sabbath999
Contributor
It's kind of sad when you call Sealife Tech Support, and start the conversation with "I've got another dead strobe" and the tech knows your voice well enough to say "was it the one I just sent you a couple weeks ago or an older one?" without even asking who you are.
It was, by the way, the one that she sent me a couple of weeks ago. I was diving this weekend, and went to adjust the brightness knob on the back, and the thing just spun... no stop, just spun... and locked the flash down into the dimmest setting possible.
I leave for Kona Thursday, and this was the first time I took this particular one under water...
At this point in time, I am so used to this equipment failing me I just kind of sighed... ok, I actually just kind of bubbled out the S600... turned it off and went back to one flash for the rest of the dive.
When I got this outfit (DC800 Maxx) I got the two strobes to eliminate shadows... in reality, it has more turned out that I need two strobes have a reasonable chance that one of them may be functional at the time I need it.
For those that are counting, that is 3 strobes and 3 cameras sent back because they were defective (the cameras were all lens issues... since Sealife replaced the DC800 with an upgrade to the DC1000 the camera has worked flawlessly and it takes great pictures...).
I am going to carry my Canon Powershot A710IS to shoot video on this trip (it shoots MUCH better video than the Sealife camera, although the DC1000 has the edge in photo qulaity) so if/when all this Sealife stuff fails again I will at least have that as a backup.
She is sending me out a new flash overnight so I will have it in time for my trip, so that's good customer service... but it does make me wonder if ANY of this stuff actually works for any length of time...
I am extrememly careful with the equipment (I have been a photographer for 30 years) and am only diving in fresh water at shallow depths, and I am still having all these issues. To be fair, the DC800 focusing problems were not even in the water... those cameras simply couldn't take a sharp picture of a cereal box from two feet away... or a car in the parking lot...
When the system works, it takes excellent pictures... it can do just about anything that an "everyday joe" photographer would ever need.
Unfortunately, I have spent more time waiting for some bit or other of the kit to come back from service than I have actually using it.
Just sayin...
It was, by the way, the one that she sent me a couple of weeks ago. I was diving this weekend, and went to adjust the brightness knob on the back, and the thing just spun... no stop, just spun... and locked the flash down into the dimmest setting possible.
I leave for Kona Thursday, and this was the first time I took this particular one under water...
At this point in time, I am so used to this equipment failing me I just kind of sighed... ok, I actually just kind of bubbled out the S600... turned it off and went back to one flash for the rest of the dive.
When I got this outfit (DC800 Maxx) I got the two strobes to eliminate shadows... in reality, it has more turned out that I need two strobes have a reasonable chance that one of them may be functional at the time I need it.
For those that are counting, that is 3 strobes and 3 cameras sent back because they were defective (the cameras were all lens issues... since Sealife replaced the DC800 with an upgrade to the DC1000 the camera has worked flawlessly and it takes great pictures...).
I am going to carry my Canon Powershot A710IS to shoot video on this trip (it shoots MUCH better video than the Sealife camera, although the DC1000 has the edge in photo qulaity) so if/when all this Sealife stuff fails again I will at least have that as a backup.
She is sending me out a new flash overnight so I will have it in time for my trip, so that's good customer service... but it does make me wonder if ANY of this stuff actually works for any length of time...
I am extrememly careful with the equipment (I have been a photographer for 30 years) and am only diving in fresh water at shallow depths, and I am still having all these issues. To be fair, the DC800 focusing problems were not even in the water... those cameras simply couldn't take a sharp picture of a cereal box from two feet away... or a car in the parking lot...
When the system works, it takes excellent pictures... it can do just about anything that an "everyday joe" photographer would ever need.
Unfortunately, I have spent more time waiting for some bit or other of the kit to come back from service than I have actually using it.
Just sayin...
