When I received my DC500 (stupidly purchased online) I was amazed at the clutter of bits and pieces in the box. I think that this camera is so small that it will be impossible to repair. I find the external buttons clunky on the housing. But the buttons on the actual camera fiddly and far too small for my male fingers. The shutter delay is appallingly slow. I thought my Fuji Finepix S5000 was slow (and have deleted many spoilt images due to the subject moving just when I'd pressed the button - but the DC500 is the slowest ever - it takes a full second to decide to capture an image. How on earth can it be used in a marine environment where EVERYTHING is moving. And I've heard that the Shark Mode (pre-setting focus and exposure) is usless for taking pictures of - well - sharks - swimming toward/away from you. On land (sans housing) I found the picture quality far inferior to the Finepix - being blurred and 'grainy.' So much so that any print greater than the standard 4 x 5 will be useless. Also I am MOST upset that I have to use the camera itself to charge any spare batteries. Why can't they make a dedicated charging unit? How on earth Time Mag. voted it as the 'best invention for 2005' beats me.
Further issues with the DC500.
Searched the UK Digital Photography mags. for 'Sealife' - but nothing, zero, zilch, sfa. Plenty about Fuji, Pentax, Nikon, etc., etc., but nout about Sealife cameras. Also searched UK Dive Mags - but nout there either. Then I discovered in tiny print on the camera casing the dreaded 'Made in China.' Its hardly a world class product commensurate with those well established German or Japanese firms then. Wonder what the Chinese sweat shop workers get paid for manufacturing something sold at £300+. The quality is so high even the sticky label on the front of the camera is stuck on crooked. Goodness knows what the quality of the lense(s) and innards are like. Then there is the issue of the underwater housing. TWO MAIN DESIGN FAULTS. 1/ The fastening clasp is proud of the case (next to a whole bunch of buttons)which would make it VERY easy to inadvertantly open the housing underwater. One such accident and £300+ camera becomes a write off to say nothing of £50+ worth of chip and irreplaceable images. 2/ The operating spring-loaded buttons themselves are loose and wobble meaning that their rods pass through the casing but do not appear to be adequately sealed. At present I would not even want to immerse the camera in one foot of water in the bath, let along 200 feet in the ocean. I've yet to immerse the housing with blue tissue paper inside to measure its waterproofing (a tip from a dive mag.). I'll report back when I've tested it further. Generally it appears that the internal DC500 camera is just a bog standard point and shoot box - which even the Digital Camera Press (in the UK) can't be bothered to review.
Oh yes, and the Pro bundle didn't even come with any silca-gel to put in the casing before diving - apparently this is an optional extra!!!
