Question camera upgrade. Should I bring the FF that I currently own?

[scrane]

I hear the tg-6 is a pretty good step up from the tg-5 for underwater shooting. Why not go with that. Going mirrorless might be a big upgrade in expense and frustration.

 

[MidOH]

Tg7 is out.

No idea if it's better, or fits 5 or 6 housings.

 

[Trilobite]

.... An E-M10 Mark IV is still a little bit bigger than an A7C II, although it is somewhat lighter.

View attachment 825360

As your own chart shows, the Sony is 2.3mm longer--camera size is usually judged by the longest measurement. The Sony body is 25% heavier. But I think we are quibbling now.

 

[Trilobite]

I hear the tg-6 is a pretty good step up from the tg-5 for underwater shooting. Why not go with that. Going mirrorless might be a big upgrade in expense and frustration.

The tg-5 is a mirrorless camera, so the op is already using mirrorless. The sensor on the tg-6 is the same as the tg-5 afaik, so image quality would be similar. And the tg-7 is pretty much just a rebranding

 

[nasai]

A7CII is an excellent camera to house, but the question is, do you take photos while diving, or do you dive to take photos? If it's the former, then look at an RX100 or G7X series camera. If it's the latter, and you have the budget for it, it's hard to go wrong with an A7CII, but you will likely need new strobes to go with everything else, as the power output of Z-240s is somewhat marginal for a full-frame camera. Also, unless you want a circular fisheye look, maybe consider an FCP instead of 8-15mm + dome + WWL-1. Paired with a 28-60mm it has a very good zoom range.

I did a bit googling about RX100 and found the recycling time of the flash is slow. I do hope to take shots of fast moving subjects with strobes in burst.

FCP would be perfect but the price tag is steep! I need to spend some time to compare the price difference between the 2 systems. Ive also checked a6xxx with ikelite housing. There's not much difference in price (nauticam is much cheaper where I'm from than US) But I'll look into weight and compactness of the 2 systems later.

I may shoot macro with 28-60 first if I decide on a7cII. Love the idea that I dont have to bring extra port and lens. I'm sure it will be better than TG already.

 

[Barmaglot]

I did a bit googling about RX100 and found the recycling time of the flash is slow. I do hope to take shots of fast moving subjects with strobes in burst.

There's the option of ZV-1, which is almost the exact same camera as RX100V, but replaces the EVF and pop-up flash with a hot shoe, so you can use an LED flash trigger.

FCP would be perfect but the price tag is steep! I need to spend some time to compare the price difference between the 2 systems

Canon 8-15mm - $1249
Metabones V - $399
Nauticam N100 to N120 adapter - $597
Nauticam N120 Extension Ring 30 - $378
Nauticam N120 140mm dome - $1283
Nauticam Zoom Gear for 8-15mm lens - $281
Nauticam WWL-1B - $1494
Nauticam M67 to bayonet adapter - $107
Nauticam port for 28-60mm - $518

Total $6306 + shipping + taxes, although you can save some by buying used. If you want to get some zoom range out of the 8-15mm, then you need to add a Kenko 1.4x TC and either use a 50mm extension, or add another 20mm extension. Not counting the cost of the 28-60mm lens itself and its zoom gear, since it's shared across setups. An FCP is listed at $6941, plus a $369 35mm extension, which is somewhat more, but saves you on packing weight, and, unless you really want circular fisheye photos at 8mm, gives you much more flexibility.

I may shoot macro with 28-60 first if I decide on a7cII. Love the idea that I dont have to bring extra port and lens. I'm sure it will be better than TG already.

I tried shooting macro with my 16-50mm and +13, but I found the focus range far too limiting. It's probably better with weaker diopters such as +5~7 range, but I don't own one of those - I use the +13 over 90mm for supermacro, with a 1cm subject covering the sensor.

 

[nasai]

I had EM5II, EM1II MFT and now Sony A7R5, all in Nauticam housings. My WA rigs are about the same size, no matter whether MFT or FF. A big difference is macro: Zuiko 60mm (or Pana 45mm) vs. the much larger/heavier Sony 90mm rig...

=> When you go for an interchangeable lens system, you have to be strictly minimalistic in order not to lug around enormous amounts of gear: normal range zoom lens with wet diopter for macro and wet lens (e.g. WWL1B, better WWL-C) for WA. This is similar to how compact cameras are used and then size/weigth is o.k., but still bigger/heavier than compact. Also here not so much difference between different sensor sizes, especially when using Sony A7c cameras...


Wolfgang

For my current setup, I put wet lens, strobes, TG inside the housing and reg in my 35L backpack and I still have some space. I hope the new setup can do the same. My dive gear is very minimal and I think I can squeeze more space in my suitcase for more accessories. Or I can change to a larger suitcase, I stuff everything inside a carryon rn.

That's true to keep things minimal. I won't bring fisheye and wide angle in the same trip. Maybe fisheye+macro for SE asia and wide angle for South America.

I don't rmb the last time I dived without my camera especially since I added wet lens and strobes last year. If I'm in a bigger group, I'll take a few shots, adjust then catch up with the group. If others find something interesting, they will usually stick around and I'll have more time to work with. If there's another photographer, thats perfect! I have no problem even with guided group so far and they are happy when I send them the pictures. That's why Im thinking about more than a compact.

Do you have any experience with G7X and RX100? How are the pictures in darker environment? In cave and low visibility. What is their usable iso?

 

[nasai]

I hear the tg-6 is a pretty good step up from the tg-5 for underwater shooting. Why not go with that. Going mirrorless might be a big upgrade in expense and frustration.

I love it when I first got the camera, very easy to use without any thinking. But now, I want to manually control the camera. I don't like the parameters it gives. The images are lookable in bright and clear water. The visibility was less than 5m in the pictures. They are very very grainy even at 400 iso. I've tried different settings. I also want faster shutter response and AF speed. I think it's time to move on from tg.

 

[cerich]

I did a bit googling about RX100 and found the recycling time of the flash is slow. I do hope to take shots of fast moving subjects with strobes in burst.

FCP would be perfect but the price tag is steep! I need to spend some time to compare the price difference between the 2 systems. Ive also checked a6xxx with ikelite housing. There's not much difference in price (nauticam is much cheaper where I'm from than US) But I'll look into weight and compactness of the 2 systems later.

I may shoot macro with 28-60 first if I decide on a7cII. Love the idea that I dont have to bring extra port and lens. I'm sure it will be better than TG already.

you want fast strobe action you need either wired or a LED flash trigger w/ optical. Anything that uses a on camera powered flash tends to be slow