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DC800 Tips and Technical Updates
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DC800 and Wide Angle Lens (SL970)
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DC800 buttons hard to push
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Fatal Error with Windows XP and Vista when connecting camera to computer.
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Switching between camera, video and playback modes when the camera is in its housing.
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Using 8GBor 16GB SDHC memory cards.
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Compatible brands of SD memory cards.
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Problems connecting the DC800 inner camera to your computer.
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Tips to prevent fogging [of the housing inside lens port].
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Tips for avoid out-of-focus pictures.
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Dark area in picture when using camera's internal flash
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Tips for avoiding rust stains on stainless steel parts.
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DC800 Read / Write speed specification
1. DC800 and Wide Angle Lens (SL970)
The Wide Angle Lens (SL970) should not be used with the DC800 camera.
The DC800 camera has a 28mm equivalent lens compared to our other
Digital cameras that have a 35mm equivalent lens. The wider angle of
view associated with the 28mm lens of the DC800 camera will cause
severe Vignetting to your pictures if the Wide Angles lens is attached
to the DC800.
Example of the Vignetting on the DC800 camera with the Wide Angle Lens
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2. DC800 buttons hard to push
The DC800 housing uses 7 rubber menu button covers and a SET rubber button cover
(See picture below). The button covers are located inside the housing and make
contact with the corresponding inner camera button.
If you find that a housing button is not functioning or requires a great amount of force
to active the camera, the rubber button cover may be missing or is damaged and needs to
be replaced.
In some cases, you may be able to resolve the issue by exchanging the affected rubber
button cover with another button cover. Note: the SET button cover is different from
the 7 MENU button covers and is not interchangeable
In some cases, you may be able to resolve the issue by exchanging the
affected rubber button cover with another button cover. Note: the SET
button cover is different from the 7 MENU button covers and is not
interchangeable.
You may order new rubber button covers (part # SL18026) from your local authorized SeaLife dealers or online at www.SealifePartsDirect.com (USA only)
If we can provide further assistance with this issue, please contact your local authorized SeaLife dealer or the distributor/service center in your country for repair service.
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3. Fatal Error with Windows XP and Vista when connecting camera to computer.
We are aware of a few cases where a computer experiences a Fatal Error
(Blue Screen) when downloading PC CAM Driver and connecting camera to
computer USB with Microsoft XP (Service Pack 2 and 3) and Vista. This
is a bug in Microsoft's USB controller drivers. Microsoft
acknowledges a problem and has developed a solution. Although
Microsoft states that this is only a problem with PC computers using
the AMD chipset, we have seen this problem with Intel chipsets and the
solution that Microsoft offers does appear to fix the problem.
If you experience this problem after downloading the PC CAM driver, go
to the Microsoft Support website (Link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949033)
and follow the instructions.
In order to get the "hotfix" file, you have to click the
"View and request hotfix downloads" at the top of the page.
That will bring you to a form where you specify your email address and
fill in a CAPTCHA. They will email you a link where you can download
the file, and a password that you can use to unzip the file (the zip
file is password protected). After unzipping the file, you run it, and
it will update your USB Controller drivers. After that, you need to
reboot. Once rebooting, the fix worked for us - No crashes after
multiple connections to the camera, and we were able to plug in other
USB devices without it crashing too.
Once the above solution is applied, and the problem is resolved, DO
NOT attempt to reinstall the PC CAM driver to your computer. SeaLife
cameras DO NOT require a driver to automatically connect to Microsoft
or Apple computers.
If there is any way we can provide further assistance with this issue,
please contact your local authorized SeaLife dealer or the
distributor/service center in your country for repair service.
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4. Switching between camera, video and playback modes when the camera is in its housing.
When the camera is in Sea, Ext Flash or SplashWater modes, you can
push the LCD display button to toggle between picture, video and
playback modes. When the camera is in any other mode (and outside of
the waterproof housing) you can use the slide switch on top of the
inner camera to switch between video, playback and picture modes.
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5. Using 8GB or 16GB SDHC memory cards:
For the DC800 camera, SeaLife recommends using a SD or SDHC memory
card up to 4GB. A 4GB SDHC memory card will take about 1500 large
size, fine quality pictures or at least 30 minutes of continuous
video.
We tested 8GB and 16GB SDHC memory cards from various popular
brands like without encountering any problems.
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6. Compatible brands of SD memory cards
SeaLife no longer recommends using ONLY SanDisk, Panasonic, or Toshiba
brand memory cards. Our testing over the last several years indicates
that these brands are reliable cards, but many other brands have also
proven to be just as reliable. We have not found any compatibility
problems with brands like Delkin, Lexar, Kingston, PNY, Kodak,
Polaroid, Kingmax, and Eye-Fi (wifi card). SeaLife cameras are
designed to work with any brand of SD memory card.
If you experience any performance problems with your SD memory card, it will most likely be a problem with the memory card.
Check the following:
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a) Make sure the is not locked
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b) Make sure the contacts on the card are clean and the card is not damaged.
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If the memory card is still not working with your SeaLife camera, return it to the dealer where its was purchased and exchange it with another brand or size.
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7. Problems connecting the DC800 inner camera to your computer.
The DC800 camera is compatible with Windows operating system versions
98, 2000, ME, XP, and later, and MAC operating systems version 9.0 and
higher. The DC800 camera will automatically connect to your computer
when following the connection instructions outlined on page 67 of the
DC800 instruction manual. Here are some tips if you are still having
problems connecting the camera to your computer.
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Make sure the camera battery is fully charged or connect the power cable to the camera.
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Reboot your computer and try again. Most connectivity problems are
fixed when you restart your computer.
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For Windows operating system users, visit the Microsoft support
site at http://support.microsoft.com/.
Search on "Digital Camera" for a list of helpful tips from Microsoft.
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For Mac operating system users, visit the Apple support site at
http://www.apple.com/support/. Search on "Digital Camera"
for a list of helpful tips from Apple.
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Consider purchasing a SD memory card reader which connects to the
USB port of your computer. You can quickly transfer pictures from
your camera to your computer by removing the SC card from the
camera and inserting it into your card reader.
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8. Tips to prevent fogging [of the housing inside lens port]:
Humid air or water drops trapped inside the housing may condense on
the cooler glass lens port and cause fogging. Here is the best way to
prevent fogging:
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Keep the inside of the housing perfectly dry. Even one water drop
can evaporate inside the housing and condense (fog) on the lens
port.
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Load the camera into the housing in a dry environment, like an
air-conditioned room. This will help to avoid trapping humid air
inside the housing.
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Apply a small amount of anti-fog solution to the inside surface of
the housing lens port. Apply the anti-fog solution once a day in a
dry room. Your local dive shop can recommend a good quality
anti-fog solution.
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Use a fresh Moisture Muncher desiccant capsule (item # SL911)
inside the housing.
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9. Tips for avoid out-of-focus pictures.
The camera's auto focus system has an effective range is 2"' (5cm) to infinity.
Understanding how your camera's auto focus system works will help you avoid taking
out-of-focus pictures.
For the camera to focus correctly there must be sufficient ambient light to illuminate the subject.
The camera may not "see" the subject in low light. The subject must also have some contrast.
It is difficult for the camera to focus on a white wall with no contrast.
The focus square in the center of the LCD display will turn green when the camera accurately
determines the focus. If the focus square is red, the camera did not accurately determine the correct focus.
Here are some tips to ensure a sharp focus:
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1. Learn how to use the focus button (the button with the flower icon on it):
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The "normal focus" [no icon] shooting range is 1ft (30cm) to infinity. When using the zoom feature, normal focus is 1.5ft (45cm) to infinity.
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Push the focus [flower] button and select "Infinity focus" (mountain icon).
This will lock the camera to infinity, so anything beyond 2ft (60cm) shooting distance is in focus.
This setting is very helpful in low light conditions or when the subject is low in contrast.
When the camera is set to Infinity focus, the camera will also have a very fast shutter response time.
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You can also set the camera to Landscape focus and benefit
from a very fast shutter response time. Landscape focus will
lock the camera to infinity, so anything beyond 2ft (60cm)
shooting distance is in focus.
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The camera will set the focus on the subject located in the center
of the picture. Align the square located in the center of the LCD over
the subject. Subjects outside this square may not be in focus.
The depth of field for close-up pictures is only a few inches.
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For more information about focusing, please refer to page 20 of the DC800 instruction manual.
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10. Dark area in picture when using camera´s internal flash
A dark area in the lower left corner of your image can occur when taking close-up pictures and the camera's internal flash fires.
The dark area or shadow is caused by the underwater housing lens extension which partially blocks the camera's
internal flash.
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Notice the dark shadow area in the bottom left side of the picture.
Turn the camera's flash OFF or use the SeaLife external flash
accessory (sold separately) to eliminate this problem.
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There are a two ways to eliminate this shadow effect:
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Turn the camera's internal flash OFF. There are a few factors to consider before you decide to turn on the camera's flash.
First, the DC800 has a built-in color correction filter (in SEA mode) that only works when the flash is turned off.
Turning on the flash cancels the color correction feature.
The internal flash is not very powerful and only reaches about 2ft or 3ft depending on visibility.
The camera's internal flash causes backscatter (those small white dots in the picture) unless you are in perfectly clear water.
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Use the SeaLife Flash accessory (sold separately).
SeaLife external flashes have flexible arms that allow you to aim the flash head in
virtually any direction. It will eliminate the shadow effect and also produce brighter,
more colorful underwater pictures with less backscatter.
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Use the optical zoom and maintain a shooting distance of 1 ½ ft to 2ft:
The shadow effect described above gets more severe the closer you are to the subject.
Back away from the subject and increase the optical zoom.
This is not recommended for longer shooting distances for the reasons described above.
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11. Tips for avoiding rust stains on stainless steel parts
The DC800 uses marine grade stainless steel hardware, which is ideal for use in saltwater and marine environment.
If not cared for properly, rust stains may appear on surfaces. Make sure to rinse off the camera with fresh water
after each use. Dry before storage. Make sure to completely remove the clear protective film that covers the metal
face plate. Keep all metal surfaces clean. Avoid contact of the camera's stainless steel parts with other inferior metals -
This may contaminate the camera’s metal parts and cause rust staining.
Rust stains should wipe off with soft plastic bristle brush or clean moist cloth.
A good source for more information on stainless steel is http://www.ssina.com/knowledgebase/.
If the rust stain does not clean off, or if you see that rust stains have entered inside the shaft of the metal buttons
[which usually will result in the button sticking], contact your local authorized SeaLife dealer
or the distributor/service center in your country for repair service.
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12. DC800 Read / Write speed specification
The DC800 camera can transfer data to the SD or SDHC memory card at
12Mbps (mega bytes per second). You can optimize the cameras
processing speed and recycle time by using a memory card with a
read/write speed of 12Mbps or greater. For example, the Delkin 4GB Pro
Series SDHC memory card has a read/write speed of 22.5Mbps, while
their standard series cards are 8.2Mbps. While there is no performance
advantage when using a memory card with a read/write speed faster than
12MB/s, you want to avoid using a memory card with a read/write speed
slower than 12Mbps. Please contact the memory card manufacturer for
specifications on the cards read / write speed.
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Sealife Service Center
c/o Pioneer Research
97 Foster Road, Suite 5
Moorestown, NJ 08057
ph. 856-866-9191
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