Customer Reviews

SeaLife SL 320 Reef Master Mini Digital Camera

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The picture quality is great for both land and water. I even took some great sunrise pics. However, make sure you have extra batteries on hand because it uses a lot. Also, keep a close eye on it in the water. Before I bought this, I read a review that warned about the cheap camera strap. He wasn't kidding. I was even concerned about the tiny plastic strap holder, and it's a good thing, because it broke while I was snorkeling! And that was only my 3rd time out with it in the water. It's a shame that such a tough, sturdy camera is equipped with a poor quality strap and strap-holder.

I like how this camera sinks (most cameras used with a casing floats). It makes it quick and easy to locate while diving.

Not to pleased with the zoom in/out function. It zooms to 4 times, but it's not gradual. You only have 4 options: regular, 2X, 3X, and 4X. And you can't zoom back out without going through all the zooms (example: if you zoom to 2X and decide it's too close and you want to go back to the regular view, you first have to go through 3 and 4X).

The Sealife Reefmaster Mini is a very nice camera. The controls are easy to use underwater and it takes very nice pictures. The underwater shooting mode really does seem to filter the blue out and yield better pictures.

It was not clear to me, however, from the product description that there was no optical zoom at all. The camera has a 4x digital zoom but is effectivly a single focus point and shoot. Due to this the wide-angle lense is pretty much required.

There is also a problem with the wide-angle lense. It blocks the flash. So you have two choices - wide-angle no flash or flash no wide-angle, but you can't use both.

Overall I would still recommend it as a basic underwater camera. It is fantastic for diving as it is much simpler and worry free compared to the camera housings that everyone else uses. No assembly required just use and rinse.

It is also really good for taking to the beach instead of your nice camera.

I bought this camera because I spend a lot of time in the water and wanted some good underwater pictures.This camera is much better than the Pentax W30 and is completely waterproof unlike water getting behind the view finder of the W30.The color booster for underwater pictures is awesome.Sharp crisp and excellent image quality.Great camera.

Got this as a gift-I'll start with overall impression-it seems rugged and well made, all controls work without any problems-image quality-given that this is a fixed focus camera the images are roughly comparable to disposable point and shoot digital cameras-I'd rate the image quality fair at best-the underwater capabilities are great but if you want quality images go with a better camera such as a Cannon or Olympus with a factory housing-the camera will not be recognized by any Windows computer when using USB cable so you'll need a card reader-Mac users won't have a problem-Sealife tech support absolutely no help at all. Editing software is basic and is best used as a coaster.
Overall, if you just want quick snaps of your dive buddy from 6 to 8 feet away this camera will work...

Took it to the BVIs and it worked great both above and below the water.
Also, very rugged.
It eats batteries if you are using flash underwater, otherwise is fairly normal.

Ron

I don't understand why some people have a problem with this camera. It's a great little "point and shoot" for the money and it takes great photos down to 130 feet! Just have a look at the shots I was able to take of the reef in Florida to get an example of what this camera can do. I do recommend teaming the camera up with a good photo editor such as Photoshop or The GIMP (the one I use). I highly recommend this camera if you Scuba Dive or Snorkel.

I was very satisfied with this camera. I found it very easy to use. I took it to the beach and had it in the water for about an hour or so and it only used a quater of the battery. I took about 50 or 60 pictures. Some were a little grainy but most were pretty clear. It uses a digital zoom instead of optical so quality diminishes with increased zoom but not too bad. I think the software that came with it was the worst part. The programs to edit my pictures didn't work as well as the ones I got with my other camera. All together I was very pleased.

I bought this camera in Oct 2008 in preparation for a Nov trip to Belize. We needed a new digital camera, and after researching all the options, I liked this one best as an all-in-one camera. It's as good on land as underwater, so we don't need to have 2 cameras, and the cost is much better than buying a camera and separate housing for underwater use (plus, most of the regular digital cameras don't have the sea mode option to balance the colors for underwater pics).

Sea Life must've improved the strap, because mine is great; different from what some of the earlier commentors have said. It seems solid, and is long enough to keep strapped to my wrist and still take pics and video. I found that the flash tended to over-light things, including particles in the water, so was best not to use it at the depths we were diving. I agree with previous reviewers who noted it would be best to use the external flash when needed - the angle of lighting will be better.

The picture quality is great - as good as you would expect on a similar camera. This is a 6 mp camera, so don't try to compare it to 10 mp cameras. It does have several settings for pic quality and size, but I always use the highest quality, and a 1 gb card. The sea mode color correction setting is a great feature, but really don't need it on most dives unless going pretty deep - it's very easy to work the buttons and change settings underwater, so just experiment and find your best settings. We took the camera on land excursions as well, and it took great pics. As an added benefit, the waterproof housing and shock resistance are great features - we did jungle excursions where there were rough hiking conditions and chances of rain, so we didn't have to worry about the camera. Also, took it into a cave where we had to wade through streams and even swim at times - I had the camera strapped to my arm and was the only one who could take pics for most of the time, as everyone else had to keep cameras in the guide's dry pack. We've been using it for family pics and other incidents, and continue to be pleased with pic quality and ease of use.

The battery life has been excellent. I've been using Energizer lithium, and they last well in this camera. We did 4 dives over 2 days, and 2 all day jungle excursions, with a few hundred pics, before I had to change the batteries.

So, almost a year after purchase, and using the camera in several different settings, we continue to be happy with it - it is easy to use and takes great pics for how we use it.

As a beginner scuba diver, This is a must. For the majority, this camera took very good pictures in and out of the water. I think the bad ones were from the operator not being quite stable under the water. An I mean really not stable. Even some of the pics from me not being in control of myself still turned out pretty good. This was a very good buy. My daughter and I wanted a few memories of our learning and we got them. We didn't have to worry about not getting enough pictures. It is digital and we were able to save them to the computer right away. This is a real good buy

I got tired of using a housing and having blue pictures underwater. I bought this camera with the extended flash. The underwater pictures were amazing. I was very pleased with the quality of the picture. No Optical zoom wasn't a big problem, but I will probably invest in the wide angle lens attachment next.It does go through the batteries fast though. Land pictures were OK, but not as good as our olympus.