Is the Sony RX100M2 a good UW camera for the beginner?

[XS-NRG]

Bottom line, learn to shoot on land with a camera in manual mode first and then take it underwater once you know the camera and the concepts inside out. Training is key as mentioned and you can take great photos with some basic gear. The Sony RX100 series seems to be highly recommended and will be the camera I upgrade to for underwater from my crappy GoPro hero 4. I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark 3 on the surface in manual mode and manual flash all the time but I just don't have the kind of money I need for that housing plus the strobes that are needed. Lighting is absolutely key otherwise don't bother. Enjoy!

 

[riftvalley84]

I am very happy with the quality of photos my RX100 M2 take. I have a Recsea housing & YS-D1 strobes. I know very little about photography so had my son suggest a manual setting which has worked for 90% of my dives. I just went to Bimini and had to make adjustments for shooting hammerheads in sand at 20' so did further experimenting. My main issue is there 'seems' to be a delay so it is hard to get the perfect pose of a fast moving subject but I could be doing something wrong. Otherwise, I have no complaints.

 

[jbilicska]

I am very happy with the quality of photos my RX100 M2 take. I have a Recsea housing & YS-D1 strobes. I know very little about photography so had my son suggest a manual setting which has worked for 90% of my dives. I just went to Bimini and had to make adjustments for shooting hammerheads in sand at 20' so did further experimenting. My main issue is there 'seems' to be a delay so it is hard to get the perfect pose of a fast moving subject but I could be doing something wrong. Otherwise, I have no complaints.
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What settings did you use ?

 

[riftvalley84]

Reef: Manual Mode @ 1/125, 5.6/f, 100 ISO
Sandy Bottom ~30': Manual Mode @ 1/320, 11/f, 200 ISO (This was our Hammerhead setting. We increased the depth of field because we wanted their hammer & mouth to be in focus).

We do vary our settings now that we are getting more comfortable but it certainly helped us to have a fall back setting

 

[jbilicska]

Thanks

 

[pedro_rj]

Rekindling the topic a bit, but I think it's worth it:
This award-winning underwater photographer makes stunning images on a point-and-shoot camera

 

[BluewaterPhoto]

Since you asked, I will say that I think the RX100 II is the best compact camera a beginner can get. It is tiny, a great selection of housings, and can produce stunning shots with wet lenses like the UWL-04 fisheye or the Bluewater +7 macro lens. Image quality is great.

Scott

 

[Dive Alegria Cebu]

it sure is a good starting camera,, you can always upgrade

 

[lwang06]

I was currently looking into this camera too and comparing to the Canon G7x--- I was unaware that people thought the sony was not a good beginner camera - Does anyone have any insight if its worse than the Canon G7x or II?

 

[ibmerlin]

Hello all, I ended up building a rig for the RX100 ii. I bought a nauticam housing and 2 Sea&Sea ys-D2 strobes, I practiced with it in manual mode a lot and then used it with the housing and strobes at night on land to get the hang of it. I set up the the camera with 2 or 3 settings I found on the web to start with and that was a big help. I took it to a local Quarry to practice and then to the Maldives for three weeks this fall. It preformed well when in auto mode. I was disappointed in close ups without a micro wet lens attached. A number of nudibranch pics turned out a bit blurry. Over all most pic turned out ok, some were over or under exposed a bit but I shot in RAW and was able to adjust them in lightroom with no problem. My biggest problem was not with the camera but with the sync cords. I bought one from Blue water photo when I bought the housing but cheaper out on the second and got it on EBay. Big mistake! It fell out over and over again. Ordered a second one from Bluewater the minute I got back to the states.