What gives??? SeaLife DC2000

[runsongas]

Stretch the budget? A new Sony a6000 with the kit lens and a seafrogs salted line housing is almost the exact same price as a dc2000.

a6000 is pretty old at this point though. a used a6300 also gets you better video recording.

 

[saxman242]

a6000 is pretty old at this point though. a used a6300 also gets you better video recording.

No doubt that the other Sony bodies are better cameras, but you can get an a6000 body for the same price as the dc2000 set up and have a platform with more room to grow as interest and budgets develop.

 

[dmaziuk]

In all fairness, DC2000 is itself waterproof and most of the alternatives are not. Chances are at some point you will flood the case.

 

[Saniflush]

In all fairness, DC2000 is itself waterproof and most of the alternatives are not. Chances are at some point you will flood the case.

This happened to me in St. Lucia. Completely my fault and realized that the housing was taking on water when I hit about 10'. The dive was supposed to be 70' and the camera is rated for 60'. I stayed at the 55' or less for an hour and the camera was fine one I got back on board, opened the case, rinsed it, and dried it off.

 

[dmaziuk]

I flooded my 1400 in Costa-Rica -- very fine black sand in Playa Ocotal, totally my fault of course -- but luckily SeaLife still had some 1400s in stock and sold me a replacement for a very nice price. So yeah, they flood, that's Situation Normal.

 

[lexvil]

I flooded my 1400 in Costa-Rica -- very fine black sand in Playa Ocotal, totally my fault of course -- but luckily SeaLife still had some 1400s in stock and sold me a replacement for a very nice price. So yeah, they flood, that's Situation Normal.

2000 is water resistant, flooded mine on a trip to Maldives, moisture muncher didn’t survive but a rinse on the camera and inside of the case and back in business the next day.

 

[eleniel]

I usually dive a sea life - either the micro 2.0 or the DC2000, depending on what I'm doing and how much gear I want to haul around underwater - but I occasionally go for the big DSLR setup too (if it is worth the risk of flooding. I always remind myself that flooding will happen - it isn't an 'if', it's a 'when').
How much photo experience does your daughter have? If she's really comfortable underwater and very used to a DSLR she'll pick up the DC2000 quickly and not be too frustrated by it but may find the micro tedious and limiting (unless she's totally fine with using a point and shoot). If she's less experienced with photo equipment or not super comfortable with diving yet, the micro will be really easy for her to get used to using while diving. If she's really comfortable diving, the DC2000 will be simple for her to pick up the basics while allowing her to move into the more technical aspects without being overwhelmed early on.
Like others have said, the lag is only really an issue on the DC2000 if you are shooting in raw - what type of photography does she want to do? The lag and auto focus isn't an issue for tiny macro stuff where speed isn't necessarily needed and she has time to compose the shot. For other things, auto settings minimize the lag quite a bit.

 

[Fred53]

I usually dive a sea life - either the micro 2.0 or the DC2000, depending on what I'm doing and how much gear I want to haul around underwater - but I occasionally go for the big DSLR setup too (if it is worth the risk of flooding. I always remind myself that flooding will happen - it isn't an 'if', it's a 'when').
How much photo experience does your daughter have? If she's really comfortable underwater and very used to a DSLR she'll pick up the DC2000 quickly and not be too frustrated by it but may find the micro tedious and limiting (unless she's totally fine with using a point and shoot). If she's less experienced with photo equipment or not super comfortable with diving yet, the micro will be really easy for her to get used to using while diving. If she's really comfortable diving, the DC2000 will be simple for her to pick up the basics while allowing her to move into the more technical aspects without being overwhelmed early on.
Like others have said, the lag is only really an issue on the DC2000 if you are shooting in raw - what type of photography does she want to do? The lag and auto focus isn't an issue for tiny macro stuff where speed isn't necessarily needed and she has time to compose the shot. For other things, auto settings minimize the lag quite a bit.

I am interested to hear opinions about the SeaLife DC2000 vs the Olympus TG-6. I currently use an Olympus Tough 8000 with an Ikelite housing and would like to upgrade. I have been comparing the specs and reading reviews on these 2 cameras but would value comparison on things like shutter lag and results after editing.

 

[Shadow5868]

I love underwater photography! I have a SeaLife DC200 with a Sea Dragon 2500 lumen video light. I am looking to buy a SeaLife strobe (flash). Does anyone dive with this setup? I read that the new video lights have an automatic setting that reads the flash and shuts the video light off for one second when a picture is taken. Does it affect the photo and how if the video light does not turn off when the flash fires. And how does it affect your photos. I would hate to have to purchase a new video light because of this. Thank you everyone.

 

[Saniflush]

Not sure about the new lights you are talking about but I have been diving with the setup of a 2500 Sea Dragon video light and a SeaLife strobe. I have been very pleased with the results thus far. When shooting in auto mode I have found that shooting the strobe on auto tends to get too much light on the subject and "washes" it out since the strobe is new. I have dialed it back to 5 on the strobe and that has seemed to work well. In short the addition of the strobe has made the single biggest difference in the shots I have gotten thus far over the point and shoot with a light that I had before.