Thinking of buying a used SeaLife ReefMaster DC310

[DiveJB]

Sorry that my first post is on such an old product

I've been diving now for two years and I have my wedding coming up in less that 2 weeks, and some of our guests are going to try diving for the first time and I was thinking of taking a few pics. I don't want to invest too much into this 1st experiment into underwater photography -actually my first experience came on my first dive with a disposable 35ml underwater camera which I ended up loosing somewhere down on a reef in MX before taking a single shot - lol maybe another diver found it and got some decent pics... Anyhow, someone is offering to sell me a used but in great shape SeaLife ReefMaster DC310, with the pelican case, two strobes, rechargeable setup up, and a few other things all for $100. Though the most important lens, that being the wide-angle lens was unfortunately broken 2yrs ago. So I'd have to invest an additional $70 at B&H if I'd like that lens. so in all it's possibly a $180 w/tax investment.

Any thoughts on this possible purchase - good deal or not worth it? I have solid experience with above water cameras and video cameras but know nothing about underwater cameras. From the posts I read back in 05 when the SeaLife ReefMaster DC310 was new there seemed to be a lot of mixed feelings.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[mike_s]

I've got a DC310. not a great camera, but good for taking snapshots of your dive.

for $100 for the camera, housing and two strobes, not a bad deal. The Pelican case would cost that much new.

You'd want the wide angle lens just because it puts you closer to the shot and you loose color with distance. Not sure I'd want to invest $180 in this setup, when you can put that towards a better setup.


I used mine up till last year when it flooded. good little camera, nothing fancy. but it'll do.

 

[DiveJB]

Yeah Mike I was pretty psyched on the deal and set up to meet the guy tomorrow then he sent me the info about the broken wide-angle lens and I was like CRUD the most important lens. For 100 is sounds great but going to B&H for an additional 70 doesn't.

i looked at some of your pics - were they taken with the ReefMaster DC310?

 

[mike_s]

i looked at some of your pics - were they taken with the ReefMaster DC310?

These were (see below)

Note that not all of the pics taken are going to come out nice. Most of them will be "delete" quality.

 

[DiveJB]

Mike - for these pics did you use a strobe with the camera or just available light?

Thanks,
JB

 

[mike_s]

Mike - for these pics did you use a strobe with the camera or just available light?

Thanks,
JB

Strobe all of them. Underwater pics w/o the flash or strobe just come out "blue" and pretty worthless.

The farther you are away from the subject, then the distance will cause "blue" images. Light doesn't travel in water like it does above water.


you'll see in this pic, even though the camera is pointed towards the surface (light source) that the color fades as it gets "away" from the camera.




You can really see the darker colors on this pic. Although Baracuda don't have any bright colors, you can see some and then look at the railing to the left of the fish. now compare that to the far railings. big difference.

yellows show up great underwater. Look at the divers yellow in his fins. Red shows up good. other colors blend away quicker.




EDIT: let me add that there are some other folks who are much better at photography advice than I am. With much better camera setups..... You're not going to get those perfect "National Geographic shots" with this camera. Yeah You'll get some good shots, but mostly as vacation reminders to show to friends. Every now and then you'll get a 'really good shot'.

 

[mikediveguy]

I've got 1 and agree... nice memory type shots no 'great' shots. but then i'm not much of a photographer lol. for $100 I'd go for it.

 

[DandyDon]

The strobes are worth more than that, and can be fitted to new Sealife cameras.

 

[DiveJB]

Yeah I was thinking about that as well. Maybe I'm just being too darn cheap. It's just the idea that can buy the camera for 100 but I'll need to spend an additional $70 of the wide angle lens.

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah I was thinking about that as well. Maybe I'm just being too darn cheap. It's just the idea that can buy the camera for 100 but I'll need to spend an additional $70 of the wide angle lens.

Wellllll, I don't recommend any camera to a new diver. 100 logged divers and a large pony bottle is a good basis as they can be so distracting. I know that newbies buy cameras all the time, but it's worrisome. You said "was thinking of taking a few pics" and it's a good buy. 3mp ain't much these days, but it's a good place to start learning. Do you know how to enhance pics in a photo program?

I've never used a wide angle lens. Maybe I should, but I have fun and share my pics with non-divers anyway. You might wait on that and consider it for your next camera.

Also fun for video in shallow water and you can edit & compress in Window Movie Maker. I don't know how much video you can get on a maximum size card for the DC310, shooting motion jpeg @ 320 x 240, but you can find out largest card possible and then see how long it'll shoot on largest size. They use SD cards. I don't know the max acceptable; manual says 256 mb, but probly 512 - but I'm not sure. You may need to phone Sealife and ask for Tech. You may not find small SD cards locally but they're available on the net.

Here is your manual http://www.sealife-cameras.com/download/dc300manual.pdf Looked over it some. Wow what memories that brought back. I started on the 1 mp and Compact Flash card, but really lazy about studying manuals, which hurt me a lot. I don't know if you will need to download any firmware updates, their programs or drivers?

Anyway, the price is right. Get the cam and start learning.