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Sealife Sea Dragon SL963 Instruction Manual

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Item SL963 & SL9631

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Summary of Contents for Sealife Sea Dragon SL963

  • Page 1 Item SL963 & SL9631...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    In the Box ...................4 III. Product View with Call-outs ............5 Preparing your flash ............6-15 Preparing your camera ............16 Synchronizing your flash to non-SeaLife cameras ....17 VII. Testing the camera and flash ..........18 VIII. Adjusting your camera exposure and flash brightness ..............19 Preparing your camera ............20-22...

  • Page 3: Safety Warnings

    Replace the o-rings and apply lube. Install new, fully-charged batteries and test fire flash. If flash does not operate properly, please contact your local SeaLife dealer or the SeaLife service center in your country.

  • Page 4: In The Box

    II. In the Box Sea Dragon Flash (with attached diffuser, optical cable, grip and tray. Grip and tray not Sea Dragon Flash included with SL9631) Optical Cable Plug (SL96307) Universal Flash Link Cable Adapter (SL992) Sea Dragon Case O-ring Lube (SL9807) (SL942) Spare O-rings...

  • Page 5: Product View With Call-Outs

    III. Product view with call-outs Major parts 9 – Battery cap 1 – Flash head 10 – Pressure safety valve 2 – Auto Bright light sensor 11– Power On/Off dial 3 – Diffuser (removable) 12 – Test button (Auto Learn 4 –...

  • Page 6: Preparing Your Flash

    IV. Preparing your flash INSTALLING BATTERIES: 1) Unscrew waterproof battery cap. 2) Insert 4 new or freshly charged AA batteries according to the polarity markings. For best performance, use 4 AA 2000mAh or higher Ni-MH rechargeable batteries. 3) Align cap notch with key and screw on waterproof battery cap.
  • Page 7 Attach camera (housing) to the tray. Carefully hand-tighten the mounting screw. Do not over tighten! Important: Only attach the flash to cameras/housings with minimum thread depth of 0.28” (7.2 mm) and using standard ⁄ -20 tripod type thread. Never force or over-tighten the screw, or you may damage the housing seal and threads.
  • Page 8 Connecting Flash Link optical cable to the external flash The Flash includes the Flash Link optical cable (item #SL96208). The optical cable is used to transmit light from the camera to the light sensor under the flash head. The external flash will fire when the light sensor detects light coming from the end of the cable.
  • Page 9 Connecting Flash Link optical cable to SeaLife cameras For SeaLife DC1400 UW camera: Attach the other end of the optical cable to the camera adapter included with your SeaLife camera. 1. Push the optical cable into one of the grooves so it’s locked firmly into position.
  • Page 10 Connecting Flash Link optical cable to SeaLife cameras For SeaLife DC2000 UW camera: Installing Flash Link optical cable adapter The DC2000 includes a Flash Link adapter necessary for making optical cable connection between the underwater housing and one or two Sea Dragon Flashes.
  • Page 11 How to setup Flash Link adapter and attach to the housing 1. Insert the non-coiled end of the optical cable (A) through one of the grabber holes of the Flash Link adapter (B). Fig. 1 2. Pull about 2” (5cm) of the optical cable through the grabber hole and insert the end of the cable into the other hole as shown below.
  • Page 12 3. Pull the other end of the camera to remove some of the extra slack, leaving about 1” of cable bend as shown below. It is normal for thin layer of cable sheathing to be scratched off during this procedure. Fig.
  • Page 13 Connecting Flash Link optical cable to NON-Sealife cameras The universal cable adapter included with the flash allows you to attach the optical cable to any underwater camera housing. If your housing has a 7mm optical cable plug port, please use the included SL96307 Flash Optical Cable Plug Adpater and skip the next steps.
  • Page 14 Connecting Flash Link optical cable to NON-SeaLife cameras (continued) Step 4: Loosely screw on the smaller half of the adapter. Step 5: Insert the cable(s) so about 1mm sticks out of the other end and tighten the cable adapter assembly. Hand tighten – do not use tools.
  • Page 15 Secure the Flash Link optical cable to the Grip Fasten optical cable by pushing into groove along inside of grip.

  • Page 16: Preparing Your Camera

    Become familiar with how to operate your camera. Refer to your camera instruction manual for information on how to adjust the settings described in this manual. Here is the basic camera set-up for SeaLife and most other popular digital cameras.

  • Page 17: Synchronizing Your Flash To Non-Sealife Cameras

    VI. Synchronize flash to non-SeaLife cameras The flash is factory set to work with your SeaLife camera. Follow these instructions to sync the flash to other underwater camera brands: 1. Turn OFF flash power. 2. Push and HOLD test button, and power ON flash.

  • Page 18: Testing The Camera And Flash

    VII. Test the camera and flash [above water] Now that you have made all the correct settings to your flash and camera, take a few test pictures to make sure the camera and external flash fires together. 1. Power on the camera and flash. a.

  • Page 19: Adjusting Your Camera Exposure And Flash Brightness

    VIII. Adjusting your camera exposure and flash brightness This section will show you to make quick and easy adjustments to your camera and flash for achieving the best picture color and brightness. Make sure you become familiar with these basic adjustments before you dive with your new external flash.

  • Page 20: Preparing Your Camera

    For SeaLife digital cameras, set the scene mode to Ext Flash (or Ext Flash Auto mode). For information on how to set your SeaLife camera’ s scene mode, please refer to your SeaLife camera instruction manual.
  • Page 21 EV value to darken pictures. Just like ISO, higher EV values will result in more grainy pictures. For SeaLife cameras, set the camera to Ext Flash mode (or Ext Flash Auto mode) and leave the EV Compensation at “0”. Your SeaLife camera is pre-programmed to automatically select the optimal EV value for underwater flash pictures.
  • Page 22 Almost all digital cameras allow you to select the flash setting to Auto, Force ON, Force OFF or Red-Eye Reduction. For SeaLife cameras, set the camera to Ext Flash mode (or Ext Flash Auto mode). The SeaLife External Flash mode is a special underwater program that synchronizes the camera’s exposure program, color...

  • Page 23: External Flash Adjustments

    X. External Flash adjustments Now that you are familiar with camera adjustments that effect picture color and brightness, this section will describe how to adjust the external flash. Flash Brightness control You can manually or automatically control the external flash brightness by adjusting the brightness control dial located on the back of the flash head.
  • Page 24 The Auto brightness feature works by measuring the amount of flash bouncing off the subject into the light sensor located on the front face of the flash. If the flash measures a high amount of light bouncing of the subject, it will cut-short the flash before it deploys the full flash and over-exposes the subject.
  • Page 25 Aiming the external flash Make sure the flash head is directed at the subject before taking a picture. If the flash is not aimed correctly the image may appear underexposed (darker). Remember that subjects appear closer underwater than they do on land, so direct the flash a little over the intended target to compensate for this underwater effect.

  • Page 26: Maintaining A Waterproof Seal

    O-rings. Wipe off excess lubricant. The o-ring surface should have shiny, wet appearance. Important: Replace O-rings every year if damaged or not. Visit your local SeaLife dealer or www.sealife-cameras.com for information on ordering spare o-rings.

  • Page 27: Care And Maintenance

    XII. Care and maintenance (After your dive) 1) After each dive, soak the sealed flash in fresh water for about 15 minutes to remove any residual salt, sand and dirt. Never allow the saltwater to dry on the flash. 2) Push the test button about 10 times and rotate dials to clean any saltwater or sand trapped under the button.

  • Page 28: Replacing The O-Rings

    XIII. Replacing the O-rings Replace the two O-rings if damaged or at least once per year. 1) Use the O-ring Remover tool provided to lift and remove the O-ring. 2) Carefully clean O-ring grooves and O-rings before installation 3) Install O-rings by stretching and lifting O-ring into the groove.

  • Page 29: Expanding Your Flex-Connect™ Lighting System

    XIV. Expanding your Flex-Connect™ Lighting System Get brighter, more colorful results by expanding your Sea Dragon underwater camera system. The modular Flex-Connect arms, grips and trays easily mount together to create these popular configurations: Pro Flash Set Pro Duo Duo X2 Flash Set w/ single flash w/ light, flash and dual w/ 2 flashes...
  • Page 30 Cold Shoe – Mount a light or flash over the camera for the most compact lighting solution available. Use it to add a third light or a focusing light. Easily slides on to cold shoe of SeaLife and most other underwater housings (SL991).

  • Page 31: Great Pictures Made Easy

    Your external flash has a limited reach of 6ft (1.8m) to 8ft (2.4m) depending on water visibility. Keep your shooting distance inside of 6 ft (1.8m). 4 ft (1.2m) is ideal. Consider SeaLife Wide Angle Lenses which allow a closer shooting distance and fit everything...
  • Page 32 3. Move calmly and control your buoyancy Control your buoyancy at all times and set yourself up in the ideal position before taking a picture. This allows you to hold the camera steady and control your shooting distance. Good buoyancy control will help you avoid stirring up the sandy bottom which will cloud-up the water and cause backscatter.
  • Page 33 b. Get the entire subject into your picture frame. Don’t cut-off the hands, fins or head of your subject. You can always crop you image later on your computer if you want. c. Learn the compositional rule of thirds. The rule states that an image can be divided into nine equal parts by two equally- spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines.

  • Page 34: Troubleshooting Guide

    Check the battery power. Replace or recharge batteries, if necessary. c. If above does not correct the problem, contact your local SeaLife dealer or SeaLife Service Center in your country. For a list of dealers, please visit www.sealife-cameras.com.
  • Page 35 3. Flash fires sometimes but not all the time. a. This is normally caused by a damaged Flash Link optical cable or if the optical cable is not set-up correctly. Inspect the optical cable for damage and make sure the cable is attached and secured.
  • Page 36 For example, dark coral needs more light than would white coral. Adjust flash intensity accordingly. 6. For updated usage and trouble shooting information, refer to the SeaLife website at www.sealife-cameras.com or contact your local SeaLife dealer or service center for help.

  • Page 37: Specifications

    XVII. Specifications: Sea Dragon Digital Underwater Flash (item # SL963) Guide Number: 20 (meters on land) at full power setting: 1.5m (meters on land) at low power Power adjustment range: 8% to 100% (Auto or Manual mode) Controls: Power (On/Off), Test(program), Brightness (Manual/Auto) Coverage angle: 80°...

  • Page 38: Parts And Service

    If it is determined that the product requires servicing, a return authorization number will be issued. Please contact your local SeaLife dealer or the importer in the country where the product was purchased for return information. Your local authorized SeaLife Dealer can also assist with product servicing and ordering replacement parts.

  • Page 39: Important

    XVIII. Important Clean the gold-plated contacts on batteries and inside battery compartment EVERY TIME before charging the batteries. Use a clean cotton cloth moistened with isopropyl alcohol to thoroughly clean contacts. Not cleaning the contacts may permanently damage the gold plating and result in the device not powering on.

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Sea dragon sl9631

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