Customer Reviews

SeaLife SharkDiver SL301 Underwater Pre-loaded Camera

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

For my honeymoon, I purchased this camera for scuba diving photos (because of its flash) and 2 cheaper Kodak disposables without flash for beach and snorkeling pictures. The SharkDiver camera was horrible. The film advance was difficult to turn, the shutter was hard to push down, the flash didn't always function, and on and on. Then, worst of all, the casing apparently leaked and after going to all that trouble to take a full roll of pictures, we ended up with 4 discolored, double exposed pictures and none of the others came out at all. On the pictures we did get, the use of the flash didn't seem to matter at all -- they were still pretty dark.
The Kodak cameras by comparison were great. They were easy to use and produced good pictures in spite of not having a flash. I used them on several pictures at ~20-25 feet under and had plenty of natural light for a good picture.

I was looking for an inexpensive camera with a flash for SCUBA diving. Believe it or not a $9 camera from kodak that you can get at walmart but doesnot have a flash is BETTER than this one.
First, instructions are horrible. they do not exist. The package doesn't tell you to turn in the whole camera (minus the plastic shell) to the developer. the inside camera is a "disposable" and you are required to buy another one. Ritz camera had the refills for 9.99.
Second, the flash only worked part of the time and the shutter button sometime pressed easily and sometimes it didn't.
My only roll of film I took was a complete waste.
Sorry, spend some extra cash and get something better.

I bought two of these cameras for my wife and me to take on our holiday scuba trip to the western caribbean. Followed all of the directions and felt like we got some great shots in areas we may not see again. Got home and took the cameras to the photo lab, and not ONE of the photos on either camera came out. Rolls from other underwater cameras came out nicely, but wanted to use the 'shark divers' for our deeper dives...

I had a very bad experience with Bonica Sea Explorer camera , but this might be common for Bonica underwater cameras that have similar housing where two halves are held together by the hinge on one side and the latch on the other. 5 days I tried to use it - each time inspecting o-ring very carefully and each time it was leaking. After I returned it to Bonica, they made a test in a pressure camera and declare that it is good up to 100 feet and to prevent leakage one should better clean the o-ring ( O, yes. I did not use a microscope for this, while on a cruise ship).

Try a Kodak or Fuji disposable underwater camera.

I particularly like the Fuji. They don't have flashes, so everything looks blue in the pictures, but at least they don't leak.

Film did not advance and there were vertical stripes on the one roll that did advance and take pics. Don't risk your vacation snorkeling or suba on this camera.

Bought 2 of these in the airport as I left for holiday (because they had a flash which the Kodak ones did not, and advertised themselves to a greater depth). Now reading the other reviews I suspect they have a manufacturing default which renders them useless. Neither camera could advance the film properly, so that I only got 5 and 8 shots out of the two of them. It looks like you are taking the pictures as it advances the numbers on the top, but in reality you only end up shooting shot after shot over the same piece of film. My cases were water proof, but the film cartridge looks like it leaks light, as the un used film was still streaked. It's sad as we had some great shark and turtle dives. DON'T BUY THESE - get the cheaper Kodak at this end of the market!

OK pictures for snorkeling but can't find refills that fit it. once you use the last refill you bought with it its a disposable.

I bought this camera on a whim - knowing that I would be doing a great deal of swimming on vacation.
It worked perfectly and was simple and carefree to use.
Just as well that I did not read the previous reviews before I purchased it.

This was a poorly built camera system. the buttons on the case did not line up with the buttons on the camera.