DC DXG308U 3MP Digital Camera with Underwater Housing
By: DXG Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 31
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 On: 2008-05-31
I had this camera for over 3years collecting dust now. The camera takes too long to process the image and save. The flash works but not for close pictures or else bright light will block out our image. You have to hold the camera in a still position for a few seconds after you press the button while the picture saves or else image blurs. I dont like this camera.
 On: 2007-10-07
My parents bought this camera almost a year ago, and within an hour, I realised that I had to school them *again* about buying electronics before I research them. This camera is *almost* USELESS.
PROS:
1. On macro, in good light (read: bright, DIRECT, sunlight), the camera does have the potential to take the most AMAZING pictures
2. Its small, light, and easy to carry
CONS:
1. In anything other than good light (see definition above), the screen is dark, so you cant see what youre aiming at
2. The above would not be as frustrating if the camera had a view finder, which it does NOT
3. The camera takes *FOREVER* to process a picture once its taken. That means standing up and staring at your camera for about 10 seconds in between shots. Not so great for parties, and get-togethers
4. The picture quality is terrible 80% of the time - the subjects are usually grainy and/or blurry, and the colouring is usually off kilter, especially when not in good light (see definition above)
5. You need to have steady hands to get in a good shot. A tripod would be a good investment, but that would be an insult to the tripod
6. Its no good at taking action photos. If any of your subjects move, you see a big blur
7. There just is not much functionality - basic things like timed shots dont exist on this camera, so forget about being self photographs
8. At night, the flash has a tendency to white-out everything if the subject is close, or leave everything dark and difficult to make out if the subject is far. The middle ground is so narrow, its difficult to capture, but when caputred, refer to #4
9. Video (the quality of which leaves a lot to be desired) play-back does not have any sound - you have to wait until you put it on your computer to heard what you taped
10. It costs money! Head-aches are free, so I dont see why this camera isnt.
Its a no brainer. DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA. The only reason I didnt give it one star was because, like I said, I have this camera to thank for some amazing macro shots I did - professional looking stuff. But its just not worth it. Too many other cameras can do that for less head-ache.
On: 2006-07-16
My entire problem with this camera is how s-l-o-w it is. Yes, I understand a 3.2 megapixel cheapie isnt going to take the best of shots, but I tried this recently with a DXG 301V "camcorder" back to back. The 301V takes average quality shots, and is ready again in 2-3 seconds. The 308 takes 5-7 seconds, and requires the brightest possible light. Even on a sunny morning the "watch for shake" icon is on. Practically all my pictures have some blur or distortion in them; At first I thought there was something wrong with the lens, until I took several pictures with a blur line right down them. I realized this camera is scanning the image so slowly that its taking a second or so after I press the button to record anything. The 308 honestly is acting like it has an ISO of 25 and is something from the 1980s.
I rate this camera two only because the underwater housing actually works, but I cant see what use it would be expect in a shallow pool in Arizona on a tripod. I went through two 301vs before I got one that worked, so mines may be a lemon, but at this point Ill just save up for something better.
On: 2006-07-12
I dont recommend this camera to anyone. It usually takes terrible pictures and it drinks up battery juice like cheap wiskey. The flash wont work when you need it to and its hard to see the view screen. The zoom is relatively decent; and when you can get it to work right, it can take some okay pictures and video clips, but no one should waste their money on the DXG-308. There are so many great cameras out there, so save up and buy one youll love. I recomend Cannon or Nikon.
On: 2006-06-25
This is quite possibly THE WORSE purchase I have EVER made in my life! I bought the camera the day before my sons graduation. I read through the User Manual, which doesnt really tell you anything...and thought all was ok. I was wrong. When my sons name was called to go up on stage to get his award, I realized (in COMPLETE horror)that the "preview display window" was dark. I was not able to take one single picture of my son walking down the aisle, when he received the diploma...nothing! This camera ruined our day. I was not able to take pictures until the graduation was over! Seems like it only takes pics outside. When I went on the DXGUSA website to their FAQ section, it states the camera is really made to be used in "natural light". The 4 pictures that I did manage to get took all day to capture because it took the darn thing like 15 seconds to "load" between each picture. (Try telling 5 teens to stay still in the same position until the camera decides its ready to shoot again!)I ended up buying a disposable camera for 4 dollars and the pictures (taken way after the graduation was over) were much better. Kids dont graduate everyday, we missed out on all of the memories we could have had...if only I did not purchase this CRAPPY camera. I am so disappointed! Please do yourselves a favor: STAY AWAY FROM THIS CAMERA.
**To the folks who gave this product a good review: Are we talking about the same camera here????**
 On: 2006-02-18
I bought this camera to take with me when I kayak. I havent been able to take it in the ocean yet, but I tested it in the pool, and it had no problems.I have only taken about 100 pictures with it so far with mixed results.I should first say that I am happy with it. The pictures I took outdoors in good light came out very good.Using the high res settings they had good color, were clear, sharp, and had no distortion.The clips I took using the movie mode, in good light, were reasonable, (better than I expected.) The pictures i took indoors using the flash were not as good, but still about what I expected.I knew they were not going to be as sharp as my Nikon, but I didnt want to take my Nikon in the ocean. I have a specific purpose in mind for this camera, and I think it going to be just fine for that purpose. For the money I think it is a fine sports, waterfront camera. I did find that it was dificult to get the focus right in macro mode. You have a very short depth of field,(about two inches), so keep within that range. I did get some nice pictures of a bee though, (and most cameras in this price range dont have a macro at all). I was very glad I could find a digital camera that was waterproof in this price range, and based on my tests, and my needs, it is just fine.
On: 2006-01-15
I bought this camera for my daughter for Christmas, what a mistake that was, the flash overexposed every picture and the manual controls were not user friendly, invest in a better camera for your money like the Vivitar 3785 or Canon A510 .
On: 2005-12-14
the flash washed everything out! outdoors it takes great movie clips and pics but if you are planning to use the flash be prepared to see white or black blocks of nothingness. batteries run out very quickly. i did like the size of it...just wished it worked.
On: 2005-12-02
I bought this camera well over a year ago, and weve had our ups and downs together. Although the quality and perfomance does lack considerably it was still a good buy. Ive dropped the camera so many times and its even been submerged in water (and this is NOT the submergable version). After about 24 hours of letting the water dry out the camera worked just like it always had.
On the plus side.... the casing seems to be pretty resistent. The quality isnt THAT bad for a 3 MP (as long as the pictures were taken outside and in daylight). The 16MB of internal memory can hold a lot of pictures withtout the need of an SD/MMC card. Its small and fits almost anywhere.
But the camera does lack in many aspects. The flash is horrible, if your anywhere within 6ft of your subject the image will have that white flash glow. Pictures taken at night come out very dark and mostly blurry. Pictures taken with the zoom WILL be blurry and sometimes very noisy. The camera takes forever (about 5 seconds) to turn on, its takes forever (5-10 seconds) to prepare to take another image after youve just taken one, and it takes even longer if your using the flash. If your indoors you wont be able to see ANYTHING on the LCD screen. It doesnt help that the camera doesnt have a viewfinder.
For a day at the park this is a good camera, it will take good pictures and can take the beating of little kids using it.
But for a wedding, or any event you want memories of, your better off spending another hundred and buying a better quality camera with about 6 or 7 MP.
On: 2005-10-07
My expectations were a bit low after reading reviews on this little camera. I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived yesterday and I got a chance to check it out. You have to realize you get a nice underwater housing AND a 3MP camera for $106 shipped in 3-5 days. This camera actually takes pretty good photos for its price. I was looking for something to replace the throw-away underwater cameras weve used so often... that always produce disappointing photos. The quality of the photos off the 308U are much better and Im happy with them.
This camera has an amazing set of features for the price. A nice LCD display, continuous digital zoom out to 4x, date stamp on the picture if you want it, auto or selected light balance, choices of resolution (dont use the highest interpolated 6.6MP level), 12fps video with playback. How did they cram so much into this little thing for such a small price?
The case is good quality. Although I havent tested it underwater yet but I expect it will perform to 15 as advertized.
On the down side the shutter lag is very long, perhaps 2 seconds or longer. Taking photos of moving subjects, like fish, is going to be a challenge. Its easy to get blurred photos due to the shutter lag. It is easy to push the shutter button and not keep the camera steady until the photo is actually captured 2-3 seconds later. If you just hold still until the photo is captured it works fine. The flash has only one brightness level so if you take a flash photo of something less than about 4 away the whole picture will be mostly white. However if you flash a subject 10 feet away it works well.
I stuck a 128M SD card into it and was able to fit 206 photos on the card using the second highest (3MP) level. I took all those photos, about 20 more with flash, and a couple of 10 second videos, all on the included AA batteries and only used about 1/3 of the battery power. A couple of high power NiMh rechargables should get 300 or more photos on a set of batteries.
Mind you these photos are not going to win you any photo contests but as a point and shoot, with an underwater housing, LCD screen, flash, and video (no sound), this camera more than meets my needs for the intended purpose. This would not be my only camera if I only could have one. But for boating, and snorkeling it will allow me to leave my much more expensive camera at home.
UPDATE: Sadly I just couldnt get this camera to produce reasonable photos. After a great start it let me down. I have returned it to Amazon and now use disposable cameras which arent too great either but better than this little disappointment.
On: 2005-09-17
After dropping a almost new Nikon Coolpix camera in the water and finding out the warranty does not cover water damage, I decided on a camera with a waterproof case. This is not the most sofisticated camera and at best it is mediocre. However, I am an avid boater around water all the time. I found out I have to have a waterproof camera. This camera definately is waterproof when in its case. It works perfectly and takes OK digital photos. I recommend this camera for those who need a waterproof environment. The price is right compared with the cost of just cases for other digital cameras. Read the manual and leave the front slide open when it is in the waterproof case. It shuts off automatically and starts after the push of a back button. I do not regret buying this camera.
On: 2005-09-08
in December 25 2004 buys this camera and today 07 of September
the cam is garbage, dont turn on, I have watched everything
the battery, please dont purchase this cam.
please i have one friend that buy an sony cibershot 3.1 megapixel
and all going excelent.....
On: 2005-06-20
Got this at CompUSA at same price as quoted on Amazon. Fine, basic 3MP fixed optical focal length (no optical zoom) camera which in my mind is worthwhile only because of the submersible housing. The housing is indeed submersible, used it to snap shots of kids in swim practice from in the pool! As it takes SD cards, memory is quite easily expandable.
Easy to use, even with the waterproof housing over the camera, though many controls require you to open up the housing (like switching to view photos after taking them).
Here are my +++ and ---:
+ waterproof housing is indeed submersible, claims up to 15feet
+ basic controls to take photos are indeed available when camera is in housing (digital zoom, switch LCD modes, camera standby, set flash mode)
+ takes regular AA alkalines or NiMH
+ basic digital zoom works OK
+ basic slideshow to TV also OK
- seems to drain AA NiMHs faster than comparable Kodak and Argus cameras Ive had
- LCD isnt very bright in sunny conditions
- lacks optical viewfinder
- flash reflections
- very brief flash of image on LCD after it is stored on SD card
- relatively long delay (few seconds) between shots
- takes a bit of getting used to as there is fraction of a second delay between hitting the button to take photo and when it is recorded on SD card
So, all in all very nice special purpose camera for taking to the beach or swim meets when you wont care if it gets splashed or even dropped in the water!
Weve been using this every day for the past month as I was a bit leery of the durability of this camera. The salespeople REALLY didnt want to sell this brand to me, preferring to upsell me to Kodak, HP, Nikon, et al.
NONE of the other stores I visited had any other submersible camera (other than disposable 35mm) for anything even close to this price! And it has passed its in-store return period with flying colors!
On: 2005-05-17
This is quite possibly the worst camera I have ever operated. I have owned and operated 6 different digital cameras. The flash has two settings; off and auto. The auto mode is more like a random mode. It cant decide when to fire the flash. It seems that it is dark and the flash should fire. Surprise!! Sometimes you get a flash and sometimes you dont. When it does fire, the picture is so over exposed it is unusable. The focus seems to be a fixed focus. In other words, it fixes on anything it wants and nothing you want. The shutter lag is so long, you hope the subject doesnt fall asleep before firing. If your subject doesnt fall asleep, you will waiting for the picture to write to memory. It is useless for much of anything except landscape and buildings photos outside. I purchased this camera for my 11 year old son for a birthday gift. It replaced the disposable film cameras he was using. The pictures from the disposable film camera turned out consistantly better than this piece of junk. When the flash is charged on a disposable camera at least it fires every time. A disposable camera is no frills. This one is quite possibly not only the worst I operated, but the worst camera ever!
On: 2005-05-02
Its light, its inexpensive, its small - AND takes GREAT pics! I keep mine set on the middle settings (pixels) and have taken pics of my kids on go-carts, riding the four-wheeler, bungee jumping - including movies of them bungee jumping! You should read the manual, so you know what all of the little icons are for. I have had no problems with the flash or blurry pics - I dont understand the person that wrote that the camera was terrible - apparently they dont know how to use it.
Great camera - the only downside I have found is that is does take longer to "reset" - if you want to take a quick series of pics, this is not the camera for you - takes about 5-10 seconds to be ready to shoot again - a long time if you are trying to do a series...
 On: 2005-03-22
Considering the dirt-cheap price, this is an okay vacation or backup camera, especially considering that the whole thing is a lot less than an underwater housing alone for any other camera.
At first, I was pretty disturbed by the fuzzy shots I was taking, until I played around with the camera and its settings a bit and READ THE MANUAL.
The first thing to realize is that the camera appears to be fixed-focus. Anything you take in normal mode has to be at least 4 feet away or it will be fuzzy. If the thing youre pointing at appears fuzzy but the background is not, its not because the camera is focusing on the wrong thing; its because youre pointing at something too close. If you back off a bit and use a little digital zoom instead, the final picture will be better.
As mentioned by some others, this camera also has a pretty slow exposure time, especially indoors. The problem is that it has a sensitivity of only IS0 100, but its automatic flash does not come on except in very low light and there is no way to force the flash on. It puts up a "hand" icon if it is too dark to take a freehand shot and you need to steady the camera on a tripod or by leaning against something. Pay attention to the icon, because if you ignore this, you will get a fuzzy shot every time.
Its a shame the makers of the camera didnt design the flash to properly come on whenever its too dark for a handheld shot. If they had that, it would take much better indoor pictures and Id give this camera a 4-star rating. As now, Im still glad I bought it, as now I have a camera I can take to beach, camping, etc without having to worry about it.
On: 2005-01-18
We got the 308 with the underwater housing and took it to Hawaii. I and my girlfriend were very impressed. The underwater housing performed perfectly, and the pictures (taken one step below the highest resolution) were clear and sharp, even when we put them up on a 36inch monitor. Its not as fast and doesnt have as many of the creature comforts as some of the more expencive 3.2s, but that was great for my girl, who didnt want a something that was too complicated, and for the price, it was excellenet. This company makes all the internal camera parts for many of the big companies and now they have their own line, so I thought it was a good gamble, eventhough Id never heard of them before. It comes with all the cables, batteries and software, but youll need to buy your own SD card. We recommend this camera, and were glad to have it on our vacation.
On: 2004-12-29
I should have known when I paid under $100 for a 3mp camera, but it had good reviews and sounded like a good deal. Well, this camera has been nothing but disappointing and just plain useless since I recieved it.
MAJOR ISSUES:
1. Pressing the shoot button takes up to 2 seconds for the camera to respond.
2. When the camera DOES respond it arbitraily decides when to flash, sometimes in total darkness it doesnt flash even when on auto.
3. Camera frequently doesnt focus on the item in the crosshairs.
4. Camera delay makes taking pictures of children almost impossible. Even landscape moves too fast for this camera!!
5. Out of the over 200 pictures I and 3 of my family and friends have tried to take with this device only 10 images of even decent quality have been produced.
6. The webcamera feature is useless unless you are in a floodlit environment.
7. Turning up the exposure to compensate for the lack of low level light photography, comes up with totally washed out GLOWING images...
anyhow, this is the worst piece of tech I have ever bought. Im 33 and a computer developer and tech-o-holic and this thing is aweful... stay away... far far away.
 On: 2004-12-03
The prices of electronics never cease to amaze me. This is my 3rd digital camera. By far the cheapest camera I have purchased - and yet has far better resolution and quality than my previous two (which were, believe it or not, name brands). Digital camera prices have dropped considerably over the past few years and this camera is no exception. It has functions that were, until recently, reserved for only the most expensive cameras out there and is yet still user friendly. The picture quality is extremely good, the memory fair (but you can always get a larger SD), photos print very well (you need to have a decent printer with photo ink for it to compare to normal 35mm - and it does come pretty close), and the battery life is much longer than average. The only complaint I have is the LCDs lack of adequate light, especially in dim environments. But for the price, I would have to be a fool to hold that against it.
On: 2004-11-03
Nice little camera, but it does not take quality pictures. We used this camera for pictures of all kinds and the pictures look great on the camera display, but once they are printed they are very blurry and distorted. Spend the extra money to get something of good quality, this camera is definitely not it.
On: 2004-10-25
This is my first digital camera and it was a gift from a novice so I have no idea how much he spent on it. It is an excellent little camera and very user friendly! The included software is very useful and not just a pile of crap that usually comes with stuff like this. If you have XP, the software is not necessary because it does everything for you, the software just has a bunch of fun extras. The display screen is not very large but this doesnt seem to be a big problem for me since I just wanted a point and shoot camera. It does take some time in between pictures using flash, however, outdoors i never use the flash and it works great! One photo after the other. Doesnt take forever to load the photos onto your PC either! very simple! Would recommend this camera to anyone who is looking for a compact camera and not a lot of bells and whistles! wonderful product! PS... dont be intimidated if you dont recognize the brand name, I was worried myself, but you have no reason to worry!----
i would like to retract this statement. This camera has proven to be AWFUL. After just 3 weeks with this camera, ive decided its terrible. Poor photo quality, time between photos increases as the camera ages and there are so many better ones out there. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. its awful!
On: 2004-10-07
i adore this little camera. i got it for under 70.00 and it works like a charm. clear pictures, nice prints. i would recommend this camera for the first time user. if you have windows xp, it takes all of the hassel of trying to learn it.
the display can be a little dim. and when you use the flash, after pushing the button wait a few seconds..THEN take your picture.
the best features are that its compact you can put in a small purse for work, travel, to a sports event. and for everyday usage. if you are a computer or camera novice, this isnt for you. it has all the bells and whistles the beginner using digital needs.
and it wont break the bank. and amazon has free shipping ; and you get tons of software thats lots of fun to play with. cropping, graphics and so forth.
and finally the manuals (one quick study and the long version)
are easy to understand. but heres a tip: when you get you cd rom, download the driver first then all the rest of the software and restart your computer. read the manual!!!
use photo base 3 to play with see and work with your camera online. all the other stuff is just extras.
the only other thing i can think of that my hinder someone besides the display is trying to fit the usb cable into the tiny slot...but it works : )
i would buy this again for a family member or friend, its worth it!!! : )
On: 2004-09-26
Listen, this may not be the best camera in the world, but when my 9-year old son asked for a Polaroid camera for his birthday, I saw this as a good alternative. Picture quality is good, the resolution is great, and its extremely easy to transfer the pictures to your computer -- just plug in the USB connector and itll show up as a removeable hard drive that you can copy the pictures from. It only holds about 20 pictures at full resolution, but about twice as many at the medium resolution (which is still pretty descent). If I had bought a Polaroid instead, I would have spent $80 so far just on the film he would have taken. Plus, with the video cable, you can plug it right into your TV, which my son did at the end of his birthday party, so everybody could enjoy seeing all the pictures he took all day long. The cost and ease of use makes this a good starter camera.
On: 2004-09-19
This camera is nice and clean, but the performance is lagging when it comes to processing time and overall photo quality. The digital zoom is best left alone because results end up being out of focus. The 1.5 inch display is fine for lighted photos, but during dances or night time events you are totally unable to view what you are trying to take a photo of. For the price it is average, but for a little more money you can purchase a better camera with an optical zoom.
On: 2004-09-18
The camera with the "U" designation is really the only thing that makes this camera worth it. Otherwise it would be a substandard 3 megapixel camera with fair optics, slow startup and picture-taking response time, hard to handle, battery-eating import. With the U it comes with a waterproof enclosure that works down to around 15 feet (ive had mine in a foot and seemed ok).
If youre looking for daytime outdoor watersport photos, itll do, and for around $100 and some change, its worth it. Dont use the flash with the underwater housing or youll get a glare in the same spot in every picture. I bought this for times when i couldnt take my good camera out (rain, kayaking etc). And for this, its a decent camera. It doesnt deliver 3MP, more like a 1.2, even though the literature says its software delivers 6MP interpolated. Yah, right. But if youre after internet shots or 4x6 final prints, you should be happy, with one caveat: It requires a steady hand in anything but day-bright light. It seems to take the picture about the time you release (not depress) the button, so be aware that its so slow that you may have moved on to the next shot, but the cameras still working. To take a shot, depress the button halfway, tell everyone to say cheese, depress the button fully and then slowly remove your finger. By the time you hear the 2nd beep, you shouldve gotten a good shot. After this it still takes 6 - 7 seconds processing time so dont expect to snag the action shots!
Also, buy an SD card as it only has a little bit of memory internally and youre gonna go thru batteries (but only uses 2 AA), so get a charger too.
On: 2004-09-08
This cam is an import, I cant remember if it was built in Taiwan or China; either way its definitely not from the USA.
The max resolution is complete overkill. For such an anemic sensor, they should not have tried to make 6MP from 3MP. The picture quality has been below average when set to 3MP. At 6MP, the quality is exceptionally poor.
Avoid the Digital Zoom, unless you like really blurry pics. Two thumbs down for me.
On: 2004-09-03
First off, this camera is not made in the USA as indicated online. Creates poor choppy and grainy video.
I would not recomend this camera, spend a little bit more and get good camera with 3x Optical Zoom.
On: 2004-08-31
this camera is pesky. the settings wouldnt save, the flash is off by default.
it seriously needs a viewfinder, you cant see anything, even in a very well lit room. the pictures are horrible, and dark, and very very grainy.
with the flash, the pictures are really overexposed, and most pictures are worthless. please do not even consider this camera.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-28
I bought this camera for vacation and it was great. the pictures were great and i would reccomend this camera because it a good camera for the money
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-11
If you need a digital camera and you dont want to spend a fortune. You can buy this camera. Its great and even if it only works for a year or two at least you can get your moneys worth.
Give it a try... Ive had mine for about 4 months and its still in great condition...
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