High-end point and shoot options

[TravelDave]

So to narrow down your choices probably make a call about whether you want great wideangle and ok macro (rx100ii, s120, g7x)
...or great macro and ok wideangle (g16, pany lx7, oly xz-2)

Kind of a Sophie's Choice thing.

Sounds like I should plan on the major investment being in strobes, arms, etc. I may then do something like the G16 where I can get into the camera and housing at a reasonable cost (eapecially since no additional ports are needed. Can then upgrade camera and housing down the road while keeping the other equipment.

Was considering the Sony A5000 which is dirt cheap on Black Friday, but only one housing (Nauticam at $1350) available and that still needs a $300 port for the standard lens. Camera and housing would be more like $2000 vs $900 on G16.

Thoughts on strobes, etc?

thanks to all for the input.

 

[sunnyboy]

At the risk of repeating myself, I love my G16 with the Ikelite TTL housing (not that expensive). I've got the housing, plus a sync cord, 1in arms and a DS51 strobe, plus the dual arm tray. On the other arm I put my Sola 1200 video light which also acts as a great focus light.

I'm diving off Vancouver Island, so 99+% of the photography is macro for the simple reason that visibility is usually not the greatest (although 50+ ft in fall/winter is OK).

I do not find the single DS51 to be limiting under our conditions, and I love being able to use relatively cheap AA batteries. The sola is a great video light, and ofsets any problem with focus you may have heard about the G16 in video mode. I do love the true HD, which is one reason I upgraded from my old A570is gear.

I have never had an issue with the Ikelite housings. My first one, for the A570is has never had an issue in many years of salt water diving at depths up to 200fsw. I really can't complain at all about my own experiences with Ikelite.

 

[tursiops]

At the risk of repeating myself, I love my G16 with the Ikelite TTL housing (not that expensive). I've got the housing, plus a sync cord, 1in arms and a DS51 strobe, plus the dual arm tray. On the other arm I put my Sola 1200 video light which also acts as a great focus light.

I'm diving off Vancouver Island, so 99+% of the photography is macro for the simple reason that visibility is usually not the greatest (although 50+ ft in fall/winter is OK).

I do not find the single DS51 to be limiting under our conditions, and I love being able to use relatively cheap AA batteries. The sola is a great video light, and ofsets any problem with focus you may have heard about the G16 in video mode. I do love the true HD, which is one reason I upgraded from my old A570is gear.

I have never had an issue with the Ikelite housings. My first one, for the A570is has never had an issue in many years of salt water diving at depths up to 200fsw. I really can't complain at all about my own experiences with Ikelite.

Is it possible to get at all the camera controls with the Ikelite housing?

 

[MrEvanJ1]

If you aren't going to dig deep and get an aluminium housing, the canon or fantasea polycarbonate housings for the g16 are worth your consideration.
The canon one lacks the front dial access though, I believe, which for someone who shoots manual and likes to control the shutter speed quickly and easily, is something important to consider. The fantasea does have that dial, a way to raise and lower the flash while inside the housing, and a removable cover that goes over the camera flash window to let you connect up to 2 optic Fibre cables for strobes that sync optically.

If you get an ikelite ttl housing you'll end up having to get ikelite strobes with them and the sync cord which will streamline you into the ikelite system if you want to bring the strobes to a subsequent camera system.
If you go for the optically triggered strobes then you can easily migrate them to almost any other camera system in the future.
Good suggestions for strobes than can do ttl and manual shooting via fiber optic would be inon s2000, or sea and sea ys-01/ys-02 (manual only)/ys-03(ttl only).
They're nice compact strobes that are more than sufficient for close up work that a g16 setup will excel at, and bright enough for close focus wide angle, and moderate wideangle shooting.
I use 2 ys-01s with my g15 setup and find them great.
Divervision had them at a much more attractive price than anywhere else I was looking when I was putting my setup together.

 

[Peter Guy]

While not a pure point-n-shoot, don't ignore the Olympus Pen series of cameras with Olympus housings. With the kit lens, you get a very good all around system. I don't know what they go for these days, but periodically they can be had quite inexpensively. And, of course, if you like them, you can continue to add more lenses, ports, etc. so that the system grows as your photography grows.

 

[Interceptor121]

I did a comprehensive comparison some time ago
2014 Compact Camera for Underwater Photo & Video Round Up | Interceptor121 Underwater Photo & Video Blog
I would add that the RX100 Mark III does not add to the mix and the Canon G7X is similar but not superior to the RX100 and has less battery life and no TTL flash

So RX100 Mark II still the winner overall

If you are interested in super macro a smaller sensor camera like the Canon S series is probably still the best due to smaller comparable aperture

The new Panasonic LX100 will not add to the mix due to the lack of fisheye option and the limited zoom a similar issue to the RX100 mark III. Could be a winner in video though

 

[TravelDave]

While not a pure point-n-shoot, don't ignore the Olympus Pen series of cameras with Olympus housings. With the kit lens, you get a very good all around system. I don't know what they go for these days, but periodically they can be had quite inexpensively. And, of course, if you like them, you can continue to add more lenses, ports, etc. so that the system grows as your photography grows.

Thanks - I just started looking at this route, and it may be a good choice. Olympus E-PL5 looks like a solid camera. I think I can get the camera for around $500 and a housing (including port for the kit lens) for around $700. Seems like a pretty good value and a lot of room to grow. Not a whole lot more than a G16 setup and looks pretty good.

 

[scottwilson1]

Hi guys , sorry if I'm doing this wrong but want to jump in on this topic,
I just got back from my first dive trip , I had a friends gopro and it was kinda cool and got a decent video
but I really don't think a gopro is going to cut it with what i want to do, I saw my first nudi branch and I'm memorized
by there beauty, I have basically zero experience with cameras other than using them to point and click - i only know that
macro is for close up so yeah very limited exp, what kind of basic camera would be recommended to capture there beauty ?

I'm still new to diving only 13 dives so simple is best at this point
Thanks guys ( and girls )

 

[TravelDave]

Hi guys , sorry if I'm doing this wrong but want to jump in on this topic,
I just got back from my first dive trip , I had a friends gopro and it was kinda cool and got a decent video
but I really don't think a gopro is going to cut it with what i want to do, I saw my first nudi branch and I'm memorized
by there beauty, I have basically zero experience with cameras other than using them to point and click - i only know that
macro is for close up so yeah very limited exp, what kind of basic camera would be recommended to capture there beauty ?

I'm still new to diving only 13 dives so simple is best at this point
Thanks guys ( and girls )

You could still potentially get decent macro with a GoPro if you add an attachment. As I'm typing this post, I see an ad for Backscatter's Macromate Mini, which would attach to the front of the housing. Backscatter also has a FLIP3.1 55mm +10 Macro Lens and I think they have a Flip3 that is a combo of a red filter (for better color) and a macro filter. I'm guessing PolarPro has something similar. I have not tried these with my GoPro.

If you are fairly new to diving, I'd probably stick with a modified GoPro or some other kind of point and shoot in a housing. I got decent close-up pictures with my old Canon point and shoot with the built in strobe (though not true macro pics). A more complicated setup would probably be distracting from basic diving (you don't want to task overload).

 

[scottwilson1]

You could still potentially get decent macro with a GoPro if you add an attachment. As I'm typing this post, I see an ad for Backscatter's Macromate Mini, which would attach to the front of the housing. Backscatter also has a FLIP3.1 55mm +10 Macro Lens and I think they have a Flip3 that is a combo of a red filter (for better color) and a macro filter. I'm guessing PolarPro has something similar. I have not tried these with my GoPro.

If you are fairly new to diving, I'd probably stick with a modified GoPro or some other kind of point and shoot in a housing. I got decent close-up pictures with my old Canon point and shoot with the built in strobe (though not true macro pics). A more complicated setup would probably be distracting from basic diving (you don't want to task overload).

Thanks for the info Dave, I really want to keep it simple until I'm more adept at diving.