Need help choosing setup

[Sputnikboy]

Hello everybody,

after a hiatus I'm finally back diving.
The other day my GoPro 7 had flooded, it served me well but I'm not overly sad: while the videos were good, the pics weren't. I knew that already, mind you, and I thought multiple times to do the "jump" but I always waited too much.

Now, next year two dive trips might be coming, those that you want good pics about. The funny thing is that I have already a Sony A7R IV and both the 90mm macro and the 16-35mm which would be perfect for diving... But the cost of the housing and all the adapters/domes is prohibitive. And more importantly, if something goes wrong, my beloved camera is done for good.

So, here I am, trying to find a compromise.
I need honest opinions: is the TG-7 worth it? While I heard mixed opinions, because people seems to not realize that this isn't a camera for everyday pics like a normal phone can be, what I've seen from samples and videos underwater blow away any GoPro. Can't compare to my Sony, if I ever get a housing and stuff, but the prices is also much much lower.
For the TG-7 I'd go for the OM housing in the case, but I'd need help with the strobes/video lights (is the Backscatter Macro Wide 4300 Underwater Video Light MW-4300 hybrid worth investing?), the rig and eventually what I might need to further improve the wide angle shots/videos capability (if needed).

Context: I love macro, so the choice would be easy from what I read, problem is that the next two trips will be in places where you wanna shoot wide angle. I'm also located in Japan and so far I felt the need to use wide angle 90% of the time.
Any input is very welcome, thanks in advance!

 

[tursiops]

The TG7 with a good wet wide angle --like the Backscatter UWL-M52 120 deg wide angle -- will do a great job. Do not get the 81 deg "air" lens...it does very little for you, but is better than nothing.

 

[Nemrod]

The TG is not really suitable for wide angle due otherwise the limited dynamic range and lack of manual control. There are water contact lenses that will give you a wide angle but the limitations remain. This page has several wide angle lens choices. Can you be happy with the TG, only you can answer:

OM System TG-7, TG-6 & TG-5 Underwater Housing PT-059

OM System TG-7, TG-6 & TG-5 Underwater Housing PT-059: Designed exclusively for the Tough TG-6, this case can function down to a depth of 148 feet. The camera control dial is operable even when the camera is stored in the case for easy exposure compensation control underwater. Two external flash...

www.backscatter.com

For strobes you will want something that works with Olympus RC control such as the Backscatter MF-2 or the considerably stronger YS-D3 (for a TG or Oly camera).

Something that is often not understood about strobes. They are good for a few feet, even the strongest strobes are good to only 6 or so feet. The water column the sunlight passes through removes color rapidly starting with red. By the time we get to 20 or 30 feet red is muted or gone and the other colors are going as well leaving mostly a blue and green. Without strobes all you get is blue colored photos. Compared to the most powerful strobes, the sun has a GN of infinity. Your strobes can only overpower ambient light, especially up shallow, by staying very close to the subject. So you want to shoot a whale shark and light it up. The whale shark is 15 feet away, the light from your strobes passes through 15 feet of water, bounces off of the whale shark and returns through another 15 feet of water, thus traversing 30 feet of water and nearly all of the color will be gone. The water filters and absorbs light from the strobe rapidly. Thus wide angle lenses are needed to allow the photographer to get as close as possible to keep the strobes effectively within range.

You asked for an honest opinion, I am not a TG fan. But the upside is that if you get a good set of strobes they can move to a better camera rig in the future. Why do I not like the TG? No manual control, tiny sensor and lack of dynamic range. The TG is good at macro where the tiny sensor provides a huge depth of field and the microscope mode is intriguing and lack of manual control is not as limiting..

Yes, you have a FF Sony and you have discovered the cost of FF cameras and underwater photography. But AOI does make a budget housing for it and here Backscatter has this Oly outfit (housing by AOI):

Olympus OM-D E-M10 IV Camera & 14-42mm EZ Lens Kit with Backscatter Octo Underwater Housing

Olympus OM-D E-M10 IV Camera & 14-42mm EZ Lens Kit with Backscatter Octo Underwater Housing

www.backscatter.com

And with a wide angle water contact lens can do wide angle, macro and in between. With the YS-D3 strobes or the Backscatter HF-1 strobes you could do wide angle with the AOI housing fitted with this water contact optic:

AOI UWL-09 PRO Underwater 130° Wide Angle Conversion Lens

AOI UWL-09 PRO Underwater 130° Wide Angle Conversion Lens

www.backscatter.com

There is also used systems from Nauticam, Marelux, Isotta as the pro/enthusiast continually trade up. I bought one of these used from a friend recently. I like that it uses my Nauticam optics I already own, does not require expensive, fragile and unreliable flash triggers and is relatively compact:

NA-R50 Housing Pro Package for Canon EOS R50

NA-R50 Housing Pro Package Underwater imaging enthusiasts seek improved performance without sacrificing the compactness and simplicity of their camera systems. World travelers desire a smaller alternative to DSLRs without compromising performance. Addressing these needs, Nauticam introduces the...

www.nauticam.com

I also have a Sony A6400 in a Nauticam NA-6400 now for five years (and going strong) that was essentially a retirement gift. And, I have a FIX aluminum housed Canon S90 I bought around 2009 and it too is still going strong and I still enjoy using it, most recently in Bonaire last May, 165 degree fisheye lens, dual Inon S220 strobes, here.







From my Sony, Nauticam NA-6400, dual Inon S220 strobes, Nauticam WWL-1 lens:







This photo is a good example of how quickly light is removed, up close (about 1 foot) the corals are over exposed, at around two feet the corals and fish are about right on exposure and the background starting around 5 feet, most of the light is gone:



Disclaimer, all of the above is opinion except for the limitations placed on us by the physics of light underwater.