DazedAndConfuzed
Contributor
I've used the Meikon housing on my RX100 on a couple of dive trips, the first one with only 8 dives or so, and it being a new housing and the the RX100 sat there untouched for 9 months or so, thus remembering how all the features are to be accessed without the rear ring control was a challenge. I realized it has problems with performing white balance in quite blue environment and was befuddled with the constant error while performing WB. On my next trip, I just accepted one of those successful WB attempt which got stored as custom WB, and with 26 dives on that trip, the housing, even though I was very wary due to the single o-ring design, did not leak. It could be due to the white o-ring, which I can examine for any dust that might land on it, or the fact the boat I was on had air guns to blast off any dust, sand or lint off the o-ring. Plus, I frequently switched off the camera when not shooting to preserve the battery, requiring me to swap out the battery 3x (around 1 batt every 7-8 dives), as compared to a RX100 IV user seem to be swapping out every 2 dives.
I compensated for the lack of rear dial by using 2 custom modes, one being forced flash to control the external strobes, manual mode with shutter set at 1/500, front ring controls aperture (set at 5.6), and I adjust the aperture basically to change the background brightness (later I change the shutter to 1/200, since I found out I often had to dial the aperture to 2.8 or wider. The other custom mode was natural light mode, with no flash, shutter priority and using the preset WB (I usually would do a manual WB once in a while, but this camera precluded me from doing it). Both settings are on low 100 or 200 ISO had the lens slightly zoomed in to avoid vignetting of my Inon dome lens. Once in a while when I press 'movie' button, the image is extremely dark, I guess the movie button takes the setting currently on the camera, and if I was on 1/250 sec, it is too dark for movies, but I just switch shutter speed or switch to movie mode and I can film the scene. The good thing is that I can film a scene in the corrected WB (if I am in custom mode 2, or switch from custom mode 2 to movie mode).
The Meikon housing is more or less like the std underwater housing that each camera mfg makes for their camera. I had ithe front ring slip once or twice, usually after taking the camera out to change batteries. It is likely due to the camera not sitting as snug toward the front as it should. The buttons are a little close to each other, since they are directly on top of the actual buttons on the camera, instead of using those actuators with extension arms to spread the buttons further apart. The first few times, I forgot which is the movie button since it is so close to the others and of the same color. The glass port does not sit absolutely flush with the camera's front lens, thus the Inon type II wet lens does not sit absolutely flush with the housing's lens port (like it does on my old Oly PT-015 housing for the C-5050Z) requiring me to zoom in slightly to avoid vignetting (which as described above, I have done in my custom modes, and it was still not enough, given most of my pictures still has slight vignetting.) Unscrewing and re-screwing on the wet lens underwater is a PITA since it does not have vent holes for water to come in and out, not something you want to do if you dive straight into rough waters, best to screw it in the rinse tank and fill that gap with fresh water.
As for the Sony MPK-URX100A housing, it does not seem to have the ability to control the real dial, that knob is to adjust the mode dial, thus not providing any additional functional advantage over the Meikon. Dual o-ring would also make me less paranoid about o-ring prep in non-clean room environment. Issues I see is the lens port is quite recessed (and doesn't seem to be vented), thus the rear of the wet lens will be sitting quite far away from the housing's port and subsequently the camera's lens, resulting in more vignetting. You can see it here:
W
I compensated for the lack of rear dial by using 2 custom modes, one being forced flash to control the external strobes, manual mode with shutter set at 1/500, front ring controls aperture (set at 5.6), and I adjust the aperture basically to change the background brightness (later I change the shutter to 1/200, since I found out I often had to dial the aperture to 2.8 or wider. The other custom mode was natural light mode, with no flash, shutter priority and using the preset WB (I usually would do a manual WB once in a while, but this camera precluded me from doing it). Both settings are on low 100 or 200 ISO had the lens slightly zoomed in to avoid vignetting of my Inon dome lens. Once in a while when I press 'movie' button, the image is extremely dark, I guess the movie button takes the setting currently on the camera, and if I was on 1/250 sec, it is too dark for movies, but I just switch shutter speed or switch to movie mode and I can film the scene. The good thing is that I can film a scene in the corrected WB (if I am in custom mode 2, or switch from custom mode 2 to movie mode).
The Meikon housing is more or less like the std underwater housing that each camera mfg makes for their camera. I had ithe front ring slip once or twice, usually after taking the camera out to change batteries. It is likely due to the camera not sitting as snug toward the front as it should. The buttons are a little close to each other, since they are directly on top of the actual buttons on the camera, instead of using those actuators with extension arms to spread the buttons further apart. The first few times, I forgot which is the movie button since it is so close to the others and of the same color. The glass port does not sit absolutely flush with the camera's front lens, thus the Inon type II wet lens does not sit absolutely flush with the housing's lens port (like it does on my old Oly PT-015 housing for the C-5050Z) requiring me to zoom in slightly to avoid vignetting (which as described above, I have done in my custom modes, and it was still not enough, given most of my pictures still has slight vignetting.) Unscrewing and re-screwing on the wet lens underwater is a PITA since it does not have vent holes for water to come in and out, not something you want to do if you dive straight into rough waters, best to screw it in the rinse tank and fill that gap with fresh water.
As for the Sony MPK-URX100A housing, it does not seem to have the ability to control the real dial, that knob is to adjust the mode dial, thus not providing any additional functional advantage over the Meikon. Dual o-ring would also make me less paranoid about o-ring prep in non-clean room environment. Issues I see is the lens port is quite recessed (and doesn't seem to be vented), thus the rear of the wet lens will be sitting quite far away from the housing's port and subsequently the camera's lens, resulting in more vignetting. You can see it here:
W
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