TEST ZONE

SEALIFE DC500 £299

Contact: Cameras Underwater 01404 812277 Website: www.camerasunderwater.co.uk

THE NEW DC500 camera from SeaLife was recently described as one of the ‘most amazing inventions of the year’ by Time magazine, so we thought we’d see if it stood up to DIVE’s rigorous testing. First impressions were encouraging. We managed to set up the whole camera and housing ready to shoot without even once needing recourse to the manual – very impressive. At just five megapixels it is at the lower end of the normal range of compact cameras, but

still more than enough for an A4 home print. It features a built-in flash, a relatively bright two-inch monitor (5cm) LCD (liquid crystal display) colour monitor, Lithium rechargeable battery that gives around 200 pictures per charge, and all the usual shooting menu options. One particularly useful setting is ‘shark mode’, which reduces the shutter delay to a mere 0.3 seconds combined with underwater exposure mode. To charge the battery, view images on a TV or download your pictures onto your computer, the camera fits into a docking station. The camera comes with 16MB of internal memory, which gives you just three images on the highest-quality setting, so you really need to purchase an additional memory card that is SD and MMC compatible. We set the camera on the underwater mode, which meant that the camera automatically set the ideal exposure, focus (from 6cm to infinity) and white balance. The housing is depth rated to a whopping 60m and has an optional snap-fit wide-angle lens attachment. All the knobs and buttons on the housing mimic the external controls on

the camera and are clearly labelled as to what they do. Our first dive was in a swimming pool, a must when testing out any new camera system – it gives you a chance to ensure the housing is watertight. The results were about par with what I would have expected. The pool shots did appear too magenta and I suspect this is because we were using the underwater mode and the camera was expecting more of a blue cast. Our next test was in open water at a depth of 10m and the camera took a reasonable image. When we took a close-up the focus and exposure were spot on, but it was slightly disappointing that the flashlight was clipped in the bottom left of the image – I would recommend using an external strobe to solve this problem. All in all the DC500 is pretty much idiotproof and would be at home in the midrange waters of the Tropics. In our coastal waters an external strobe is a must for close-up work and the wide-angle attachment a must for larger subjects. CH

VERDICT Provides good results in good visibility Value: 8/10 Performance: 7/10

TUSA IQ-800 COMPUTER £275

Contact: CPS Partnership 01424 442663 Website: www.cpspartnership.co.uk

HAVE YOU ever heard a warning sound while diving but couldn’t work out where it came from? Have you ever been distracted by the alarms of other divers going off around you? If so, TUSA claims that the IQ-800 dive computer eliminates these problems by having the world’s first underwater vibrating warning function. To effectively feel the vibration, the IQ800 needs to be in contact with your skin or through a very thin suit – I couldn’t feel it through my drysuit. While the sensation is not dramatic, it can easily be detected. If you are prone to ignoring your computer or get disorientated by the numerous computer-bleeping sounds on a group dive then, yes, I suppose the vibrating feature is of benefit. In terms of functions, it is similar to the IQ-700 that we reviewed in the

August 2006 issue of DIVE and has most of the features you would expect of a midrange computer including nitrox capability from 22 to 99 per cent. One feature we liked was the use of easily legible large digits. So does it do what it says on the tin? Well, yes, but because the vibration can’t be detected through thick suits it is only useful in warm waters. For colder waters its alternative sound alarm mechanism is as good as other computers on the market (although both types can’t be activated at the same time) and at £275 it’s pretty good value. CH

VERDICT Useful vibrating alarm for warm waters Value: 8/10 Performance: 7/10

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PhotographsCharlesHood