Sony RX100 rigs? What do you have?

[YCW]

I have a RX100 II.

Just got it end last year mainly to start shooting wide angles, and love it.

Other parts of my rig:
- Aquapazza housing (excellent cool looking housing)
- 2 x Inon D-2000 strobes
- Inon UWL H100 + Dome unit
- 2 x INON UCL-165M67 macro lens
- Ultralight tray + handles
- 2 x Inon mega float S arms + lens holders
- 2 x Ultralight 8" arms fitted with STIX jumbo floats
- 2 x fibre optic cables

The set up is about 5 kg (~10lbs) dry weight. With all the floats it is about 400g (~1lb) underwater.

I shoot mainly wide angle now. The rig works very well overall. Found out that if I switched to macro lens and have the wide angle lens + dome on the holder, the rig will be off balance and much heavier on one side, making it quite difficult to shoot small objects especially when there is a bit of current. I have since got myself a pouch hooked onto my BCD to carry the wide angle lens + dome in case I need to switch to shooting macro. All my wet lenses are also with bayonet mount or with the adapters. It is a lot easier to handle that when underwater compared to threaded mounts.

Some samples of my shots from my recent dive trip to Gili Meno, Lombok last month

 

[Skeptic14]

I think I've settled on the Nauticam housing but lenses and strobes are still TBD. How are you all liking your strobes? I have read some people have had issues with their Sea & Sea strobes lately. Thanks again!

I've used my ys-03 for two years and probably around 3,500 flashes. I haven't had any issues with it at all, it's a great simple strobe. Not too powerful (guide 20 at 100x100) and doesn't have the versatility of the ys-d2 but it's a steal at $300 which includes the f/o cable and arm.

I added my ys-d2 at the beginning of this year, and so far only have around 500 flashes with it but it has been awesome. It's a guide 32 at 80x80 (versatility) but with the 100 diffuser attached it's still a powerful guide 24 with the same 100x100 coverage of the ys-03 or ys-01. Controls on back are easy to use and the audible cues and lighting on the controls are just another nice touch.

I read some stories of issues with ys-d1s/d2s by a handful of people but after considering how many are in use compared to the few with issues it seemed insignificant.

I've read great things about inon strobes too, but I have no experience with them.

 

[islandboysrule]

Good thread...I've been using the Sony RX100mk2 for about a year now...with really great results. I will openly say that the Nautical housing with they full tray and trigger is where I want to be. I decide to go the economical route and use meikon/cam dive housing and WAL. As you can see I upgraded from Sealife gear...I reused my tray and light. I've had challenges getting the flash to work due to the transparent housing of the meikon.

Overall I plan to upgrade to full nauticam soon with a pair of strobes..the Sony RX is really easy to use underwater, I do have a Canon 7D that eventually will make it to a housing...but again..in time.

 

[okiediver1961]

SO I bought the RX100 V this week. Im leaning towards the Fantasea housing as I have been very happy with my G16 housing and the price is right. Im concerned though about TTL. Can someone set me straight as to whether this is possible with YS-D2 strobes? From the description of the housing, it implies that when using A,P, or M modes manual flash is available only. Hoping I read that wrong.

UPDATE--I went back and read the housing manual again and I believe I misread:

It states that once the flash is popped up it cannot be disabled when in A,P, M modes. Therefore its recommended to switch to Auto mode to eliminate the flash after it has been popped up.

So how do you switch back from Manual strobe to TTL? I want to make sure I can do this with this housing as I do switch back and forth.

 

[Skeptic14]

I did my first dive with my new rig, an rx100 mk2 this past weekend using manual mode on the camera and ttl for both my ys-03 and ys-d2 and it worked fine. I suspect the mk5 should be the same regarding ttl and although I'm using a nauticam housing, I'm not sure how the housing would affect whether ttl works in different exposure modes.

 

[outofofficebrb]

SO I bought the RX100 V this week. Im leaning towards the Fantasea housing as I have been very happy with my G16 housing and the price is right. Im concerned though about TTL. Can someone set me straight as to whether this is possible with YS-D2 strobes? From the description of the housing, it implies that when using A,P, or M modes manual flash is available only. Hoping I read that wrong.

UPDATE--I went back and read the housing manual again and I believe I misread:

It states that once the flash is popped up it cannot be disabled when in A,P, M modes. Therefore its recommended to switch to Auto mode to eliminate the flash after it has been popped up.

So how do you switch back from Manual strobe to TTL? I want to make sure I can do this with this housing as I do switch back and forth.

Sorry, I'm of no help. I know the Nauticam housing gives you the option of popping up the flash hand also tucking it away while in the housing in case that sways you.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Well, guys...It looks like I'm having ramen for a while. I purchased the Nauticam RX100IV housing along with the Inon UWL-H100 + dome as well as the Nauticam CMC for macro. I ended up with 2 Sea and Sea YS-D2s. I have 2 8" ultralight arms on each side along with fiberoptic cables running down them. I haven't jumped in the pool yet to figure out if the floats I have are enough but we will find out this weekend.

I'm still enjoying reading about everyone's rigs and am loving the bonus pictures that are being posted. Keep 'em coming!

@YCW Do you find yourself switching out the lenses mid-dive often? It sounds like a lot of trouble! I'm having a hard time imagining when and where I'd be shooting wide and macro on the same dive. I'd also probably lose the lens to the abyss if I tried something like that.

 

[Boaty McBoatface]

SO I bought the RX100 V this week. Im leaning towards the Fantasea housing as I have been very happy with my G16 housing and the price is right. Im concerned though about TTL. Can someone set me straight as to whether this is possible with YS-D2 strobes? From the description of the housing, it implies that when using A,P, or M modes manual flash is available only. Hoping I read that wrong.

UPDATE--I went back and read the housing manual again and I believe I misread:

It states that once the flash is popped up it cannot be disabled when in A,P, M modes. Therefore its recommended to switch to Auto mode to eliminate the flash after it has been popped up.

So how do you switch back from Manual strobe to TTL? I want to make sure I can do this with this housing as I do switch back and forth.

Hi,
About 6 months ago Sony issued a software update wherein you can now disable the flash even after it has been popped up. Just make sure you're using the latest firmware (and if you have to update, do use Sony's own supplied USB cable - it often actually seems to make a difference but ymmv). Certain early Rx100 variants already had this feature, but the new ones do, too, now. The manual you're reading seems to be out of date. TTL works. I don't have your flash, but it seems to me that you'd turn the flash off on the back of the housing and then put your ys-d2 into manual.
Hope that helps.

 

[Skeptic14]

@outofofficebrb sounds like a good setup.

I have two medium 10bar floats on mine right now (about 1.8lbs of buoyancy) and my rig is still a little more negative than I would prefer so I'm probably going to add a bit more flotation soon.

 

[YCW]

@YCW Do you find yourself switching out the lenses mid-dive often? It sounds like a lot of trouble! I'm having a hard time imagining when and where I'd be shooting wide and macro on the same dive. I'd also probably lose the lens to the abyss if I tried something like that.

Honestly, not that often. I am enjoying shooting wide angle now since I just started it not long ago. So most dives I had the wide angle lens on. However, I carry the macro lenses with me in case something interesting shows up and I need to use them. I think on three dive trips since I had the set up (about forty dives total), I probably switched over to shooting macro a grand total of three times. A couple of times I also took off the wide angle lens to shoot some fish portraiture without any wet lens. Frankly speaking it is a bit troublesome like you mentioned. Most of the dives I just stick to one type of shooting, but I love the flexibility the system offers.