Best RX100 model for cost vs. value?

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jf3193

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Looking to upgrade to a Sony RX100 series.
Mostly into stills over video. Reef shots and semi macro stuff mostly.
With 7-8 models available, which one is suggested for the best value that’s still not outdated.
Totally fine with used if the camera is still in great shape. Mainly looking for suggestions. I also have to think about housing costs.
many inout would be appreciated.
 
M5A will give you the latest autofocus, and so long as you're not looking for supermacro, you don't need the M6/M7 longg lens. Looking at Ebay, used 5A bodies can be found for $500-600. On the housing side, consider SeaFrogs Salted Line - it's a bit bulky, but unlike Sony's own housing, all the controls are accessible and it has a vacuum port.
 
Thanks!
Even if I wanted to get more into more super macro at some point, couldn’t certain wet lenses help me with a 5a?
 
You can do macro with 5A and diopters, but its relatively short (25.7mm actual, 70mm FF-equivalent) lens won't produce strong magnification even with close-up lenses. Diopters let you get closer than the bare lens would allow by itself, which is what gives you more magnification, but at some point the subject is on your front glass and you physically can't come any closer than that. If you want to do supermacro, i.e. subjects the size of a grain of rice or thereabouts (say, leaf sheep slugs), you will need the longer lens of an M6/M7 as a starting point. However, that longer lens presents housing challenges - you need a long port to accommodate it at full extension, and with a 67mm diameter front glass, it will vignette when the lens retracts into the housing for a wider angle of view, restricting this port to macro-only applications. Nauticam has a port with an elliptical front glass which allows the lens to operate over its full zoom range without vignetting and takes a flip-up adapter for close-up lenses for macro, but it won't work with wide-angle conversion lenses, as they require the lens front element to be close to the glass, and in this case, it ends up being deep inside the port. The bundled wide flat port on the SeaFrogs Salted Line housing also allows full range of zoom, but does not take accessory lenses at all.

Don't forget to also budget for extra batteries, charger (RX100 cameras don't last very long on a single charge, and if you're on a liveaboard, you want your spare batteries charging while you're in the water), vacuum system, tray, arms, clamps, lanyard, and of course strobes. A focus light will help with macro shots as well.
 
You can do macro with 5A and diopters, but its relatively short (25.7mm actual, 70mm FF-equivalent) lens won't produce strong magnification even with close-up lenses. Diopters let you get closer than the bare lens would allow by itself, which is what gives you more magnification, but at some point the subject is on your front glass and you physically can't come any closer than that. If you want to do supermacro, i.e. subjects the size of a grain of rice or thereabouts (say, leaf sheep slugs), you will need the longer lens of an M6/M7 as a starting point. However, that longer lens presents housing challenges - you need a long port to accommodate it at full extension, and with a 67mm diameter front glass, it will vignette when the lens retracts into the housing for a wider angle of view, restricting this port to macro-only applications. Nauticam has a port with an elliptical front glass which allows the lens to operate over its full zoom range without vignetting and takes a flip-up adapter for close-up lenses for macro, but it won't work with wide-angle conversion lenses, as they require the lens front element to be close to the glass, and in this case, it ends up being deep inside the port. The bundled wide flat port on the SeaFrogs Salted Line housing also allows full range of zoom, but does not take accessory lenses at all.

Don't forget to also budget for extra batteries, charger (RX100 cameras don't last very long on a single charge, and if you're on a liveaboard, you want your spare batteries charging while you're in the water), vacuum system, tray, arms, clamps, lanyard, and of course strobes. A focus light will help with macro shots as well.
Thanks a lot ! That’s very helpful. Everything I’ve read seem to point to the rx100 as a “ can’t miss” for a compact, so I’m excited about the upgrade from my dc1400
 
Oh yeah, DC1400 to RX100 is going to be night and day in terms of image quality, but expect your dives to become a lot more camera-centric, especially if you build the RX100 into a full rig with dual strobes.
 
I’m sure it will. I still want to try to keep the setup as low profile as possible.
 
Oh yeah, DC1400 to RX100 is going to be night and day in terms of image quality, but expect your dives to become a lot more camera-centric, especially if you build the RX100 into a full rig with dual strobes.
You seem pretty knowledgeable on the RX100 series. Thanks for the input.
Any suggestions on how to build a more “ minimal” rig, and still get decent results? I like having my 1 small arm setup on my dc1400. I can fold it, and cradle it in my arms as I dive. I usually dive with my arms crossed, and the smaller profile doesn’t get in the way.
 
You seem pretty knowledgeable on the RX100 series. Thanks for the input.
Any suggestions on how to build a more “ minimal” rig, and still get decent results?

I have researched them extensively but have not actually used one, as I ended up going with a Sony A6300 rather than an RX100. That said, you can do a compact rig for macro - single arm handle rather than a tray, one compact strobe, maybe a locline arm - but for shooting wide angle, especially on larger reef scenes, you really need a pair of strobes with long enough arms to give them a decent spread, and this turns even the most compact of cameras (say, a bare TG-6) into a bulky rig. This is basically the cost of doing business - you want to bring back nice reefscapes, or schools of fish, or large pelagics, you drag a boat anchor around with you. I appreciate the allure of a small rig - I definitely wanted mine to be smaller when I was getting tossed around by currents at Koh Tachai the other day - but I like the resulting pictures too much to downsize.
 
M5A will give you the latest autofocus, and so long as you're not looking for supermacro, you don't need the M6/M7 longg lens. Looking at Ebay, used 5A bodies can be found for $500-600. On the housing side, consider SeaFrogs Salted Line - it's a bit bulky, but unlike Sony's own housing, all the controls are accessible and it has a vacuum port.
Will a 5a lens be able to do decent macro with the help of wet lenses?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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