elbig
Contributor
I am in the boat ( so to speak) and I am leaning towards the TG5. Macro plus good video. Seems like a reasonable compromise feature/functionality and price wise.
Intro Photo-Kit Recommendations?
- Thread starter Sonia Savio
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Chris Ross
Contributor
if you're going to Indonesia, there are certainly macro opportunities but also magnificent reefscapes and large schools of fish, you may be disappointed with a macro only setup. If you are just starting out and particularly if budget is a concern have a cruise through the classifieds on this board. For example there's a Canon G7X-II in a nauticam housing going for a good price. Add 2 x INON S2000 strobes (small and compact - but nice quality) and some arms and you'll have a nice setup.
Another option is a mirrorless setup, I'm a Canon shooter with a 1DIV and I opted for a Olympus OM-D EM-5II and the 12-40 lens and the Zen 170mm dome. It's reasonably compact and the 12-40 (24-80 equiv) does reefscapes OK, fish portraits and also larger macro subjects like medium size nudis (0.3x magnification) . You can always branch out later adding 1:1 macro capability, fisheye or a wider rectilinear lens. I bought the camera and housing for less than the price of DSLR housing. It's still sizable but provides great quality and easy to pack into a carry-on.
Another option is a mirrorless setup, I'm a Canon shooter with a 1DIV and I opted for a Olympus OM-D EM-5II and the 12-40 lens and the Zen 170mm dome. It's reasonably compact and the 12-40 (24-80 equiv) does reefscapes OK, fish portraits and also larger macro subjects like medium size nudis (0.3x magnification) . You can always branch out later adding 1:1 macro capability, fisheye or a wider rectilinear lens. I bought the camera and housing for less than the price of DSLR housing. It's still sizable but provides great quality and easy to pack into a carry-on.
outofofficebrb
HARRO HUNNAYYY
@Barmaglot gave you excellent, spot on advice. I’m a RX100IV owner with a nauticam housing. I added the vacuum system and 2 Sea & Sea YS-D2 strobes on 2 sets of 8” Ultralight arms, 1 on each side. For occasional video and for night dives, i have a video light mounted on the coldshoe with a ball mount.
Like you, I had a desire for wide angle so got a wide angle lens and added a dome port but also wanted to capture detail so I also have a macro lens. As for the floats, FYI, I am using 8 jumbo Stix floats on this rig, the max I can fit on the 4 8” arms. My rig is negatively bouyant by about 1.5-1.7lbs in fresh water.
I agree with his/her suggestions on possible cameras, especially if you are comfortable in manual mode topside. You will be less likely to outgrow them and they will make for good cameras topside when you can’t or don’t want to bring your DSLR somewhere. I did consider the Canon G7 series as well.
Let me know if you have any specific questions about the RX100. Like you, I did a lot of research and this forum was really helpful.
Like you, I had a desire for wide angle so got a wide angle lens and added a dome port but also wanted to capture detail so I also have a macro lens. As for the floats, FYI, I am using 8 jumbo Stix floats on this rig, the max I can fit on the 4 8” arms. My rig is negatively bouyant by about 1.5-1.7lbs in fresh water.
I agree with his/her suggestions on possible cameras, especially if you are comfortable in manual mode topside. You will be less likely to outgrow them and they will make for good cameras topside when you can’t or don’t want to bring your DSLR somewhere. I did consider the Canon G7 series as well.
Let me know if you have any specific questions about the RX100. Like you, I did a lot of research and this forum was really helpful.
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Have you considered using float arms rather than foam blocks? I use these, for the reference. The floats you mentioned are rated at 181g of lift each, so 1448g total, and you need about 600g more, maybe a bit less after substracting the Ultralight arms, so call it 1000-1100g per side. 2x7"/80mm plus 2x8"/80mm should just about do it.
outofofficebrb
HARRO HUNNAYYY
Yes, I thought about it. At the time, I got some of the floats for free. I also figured it would be easier to dial in buoyancy in a jiffy with it if I changed my set up or rig and offers more flexibility. Thanks for the link, I will keep in mind for future! I will PM you for a consult when needed if that’s OK.
I am going to recommend a completely different route. If you are already using a dSLR professionally, any thing but a similar system or a high end mirrorless camera will drive you nuts. You might think otherwise now, but it won't take long for the "why can't I just adjust the stupid shutter speed??" conversation in your head as you are missing what would have been the most epic shots ever, but are instead overexposed blobs of white.
It sounds like your concern is whether or not you are actually going to enjoy underwater photography. To figure that out you don't need to drop a couple grand on a camera that you are just going to replace with a $10k+ system (housing, body, strobes, arms, lenses, ports, case). I recommend getting a GoPro with a tray and video lights. That way you can re-use almost all of it once you go whole hog. If you decide UW photo isn't for you, you have a GoPro you can use for other reasons like fast motion videos of your professional work for promo stuff.
Will the still pictures be great? No, but the video can be pretty awesome. And you'll get an answer to your real question.
-Chris
It sounds like your concern is whether or not you are actually going to enjoy underwater photography. To figure that out you don't need to drop a couple grand on a camera that you are just going to replace with a $10k+ system (housing, body, strobes, arms, lenses, ports, case). I recommend getting a GoPro with a tray and video lights. That way you can re-use almost all of it once you go whole hog. If you decide UW photo isn't for you, you have a GoPro you can use for other reasons like fast motion videos of your professional work for promo stuff.
Will the still pictures be great? No, but the video can be pretty awesome. And you'll get an answer to your real question.
-Chris
rmssetc
Contributor
Ah, you're shooting Canon now.
My recommendation...get a Canon compact. I'm quite happy with my G7X-II & Fantasea housing ($800 during their August sale!). While you could learn any camera, having something in the same family means that the menu layout, nomenclature, post-processing, etc. will all be familiar. In other words, less task-loading during the dive and less effort afterwards.
Manneca
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I am a pretty serious amateur land photographer. I use an Oly PEN-5 with the Oly housing and two Sea and Sea strobes. I use the kit 18-42 (?) lens and the 60 mm macro lens (which is a really good lens and I'm particular about lenses--on land I use only Canon Ls). My frustration is that the shutter speed is limited to 1/250. I get spectacular 16x20 prints with excellent detail. Backscatter was running a sale on an Oly fancier micro4/3 for about half price. (My first UW camera was a Nikonos which I wish Nikon would bring back with a digital back, then I used Canon G series cameras.)
I would never house my 5D Mark III because it's way too big. I dived with a guy with one a week or so ago and with a wide angle and strobes it as at least 4 feet wide. The set up for macro is more compact, but that's a big and expensive way to go. Flooding is also an issue.
I would never house my 5D Mark III because it's way too big. I dived with a guy with one a week or so ago and with a wide angle and strobes it as at least 4 feet wide. The set up for macro is more compact, but that's a big and expensive way to go. Flooding is also an issue.
OP
Sonia Savio
Registered
Thank you so much everyone. This response has been tremendous and I'm already quite smitten with this community <3
I went to Samy's and checked out the G7 MII and the Sony RX100, and I think I agree with sticking with what I know and going with the G7. With that said, as a base, is there a consensus on housing and lights? It seems like Nauticam may be a bit more durable, but is it really worth it over the Fatasea which is half the price? As for lights and floats, is there a light that can toggle from continuous to strobe with this set? Should I get two right off the bat, or start with one? Thanks again, y'all this has been remarkable.
I went to Samy's and checked out the G7 MII and the Sony RX100, and I think I agree with sticking with what I know and going with the G7. With that said, as a base, is there a consensus on housing and lights? It seems like Nauticam may be a bit more durable, but is it really worth it over the Fatasea which is half the price? As for lights and floats, is there a light that can toggle from continuous to strobe with this set? Should I get two right off the bat, or start with one? Thanks again, y'all this has been remarkable.
Chris Ross
Contributor
It's all about compromises, the compact cameras are great, however they are 24mm at the widest and because most compact housings have flat ports this means 24mm becomes about 31mm equivalent due to the optics of a flat port underwater. The nauticam has an optional dome port and also a short port to use a wide angle wet lens under water. The issue is the lens gets quite long as you zoom in so the standard port is long but for wide angle including with wet wide lenses you need the lens up close to the port to avoid vignetting and optical problems. Different housings make different compromises to deal with this. The other bonus with the nauticam housing is the integrated vacuum system is available, Great for peace of mind.
You can see reviews of this type of camera for UW use here: Best Underwater Cameras of 2017: Compacts & Mirrorless - Underwater Photography - Backscatter it explains the pro and cons of the features of each camera for UW use.
Regarding lights I think in your original post you said you weren't really interested in video, so to me that would say get dedicated UW strobes and a separate focus light. Strobes with built in aiming and focus lights might seem good, but you are not aiming your strobe directly at the subject UW, you point it away to try to avoid backscatter. For a compact setup, the INON S-2000 would be hard to beat as they are nice and compact. Focus lights help most with macro, I use an INON UW torch with a bracket, I like it as it uses the same batteries as my strobes. I started with 1 strobe, but probably no reason not to start with 2 if you have the budget.
You can see reviews of this type of camera for UW use here: Best Underwater Cameras of 2017: Compacts & Mirrorless - Underwater Photography - Backscatter it explains the pro and cons of the features of each camera for UW use.
Regarding lights I think in your original post you said you weren't really interested in video, so to me that would say get dedicated UW strobes and a separate focus light. Strobes with built in aiming and focus lights might seem good, but you are not aiming your strobe directly at the subject UW, you point it away to try to avoid backscatter. For a compact setup, the INON S-2000 would be hard to beat as they are nice and compact. Focus lights help most with macro, I use an INON UW torch with a bracket, I like it as it uses the same batteries as my strobes. I started with 1 strobe, but probably no reason not to start with 2 if you have the budget.
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