Changing to a compact / mirrorless setup...

[Wonder__Frog]

Hey guys!

Hoping to get your collective feedback / thoughts on what setup to go for if possible...

Bit of background... I've been through all sorts of setups over the past years:

• Sealife DC2000
• GoPro with macro mate lens, non-branded 9800 lumen video lights etc
• Canon Eos650D with a Nauticam housing (primarily using my L series f1.8 100mm macro lens)

I'm looking to move to a compact / mirrorless setup for a whole range of reasons (happy to go into the reasons why on here if needed but would rather focus on what to change to rather than why I'm changing).

Shoot a variety of stuff, from big blue water pelagics, to tiny nudi's, so need something capable of doing both wide angle and macro. I do shoot some video but not a huge focus for me

With the above in mind I’ve been eyeing up a:

- Sony rx100va with an ikelite housing, a wide angle wet lens, a macro wet lens and a couple of decent strobes...

Or

- Sony a6400 with fantasea housing, 16-50mm kit lens, fantasea uwl-09f wide angle wet lens, and the fantasea +12.5mm super macro wet lens

From your experience is there anything I should be looking at in addition / instead of this (open to anything from different makes/models, mirrorless/compact etc)?

Could easily be persuaded down the mirrorless route with various lenses / ports, but with the above versatility in mind I was leaning towards compact

Thanks in advance!

Frog

 

[d^2b]

You don't mention strobes on the mirrorless side. I'd imagine you'd want at least one strobe whichever way you go.

 

[Hoag]

To put this into context, I shoot a Sony A6000 in a Nauticam housing at the moment. In the past, I have shot Film Cameras, DSLRs and Micro 4/3.

I want to stress that like everything, your camera/housing choice will end up being a compromise. There are no absolutes. There are many options and many choices. Most will work, but some will work better than others. The trick is to filter through the advice you get to try to find what will work best for you.

It seems that for the type of use that you would be doing, a Panasonic GH5 is an amazing choice. It's strength lies in video but is also extremely capable as a stills camera. It has an amazing White Balance setting system and in a housing, it is a relatively tiny system. When I shot M4/3, I used the Olympus 60mm Macro and the Panasonic 8mm fisheye lenses. That provided a flexible system that was still very comapct

I think that the Sony A6XXX series of cameras are a valid choice. They have a wide variety of choices for lenses if and when the time comes to upgrade. The 16-50mm lens is a good lens for a kit lens, and it is a great starting point. Do not, however expect that you will get award winning sharpness from this lens. The FantaSea Housing system for this camera is a very nice, compact system that you will likely be able to fit into your carry-on luggage.

 

[rwe]

The A6400 does have a pop-up flash.

 

[Hoag]

The A6400 does have a pop-up flash.

My mistake. Thanks for the catch. My original post has been edited to correct the error.

 

[Akimbo]

I am biased in favor of interchangeable lenses so the Sony Alpha a6400 is a more versatile option.

 

[Lewis88]

I would do a sony a series in a seafrogs salted line housing with a 10-18mm in the 6in dome, and a 90mm macro in the long macro port, with a diopter.

Add the compact leak sentinal vacuum check system, and either a uwtechnics or trt-electronics TTL converter, and you'll have an excellent system.

This is my likely path with an A6100 when i move on from my S95 once the world opens back up.