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

[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.

I should have said it preformed well even in auto mode. I used it mostly in manual mode. Included are a couple more pics from that trip

 

[lwang06]

I should have said it preformed well even in auto mode. I used it mostly in manual mode. Included are a couple more pics from that trip

thanks for the reply! pics look great! did you have a wide angle lens attached and do you think you will purchase a macro lens for the future? there are no locals places for me to practice I emailed a dive shop about a class or course and maybe see if I can get into a poop. glad it worked out! I'd love to see a pic of your rig if you had one!

 

[ibmerlin]

thanks for the reply! pics look great! did you have a wide angle lens attached and do you think you will purchase a macro lens for the future? there are no locals places for me to practice I emailed a dive shop about a class or course and maybe see if I can get into a poop. glad it worked out! I'd love to see a pic of your rig if you had one![/QUOTE

thanks for the reply! pics look great! did you have a wide angle lens attached and do you think you will purchase a macro lens for the future? there are no locals places for me to practice I emailed a dive shop about a class or course and maybe see if I can get into a poop. glad it worked out! I'd love to see a pic of your rig if you had one!

I did have wide angle lens but only really used it on wreck dives, for the whale sharks and some split water stuff on top. I had two micro wet lens that I could stack but I bought all screw on used. They all work ok but bayonet mount would be the way to go. The wide angle worked fine but with all wide angle wet lenses it will be less sharp on the edges of the picture and you can't zoom in while is on or the picture will blur. I thought it worked just fine without one for most things. But hey I'm a beginner myself.
I would suggest learning to use your camera in few manual before you dive with it. I have a 70D dslr that I use on land So that helped me a bit in knowing how it adjust exposure. Then whatever camera you get use it in the housing and so you can learn how to opperate it. Then add the strobes and shoot it at night.
Here is a photo of the rig before i got the second ys-d2. I also have to video lights that I use for night dives. They have UV built in. With a UV filter the RX100ii takes some amazing fluorescent night shots.

 

[lwang06]

I did have wide angle lens but only really used it on wreck dives, for the whale sharks and some split water stuff on top. I had two micro wet lens that I could stack but I bought all screw on used. They all work ok but bayonet mount would be the way to go. The wide angle worked fine but with all wide angle wet lenses it will be less sharp on the edges of the picture and you can't zoom in while is on or the picture will blur. I thought it worked just fine without one for most things. But hey I'm a beginner myself.
I would suggest learning to use your camera in few manual before you dive with it. I have a 70D dslr that I use on land So that helped me a bit in knowing how it adjust exposure. Then whatever camera you get use it in the housing and so you can learn how to opperate it. Then add the strobes and shoot it at night.
Here is a photo of the rig before i got the second ys-d2. I also have to video lights that I use for night dives. They have UV built in. With a UV filter the RX100ii takes some amazing fluorescent night shots.

oh I loved the whale shark that's on my bucket list. I have a Sony nex 7 that I started playing with and trying to figure out the manual mode like you said- the housing for that is just too much but it will be good for me to learn and then if and when we have a dive trip planned I can move forward with the other equipment. thanks again for all of your insight- it has been really helpful!