I ORIGINALLY STARTED OUT using the Nikonos equipment years ago and, after switching to all digital, I wasn’t looking forward to having to return back into film for an upcoming trip to the Caribbean. However, I recently found a new underwater digital camera set that would allow me to keep shooting underwater while giving me a high enough resolution image to work with.
The Sealife DC600 Maxx kit comes fully loaded with its own 6.1 mega pixel camera, in a custom housing allowing one to use all the buttons and features on the camera as if on land. The camera features SeaLife's Land & Sea Colour Modes that allow for richer colours in the toughest environments. Specifically for diving, the Sea Mode takes underwater conditions into account and adjusts exposure control and colour correction with white balance - thus giving crisp vibrant colours whilst diving. There is also software that takes into account fast moving sea life and helps reduce shutter lag for these situations. Included with the Maxx Kit are two underwater SL960D Digital flashes that provide deeper, richer colours and reduce backscatter. These two are very powerful underwater strobes which help illuminate your subject, are easily adjustable, and come with their own sets of rechargeable batteries.
The camera is set up to be able to take super close-up macro pictures with auto focus to 2". It also has a 12x mega zoom (3x optical zoom plus 4x digital zoom) and a very large 2.5" LCD display for easy on-camera viewing. The housing is rated for depth to 200 ft. Also when not used under water, it can be removed from its watertight housing and used on land, easily fitting into your shirt pocket. The camera uses SD memory cards and comes with its own lithium rechargeable battery good for up to 2 dives or 100 shots approximately. It also records AVI movie files at 30fps. The camera allows for a max image resolution up to 2848 x 2136 which gives you the option for printing images to decent sizes. In addition, this kit comes with a SL970 24mm wide-angle lens which increases the shooting angle by about 50%. The kit includes a lens dock which protects and stores the wide angle lens while diving. In addition, the SeaLife DC600 Maxx kit comes in a large waterproof hard case so you have no worries in the field or on the dive boat. If you’ve ever wanted to add this option to your work this is a very easy option - so suit up, jump in and start shooting.
www.sealife-cameras.com
