Anyone have Sea Life sl 321

[marlee73]

If anyone has the sea life sl 321, how do you like it? I am thinking about that or the Vivitar. I do not want to pay more than 200. Are the pictures any better than a disposable underwater camera?

Thanks

[TravelinTchr]

If anyone has the sea life sl 321, how do you like it? I am thinking about that or the Vivitar. I do not want to pay more than 200. Are the pictures any better than a disposable underwater camera?

Thanks

 

 

Hi there.

 

I'm trying to decide what to do myself on this end. I've been looking at various options from purchasing a housing for my digital camera to purchasing a decent quality waterproof camera just for our beach and snorkel days. I did find some reviews on the SL 321 that you might look at. Some very positive, and some not so positive. Kind of hard to know what to do. Anyway, here is a website for some of the reviews that may be helpful to you.

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=471825&is=REG&si=rev#anchorToReadReviews

 

Good luck in your search! Happy cruising!

 

Melinda

[marlee73]

Hi Melinda,

That is what is so hard. Some of them are so good, others are bad. :confused: :confused: I was also looking at Vivitar which is much cheaper. However we have scuba dived a few times. The vivitar is only good to 33 ft. The Sea life would be better for depth. I have to choose soon.

Marcia

[Aplmac]

For $200? - nah. Wait til it's on sale for $99 and buy two of them(one for backup!).

 

Sounds like(most underwater cams) the pressure sealing part is dicey

and some prior knowledge of O-ring seating,maintenance and just how they work(with regular applications of silicon grease)

would be an advantage.

If the O-rings aren't satisfactorily seated,greased and working, it's going to leak.

 

 

6 megapixels is plenty, but I didn't see anything about how far back the wide-angle side of the lens zoom-range went.

I'll bet it's just 35mm.(equivalent)

which underwater is equal to about 40 mm. and NOT what you want

even for starters!

 

28mm.wide angle(effective,U/W) is a starter lens...consider 28mm. a Standard lens for regular underwater use

like how the 50mm. standard lens is, for 'air' jobs!

 

a 21mm.wide-angle(effective,U/W) is a wide-angle lens in that world

and the 15 mm. U/W Nikkorwide-angle is a 'super-wide'.

 

 

Great shame Nikon doesn't come out with a digital Nikonos model.

Lotsa room in there for the electronics...where the film cassette goes

and where the film spool is on the other side. ..oh well.

[TravelinTchr]

Hi Melinda,

That is what is so hard. Some of them are so good, others are bad. :confused: :confused: I was also looking at Vivitar which is much cheaper. However we have scuba dived a few times. The vivitar is only good to 33 ft. The Sea life would be better for depth. I have to choose soon.

Marcia

 

It seems that I remember somebody here on CC giving a Vivitar a pretty good review. I'll have to look into that one, as well. Do you remember what model it is? I was also looking at the SeaLife SL-545. It's a 35mm, and according to the specifications, it's supposed to be good for up to 100'. At B&H, they are showing a cost of only about $50. I really don't want to spend a big chunk of change, either, but I would like to get a little better quality of picture than what I might would get with one of the disposables. I'm sure we'll figure it out. :)

[pierces]

Great shame Nikon doesn't come out with a digital Nikonos model.

Lotsa room in there for the electronics...where the film cassette goes

and where the film spool is on the other side. ..oh well.

 

When Nikon discontinued the Nikonos series in late 2001, they cited low volume and high cost of maintaing specialized production for the increadingly low-volume line. With the advent of digital and the proliferation of high-quality compacts with 100+ ft UW housings, it seems unlikely that a Digital version is forthcoming and Nikon has stated this.

 

Too bad. It was a great system.

 

Dave

[cruzegirl]

Personally, I'm not fond of Sea Life products. I had the Sea Life 300 in 2005. It flooded 3 times along with the strobe. Manufacturer defects they said when sent back. That camera was a piece of c***. Be careful and only buy if you can go see it and see how sturdy or well made it is. They do have good customer service though. They replaced it all 3 times it flooded and they defect on the compartment door as well. Then I bought my first Olympus camera. Very happy with those.

[marlee73]

Debbie,

Thanks for your experience review. How deep can you go with the Olympus and which model did you get?

Marcia

[cruzegirl]

Debbie,

Thanks for your experience review. How deep can you go with the Olympus and which model did you get?

Marcia

 

Marcia,

My first Olympus I got in 2006. I've used it topside, snorkeling and diving. It was the Olympus Stylus 600. It's done a fantastic job. Check out my gallery. I use it with a housing.

I decided to upgrade to the Olympus SP 550 uz. It has an amazing zoom. It has a housing. I've not yet gone diving with it but have used it topside and snorkeling. It did a great job considering the visibility was crud that day. I bought this one so I could avoid having to bring 2 cameras to Tahiti. I also have a Canon digital Rebel, but I won't put that one in the water. lol..... But I wanted more zoom that the Stylus 600 has for those great shots in Tahiti.

Hope this helps.

[SCUBA Mark]

I have the Sealife Reefmaster Mini (SL-320). It is rated to 130 ft where the SL-321 is only rated to 75 feet.

 

I also have an external flash and a wide angle lens. The pictures are absolutely incredible! This is a serious underwater camera.

 

It also takes great underwater movies.

 

Here are some samples. The picture resolution is toned down from 6 MP to 640 x 480 through photobucket but the pictures are still incredible.

 

Grand Turk Grouper

 

 

Roatan Coral

 

 

Roatan Drum Fish

 

 

and here is an underwater video that I took in Roatan (double-click the picture to see the video)

 

 

Mark

 

P.S. Most of the pictures in my slide show below were taken with this camera. Some were taken with a 2 MP Sealife camera