Now I am starting to look at the Sony A6600. But things could change. Sony seems to bring stuff out around July or August, so before I dump a large sum of money into a new system I’ll see what’s coming.
I just went with the Sony A6400. If you go Sony I would recommend that over the A6600. The reason is that the IBIS is not that useful UW and I managed without it since I got my first camera in 1964. The big thing is the A6400 has an onboard flash, the A6600 does not. That leaves you dependent upon other party flash triggers for your strobes or wired sync. And many lenses have OSS and work fine for surface needs. I did add the UWT trigger but I can revert to camera onboard flash if needed. The UWT trigger adds a lot of flexibility in theory to the system. I will let you know how it works out. But, it appears to address several issues. The Sony always gives a preflash, the A6400 and A6600 have been sped up over the previous generation per reviews I have read on this. But the UWT trigger eliminates the onboard strobe and preflash entirely when it is engaged in the hotshoe.
The Sony autofocus is amazing, the sensor and the engine are amazing and the larger sensor is known to have greater dynamic range than M4:3 systems. Look at the purchase as a system, can it do what you want as a total package? I wound up with Nauticam because their housings integrate with the camera so fully that the camera is EASIER to operate in the housing than in hand and all controls including flash ON and OFF are available. And they had the wonderful WWL-1 semi-fisheye water contact wide angle lens for a FOV of 130+.
I looked at corporate profiles, Olympus, Nikon and Canon have been bleeding cash like stuck pigs in their camera and consumer imaging businesses. Only Sony made a handy profit. There were rumors of Olympus filing. Sony recently has allowed other party lens manufacturers more access to their mount so that should improve lens selections in the future.
The bad with the Sony, well, the 1/160 is not that big of a deal, I wish it were 1/200 but 1/60 was standard for film SLRs forever. I will just have to work with it. The battery life is CIPA 410 shots, mediocre at best and there is no proper, dedicated fisheye lens. But Nauticam addresses this with an onboard battery pack that does seem to provide at least a 50% battery boost and an amazing aluminum housing and the WWL-1 lens to cover my wide angle (kit lens and Sigma 19mm f2.8). I am also setting up for my old Inon UWL100/dome with the Rokinon 24mm f2.8 but it looks like there I may need to go to a shorter port (Macro Port 35) or use with the kit 15-50mm f3.5.
I kept going to stores wherever I could and handling the various cameras, none of them had the autofocus engine the Sony cameras have. And I like the form factor for surface photography.
There is no perfect camera, just a bunch of compromises. Full frame, well, the size, cost and lack of portability is just a killer for me. I can see it for a professional who shoots for money or a gifted enthusiast moving up to pro level or somebody who can afford it and a man servant to tote it, sure go ahead.
N
