Buy Sony RX100v or house my 5dmkii

[chris kippax]

My trusty Canon G12 is well over due for retirement. I am stuck on whether to buy a Nauticam rx100mkv system or find a used Aquatica housing for my topside Camera a Canon 5dmkii. I have become accustomed to the sharpness of my 5dmkii and L series glass. I don’t want to purchase the Sony Rx100 mkv and feel let down by the sharpness of the images. I know the 5dmkii is old tech but it still takes excellent images, plus some of the Aquatica parts will be reusable on a 5dmkiv system in the future, along with lenses I already have. Has anyone had a similar dilemma and which way did you go?
Thanks Chris

 

[npole]

One thing you should consider, the quality of underwater pictures can be very different than the quality you're accustomed of having outside. Mostly is due to the light (in combination with the lens used).
I have a Oly EM5 MkII that is capable of producing quality shots (and videos) outside of water, eventually much better than a RX100... but underwater the story is different.
I've yet to see a camera of that size that is capable of producing better results than a RX100V, especially in the video department, at similar price, underwater.
For the still pictures only maybe the situation is different... I do more videos than photos.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Do you plan to travel with your Canon topside camera as well as the RX if you get one or do you just plan to travel with 1? It’s a lot of gear to haul.

I would also consider the IV instead of V. It has better battery life and will make a difference for diving when you can’t change the battery. You’ll save some money and the improvements on the V will be negligible underwater such as the focus speed improvement.

 

[chris kippax]

Not worried about video as I prefer stills. I would like to take my slr for topside photography so that is a very good point.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Not worried about video as I prefer stills. I would like to take my slr for topside photography so that is a very good point.

While I love my RX and have the Nauticam setup and vacuum valve with ultralight arms and clamps with floats with Sea & Sea YS-D2s plus a Sola video light, I can’t imagine traveling with the gear that I have PLUS a DSLR and everything you need for that with lenses, body, accessories, batteries, filters and polarizers, speedlights, etc. I don’t know where you dive but many places internationally are quite strict with the carry on weights and sizes unlike North America and it would be a struggle to carry on all that gear, not to mention having to schlep it along with your regular dive gear. For simplicity’s sake and because you already have a good camera you like and are familiar with topside, I feel like that’s the best way to go. the controls will be second nature to you underwater as well which will reduce your task load and air consumption.

You would have to invest more money to get a RX going in the Nauticam housing that you want. You’d just need to buy a used Aquatics housing for your DSLR. You’ll probably want a wide angle lens and a diopter/macro lens for both situations but the DSLR ones will probably be much more expensive in my experience.

 

[Chris Ross]

I had a similar decision, house my 1DMkIV or get something dedicated for UW. I went with an Olympus EM-5MkII. The price for the housings was a significant difference, in Australia a Nauticam housing was $7k and the EM-5 MII $2.2K. The DSLR housings are much bigger and heavier and harder to push through the water. DSLR lenses also require big domes for Wide angle. More weight, carry on size, effort in water.

Speaking of water it's a bit of an equaliser, needing to place your wide angle glass behind a dome port robs it off sharpness, there are threads around the new Nauticam WWL and WACP lenses, the whole premise of which is that the dome is the limiting factor, the claim with the WWL is that a 14-42 kit lens with WWL out performs the likes of a 7-14 pro lens in a a big dome. Similarly the WACP is built around small kit 28-70 f3.5-5.6 lenses. The claim is that the degradation caused by the dome is enough to bring the pro lens down to the level of a kit lens, but placing the kit lens behind the WWL it performs as well as it does on land. I'm more than happy with the oly lenses and I have L glass for my Canon.

I can carry on my OM-D Nauticam housing with tray/handles, 170mm Zen dome, OM-D camera, 12-40 f2.8 zoom, two Z-240's plus my 1DMKIV and 300mm f4 in a regulation size domestic carry on, fitted out with padded dividers. That's what I took to Ningaloo earlier this year. When I was buying my system, the person in the shop told me they didn't even try to carry on their DSLR rig, but were resigned to placing it in a Pelican case and checking it. With my setup my flash arms, clamps, chargers etc get checked with my dive gear.

I've now got an EM-1 MkII (started with EM-5 MkII 2 1/2 yrs ago) and it runs rings around my old iDMKIV in some areas.

What type of shooting are you proposing to do? wide angle? macro? both? tropical or temperate mostly? I've found for temperate shooting round Sydney year round the 12-40 lens does great, I also have the 60mm macro for nudis etc.

I'm selling my EM-5 MKII Nauticam housing and camera if that's of any interest. housing, camera, tray, handles for the price of the bare housing new.

 

[mattia_v]

My travel kit is an Rx100 mark I in an Acquapazza housing (lighter and smaller than a Nauticam, full controls, Alu housing) with a few second hand wet lenses. The mark II or mark IV/V would improve AF slightly I'd think.

Size and price were the deciding factors for me; my topside cameras are an Oly E-M1 or a Sony A7r (soon to be mark III); the latter would undoubtedly be better underwater but still much bigger, and a lot heavier with the system I would shoot it with - a WWL and macro wet lens on a 28/2.0 prime. Don't like having to choose between wide and macro.

In terms of packing, the rx100 housing is a bit smaller than your 5D body. I can pack my rx100 with Inon S-2000 strobe, and a limited A7r kit (nonsuper telephoto) easily in an under 7kg bag. I think 7kg would actually allow me to take the E-m1 and a telephoto zoom as well, to be honest.

 

[James R]

I used to shoot a RX100, now a Nikon DSLR.

Honestly, travel with it is not that much of an issue. I carry on only the body and lenses I need, which are usually my 16-35, 105, and 15 FE. I might carry a 24-70 for topside, but usually just my 50mm prime. Many international routes, especially to SE Asia from the US, have a 7kg carry-on limit, which (even when you push it a bit) doesn't allow for even a compact system & strobes. I check housing, strobes, ports, arms/clamps, and all the rest in a SKB case (similar to Pelican), which is pretty big, and usually 60-65lbs. I could have gone one size smaller and saved a few pounds there.

I often think about downsizing, but never once I am in the water...and if I do it right, which is never a sure-thing, the results speak for themselves.

 

[Hoag]

The underwater world is a hostile environment for a camera, so I try very hard to be meticulous in how I prep a camera to go underwater. Having said that, I am also aware that mistakes and accidents do happen so I view any camera that I take underwater as one that I can live with the total loss of if one of those accidents happen.

Above the surface, my "go to camera" is a Canon 6D. My underwater and back up camera is a Sony A6000.

If I were making the same decision that you are looking at, I would have to ask "If my housing flooded and my 5D MK2 was a total loss, would I be OK with my decision to put it at risk?" If you are not, then my advice is to get a camera that you could answer yes to the above question and then to make every effort to ensure that it never has to put your answer to the test.

I really like my A6000, and right now, there are some very good deals on for "Cyber Monday".

 

[James R]

Good point, Hoag. My complete system is insured 100% - if it floods, I'm out a camera for the rest of the trip, at worst.