Sony A6300 Lense Recommendation

[PHIL RUDIN]

I have now used the A6300 for several dives with the 90mm macro and the biggest problem to me still remains battery life. The 90mm has heavy glass that needs to move over a longer distance than with the kit and wide lenses, this results in greater battery drain. I was getting three dives with the Zeiss 12mm and only one or into the second dive with the 90mm about 150-160 images shooting in the 1:3 to 1:1 range. I did not have a manual gear for the lens and I am sure battery life would improve if focused manually. I was using the 0.5 meter to 1:1 setting on the lens and focusing on the LCD using the Ikelite housing. I get a bit better battery life with the A7R II more in the 200 image range and using the EVF. This camera has excellent image quality but Sony needs to address the battery life issue in future models even if the body needs to be a bit bigger.

 

[pughio83]

Thank you for your reply. What are the image results with the a6300 with 90mm lens? Do you find the focus easily for supermacro? The Sony A7R II is a lot more pricey and a bit out of my price range with nauticam housing which I wanted. I don't shoot much video so could for go the 4K. I need a practical and reliable macro camera which can yield high end photos without the weight and bulk of an dslr - whether that is possible truly I am not sure. I don't take 150 pics per dive so I would be ok with battery change after 2 dives.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

The Sony 90 mm macro provides outstanding image quality with both A6300 and A7R II. However the tradeoff of poor battery life will discourage somme buyers. The A6300 is a bit more forgiving than full frame because of the garter DOF which results from smaller sensors all things being equal. I have not yet used the Nauticam housing for A6300 but I would expect it to be of the high quality we have come to expect from them.

 

[pughio83]

Have you had any issues with overheating with the 90mm lens or in any housing with the Sony A6300 Phil?

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

No over heating problems in or out of water with any lens including the 90 mm.

 

[scubakelldy]

People have mentioned about the A6300 having bad AF with the Sony 90mm lens. How bad is it underwater for macro and super macro. I am looking for a new camera for mainly macro but that can shoot 4K and I am leaning towards this camera but worried I will have focus issues. I am migrating from my old canon s95 setup with wet lens which I loved but want to improve my image quality. Any help or advice would be appreciated. If anyone can recommend another setup that isn't a dslr (too big) then I would be appreciative. Thanks

I used to have an Canon s95 + wet lens set-up also. Really love the 90mm, and not having a tough time focusing. I just had to get used to the focusing distance -- since I have to be further away compared to the canon s95 + wet lens set-up. This actually makes shooting skittish fish easier, and I don't have to be right on top of the creature to take a shot now! For supermacro, I find that a combination of AF and MF helps me zero in the focus quite well

It's also super sharp -- Have a yellow goby portrait that I blew up to A2 size and it was still very sharp!

You can check out my photos on instagram: @scubakelldy
But for higher resolution ones -- DSC03546 copy

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Not to make things more complicated but Sony has a new 50 mm F/2.8 macro (1:1) coming soon, can now be pre ordered. This would be about 75 mm equivalent on the A6300. This lens is half the cost of the Zeiss Touit 50 macro for APS-C.

 

[Mantaray007]

Hi All,
Another solution that most rave about that provides best sharpness corner to corner and widest coverage would be the 10-17mm Tokina Fish eye. Couples with the nauticam 4.33 fish -eye dome you get great coverage and not so much bulk. The 10-18mm sony its a rectilinear lense , optically underwater you won't be able to focus as well close up and underwater it will not be as wide.


It is important to note the 17mm on a fisheye lens is not equivalent to 17mm on a rectilinear lens. For example, the Tokina 10-17mm at 17mm is about as wide as the Nikon 12-24mm lens at 12mm. In general, a fisheye will be much wider than a rectilinear lens. Y The difference will be seen away from the center, and in the edges/corner of the photo.

all information can be researched at underwaterphotographyguide .com Hope this helps.


A fisheye lens is good for

• Reef shots
  
  
• Getting really close
  
  
• Divers, models
  
  
• Large wrecks
  
  
• Mantas, whale sharks
  
  
• Schooling fish shots
  
  
• Over-under shots
  
  
• Sharks that come really close
  
  
• Close-focus wide angle of large macro subjects such as large frogfish, rhinopias, large seahorses
  

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Tokina 10-17 Fisheye zoom is designed for DSLR not mirrorless cameras which means that you would need an adapter like the Metabones. An extension of the proper length to accommodate the extension and a zoom gear that will work with the 85 to 120 port extension with zoom/focus wheel. I housed the Canon 8-15 Fisheye zoom (a much better lens) which has a different AOV range for the Sony A7R II and the above equipment was also required to make it work.

 

[RockyHeap]

A6300 owner

Going with the Ikelite housing as I already have Ikelite TTL strobes.

I've got the 10-18 Sony, but the port and focus gear costs get expensive fast.

Choices choices .

For a fixed lens, macro and a flat port seems the least expensive?