Best cameras for underwater in ambient depths

[greggyw]

Hi All,

I am experienced photographer, been using D/SLR's for a long time, always had point and shoots as I like to carry them instead of an SLR many times.

My SLRs in last 10 years have all been Canon and most point and shoots also Canon due to familiar with menus etc.

Underwater I have only used my Canon compacts, current one is G16 and I use a Meikon housing instead of Canon as I am only at Snorkel depth to a few metres, I wanted to Scuba, but have found my ears (or mainly one) does not like it, even free diving a few metres can be painful, on a good day I may be fine for 5, anyways.....

The G16 does pretty well, it is pretty fast, chose this over a Sony as Macro and stills were what I want from this setup mainly, although it does Video pretty well too it seems.

Been thinking about going to a Canon 70D & putting it in a Meikon housing. Seems with the improvement in the focusing and being able to auto iso a slect range when in manual could be good for varying ambient light scenarios and changes when out, the G16 in the Meikon housing means no practical way to control manual properly for light changes, you can only really pick 2 custom settings, anyway, it is not a huge deal, as it performs well in all creative modes really.

I have of course varied lenses for Canon, the Meikon housing is set for a kit lens (which I would get too for land use with video) but some of my existing primes or zooms may also fit, no gurantees & I will be doing some measuring soon, but if stuck with kit lens, it is likely to be a better outfit than the G16, but, the Meikon housing does not seem to allow using the cameras viewfinder (which may not be practical anway when snorkeling) but then I am concerned about if using the LCD as you do on the G16, is it going to be fast enough to focus or will it be slower than the G16 ?

The other things is, before I go down this path, using cheaper Meikon housings, is there something else that is going to be as good or maybe better than the 70D ? perhaps a Nikon, or an Olympus mirrorless ? The 70D would be very useable for years to come with the other gear I have, so an alternative would have to def be better with the kit lens they come with which is what the Meikons are mainly designed for.

Whats your opinion ?

 

[ScubaInChicago]

Keep an eye out in the classifieds. I saw a Canon 5d mkii in an Aquatica housing pop up for an unbelievable deal from a well known photographer. You're better off getting something you can use your existing stock of lenses that you're already familiar with. When the 5d mkiv comes out I might be upgrading my housing

 

[rob1967]

In my opinion, if you are snorkelling and using ambient light only, the G16 is as good as it gets. I think it would be hard to notice any significant improvement in image quality by going full SLR without adding strobes (or powerful continuous light), certainly not enough of an improvement to warrant the extra cost and bulk of an SLR rig. SLR rigs are hard enough to handle on scuba, even worse snorkelling.

 

[greggyw]

Hi rob1967

I agree, G16 is pretty good, but as per my message, no auto ISO in a set range when in manual mode is a bit of a bummer, what I notice is a lot of noise in some of the G16 images when light is not ideal, I shoot RAw & probably thinking too much about it as I am used to a lot of controlled situations, so it is probably not a big deal as only I probably see the noise.

As for size, in the Meikon housing, the size is not much of a big deal, aside the price, is probably why I would avoid the PRO housings with ports as they are quite a bit bigger, I have no issue really here & would strap the G16 on as well, I already deal with a GoPro on an stick when out.

Mainly concerned with performance of 70D in live view underwater compared to G16 & if there is some other mirrorless that would be equal or blow it out of the water (underwater) , I do not have experience with the canon Kit lenses, near all my lenses are L lenses, I have no clue how the kit lens performs except for silence in video, as for other manufacturers, no clue whatsoever & am resistant to online reviews where reviewers earn money from sales on anything they push.

 

[rob1967]

Hi Greggy,

I suppose the 70D would do a bit better in low light situations compared to the G16, but I still think you would see a much bigger jump in image quality if you add a strobe or 2 to your G16 (or even strong continuous light), rather than use an SLR without any external light source. I am not a complete expert but this is my humble opinion.

 

[JackConnick]

Depends on what you want to spend.

A larger sensor is inherently going to shoot in low-light much better. More room on the sensor and larger pixels. So a full-frame camera works very well. But they do tend to be larger bodies and lenses.

Something like an RX100 will shoot much better ambient light than a G16, and an A6000 better than either of them; just due to sensor size.

But a Sony A7 full-frame: