Sony rx100 II vs GoPro Hero 7

[ZuziaK]

Hi,

I am very new to diving and even more so UW photography… We are going diving to Indonesia at the end of next month and cannot decide whether we should purchase housing for our old Sony RX100 II camera. We are about to buy GoPro Hero 7 (or 8 if it comes out next week) and will definitely purchase macro lens for that. Sony housing would be another $350 to added to our already expensive trip. Do you think we would be missing a lot of great photos by not taking our SONY RX100 II under water? Or is GoPro Hero 7 sufficient to have great diving footage for a beginner?

 

[rsingler]

For video, your GoPro will be all you need.
For stills, I still use my RX100ii in a Nauticam housing and love it.

Great starter to intermediate rig!

 

[Addicted2H2O]

The GoPro 7 for photos isn't all that great in its own right. My avatar pic was taken with a GP7 and it's okay, but definitely not great. The best way to use a GoPro for stills IMHO is to shoot video and then use the mobile app to capture them from video. It works really well and they seems to be much more stable and clear than normal stills.

 

[runsongas]

Sony DSC-RX100 II 40m/130ft Meikon Underwater Camera Housing

 

[jgttrey]

I had, and loved, an RX100ii in a Nauticam housing with all the bells. I also have a GoPro 7.

The Sony will be hands down better for stills - but only if you take the time to learn it and work it. Those great pictures you see require some skill in understanding settings and being fiddle with it underwater. A strobe makes a huge difference, as with any camera and that's not an option on a GoPro. The ability to zoom within the housing also gives some versatility that the GoPro doesn't have (it's wide as hell all the time). For video, it's not as great. Sony white balancing is crap for videos and the GoPro's image stabilization is a huge plus.

The GoPro will deliver very good video (relatively) with far less trouble and post-processing. It's also much easier to manage under water. You can get decent stills too but it won't touch what a properly set RX100 can do, particularly if you have a strobe. The GoPro 7 stabilization is also far better than what you'd get out of the Sony and you'd spent a lot less time in post.

The RX100ii is still a fantastic camera, but there is a learning curve that is far steeper and you have to be willing to mess with it. If you intend to operate as a point and shoot, you'd be better off with the GoPro on video for sure. You'd give up a little on stills versus a "point and shoot" approach with the RX100. The difference would be more apparent if you spent more time with the RX100.

As a matter of point and shoot, easy video and not interfering with your dive, the GoPro is the hands down choice. If you're trying to build a system, want to do a lot of stills versus video, and you have the inclination to really fiddle with it and do some practice dives before your trip, the RX100 is a great choice.

 

[stuartv]

If you are not going to ante up for strobes for the RX100, then don't bother with a housing.

If you aren't using strobes and you want some stills, shoot video with the GoPro and grab frames out of it later for your stills. Also, get a red filter for the GoPro. Note that not all red filters are created equal. I have heard/read good things about one called the "Magic Filter", I think it is, but I have no direct experience.

None of that is going to be the BEST for stills. But, I think the results from the RX100 with no strobes is not going to be a whole lot better than what you can get from the GoPro. Only you can decide what is "worth it" to you, but stills from an RX100 with no strobes would not be "worth it" (buying a housing) to me, compared to getting stills using a GoPro 7 or 8.

Also, if your dive count really is less than 25, I would not really recommend taking on the task loading that comes with shooting an RX100 with strobes just yet. Maybe your buoyancy is good enough to handle it, but I can say with confidence that MOST people with less than 25 dives do not have good enough buoyancy or situational awareness to really do that safely.

It's a long road. You have plenty of time to step up your underwater photography game in the future.

Enjoy your trip to Indonesia!

 

[jgttrey]

I don't disagree with the bottom line of @stuartv's advice, but I will say that having had an RX100ii setup before going to an A6500 and having a GP7 now, the RX100ii will take far better stills, if you do it right. Not a little. A lot. That's the only part I don't really agree with.

Strobes make a big difference but you can do a lot with ambient light in general, and much more with the RX100 than a GP7, in particular. You can do much more with those raw images in post and the ability to manually and readily control aperture, shutter and ISO is a big deal. Zooming is a big deal. Strobes become a lot less important on shallow dives in good conditions with lots of sun. Even without strobes, the RX100 will blow the GP7 away for stills.

But, as I said, it will require more work and be a far bigger distraction on the dive. All that said, the GP7 will do fine and it is way, way less distraction on the dive.

 

[stuartv]

Strobes make a big difference but you can do a lot with ambient light in general, and much more with the RX100 than a GP7, in particular. You can do much more with those raw images in post and the ability to manually and readily control aperture, shutter and ISO is a big deal. Zooming is a big deal. Strobes become a lot less important on shallow dives in good conditions with lots of sun. Even without strobes, the RX100 will blow the GP7 away for stills.

Excellent points. I probably did really undervalue the difference, for stills, even without strobes.

Also, while I did say "if you're not going to ante up for strobes", I should have been more clear. If you are going to ante up for strobes, ever, then you'll need a housing, so no reason not to get one now and strobes later, if that fits your long-term plans. I should have said "if you are never going to ante up for strobes" in my initial post.

Back to the subject of stills (no strobes) on GP versus RX. I do think that @jgttrey's points are MORE applicable to someone with some experience as a photographer and, in particular, shooting underwater. For someone's first time shooting underwater, and (merely an assumption) not planning to use Lightroom to edit the RAWs from the RX, I still do think that the difference between the final results from the GP vs RX for stills is not going to be huge. If you have some idea of how to shoot in Manual, and you are going to put some effort into post-processing the RAW files, then you can definitely get significantly better results from the RX, even in ambient light only.

 

[jgttrey]

I agree with all of that which sort of speaks to your second point, which is that to take advantage of the RX100s extra capabilities it's more bulk and more work and a newer diver might not be up for it.

At least for me, dives have seemed to break down into "photo" dives and "dive" dives. Having a significant camera rig changes the dive entirely. Not in a bad way if you like taking photos, but I'm not just gonna tote that thing around for the heck of it. It changes my dive - I move more slowly, look for shots, etc.

A GP, on the other hand, is just sort of there if something pops up. Even with my relatively heavy Isotta housing and a small video light, I can clip it off and pretty much forget about it. If I need it, it takes 10 seconds and I'm in business. Otherwise, I just get on with the dive.

 

[stuartv]

^ 100%