ginkgo
Registered
Has there been any news or rumors on SeaFrogs housings for the A7C2 or A6700? I am tempted to upgrade to one or the other from my A7C, for the improved autofocus, but the other housing brands are all outside my price range.
SeaFrogs housings for A7C2 or A6700?
- Thread starter ginkgo
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
This just appeared on their blog: Seafrogs underwater camera housing for Sony A6700 Coming Soon!
Photography Lover Store on Aliexpress has the A6700 housing in stock - 616.49€ 44% OFF|Sea frogs Kamera wasserdichtes Gehäuse geeignet für Sony A6700 Kamera Tauchen Fotografie Schutz Unterwasser fotografie| | - AliExpress
However, when contacted, they told me that due to Spring Festival in China, they cannot ship before February 19th.
Still on word on A7CII/A7CR.
However, when contacted, they told me that due to Spring Festival in China, they cannot ship before February 19th.
Still on word on A7CII/A7CR.
OP
ginkgo
Registered
Thank you. Why did you choose to house an APS-C camera, instead of full frame? I'm trying to decide between Sony full-frame, APS-C, or maybe an Olympus M43 setup. I'd mostly like more working distance than my TG-6 offers, for macro. But better image quality, autofocus, etc. all sound nice.
Edit: Found this thread over on waterpixels: Stop me before I buy again...
Edit: Found this thread over on waterpixels: Stop me before I buy again...
Primarily cost. Going over to full frame would mean a much more expensive body (2-3x that of an a6700), plus new lenses (the only FF lens I own is the 90mm macro), plus a somewhat more expensive housing, for unclear benefits - I'm happy enough with IQ of my a6300; the main thing I wanted to upgrade for is the new autofocus for macro in general and blackwater in particular. My SeaFrogs SF-S-A6700 shipped yesterday; fingers crossed for it getting from China to Thailand before my upcoming Myanmar liveaboard.
If your primary focus is macro, then Olympus/OM Digital warrants a very close look. An OM-1 or E-M1III doesn't have quite the same AF performance as Sony cameras, but the price is similar to a6700/a6600 respectively, the AOI housings are cost-competitive with SeaFrogs (factoring in the included vacuum and flash trigger on the former) and the lens lineup is arguably better - you have the 30mm, 45mm, 60mm and 90mm, while for Sony it's basically 90mm or bust. The Olympus 90mm lens is in a class of its own, allowing for 2x magnification without the use of add-on lenses, and the AOI port for it gives you access to the focus limiter switch! which, to my knowledge, is unique among housed macro lenses. You also get the excellent 8mm native fisheye for wide-angle, and 14-42mm pairs nicely with wet wide lenses.
If your primary focus is macro, then Olympus/OM Digital warrants a very close look. An OM-1 or E-M1III doesn't have quite the same AF performance as Sony cameras, but the price is similar to a6700/a6600 respectively, the AOI housings are cost-competitive with SeaFrogs (factoring in the included vacuum and flash trigger on the former) and the lens lineup is arguably better - you have the 30mm, 45mm, 60mm and 90mm, while for Sony it's basically 90mm or bust. The Olympus 90mm lens is in a class of its own, allowing for 2x magnification without the use of add-on lenses, and the AOI port for it gives you access to the focus limiter switch! which, to my knowledge, is unique among housed macro lenses. You also get the excellent 8mm native fisheye for wide-angle, and 14-42mm pairs nicely with wet wide lenses.
OP
ginkgo
Registered
I like my Sony A7C, but have read that its autofocus speed with the 90mm macro is glacial. So I was planning on upgrading to the A7C2 or A6700. (I would also like better autofocus for birds above water.)
But the E-M1 III looks interesting. I'd probably get the 60mm macro lens for typical macro, and the 30mm macro lens for blackwater. I hadn't really considered it before, because Backscatter pushes the E-M10IV much harder. But the E-M10IV's lack of phase-detection autofocus (only contrast detection autofocus) made me suspicious, for normal macro and blackwater; Backscatter rarely emphasize the downsides in their reviews. More to think about, thanks!
But the E-M1 III looks interesting. I'd probably get the 60mm macro lens for typical macro, and the 30mm macro lens for blackwater. I hadn't really considered it before, because Backscatter pushes the E-M10IV much harder. But the E-M10IV's lack of phase-detection autofocus (only contrast detection autofocus) made me suspicious, for normal macro and blackwater; Backscatter rarely emphasize the downsides in their reviews. More to think about, thanks!
One thing to note about the AOI housings, though, is the small port diameter. They used to have two port systems, EM with larger ports, and PEN with smaller ports, but on the latest housings - E-M10 IV, E-M1 III, OM-1 - they consolidated on the PEN ports. This port opening is too small to fit some of the larger lenses through, such as 8-25mm, 12-40mm, or, indeed, the 90mm macro, making them extremely annoying to assemble and disassemble - these lenses can still be used, but it requires a PEN to OM port adapter. In order to assemble your rig, you have to take off the port (but not the adapter), detach the lens from the camera, insert the camera body into the housing, attach the lens through the front, then mount the port and seal the housing. Removing the camera in order to, for example, change the battery (neither the battery door nor the USB port are accessible without removing the camera from the housing), requires the same in reverse. Notably, the E-PL10 housing lacks a lens release button, so while putting it together is not an issue, getting it apart involves blindly feeling around with a long thin probe - i.e. highly not recommended. Fortunately the E-M10 IV, E-M1 III and OM-1 housings do come with a lens release button, so this kind of configuration is highly annoying, but still manageable.
Regarding AF, the OM-1 comes with a stacked CMOS sensor, same technology as Sony A1 and Nikon Z8/Z9, so in theory it should have a significant edge over E-M1 III, but I haven't used either, so I can't offer first hand testimony.
Regarding AF, the OM-1 comes with a stacked CMOS sensor, same technology as Sony A1 and Nikon Z8/Z9, so in theory it should have a significant edge over E-M1 III, but I haven't used either, so I can't offer first hand testimony.
On standard macro dives the 90mm with A7C is pretty decent, pretty good even if there is good contrast. The 90mm + SMC1 produces great photos but does struggle a bit with focus - it hunts a lot when I use back button focus. I find I need to use the rock back and forth method and can't really rely on autofocus. The 90mm in blackwater is really difficult, one because it's dark and the narrow field of view makes it hard to find stuff in your frame, two because the lens will hunt even with the focus limiter on (although that does make it much better), and three because the A7C's only 24MP means not much cropping ability - which together with the 90mm's longer minimum focusing distance means you often end up with not much detail even if the subject is in focus. The A7C's very small and comparatively lower res EVF also makes it difficult to see critical focus especially in a fast moving subject so half the time I was shooting blind and hoping for the best. You can get good images, but it's not a very enjoyable shooting experience, and at the end of the day this is not a job but a hobby so if it's not fun what's the point!
I was looking for 1) more MP for cropping, 2) better EVF, 3) better AF- in that order of importance. I went to Sony and tested the A1, A7R5, A7CR, and my original A7C side by side with the 90mm macro. I didn't consider the A7CII because of the MPs, but I was told the A7CII and A7CR both share the same upgraded AI AF as the A7RV. They had a few black gorilla stuffed animals in the store and I took it to a darker area then switched back and forth between the gorilla eye and gorilla hair to see how fast each one can focus and how much the 90mm will hunt. I couldn't tell a difference between the A1 and A7R5, there was a noticeable difference between A1/A7R5 and A7C (I would say meaningful difference but not super substantial), and for some reason the A7CR performed worse than my A7C (sales clark couldn't explain this one, A7CR hunted a lot more than A7C and it wasn't even a comparison vs A7R5, despite supposedly having the same AI AF). EVF in the A1/A7R5 blew me away and it was an easy decision to go with the A7R5 especially as the A7CII/R does not fit in the original A7C housing so I needed a new housing either way. I also ended up picking up a used Canon EF-S 60mm macro + metabones adapter for cheap which I'll try alongside the 90mm in Anilao in April - on land it's actually a bit slower than the 90mm but I think wider fov/closer minimum focus will help with BW.
I was looking for 1) more MP for cropping, 2) better EVF, 3) better AF- in that order of importance. I went to Sony and tested the A1, A7R5, A7CR, and my original A7C side by side with the 90mm macro. I didn't consider the A7CII because of the MPs, but I was told the A7CII and A7CR both share the same upgraded AI AF as the A7RV. They had a few black gorilla stuffed animals in the store and I took it to a darker area then switched back and forth between the gorilla eye and gorilla hair to see how fast each one can focus and how much the 90mm will hunt. I couldn't tell a difference between the A1 and A7R5, there was a noticeable difference between A1/A7R5 and A7C (I would say meaningful difference but not super substantial), and for some reason the A7CR performed worse than my A7C (sales clark couldn't explain this one, A7CR hunted a lot more than A7C and it wasn't even a comparison vs A7R5, despite supposedly having the same AI AF). EVF in the A1/A7R5 blew me away and it was an easy decision to go with the A7R5 especially as the A7CII/R does not fit in the original A7C housing so I needed a new housing either way. I also ended up picking up a used Canon EF-S 60mm macro + metabones adapter for cheap which I'll try alongside the 90mm in Anilao in April - on land it's actually a bit slower than the 90mm but I think wider fov/closer minimum focus will help with BW.
Similar threads
