Canon SL3/250d vs Sony a6400 and lensens - cave diving, low light, dark quaries

[Cavetecdiver]

Hi,

I am looking for advice which set will be better for my needs.
Previously I was using canon 80d with tokina 10-18 and Nimar housing + dome port which I lost in strong current on one of tec wreck dives ().
I was happy with quality of photo but the set was too bulky/heavy and big and because of that extremaly unpleasent to operate on tec dives with multiple tanks. Furthermore nimar housing was not very reliable and I was always concerned if camera survive next dive (and it has not).
Now I would go for something much smaller but would like to preserve quality of pictures.
I am thinking about Canon SL3 and Sony A6400 - which one would you recommend more and what would be the best lens choice for low light and fisheye / wide angle?
In futute maybe I will buy one more lens for macro.
Budget is for sure a concern and price vs value ratio is very important.

Time to time I would like also to use the camera for occasional landscape pictures in mountains.

Shoud I go for:
1) Canon SL3 + Tokina 10-18 + Ikelite housing + Dome port
2) Sony A6400 + Sony E 16mm f/2.8 + Fisheye Conversion Lens E-Mount
+ Fanatasea housing + Dome port
3) Sony A6400 + Sony E 10-18mm + Fanatasea housing ?
4) Sony A6400 + Tokina 10-18 + Converter (which one?) + Fantasea housing + Dome port?

I am mostly focused on pictures from caves, mines, wrecks, and other overhead environments.
I also dive in dark quarry waters and occasionaly reef dives on travel.

Any other good configurations for mirorless? I do not have much of experience with adapters for mirorless.
Also I was a bit afraid that colours in sony are a bit less natural than canon? Is it only a concern why not doing RAWs but JPEG?

I am mostly interested in stills.

Thank you,

 

[Chris Ross]

with these small APS-C cameras/housings most of the bulk is in the dome port which scales with sensor size for rectilinear lenses. The 10-18 is particularly wide and to get the most from it needs a 230mm dome port. Fantasea and Ikelite will happily sell you a 6 or 8" dome to use with this lens but the corners will be mush even if you push to f11-16. Are you using strobes or natural light?

a fisheye on the other hand can be used behind a 4" mini dome with little impact on corner quality and is much more compact. I don't think ikelite does a mini fisheye dome so is probably not the best choice. Read the fine print in ikelite port charts often certain features are not supported in some choices. for example no zoom support for Canon 8-15and the Tokina 10-17 you can only zoom with the 6" dome which is not a true fisheye dome and is a compromise dictated by the housing design, the lens can't be properly placed behind the dome so optical quality suffers.

The S&S 100mm optical dome port with the Fantasea and the 10-17 is probably the best option of those you list using the recommended adapter. You could also look at some of the aluminium housing which have a wider range of options to choose from for lens choice and domes. Aquatica, Nauticam, Isotta are all options.

 

[Lewis88]

I shoot an A6100 with a Tokina 10-17mm on a Sigma MC-11 adapter, and it's fantastic!

I am currently in a Seafrogs housing with a 6in dome, but I have held the nauticam with mini 4.33" dome setup and will be upgrading to that.

 

[Jon Underwater]

I shoot an A6100 with a Tokina 10-17mm on a Sigma MC-11 adapter, and it's fantastic!

I am currently in a Seafrogs housing with a 6in dome, but I have held the nauticam with mini 4.33" dome setup and will be upgrading to that.

Hi Lewis, have you got any pics/ link to insta. shots with your Seafrogs 6" dome and Tokina 10-17mm combo? Obviously no manual controls, so do you leave it open at the 10mm end? I'm seriously looking at this setup myself and would love to see any shots taken with it. Thanks, Jon