I am about to re-enter this crazy expensive hobby again after a couple of years away. I had a Nauticam A1 set up but due to separation sold everything. I am about to upgrade to an A1ii for topside but I am not sure I need the A1ii for underwater and could save a little money by buying a second A1 body used for redundancy rather than having two A1ii bodies which here in Canada are pretty much $10000 each with taxes.

Thoughts from those who have shot both underwater

Thanks in advance,

Jamie

Hi @jmorphy ,

I too use the a1 and am super happy with it. From everything I have seen and heard, there is no real upside to the a1 vII over the a1 for underwater usage.

To be honest, it was a really tough decision between it and the a7rV. The main reasons I chose the a1 was 1) electronic shutter with flash possibility and 2) the 1/400 sync speed.

After seeing many of the a7rV in the wild and talking their owners, I would look seriously that direction to potentially save a few dollars with no reduction in quality. 1/250 sync speed it great for most scenes, and now HSS is a solid option for even faster shutter speeds. The electronic shutter option has not been a big plus in real life. The newer AI focus does have a bit of an upgrade with fish faces.

Best of luck in your decision!

Chip