ikelite

 

[divengolf]

I am wanting to get an underwater camera..I am trying to decide between the sealife DC800 or the Ikelite housing with the Nikon camera. Anyone recommend one camera over the other? I would really like some help, please!!

thanks!

I started with the DC500 with strobe & WA, an earlier version of the DC800. Took about 5,000 pics with it, all UW. Then I went to a Nikon P5100 plus Ike housing & Ike strobe. Recently added a second Ike strobe. My wife, a good land photog, has an extra D70 that I may take UW soon.

Assuming that you don't want to spend the big bucks for a SLR, I'd definitely go with Nikon P5100 or 6000 or the Canon G9 or G10. They give you the ability to shoot in manual which is absolutely necessary UW, IMHO. The strobes are also essential for decent color. The Sealife camera is a nice starter camera, but you'll want more control as you get experience.

You can get used rigs on Ebay for both the P5100 & G9 now that the newer versions are out and save some serious bucks.

 

[Jim Ernst]

I started with the DC500 with strobe & WA, an earlier version of the DC800. Took about 5,000 pics with it, all UW. Then I went to a Nikon P5100 plus Ike housing & Ike strobe. Recently added a second Ike strobe. My wife, a good land photog, has an extra D70 that I may take UW soon.

Assuming that you don't want to spend the big bucks for a SLR, I'd definitely go with Nikon P5100 or 6000 or the Canon G9 or G10. They give you the ability to shoot in manual which is absolutely necessary UW, IMHO. The strobes are also essential for decent color. The Sealife camera is a nice starter camera, but you'll want more control as you get experience.

You can get used rigs on Ebay for both the P5100 & G9 now that the newer versions are out and save some serious bucks.

The post above is sound advice!

I also would go with the Canon or Nikon With the Ike-Lite set up!!

 

[Nemrod]

A dive friend has the Sea Life DC600, I am not impressed. It is an okay camera but does not accept Inon wet mount lenses for one. The photos just seem a little muddy and soft also if you ask me, compared to my little Canon A570IS. The mega pixel thing is a sucker bait, I would rather have a bright, snappy shooter with lower pixel count than a few more pixels and an imaging engine that produces muddy, bland results. YOMV.

Sea Life:

Canon 570IS (both Canon and Ikelite housings):

Instamatic in Ikelite housing circa 1974:

N

 

[divengolf]

A dive friend has the Sea Life DC600, I am not impressed. It is an okay camera but does not accept Inon wet mount lenses for one. The photos just seem a little muddy and soft also if you ask me

From my experience with my old DC500, the "muddy and soft" pics come from a lack of good light for the auto focus to do its job. I added a focus light to my DC500 and that vastly improved the focus on close, but poorly lit pics.

Many of the Ike strobes have a modeling light for that purpose.

The Sealife cameras accept its own WA lens via a bayonet mount. I found it easier to remove/install the wet lens UW with the bayonet mount compared to the 67 mm screw mount. Others will disagree for sure.

 

[DiverLS]

I was a film shooter for years. I had to go digital 'cause I couldn't get processing on the boats anymore. My first digital was the Reefmaster D500 with one strobe. I got some fantastic pictures that rivaled those taken by my DSLR friends. Only one frustration, shutter speed. Although the pictures I got were good, I was only able to take 1/10th the pictures they did. It also takes patience to pan with the subject until the shutter finally clicks.

So last summer I bought a Nikon D80 and an Ikelite housing. The learning curve is still going up steeply. I only got one picture in the Red Sea. I did get a bunch of fantastic land pictures so all was not lost.

So, as Divengolf said, it's what you want kind of pictures you want to shoot.

 

[Nemrod]

From my experience with my old DC500, the "muddy and soft" pics come from a lack of good light for the auto focus to do its job. I added a focus light to my DC500 and that vastly improved the focus on close, but poorly lit pics.

Many of the Ike strobes have a modeling light for that purpose.

The Sealife cameras accept its own WA lens via a bayonet mount. I found it easier to remove/install the wet lens UW with the bayonet mount compared to the 67 mm screw mount. Others will disagree for sure.

I think you are exactly right, thanks. We did have the strobe kit for the DC600 but still, I think you are right about needing a bit of focus help, will put that info to use.

BTW, my Ikelite housing shown above, I made my own bayonet mount for Inon AD lenses, I do not need to thread anything. It will accept all Inon AD lenses, no threading required, snap in and snap off with a twist.

N

 

[divengolf]

IBTW, my Ikelite housing shown above, I made my own bayonet mount for Inon AD lenses, I do not need to thread anything. It will accept all Inon AD lenses, no threading required, snap in and snap off with a twist.

Can you provide details on how you did it. I have an Ike housing for a Nikon P5100 compact digital and an Inon WA lens with a 67mm threads. It's a pain to attach it UW. Any help would be appreciated.

PM is fine.

 

[Nemrod]

Can you provide details on how you did it. I have an Ike housing for a Nikon P5100 compact digital and an Inon WA lens with a 67mm threads. It's a pain to attach it UW. Any help would be appreciated.

PM is fine.

Sorry, the method I used is detailed in the Canon forum under AD adapter. My Inon lenses are the "AD" bayonet type which I wanted to install on the Ikelite 67MM threaded port. Not the same issue--not all Inon lenses are thread-on, there are in addition to thread-on two different bayonet types, the AD and 28AD. My adapter was for the AD type.


But just for you:

Seatool M67-ST Housing Adapter [st.cb.m67] - $59.00 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros

and

Seatool ST-M67 Lens Adapter [st.sc.m67] - $59.00 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros

I have a set of these for another Inon lens I have for another project. These two rather expensive adapters convert any 67MM threaded accessory to bayonet mount to a 67MM threaded port.

N