Tips on next step Camera rigg for a macro lover

[Singewald]

Thanks for all good ideas and response! seems like for my budget the TG-7 would be the best choice. So will be looking for a camera, housing, tray + some sort of strobe. Cheers!

 

[Hoag]

Thanks for all good ideas and response! seems like for my budget the TG-7 would be the best choice. So will be looking for a camera, housing, tray + some sort of strobe. Cheers!

Whatever you get, have fun & enjoy it.
Check out the link in my earlier post.

 

[ACHiPo]

I'd look for a used Olympus EM1-mk2 with the 60mm macro. M4/3 cameras make excellent macro rigs.

Or a new Olympus E-M10 IV (~$500) plus the AOI housing (~$1k). Used 60 mm macro lens, macro port, and strobes would get you to $2k pretty easily.

I came very close to buying the TG--I've seen amazing macro photos and video with them. At the end I was swayed that the full manual controls plus interchangeable lenses of the M43 Olympus was more extendable, but the M43 approach is definitely more money.

 

[ACHiPo]

Not recommending this due to lack of familiarity and a friend just got one and he is having vacuum issues. But FWIW:

Backscatter Olympus OM-D E-M10 IV Underwater Octo Housing UH-EM10IV

Backscatter Olympus OM-D E-M10 IV Underwater Octo Housing UH-EM10IV: Excellent image quality, more affordable than similar rigs, and compact enough for travelers and novice shooters - is this the new Best Bang For Your Buck in underwater photography? That’s a 10-4, good buddy!

www.backscatter.com

A dive buddy told the dive buddy who purchased the above something along the lines of one could purchase five TGs for the price of a Nauticam NAXXXX. And my response to him when relayed this opinion, yeah, and you would still have five Yugos and not the Porsche that you wanted .

I am sorry, I am being mean to the little TG. If and when OM Systems gives us a TG-Pro with a one inch sensor, full manual controls with actual f-stops and a 3:1 zoom (something like 24-75) I will jump out of my skin and have an out of body experience trying to grab one!

Hey, OM, if you really wanted to have something better than a phone please give the world a TG-Pro.

That's the rig I purchased. I'm impressed so far, but have yet to get it wet, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.