I will turn 60 in July and would like to upgrade for my birthday. But ... I like having a little camera rig and I like the simplicity. I've been thinking about the TG-6 and am wondering how much I can accomplish without having to put it on a huge rig with lights extending out a foot and a half of both sides? I suppose I'm asking for too much, but I have to ask in case I'm not!
I look forward to hearing what you all have to offer. Thanks in advance.
In another post, you said:
I just don't know if I can manage a rig that big and not get caught up in 'doing nothing but adjustments'.
[TL;DR: I typed all that below and figured I should come back to the top and just say "have a look at a Sony RX100 MkIV or later"]
You've expressed interest in shooting video, macro, and wide angle. I think, one rig that can do all of those even somewhat reasonably well is going to have "all the adjustments", no matter how big or small it is. Of course, "reasonably well" is totally subjective and others may not agree. But, you've already talked about using a macro lens and a light and changing between macro and video during a dive. You're already way beyond most people's "simple".
I think the real keys are, one, getting something that will let you do everything you want to do, and do it reasonably well. And, two, taking the time (and it WILL take some time) to really learn the rig you get so that the only significant adjustments you have to make in the water are when you're changing the type of shooting you're doing. I.e. changing from shooting video to macro stills, or that kind of thing, and you can do those quickly and easily. As well as doing the more normal adjustments (e.g. change shutter speed or aperture or ISO) quickly and easily. Ideally, without having to actually look at the camera while you're doing it (other than looking at the rear display or viewfinder to see the effect of your changes).
In a perfect world, you would have a rig that has quick and accurate auto-focus and adequately smart automatic modes, so that you CAN shoot in something other than Manual, and have some chance of capturing decent quality images. And, the rig would have the ability to shoot in Manual, when you're ready to step up to complete control.
I just upgraded my own u/w camera rig. With my old rig, I only ever shot in full Manual mode. I got a lot of shots I am very happy with. But, I also missed plenty of shots from having my exposure settings "wrong".
I don't know what all cameras have this feature, but my new camera rig has a feature that my old one did not (I don't think!), and that I am looking forward to trying. In Manual mode, I can set it to do AutoISO. And, in that mode, I believe it will do TTL to control the power of my strobes. So, if it works like I expect it to, I can set my aperture, to achieve my desired Depth of Field, and set my shutter speed, to control or eliminate motion blur. I.e. get the two primary desired benefits of using Manual mode. But, the camera will use TTL to figure out how to flash my strobes to give me a good exposure at the lowest ISO setting (best quality) it can. I can shoot a shark that is swimming towards me and the strobes be bright enough when it's farther away, but automatically less bright when it's closer. With my old rig, I had no time to change the strobe power in that situation, so I was always going to get either a shark that was underexposed when it was further away, or a shark that was overexposed when it got close.
I said all that to say: What you MIGHT want is something like a Sony RX100 in a housing. It's a very compact point and shoot camera, but it offers Manual mode and RAW files. It can be used to capture truly impressive underwater images and video. And the u/w rig with one is on par size-wise with a TG6 or other point-and-shoot type of camera. But, since it offers Manual mode, it would potentially have you "doing nothing but adjustments." It does offer AutoISO, but I am not at all sure if there is a way to have it control strobes via TTL.
Alternatively, given that even a small P&S like the Sony has enough options to leave you doing nothing but adjustments, if you're willing to step up to that level of, we'll call it, sophistication, then you could consider stepping up to something that would give you the ability to capture even higher quality without any more complexity. A rig built around, just for one example, a Sony a6400 is not actually any (or much - I don't think) more expensive than an RX100 rig. It will be bigger. But, it has a bigger, better sensor, and supports interchangeable lenses. It would give you the ability to capture noticeably higher quality pictures and video, for about the same level of complexity - just with the penalty of being physically larger. And actually, a bigger camera like that can be actually easier to use. If you need to make an adjustment, like say, change the aperture, on a small camera, you might have to go into a menu to find and change it. Bigger cameras usually have more control wheels which means the same setting change might be as easy as just turning a wheel. No menus and you don't even have to look at it, once your fingers learn where the controls are.
Good luck with whichever way you decide to go. I have learned that (for me, anyway) u/w photography is a rabbit hole that I have not yet found the bottom of.
