Question - Olympus vs. SeaLife

Hello,

I'm completely lost and confuse on all the reviews of various waterproof digital cameras on the market. I'm looking at the Olympus Stylus 770 SW and the Sealife DC600, but can't seem to find any consistent good reviews.

Can someone help point me in the right direction please? I am basically looking for a new camera to take everywhere for both snorkeling and scuba diving. But the Olympus 'sounds' like it would be great to replace my on-land camera as well.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you!

Don't get too confused, the Olympus Stylus 770 SW is only rated to 33 feet, so it is of very little use to divers! It is made for using while on the boat, beach, lake and such. It was never intended for divers and it will fail if you bring it too deep.

The Sealife DC600 is designed for scuba use and rated to 200 feet. It is a very nice dependable unit that will get you started un UW photography. You will quickly find with any camera you will need an external strobe or two to get good results so plan accordingly. I know the DC600 is available in a kit with strobes as well.

Hope I helped you out.

P.S. Welcome to our website! Hope you join us often.

Ace

Thanks for the info! I guess I really do need one camera for onland use and one for underwater use. Trying to kill 2 birds with one stone is not a good idea in this case.

Thanks again for the input and tip about the strobes.

I am under the impression that the Sealife can be used on the surface as well. I don't know for sure, but someone here might know.

I think Lottie has used that exact camera and I know she did take some photos on the surface. In fact now that I think about it, I am pretty sure the camera comes out of the housing for use as a regular camera.

The SeaLife DC600 does indeed come out of it's uw housing for surface shooting. I have one. It is a great little camera for the money. I have the "Pro" setup, which includes one external strobe. I also have the snap-on wide angle lens...you can attach and detach it underwater. I just took it to Bonaire and came home with several hundred great photos.

You know, it's not a $10,000 camera rig, but for 6 or 7 scuba bucks (1 Scuba Buck= $100 US), it's a very good choice.

Mountain Dog

Dude,

Please post a few photos that you took with that camera on this thread so we can get an idea of the type of results we can expect. Pick out a few of your favorites so we can really see what it is capable of.

Thanks

P.S. Now that I am only spending scuba bucks, I have been at the dive shop a lot more often. I don't feel so bad when I go out and only spend a few bucks(Thats what I tell my wife)

Thanks for the input Mountain Dog! If you can, please post a few pictures for us to check out.

I just booked my vacation for Feb 08 to Cozumel and want to make sure I get the right camera to capture everything.

Sorry it has taken me a few days to get to this. I've been working my butt off to pay for that Bonaire trip. :D Anyway, I have around 600 pics from the week and haven't had much chance to go through them, but I have posted a few in my newly minted photo gallery. I think this link will work:


http://www.scubamagazine.net/photo/s...500&ppuser=819



I have a single flash, which you will see sometimes leads to slightly uneven lighting. It is possible to put a second strobe on the DC600 for about 2 ScubaBucks, and I intend to do just that before my next trip.

Mountain Dog

Quote:

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Originally Posted by acelockco

I think Lottie has used that exact camera and I know she did take some photos on the surface. In fact now that I think about it, I am pretty sure the camera comes out of the housing for use as a regular camera.

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You're right - i did, but i took them on the boat travelling to the dive site and the camera was already in the UW housing...but i have seen the guys at the dive centre use the camera out of the housing (if that makes sense).

EXCELLENT quality for a pretty entry level camera considering the huge price range of UW cameras out there. Thanks for posting the photos, now I think I want one of those cameras.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by acelockco

EXCELLENT quality for a pretty entry level camera considering the huge price range of UW cameras out there. Thanks for posting the photos, now I think I want one of those cameras.

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I'm quite happy with it. The posted photos, because of the small file size, don't really do justice to the actual pics either.

Mountain Dog