Recommendations for best underwater macro setup that's not dslr

[gstrek]

The sensor is quite small though, only 12MP which is the same as my compact. Do you mean the A7R??

Good catch - the a6000 / a6300 is 24MP. The a7R (and a7s) series is full frame but way out of my budget. I would guess even at 12MP the image quality is going to be pretty good on the s7s.

 

[Plashb199]

The sensor is quite small though, only 12MP which is the same as my compact. Do you mean the A7R??

no the a7s, a7sII is what i mean. i think they've sacrificed higher megapixel range in order to improve the dynamic range of the sensor. which as a natural light photographer i will Gladly give up. given that megapixel numbers at some point are almost negligible unless you're planning and printing a HUGE print. check out some sample photos/footage of it. its a beast for its price.

 

[Plashb199]

Not to derail the question originally posted but am considering getting an U/W housing for our Sony a6000.

Do you know if you can set the internal strobe on the a7S or a7SII to 1/64 (or some fractional power) to trigger an external strobe set to manual. With my Olympus, I can set it to either TTL or fractional power for use with my S&S YS01 set to TTL or Manual accordingly.

The Sony a6000 and it is unable to be set for a fractional power on the strobe. Implications for this are battery life (which is not that great anyways), strobe recycle time and difficulty (if it is even possible) to shoot a fiber optic triggered S&S in manual. Great image quality and everything else on the Sony a6000 series (other than strobe setting and battery life).

gstrek I'm not entirely sure. like i said in my original post. if i had the extra cash I'd buy one. so no real long term hands on with the camera. my buddy has one and from what he tells me, its a game changer. 4k raw, and like I've said before it can basically shoot in no light.

 

[scubadada]

Hi,

I am upgrading my setup from a canon s95 which becomes my backup. I loved this camera and it yielded quality images with wet lens and strobe.

I am looking to spend Max £2.5k for a setup. Ideally nauticam housing but ikelite would do. I have people saying the Sony a6300 with 90mm lens is choice now but others say g7 X mark ii will yield quality macro, even Olympus tg4 has been recommended but seems a step back.

I will eventually go dslr once I find time to dive more to justify the outlay and when I can take long trips to justify the weight during travel.

I have a ys-01 strobe so needs to work with that and I favour super macro if that helps. I don't shoot much video tbh.

Any help would be great as I am a bit stuck. Compact vs mirrorless vs cheapest dslr in a cheaper housing ????

Thanks in advance

Hi pughio83,

I messed around with a Canon compact and then an Olympus compact, both in factory housings, for about 10 years. I finally decided to get a better camera for both stills and video. I doubt I'll ever be very serious about underwater photography and videography and sometimes do not even take my camera.

I bought a Canon G7X with the Nauticam housing, vacuum system, and compact macro converter with flip adaptor. Like you, I already had one strobe. The setup cost about $2500, that would leave you about $800 in your budget to spend on other things you may need. This system is certainly not in the league with the mirrorless and DSLR setups but does a very good job for what I need, reasonable wide angle and macro as well as video. The one button white balance is great advantage and it does shoot in RAW. The system does require a short port for optimum wet, wide angle lens use.

Best of luck, good diving, Craig

 

[James R]

The price of the A7 series and their lenses is why I didn't suggest them to the OP. Love them. I considered going with the A7 II last year, but I had lenses and ports for the Nikon DSLRs I had already been using so it was easier to get a housing for my D810. Once in the water I never wish I had anything else, but getting it there is another story!

 

[pughio83]

Ok thanks. I will look at the a7s. I am leaning towards the a6300 with Sony 90mm lens but i may end up spending a little more if go with nauticam housing. I like the 4K footage as well. I agree MP is not everything. Would love the Nikon 810 but so pricey for everything. Decision decisions

 

[JackConnick]

Nobody really mentioned the new Nikon D500 and for macro a cropped frame sensor really can't be beat. Large, bright viewfinder, 4k video, extremely fast AF and available lenses like the 60mm AF-S make a killer combo. This camera can literally focus in the dark.

That being said, the a6300 and 45 or 90mm lenses should work very nicely. It's 4D focus system has a blend of phase detect AF points that is much better than the a6000.

Unfortunately, it still lacks true manual flash control; you can only turn down the EV to a low level. It's max of 1/160th sync speed is pretty weak too. It is a better video camera with many of the controls and quality of the a7II.

Overall if you just want to do stills, the E-M1 with the 60mm is probably a better camera, but it's certainly weaker for video.

There's quite a price difference in setting up a DSLR vs. MIR system and size and weight has really driven divers towards the latter.

 

[pughio83]

Thanks. I had ruled out the em 1 as the MP was only 16 and my compact 12 MP but I understand that I needed to crop a lot with my compact so lost some detail where as I assume with the em 1 and a 60mm lens the need for crop should be less.

 

[JackConnick]

Don't fall into the MP trap. The sensor size is the bigger "picture" ;-). Sharpness, detail and dynamic range will be much better.

 

[bvanant]

I agree with Jack. OLY/Panasonic with the 60 mm macro lens. 17 mm full frame subject (2 x typical 100 macro on full frame). Add the CMC and you will shoot things 8 mm or smaller.
Not sure you can do this for 2.5K but close. I would look at a used EM-1 or a new EM-10.
Bill