sea and sea 8000g or sea life elite

looking for an entry level camera and strobe good to 160 ft. these both come with housings ,want to know if the 8megs are worth the cash and or is the sealife500 worth having. Prefer something to grow into,but simple to operate. would appreciate replies from anyone with extended use of either camera or dx5000.I already have an Olympus 750ultrazoom land camera and believe buying an ikelite housing and strobe would cost me more than having a dedicated dive camera.

There is a review of the dx8000 which may help your decision here:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/sea-and-sea-dx8000g-review/

There is also a review of the Sealife here:

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/sealife-ree...r-dc500-review/

I would be more inclined to buy something like a Fuji F30 and Fuji housing and use a Magic Filter on it.

Hi Chimaera and welcome to Wetpixel.

If you are up for a little research and reading then you should have a go at buying your own "pieces and parts" and put them together. You can do very well, beating the Sealife and 8000g in both price and performance. But you'll have to work at it.

The two systems you mentioned are great if you just don't want to bother with all the technical details and you want to buy a "kit" system already put together for you instead.

Cheers

James

Thanks for the interest and help,Anthony and James. I had read the two reviews but finding more or comparisons is proving difficult beyond trade reviews.I do however hear you both and shall start lookiing to put together a package and also look at the dslr's although I am a bit of a technophobe,any help on the bits and pieces will be greatly accepted .Anthony , I just looked at the f30 and housing and see that they also have a strobe SS 120 available,down side on housing is 130 ft depth, I occaisionally dive to 150 to look at gorgonian corals,also looking for a camera that can produce larger than 8 by 10 prints , perhaps I should be changing forums? Looks like I've opened a can of worms,I will continue research and look forward to your assistance.

regards

bill

G'day Bill,

My guess is that Ike might build a housing for the f30. You could always email/call him and see what his intentions are. Given the fact that there is one for the F10/11, I wouldn't be surprised at all. That way you would get the depth you need.

This whole concept falls in a heap of course if you need to do a trip sooner rather than later.

In that situation, I would strongly suggest you consider an Olympus SP350. While this camera doesn't have the high iso performance of the F30, it does have a number of advantages including RAW mode (which is extremely valuable underwater) and the option of TTL with the Ike housing http://ikelite.com/web_pages/oly_sp350.html

Ultimately, dSLRs are really a great option underwater. The only advantage I can really see for a compact is for freedivers or those who are very cash constrained. But once you start adding strobes, wide angle lenses and arms etc., the price differential between dSLR and compact starts to look pretty small. This is particularly the case when you begin to compare the performance/flexiblity of smaller systems against dSLRs.

Good luck with your decision.

Cheers mate,

hey Anthony.

Thanks for reply,I had tried Ike but no go on housing at this time for f30.I hear you on the dslr's,but I'm cash strapped right now . to the point I am considering saudios used e900 if the price is right.I think I can work out the battery thing by carrying more ,2 per dive,and hope i can work out the strobe issues. if i can't do that I shall look at the oly sp 350 and maybe a rebel dslr. any other issues with the e900 youre aware of. Which of the 2 are the easiest to operate for a man with a fear of to many buttons and options,I like diving more than fidldling about, thus a fear of dslrs.

Good to hear from you

Bill