Next Camera after GoPro w/Video Lights Setup

[El_Flamingo]

@outofofficebrb Any opinion on the difference between the RX100 Series and A6xxx series?

Agree on the TG, my primary dive buddy just got one and is taking some pretty impressive macro shots without a separate macro lens on his first time using it. I'm just looking for something I can "grow" with as my photography skills develop - namely manipulating manual settings and accepting a wider variety of lenses.

 

[outofofficebrb]

@outofofficebrb Any opinion on the difference between the RX100 Series and A6xxx series?

Agree on the TG, my primary dive buddy just got one and is taking some pretty impressive macro shots without a separate macro lens on his first time using it. I'm just looking for something I can "grow" with as my photography skills develop - namely manipulating manual settings and accepting a wider variety of lenses.

I do not know how the current models compare, but previously, the manual white balance on the RX100 would max out and still require a bit of post-process compared to the Canon. I don't think you can go wrong with either. Perhaps you pick based on pricing and availability of housings within the budget you have allocated. Canon and Sony menus are very different so if you are used to one or the other or have a current land camera that is one or the other, that may swing your vote a bit. The new RX100s have changed drastically in their zoom capabilities so I am a bit out of touch with the comparison to current G7X models. Keep us posted. I can't wait to see what you end up putting together!

Reach out to the folks at Backscatter - they are super helpful.

 

[CBPaige]

I went from GoPro to a Canon G7X ii, one strobe =YS-D2

 

[Germie]

Those natural light photos look amazing - hard to get that kind of lighting here in the Puget Sound, too dark and so much stuff floating in the water.

I have some nice ones with natural light in our dark murky waters from pikes. Have to look them up.

I showed them, including the cave pictures to show that good videolights also can give good pictures. Maybe a little bit limited according to strobes, but to start with you can do.
I must have somewhere also pictures where I was using only 1 2500 lumen light in caves. There you see the limits, but still not that bad pictures. Everything is better than taking pictures with a gopro. The crocodile is one of my favorites, a beginner lucky shot. But it shows that a lot is possible without strobes.

The pictures I showed here, I only had 3 months a real camera, so I was a beginner in photography. I never took any course, but from the beginning I bought a real camera I used the manual mode.

The big advantage of using strobes is that you can use the EV-calculation of the camera in caves and dark water. With strobes you cannot use that measurment of light intensity and you have to find out all over again.

 

[Germie]

No lights, no strobes, no post processing. In that time I only shooted in jpg.

First macro attempts with the 60mm lens, and 2 videolights (in this time I started also shooting in raw):

 

[Chris Ross]

The problem with the Sony A6xxx series is limited lens choice. Little 1" sensor compacts used to be a great choice that many were happy with but the latest models have super zoom lenses that limit their usefullness with wet lens. If you are just shooting macro this is less of a problem.

The issue is the lens zoom in a lot and get very long. Wet lenses for small stuff or to go extra wide need to have the front lens element very close to the port glass to be effective. So if the port is long enough for full zoom, the lens is too far back from the port to properly support a wide lens as you need to zoom in to avoid vignetting. If you use a short port (a lot of housings limit zoom as standard or can change to a short port) then you can't zoom in enough to get good macro.

In new cameras the best compromise in this regard is the Panasonic LX-10 followed by the G7X cameras from Canon. You may think you don't want wet lenses, but you did talk about room to grow. You can pick up older models second hand quite cheap for example this ad: For Sale - Nauticam NA-LX10 Pro Package + Lumix DMC-LX10 + Light & Motion Sola 3500 + Wide & Macro Lenses LN

or for a little more you could get an older mirrorless setup like this one: For Sale - Olympus EM-1 Setup, Complete or you could wait about for one with a Nauticam housing for a bit more still.

Look through the ads on here and wetpixel till you find something attractive I would not expect to pay a great deal more than 50% of new price.

 

[El_Flamingo]

@Germie That's a great shot for your first macro attempt.

@Chris Ross Sounds like you're an advocate for buying used - anything you think is worth buying new? Or related question, any sort of specific equipment to avoid buying used?

 

[Chris Ross]

Not necessarily - It all depends on your budget and patience and aspirations. I suggested used as you were talking about a Sony A6xxx or other mirrorless and a $5K budget. You can house a one those quite cheaply in a cheap housing, but you get what you pay for and would limit your options and image quality somewhat. If your $5K budget is firm-ish I could see two ways to go:

A new 1" sensor compact with two INON S-2000 strobes in a Nauticam housing for a G7X-III (or a Panasonic LX_10) will set you back maybe $3.5K leaving a reasonable budget for wet lenses. You'd then have a pretty nice compact system within your budget.

Or you could get a single strobe macro package with an EM-1 MkII Olympus - Optical Ocean has a package for $5.6K but you would be buying ports/lens to go wide angle later maybe an additional $2K for a Zen 170mm dome port and Oly 12-40 lens or similar money for a small dome and fisheye lens and probably another strobe and arm for $1K so about $8.6K for a mirrorless package that will do 1:1 macro and wide angle. so this is over your budget but you should be able to pick up something similar second hand if you are patient for maybe $4.5K?? This would be a nice package but you probably would wait a while to find something like that and may well have to buy it piecemeal.

On used equipment - most stuff should be fine - be aware the S&S YS-D2 strobes don't have a great reputation so buying used is probably more of a lottery. I would highly recommend getting a system with a vacuum alarm - both those prices above would include the valve on a Nauticam housing. I'd suggest once you have decided a general direction ask some more specific questions around that choice. You're in Seattle and you have a big UW camera retailer in town - might be worth dropping in there to see the equipment in person to see what you are dealing with on each of the options.

 

[El_Flamingo]

Alright makes sense, I appreciate the breakdown and estimate on costs - it can get a little confusing to get a clear picture of how much the bottom line would be.

$5k isn't a hard budget - just what I think I'd be comfortable as a novice spending on a camera setup I would use for 3-4 years (expecting to acquire some more accessories/lenses along the way after that initial outlay). Not sure if I'm getting ahead of myself coming from a GoPro but I think getting quality images and constant positive feedback from a good system will make me get more out of an investment than saving money initially but not getting the results I want.

I assume you're talking about Optical Ocean Sales - I need to pop over there and check it out, my dive buddy actually just picked up a compact setup over there last week and recommended it as well.

 

[Chris Ross]

Yes, OOS, I think you are fortunate to have a large retailer in town - I think it is worthwhile looking at how big all this stuff is and how it handles and talk to people who deal with UW photo gear all the time. I'd also think about where you are diving - assume it's local and potentially macro focused in the Pacific NW, so it could make sense to get a macro rig and add a wide angle later, but that's just guessing on my part.

There's lots of options for housings/cameras so think about the choice from a total system side of things - lens availability - price of lenses - port availability. I have a EM-1 mkII/Nauticam housing and i chose that based upon lens range and the wide range of ports available for them It's also nice that the lens are significantly cheaper than DSLR lenses and they don't require the really big ports which is nice for travel.