Any RX100 VII field reports w/ Nauticam?

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morty343

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Location
Minneapolis, MN
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Just wondering if anyone has used this camera underwater, esp. with the Nauticam housing. I'm curious how well wide angle lenses like the Inon UWL-H100 will work when attached to the optional short port, can the camera be used zoomed fully wide without vignetting, if not, what is the equiv 35MM zoom needed to remove vignetting? Thanks
 
Can you record 4k video with it at 30 fps for 1 hour continuously? In other words, is it a GoPro killer?
 
It also now has Active SteadyShot for 4K as well, which IMO is a nice addition. And the updated tracking focus finally looks reliable enough to be a big help underwater for shooting close/mid-range video of things like reef squid.

It's a shame that Nauticam kits can't be ordered with a choice of port. My instinct is it would be most versatile (for my uses) with a 67mm N50 short port. I have a 67mm-to-bayonet adapter for Inon LD lenses. The short port would let me use my UWL-H100 28LD at 28mm for wide, and quickly switch to a UCL-100LD at 70mm for "close-ups" (then could stack my UCL-330 on top of that for semi-macro). Of course not getting a standard port would mean I wouldn't be able to do full 200mm zoom + wet lens for super-macro, but I gather that it's challenging to get decent results in that configuration anyway and would require me to buy the $250 hinge bracket for the standard port plus a 67mm macro lens to boot.
 
Ye I'm a fan of super macro!! So this for me is a big selling point. You mentioned it would be challenging...I have the original RX100 and often have 2 x wet diopters screwed on to the front...so I can completely understand the challenges with knife edge DOF. What are people finding challenging with the VII set-up?

There are third party manufacturers that produce the flip lens adapter for half the price of what Nauticam is selling it. But you are right the short port definitely does get you pretty much back to what the RX100 VA gives you....but with the better video and focus tracking....so I can understand why it would be appealing and certainly more versatile.
 
Ye I'm a fan of super macro!! So this for me is a big selling point. You mentioned it would be challenging...I have the original RX100 and often have 2 x wet diopters screwed on to the front...so I can completely understand the challenges with knife edge DOF. What are people finding challenging with the VII set-up?

There are third party manufacturers that produce the flip lens adapter for half the price of what Nauticam is selling it. But you are right the short port definitely does get you pretty much back to what the RX100 VA gives you....but with the better video and focus tracking....so I can understand why it would be appealing and certainly more versatile.

My assumptions about the difficulty of super macro are based on Backscatter's review for them RX100 VI, which is physically (optically) identical to the VII. And the flip adapter for super macro is the proprietary unit for Nauticam's rectangular standard port, I'm not aware of any third party options there..
 
I have the RX100 M6 with the nauticam setup, including the flip and the CMC-2 diopter. I can tell you that you can do crazy super-macro stuff with that combination. The diopter allows you do full zoom (200mm) as far as you stay at 8cm from the subject (you must stay at that distance, otherwise the subject will not be in focus). What I do is to use manual focus enabling the focus peaking. This with the screen magnifier helps me a lot to see what is in focus.

The minimal zoom with the diopter to avoid vignetting is around 55mm, so you can shoot even mid size subjects as far as they don't move too much (remember you must be around 8cm). For your reference, the octopus is shoot at 52mm with the diopter (you can see some vignetting). The nudi is shot with full zoom, no crops. That nudi was the size of a grain of rice.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Xei1-JfTlb0gDjfFnphskjWBC6bPnMQP

I have also tested the SMC-1, but i find the CMC-2 much more flexible. The SMC-1 requires you to zoom in more than 70mm to avoid vignetting.
 
Wow that nudi shot is great, and even more impressive due to NO cropping!!! I know how tiny those guys are, saw a number of them in Tulamben recently. I definitely cropped this a touch! I had 2 x +7-ish diopters screwed on the front.....and I have probably less the 5cm over working space! So 8cm sounds great! ha ha I should actually measure it and see.

49302741253_0072607120.jpg
Beautiful beast by Alex Mitchell, on Flickr

Were you really only 8cm away from the Octo??

Glad the macro setup is working for you. Have you got a WA set-up?

I have the Inon WA lens and definitely would want to make sure it was compatible with any new camera I get.
 
Thanks AlMitch

Yes, must be 8cm otherwise no focus. that octo was quite small, something like a mouse.

For WA I'm using the Nauticam WWL-1 and the short port, but the Inon you have should also work. If you're getting Nauticam housing, you need the short port in order to use the wide angle lens. The port has a standard M67 thread. Not sure with the Inon, but with the WWL-1 you have to zoom in around 35mm to avoid vignetting.

Note that with the short port, your maximum zoom is reduced to 70mm, as the lens cannot extend further (Like the RX100 M5), so you're limited to wide for the dive, unless you swap the WA lens with the diopter. I don't find it very practical... Nauticam advertises their bayonet system allowing you to easily swap, but where you put the WA lens for the rest of the dive ? ?
 

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