Waterpixels Compact Systems Specialist

Welcome on board Maria, great to have you here.

Welcome aboard Maria!

Good to see Maria here, she was the person who awakened my interest in UW photography and showed me what was possible with a humble TG6. I am amazed at the images I have been able to create thanks to her initial guidance

Welcome Maria! Glad you’re joining us and thanks much!!

Thanks so much Tim, Chris, Davide and Rich for the lovely welcome. I'm so proud and excited to help you all. I've loved using many compact brands such as Fuji, Olympus, Sony, Canon Ixus, Canon G, Sea & Sea, Sealife and of course the incredible Olympus TG series plus Ikelite, Backscatter & INON strobes. I really am that geeky about them all and look forward to helping :)

Hey @Mark Don - wow, so pleased that I helped to inspire you too. I'd love to see your images.

Have a great Easter all of you!

You already have :-) Kona Manta with the Moray

Oh lovely! I sold my TG6 system a while back but am thinking of adding a housing for the G7X III to have a secondary camera system. Looking forward to being inspired by what can be done by compact cameras.

Hey @vkalia

Great to hear that you are thinking of getting a G7X III camera! I've written books on compact cameras for the past 15 years, but will share some bite-sized chunks to hopefully help inspire you :)

Have a lovely day and look forward to seeing your images.

Maria

Hi @Maria Munn ,

Nice to have a compact camera specialist here :)

What do you think about the discontinue of compact cameras? It seems like no manufacturer is releasing new models anymore. (TG7 is not really an option without a full M mode)

What do you see as future alternative to the old time favorites like G7x I-iii or rx100 I-vii? Please don’t say phones or action cams, since as soon as it comes to real macro, it’s not really good ;)

Would be great to hear about your opinion - thank you :)

Philipp

Hi Phillip,

Thanks for the lovely words.

I hate saying this but I honestly think Smartphones and action cams have shaken up the underwater photography world and created a hugely positive ripple of change in underwater imagery, especially amongst the younger generation. There's something about videos that captivate so many.

I personally love the Tough range and have rarely shot using full Manual Control. I'll never forget Daniel Norwood, one of my course guests, now on the Editorial Team for DivePhotoGuide winning the British Society of Underwater Photographer's Best Beginner competition with a semi-manual compact, like the Olympus Tough range, and beating the runner-up with a d-SLR by 27 points. He could achieve black backgrounds, snoot shots and of course wide-angle too.

What do I think? I think that the Olympus Tough range has taken giant strides in the compact market to be the real leader, particularly with its macro capabilities. It's almost impossible to equal or beat at the moment for size, affordability and results. Plus more people are starting out with a Mirrorless System now like Sony's A7 range.

Who knows what will happen in the future, I'm just going to grab each day as it comes with a large zest for learning and creating.

Happy Shooting!

Maria