Sealife DC2000 User manual
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Great Pictures
Made Easy
with the Camera
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Capture the Magic
As a scuba diver, you have encountered coral reefs teaming with strange
creatures and vibrant colors that appear as if they were from another planet.
You know what it’s like to oat effortlessly without gravity. You have learned to
use your eyes to see and experience the underwater world, one of the greatest
miracles on earth.
You capture these treasured moments with your underwater camera to relive the
adventure and share your experiences with friends and family. Of course, there is
no better way to tell your story than with pictures and videos
As the manufacturers of SeaLife, we believe that an underwater camera will help
divers and non-divers to experience and see a part of our world which is essential
to our survival. We hope that you will enrich and enlighten your life by capturing
valuable impressions in the underwater world with your SeaLife Camera.
Over the last 25+ years of developing underwater cameras and lighting systems,
we have received countless images - many of which have been posted to the
SeaLife website Photo/Video Gallery.
While underwater photography certainly has its challenges, we found that most
poor pictures are the result of not following a few simple and basic principles.
When you understand and apply these basics, your results will greatly improve.
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I. Basic Camera Settings
II. Underwater Basics
III. Restoring Lost Colors
IV. Taking Underwater Photos without a
Flash or Photo/video light
V. Taking U/W Photos with a Flash or with a
Flash and Underwater Photo/video light
VI. Taking U/W Photos with a Photo/Video light
VII. Focusing Tips for Taking Sharp Pictures
VIII. Basic Tips for Taking Great Pictures
IX. Underwater Video
X. Using Manual Mode Underwater
XI. Alternative DC2000 Camera Modes
XII. Recommended Menu Settings
XIII. Take Your Photography to the Next Level
Table of Contents
Photo by Tobias Friedrich
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I. Basic Camera Settings
II. Underwater Basics
This guide will teach you the basic principles of
underwater photography and how to take great
underwater pictures with your SeaLife camera.
Before you start, you should read through the
camera’s instruction manual and become familiar
with the basic camera settings and button controls.
Download the Instruction Manuals Here
Follow this link to a helpful video about the DC2000
There are a few important differences between underwater and land photography
that you should know.
Water is about 800 times denser than air.
As you descend deeper into the water,
the light conditions become darker. The
water absorbs red, orange and yellow
color, which makes everything look blue.
The diagram to the left demonstrates
the effect water has on light and color
as depth increases. That is why many
underwater pictures turn out blue. There
are a couple of ways to restore lost colors,
which are explained later in this guide.
a. Light and Color
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Coral, sponges and most other underwater
sea creatures are bursting with colors.
Brilliant reds, vivid orange and bright yellows
highlight the underwater world. These intense
colors help to camouage the sea creatures.
Since red and yellow colors are absorbed by
the water, the sea creatures appear colorless
unless you bring a light with you and uncover
the hidden treasure of colors.
b. Effects of Water Refraction
Water has a magnifying effect. Objects underwater appear 33% larger and closer
than they actually are. It tricks you into underestimating your shooting distance. One
important rule for achieving colorful and sharp underwater pictures is to keep your
shooting distance within 6ft/2m or within the effective range of your ash or photo-
video light. 4ft/1.5m or closer is better. An adult’s arm is approximately two feet long,
so if your subject is more than one and a half to two arm lengths away, it’s too far for
your ash/photo-video light to be effective. Get closer or change the camera to the
Dive or Snorkel mode (See Page 9).
This Angelsh appears 2ft/60cm
away but is actually 3ft/1m away This sh appears inside of 6ft/2m,
but is actually 8ft/2.4m away
Expand your viewing angle with a SeaLife 0.5x Wide Angle
Dome Lens or the 0.75x Wide Angle Conversion Lens that
compensates the underwater magnifying effect and allows
you to get closer to the subject and still t everything in the
picture. These lenses are ideal for shooting still images as well
as videos. They can be installed or removed underwater.
Using a Wide Angle Lens allows you to get closer to the
subject so that you will be within the effective range of your
external ash or light.
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The above two pictures demonstrate why you should not use the camera’s
internal ash unless you are taking close-up macro (within 12”/30cm) pictures
in crystal clear waters. The camera’s internal ash is not very powerful and
positioned too close to the camera’s lens, so it’s only useful for close-up pictures.
No matter how clear it may look underwater, there are always plankton and tiny
particles suspended in the water. You may not see the particles with your eyes, until
you light them up with a ash or photo-video light. The small white dots that appear
in your underwater pictures are called “backscatter”. The closer the ash or light is
positioned to the camera lens, the more backscatter you will see.
c. Backscatter
The external ash is positioned very close to
the camera lens. Notice all the backscatter
in the top of the image.
Here, the external ash is positioned away
from the camera lens. There is practially no
backscatter.
The DC2000 features a built-in Flash Diffuser into the housing. The same
location allows you to mount the included ash link adapter and optical
cable(s) when shooting with an external ash.
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Underwater photography using an external ash (strobe) or photo-video light with
a Flex-Connect Arm results in the brightest, sharpest most colorful pictures, with
minimal or no backscatter because the light source is positioned away from the
camera lens.
Positioning the ash or light next to the lens (Figure 1) illuminates the front of the
particles facing the lens. Positioning strobe away from lens (Figure 2) illuminates
the sides of particles not visible to the lens.
Figure 1 Figure 2
How to Avoid Backscatter
• Avoid using the camera’s built-in ash unless shooting close-up macro
pictures in clear water.
• Use an external ash or photo-video light positioned away from the lens,
which produces the brightest, sharpest and most colorful pictures while
minimizing backscatter.
• Keep your shooting distance within 10% of your visibility. If the visibility is
30ft/10m, limit your shooting distance to 3ft/1m.
• ISO settings of 200 or higher are much more sensitive to backscatter when
using an external ash and/or photo-video light.
• Don’t stir up the sand and debris on the bottom. Control your buoyancy.
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III. Restoring Lost Colors
Blue pictures are the most common complaint among beginning underwater
photographers, but it’s easy to improve. Here are two primary methods to bring
back the lost colors absorbed by the water:
Method 1
Use the SeaLife Sea Dragon Digital Flash and/or Photo-Video light accessory
(sold separately)
Taken without ash - image
lacks color
Taken with ash to reveal the
vibrant colors
From left to right: SeaLife DC2000 Pro Flash Set (SL745), SeaLife DC2000 Pro 2500 Set (SL744),
SeaLife DC2000 Pro Duo Set (SL746) with ash and 2500 lumen photo-video light mounted
on Flex-Connect dual tray.
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Method 2
Use SeaLife underwater color-correction modes
If you do not have an external ash or photo-video light, you can use the DC2000
camera’s built in color-correction lter to restore lost colors. Set the camera to
Dive Mode for depths greater than 25ft (8m) or Snorkel mode for shallower wa-
ter. Dive mode will add a little more red and yellow to the image than Snorkel
mode. These color correction modes work well in water depths less than about
60ft, where the ambient light conditions are not so dark. At greater depths, there
is a complete absence of reds and yellows, so color correction modes/lters are
not so effective. An external ash or photo-video light is the most effective way to
restore color at any depth or ambient light condition.
What’s the difference between an external ash and photo-video light?
• A ash (or strobe) can only be used for still photos, not video. A photo-video light can be
used for photos and videos, as well as viewing in low light.
• An external ash is typically brighter and has longer range than a photo-video light. The Sea
Dragon Digital Flash has an effective range of about 6-8ft, while the Sea Dragon 2500
Photo-Video light range is about 4ft, depending on visibility and ambient lighting conditions.
• A photo-video light is easier to use than a ash because the camera “sees” the effect of the
light and automatically adjusts exposure accordingly. What you see is what you get. With a
ash, the camera won’t see the light until the ash res, which typically requires some
ne-tuning of the ash brightness to optimize image exposure.
• A photo-video light can also be used as a focusing light to assist the camera’s auto focus
system in lower light conditions.
Normal underwater picture at 25ft without Dive Mode
With Dive Mode color correction - restores lost colors
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IV. Taking Underwater Photos Without an
External Flash or Photo-Video Light
Now that you have learned how water affects underwater pictures and how
to restore lost colors, let’s learn how to take the best underwater pictures
without an external light source. Even if you are using a SeaLife external ash
or photo-video light, this information will be useful for taking photos and video
with subjects further away.
1. Set the camera’s scene mode to Dive Mode [or Snorkel Mode] –
a. Turn the Mode dial to the icon
b. Push the Menu key
c. Scroll down to “Underwater Scene Modes” and push “OK” button
d. Scroll up/down to select Dive (or Snorkel) mode and push “OK” button. The
Scene mode is saved when powering off the camera.
e. The rst thing you will notice is that the viewing image on the LCD display
appears red in color. That’s the effect of the underwater color correction
lter. Underwater, the viewing image will look natural. In Dive/Snorkel mode,
the camera automatically turns the Flash off to help avoid backscatter.
Picture taken at 25ft/8m without Dive Mode Picture taken at 25ft/8m with Dive Mode
Photo by Tobias Friedrich
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