Sealife DC800 takes photos, video 200ft deep

SeaLife on Tuesday introduced its new sleek, modern DC800 8-megapixel camera, which it says is water-proof to 200ft (60m) underwater. The SD/SDHC-based camera offers an ergonomic design, large shutter button and well-spaced buttons to help use the device underwater. In addition, the DC800 can also be removed from its rubber armored waterproof housing for use under more standard conditions and includes a wide-angle optical lens with 4x optical/5x digital zoom, a 2.7-inch LCD, auto focus up to 2 inches (5cm) and a video mode to capture high-resolution digital video (640x480) along with sound. The DC800 has virtually no shutter lag, the company claims, thanks to a fast shutter response time and also offers a quick-start for fast action photography.

The DC800 features three unique underwater modes: a Sea mode exposure program has three UW color correction settings (Oceans Blue, Oceans Green, Rivers/Lakes). It also features two new external flash mode settings allow users more flexibility when taking photos with the SeaLife Digital Pro Flash accessory for optimal brightness and color, while preventing "backscatter" (i.e, spots that appear in underwater pictures). The External Flash Auto mode allows for automatic exposure settings set by the camera, while External Flash Manual mode allows manual adjustments in aperture and shutter speed exposure controls by the diver when using an external flash.

A SPY mode allows users to take continuous pictures at set time intervals between 5 seconds and 5 minutes -- until the memory card is full, the shutter button is pressed again or the camera runs out of power.

In addition, 16 modes are available for use on land (auto, anti-shake, sports, sunrise, sunset, splashwater, flow-water, night, portrait, landscape, panorama, candlelight, text, fireworks and SPY).

The $550 camera includes 32MB of built-in memory, USB connectivity, and a high-capacity rechargeable lithium battery (1250mAh) that will power the camera for more than 200 photographs.