Sony A6400 : Did i made a right choice?

[Hoag]

I used to shoot a Sony A6000 as my underwater camera and I was very happy with the results.

I might get some flak for this, but personally (and remember that this is nothing more than my opinion) I would opt for a different housing than the Seafrogs one. It might be a good housing, but I have read a number of reviews that indicated problems with it. I housed my A6000 in a Nauticam housing, and while the Nauticam one for the A6400 might not be in your budget, there are other options such as the Ikelite that may be a viable option.

 

[Lewis88]

I used to shoot a Sony A6000 as my underwater camera and I was very happy with the results.

I might get some flak for this, but personally (and remember that this is nothing more than my opinion) I would opt for a different housing than the Seafrogs one. It might be a good housing, but I have read a number of reviews that indicated problems with it. I housed my A6000 in a Nauticam housing, and while the Nauticam one for the A6400 might not be in your budget, there are other options such as the Ikelite that may be a viable option.

I 100% agree. I actually started with the Seafrogs housing, and the ergonomics, camera fit, zoom rings, etc were all less than stellar.

I had a Nauticam housing for my S95 before I went to my A6100, and the Seafrogs was just too much of a downgrade from what I was used to in quality and overall ease of use. Sold it and got my Nauticam A6400 housing immediately.

 

[BoltSnap]

I had a Nauticam housing for my S95 before I went to my A6100, and it was just too much of a downgrade in quality and overall ease of use.

The Nauticam housing was "a downgrade in quality and overall ease of use"?

 

[Lewis88]

The Nauticam housing was "a downgrade in quality and overall ease of use"?

Sorry, I wrote it in an unclear manner (fixed). The Seafrogs was too much of a downgrade compared to my previous Nauticam setups.

 

[VsubT]

The larger sensor cameras will have much less depth of field which will always make macro focus a more difficult proposition regardless of the brand. The 90mm lens will be challenging. A better bet is the kit lens with the Nauticam CMC-1 or CMC-2 for starters or similar wet macro lens and work up the 90mm macro.

Agreed, the a6xxx kit lens + a wet lens are a decent entry point for macro at reasonable cost. My experience with the a6600 + kit lens is that the CMC-2 has better depth of field and auto-focus lock than the CMC-1. I'd also highly recommend a flip attachment for the kit lens + CMC-2 configuration, as it will give you a lot of versatility on the same dive.

My go-to macro lens for the a6600 is the Zeiss 50mm. It has short working distance to minimize backscatter, reasonable auto-focus speed/tracking (not perfect), good depth of field at high aperture settings with decent strobes, and can be used with a flip CMC-2 or -1 lens for additional magnification. This shot of an arrowhead crab is a good example of the depth of field the 50mm Zeiss can capture.

For housings, Nauticam with the vacuum system is ideal if it's in your budget.

Lance

 

[P.K.A.]

Agreed, the a6xxx kit lens + a wet lens are a decent entry point for macro at reasonable cost. My experience with the a6600 + kit lens is that the CMC-2 has better depth of field and auto-focus lock than the CMC-1. I'd also highly recommend a flip attachment for the kit lens + CMC-2 configuration, as it will give you a lot of versatility on the same dive.

My go-to macro lens for the a6600 is the Zeiss 50mm. It has short working distance to minimize backscatter, reasonable auto-focus speed/tracking (not perfect), good depth of field at high aperture settings with decent strobes, and can be used with a flip CMC-2 or -1 lens for additional magnification. This shot of an arrowhead crab is a good example of the depth of field the 50mm Zeiss can capture.

For housings, Nauticam with the vacuum system is ideal if it's in your budget.

Lance

Thanks for the advice..the reason why i choose to get the Sony 90mm macro lens is because i got it at a bargain price (USD500)...hence i did not c onsider getting the CMC-2

 

[Barmaglot]

Thanks for the advice..the reason why i choose to get the Sony 90mm macro lens is because i got it at a bargain price (USD500)...hence i did not c onsider getting the CMC-2

$500 is indeed a bargain price for the 90mm.

You can pair the 90mm with a diopter for supermacro shots. I personally use a Weefine WFL05S (+13 strength) which brings the focusing distance to just a few centimeters in front of the lens and the frame size down to ~1cm width. Here, for example, are some clownfish eggs:

Orangutan crab

Sexy shrimp

 

[P.K.A.]

$500 is indeed a bargain price for the 90mm.

You can pair the 90mm with a diopter for supermacro shots. I personally use a Weefine WFL05S (+13 strength) which brings the focusing distance to just a few centimeters in front of the lens and the frame size down to ~1cm width. Here, for example, are some clownfish eggs:

View attachment 847921

Orangutan crab

View attachment 847922

Sexy shrimp

View attachment 847923

Wow...

$500 is indeed a bargain price for the 90mm.

You can pair the 90mm with a diopter for supermacro shots. I personally use a Weefine WFL05S (+13 strength) which brings the focusing distance to just a few centimeters in front of the lens and the frame size down to ~1cm width. Here, for example, are some clownfish eggs:

View attachment 847921

Orangutan crab

View attachment 847922

Sexy shrimp

View attachment 847923

Wow...