Name: SeaLife Reefmaster DC500, 5.0MP Underwater Digital Camera, 3x Optical Zoom - One of the "Most Amazing and Best Inventions in 2005" according to Time Magazine
Brand: SeaLife
SKU: SLFDC500
Price: 499.95 USD
Availability: Discontinued
Rating: 3.5 (8 reviews)

SeaLife Reefmaster DC500, 5.0MP Underwater Digital Camera, 3x Optical Zoom - One of the "Most Amazing and Best Inventions in 2005" according to Time Magazine

SeaLife Reefmaster DC500, 5.0MP Underwater Digi...

SeaLife

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SeaLife Reefmaster DC500, 5.0MP Underwat...

Buy: SeaLife Reefmaster DC500, 5.0MP Underwater Digital Camera, 3x Optical Zoom - One of the "Most Amazing and Best Inventions in 2005" according to Time Magazine

The battery life is a huge problem, not able to use for an entire dive.  Battery must be exchanged to use for a second dive.  The strobe attachment fell off on the first dive.  It could not be used with the available macro lenses.  Exposure settings are not great and the power button is in the way of the shutter release button, poor design in my mind.  I have owned a number of their previous models and find them superior in many aspects.    This camera has been a huge disappointment to me.

Could be better

The "shutter delay" is over one second; by the time a picture is taken, the fish or whatever are long gone.

Slow Reaction Time

I have taken many pictures with this camera both below and above water and have found it to do an excellent job. I will continue to use it and enjoy all the pictures it takes.

A very good below and above water camera

The DC500 is easy to use

Great camera for snorkeling which is what we bought it for. It was fairly easy to use but did take a little practice. Compact, light weight housing made it easy to carry with us. Down sides are the battery life and shutter lag. It does have what's called a "Shark Mode" where it saves the light and focus settings for immediate shutter release, but that depends on you (and the fish) staying in the same spot. Also virtually every shot had to be heavily adjusted in Photoshop to get good results. Once adjusted however they were much better than the results with the one-time-use underwater cameras and many were really great shots. I'm sure the addition of the strobe kit would have improved that situation. You could buy a lot of film OTU cameras for $[...] but it was nice not shooting and processing a whole roll of film for a couple of mediocre shots.

Great If You Know Photoshop

Overall, the camera system worked fine.  As with most things, you get what you pay for.  

I wish the camera had an option to come with a wide-angle lens or the macro lens.  I would have preferred the wide angle, but not at an additional cost.

The optional lighting system didn't work very well as designed.  The "optional" cable should truly be required.

For the price, not a bad deal for a beginner.

Worth the money

I took my DC500 to 134ft. and had no leaks. The camera is very user friendly. In addition to great still photos it also takes fantastic videos.

Great for SCUBA Diving

I took this camera to Alaska and I used it more than all of my other equipment. The quality of the photographs are amazing for such a small camera.