New equipment for beginner, need advice. (Sony A6500 with house)

[Issue]

Hello.

My only earlier experience is a gopro 3 with pretty good video lights.

First, i was planing to buy the next gopro, hero 5. But then i change my mind to canon g7x, for image quality. And now i have reconsidered again and i am looking at Sony A6500 which i plan to not only record videos with but also get into uw-photography. But strobes will have to wait since i don't really have the money for that now. So i will start with A6500, a uw-house and a lens that fits me and use my videolights until i can afford strobes.

So, my two questions for the moment;

I have been looking at Nauticam and Aquatica houses. Both looks great, and what i can see, price will be about the same on the houses for A6500. Which brand should i pick and why? Aquatica looks more solid and they include the handles.

Second, and a much bigger problem is to pick the first lens. I feel now that video is most interesting for me but who knows how i feel when i have a great camera and get to play around with it for a while. I will probably do both photo and video. Today i record stuff at 0,3-1m distance, mostly animals. Would love to be able to do some macro too. Which lens do you think is best for me? Normal zoom or maybe macro? I want something that works allround, if that is possible.

Thankful for all advice you can give me about this, so feel free to share experience and advice. Would you pick something else for the money in my budget?

issue

 

[Tbar]

I have a Nex-5n, in a Nauticam housing.

I use the 16-50mm zoom in the Nauticam N85 Flat Port 45. It has zoom knob for Sony E Mount 16-50 OSS Lens. I also have an INON UCL-165M67 that screws to the port, for close-up/Macro. This give some flexibility and the macro can be taken off during the dive.

I also have the 4.33 Dome and use the 16mm with the Ultra Wide converter, for wide angle.

I have attached a few image examples:
DSC00260c are very small ascidians using the macro UCL-165M67 and lens on 50mm the blue 'flowers' are less than 1mm
DSC09653 50mm no adaptor
DSC09806 16mm (zoom lens in flat port)

 

[rgilkes]

Just a reminder, the a6500 has a 1.5x crop factor so your full frame equivalent of a 16mm, for example, would be 24mm.

I would recommend the Sony 10-18mm (15-27mm on the a6500) F4 for wide-angle and the new Sony 50mm (75mm on the a6500) F2.8 for macro.

 

[Tbar]

Strobes - For Sale - 2 Inon Z240 TypeII Strobe
The older type 2 are fine. The optical sensor trigger is less sensitive than the Type4, the Type 4 has a LED focus light so uses less power. Fo me I do not use the strobes focus light as I do not generally want the strobe aiming at the subject, I use two strobes.

 

[Issue]

Just a reminder, the a6500 has a 1.5x crop factor so your full frame equivalent of a 16mm, for example, would be 24mm.

I would recommend the Sony 10-18mm (15-27mm on the a6500) F4 for wide-angle and the new Sony 50mm (75mm on the a6500) F2.8 for macro.

Thanks for all answers +pictures.

I am aware of the crop factor. 4K adds x1,2 aswell so i take all focal length x1,8.

After alot of reading and research i think 16-50 or 18-55 would be good start for my videorecording. But i dont like the quality of thoes two lenses. So i have been looking at, as you mentioned, the 10-18 from sony. It seem to deliver great image quality.

But i am afriad it will be to wide for close up i want to do. The water i am diving in on a weekly basis has some particles so video at 3-5m distance is not what i will do for most of the time. Maybe a photo or two but after that i will be at my 0,5m and record fishes. Do you think 18-32mm will work for that? Maybe it will be hard to get the lightning right when it is so wide?

A macro might be better for that but then again, will i be able to shot at anything bigger than my hand?

Btw, aquatica released the lens chart for the house:
Aquatica Digital - Featuring an extensive line of underwater housings for Nikon and Canon digital cameras

Sorry for spelling and grammar, didnt have time to check it.

 

[rgilkes]

But i am afriad it will be to wide for close up i want to do. The water i am diving in on a weekly basis has some particles so video at 3-5m distance is not what i will do for most of the time. Maybe a photo or two but after that i will be at my 0,5m and record fishes. Do you think 18-32mm will work for that? Maybe it will be hard to get the lightning right when it is so wide?

The 10-18mm has a minimum focus distance of around 10" so you'll be able to get pretty close. The benefit of a wide angle lens underwater is that you can get very close to your subject (to be able to light it properly), but still capture a large field of view.

 

[Issue]

The 10-18mm has a minimum focus distance of around 10" so you'll be able to get pretty close. The benefit of a wide angle lens underwater is that you can get very close to your subject (to be able to light it properly), but still capture a large field of view.

Sounds good.

This video is with a gopro. If you just consider the distance and focal length etc. Will it work to do the same video with a6500 and 10-18mm(18-32)?

 

[rgilkes]

This video is with a gopro. If you just consider the distance and focal length etc. Will it work to do the same video with a6500 and 10-18mm(18-32)?]

Yup, according to GoPro's site, the Hero 4 has a FOV of 17-34mm so you will be in a similar range with the 10-18mm on the a6500

 

[Issue]

Yup, according to GoPro's site, the Hero 4 has a FOV of 17-34mm so you will be in a similar range with the 10-18mm on the a6500

Awesome. Thanks. Feeling more comfortable buying this lens now.

 

[Issue]

Yup, according to GoPro's site, the Hero 4 has a FOV of 17-34mm so you will be in a similar range with the 10-18mm on the a6500

The gopro has flat port tho so it should be x1,33 in water?
23-46 on gopro vs.
18-32 on sony

Correct me if im wrong