Yeah Puffer Fish... I started this as a film shooter, loved to do multiple exposures and creative shots on film. And was VERY skeptical about digital uw... I skipped the D100 and D70, bought a D50 for topside only, dived a little bit with a D80. Did my last dive with film less than a year ago!
I was also very skeptical on APS-C Sized sensors... VERY.
But once I got it I started to think this way:
You're absolutely right about uwphoto being mostly wide¯o.
Macro wise:
- Today I get a 90mm by the price of a 60mm.
- My beloved 105mm is now a 160mm close to the 200mm that I used to dream about;
- With the crop factor I rarely take my TC out with me, and when I do WOW!
- The new 85DX just add another flavor to it, one more with the 35mm macro.
WA wise:
- I choose my 10.5mm over my 16mm on full frame any day of the week (2x on Sundays);
- The 10-17 can be included above, these new lenses have amazing CUWA capabilities and sharpness.
- The new rectilinear options are also amazing, being it Canon 10-22, Nikon 10-24, Sigma 10-20 etc... the only thing closer (in fact better) to it is the FF 14-24, but it is too big.
- You can use big domes for over-unders if you love them.
ISO:
- Back in film I used to shoot ISO400 max. With my D300 I don't go past 800. Amazing results.
Movies:
- Good to do it, but not the main objective of a DSLR. Nice to add some spice to slide shows shooting video and still of the same subjects.
Size:
- OMG!!! The MDX-D300 housing is almost the exact same size of my NX-80 for my tiny Nikon F80s. Makes better travel, boat space, less air consumption...
Price:
- incomparable with the big boys (D700 & up);
The only thing in favor of FF in my views:
- Viewfinder: A LOT more comfortable, specially UW!
- It is such a better camera when you think of topside photo... I will probably get one just for it!
What you think? For me I think it will be hard to trade my D300 for anything, even the D300s offers just the video... I might keep this one for a while...