Hi divers,

I’ve changed my camera from RX100 to Canon V1 since April, mainly because no lights or strobes are allowed in Malapascua and the diving depth, because Canon always has the top manual white balance performance since G16. Sony RX100M5A, on the other hand, performs strangely below 15 meters with ambient light. It turns out to be excellent even for clips shot below 20 meters which color restoration in Da Vinci is both easy and accurate.

It’s surprised that still so few discussions about this camera after all this model has been released for almost a year. Besides white balance ability, I also like that it can shoot 10-bit 4:2:2 and HDR PQ (I don’t like CLOG3 personally) which gives me more flexibility in post processing, compared to 8-bit recording in RX100 series.

Although I am satisfied with the overall IQ (can I use this term for video?), I notice the background to be somewhat soft both in photos and videos especially during high ISO. I guess it’s mainly because the diving time is so early that the lighting intensity is somewhat hampered. The viz is OK though, usually between 15-20 meters.

Another thing I’m not comfortable with is that Canon V1 has a 1.4X crop when shooting in 4K 60P and the OIS stabilization is rather weak. A 1.4X crop makes it de facto a 1” sensor machine like Sony RX100 and to be honest I don’t find much difference in terms of image details between these two, both recorded in 4K.

I’m looking forward to seeing the updated versions for Canon V1 series, maybe with a native 24-70mm or 24-100mm lens or no crop in 4K 60P or IBIS. The native 16-50mm lens without wet lens performs rather weak around edges of pictures. I also heard the rumors of RX100M8 these days though I doubt Sony will shorten the lens range.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by Pidan22
Add “although “

Very nice, thanks for sharing. One compact you could also look into is the Lumix L10 as well:
https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/3591-panasonic-l10/
Though you won't get Canon colours, Panasonic WB is really good as well (and there's always the option to use a good filter like the Keldan SF -1.5), ans so is IBIS, the L10 has 4K 120fps and high bitrates.

I shoot video on the old LX10, and would probably get an LX10 is I were to do a compact upgrade.
Main downside for me with the L10 is the form factor, which forces you to use ports like with the LX100 series (body is virtually identical).

Otherwise have you looked in the Canon R50 V (video version)? It does 4K60fps.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by bghazzal

1 hour ago, bghazzal said:

Very nice, thanks for sharing. One compact you could also look into is the Lumix L10 as well:
https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/3591-panasonic-l10/
Though you won't get Canon colours, Panasonic WB is really good as well (and there's always the option to use a good filter like the Keldan SF -1.5), ans so is IBIS, the L10 has 4K 120fps and high bitrates.

I shoot video on the old LX10, and would probably get an LX10 is I were to do a compact upgrade.
Main downside for me with the L10 is the form factor, which forces you to use ports like with the LX100 series (body is virtually identical).

Otherwise have you looked in the Canon R50 V (video version)? It does 4K60fps.

I have purchased V1 two months ago, there was no news of L10 then. Of course, L10 will be an excellent underwater camera, though I’ve heard it doesn’t have IBIS either. V-log looks pretty balanced between highlights and shadows. I agree with what you said about the port. R50V seems to be too big for me.