My review of the Nauticam LX100 Housing and Port System

http://interceptor121.com/2015/09/26/nauticam-na-lx100-housing-and-port-system-review/

Somewhat different option than other reviews on line

I got my NA-LX100 housing end of January 2015 and i made approx. 70 dives with it.
I bought the LX100 exclusively because of the 4K video option, if this was not the reason i would have bought the G16 as i have also a D800 but i needed something small

to carry every day during my work.

I see some things differently and i would to share them:

- Ergonomics: they are not perfect but easily usable without gloves (tu be honest, i don't know a ergonomic housing for a compact camera)

- Video: 4K video works nice and in good quality with the right illumination and gives very nice colors

- Video: 4K macro (with SubSee+10) works very good with the right illumination and a tripod (and autofocus)

- Video: 4K wide angle works only in manual focus as the camera hunt for focus and easily loose focus

- Handling: the housing with the square port (probably also with the short port) is very negative and need a lot of floats to become neutral

- Autofocus: The autofocus is fast, but continous AF is very nervous and tend to hunt a bit, may loose focus during video with moving motives

- Exposure: I use the camera either in ISO 100, F/16 1/250 sec for photos and my 2 Z-240 strobes using s-TTL expose almost always perfect or 1/60 sec and vary the aperture and/or ISO for video use

I am still happy with the housing and camera and she is my preferred dive buddy!

Chris

I actually agree with most of your points the 4K option is appealing especially on land. Underwater the poor autofocus at wide angle kills the camera

The main reason why I hammered it for stills is because after all the camera has the same sensor of the GX7 and the images are actually worse, cost wise once you bundle all the wet lenses you need to get the best quality you spend the same of a GX7 or OM10 with macro 60, 8mm fisheye and ports.

The housing is big not much smaller than a small micro four third and I think there are plenty of ways to spend money in a most cost effective manner

The camera itself on land is actually very nice thought not pocketable and am considering keeping it

Part 2 of the review focusses on 4K video

http://interceptor121.com/2015/09/27/nauticam-na-lx100-4k-video-review/

In short for wide angle video the LX100 is a strong contender to the more expensive GH4/GX8

Here is another review:

https://www.opticaloceansales.com/panasonic-lx-100-review-an-underwater-shooter-goes-small.html

I found that your assessment of cost is skewed. For example, you said the

LX-100: $1200 (NA-LX100) + $220 (flip diopter holder) + $320 (CMC-1) =$1,740

GX7 is : $1375 (Housing) + $300 (macro port for Olympus 60mm macro lens) + $170 (gear for the lens) = $1,845

But keep in mind, the GX7 would give closer macro, but that's all it does, you can't shoot a turtle and nudi in the same dive, while the LX100 can because it can zoom for different size macro subject, making shooting "establish shoot" possible. The concept behind LX100 is still gear toward point and shoot users, specifically advance point and shoot. You also failed to mention that the N50 port system doesn't require gear compare to interchangeable lens system, the gear is where you pay more money. A gear for the 60mm macro, 7-14mm, 8mm lens, that will set you back a lot of money.

As far as the way you use the Inon M67 lens holder, I would cautious to use that method. If you choose to do that, you need to be very careful. The rectangle port of the LX100 has some front extruded frame to let you rest the Inon M67 holder without touching the acrylic clear window. But if you're not careful when lowering the Inon lens holder, like moving from top to down toward the rectangle port, or when swipe to the side to pull the holder away, you could easily scratch the clear window.

The LX100 is a bridge camera until 4K camera become mainstream. A smart consumer should know that a first generation product of new technology is not going to be perfect. The GH4 is a third generation of very good video shooting camera after the GH2 with hack, so it has time to be mature. While the LX100 is the first that have such a sensor size in such body, but carry many of the manual control from the LX5/LX7.

You don't need any gear for the 8mm or the 60mm you can get focus gear maybe for the 60mm but that is really optional and besides you can get printed gear for £50

The first part of the review if aimed at stills not for video for stills really there is no comparison between what you can get out of a full ILC than the LX100

I do like the LX100 for wide angle 4K video

Also you can shoot a turtle and a pygmy seahorse in the same dive with the GX7 and any micro four third using the 14-42mm lens. Wet lenses support zoom through the whole focal range. In fact micro four third for 1080p are far more flexible as with compacts you start having blurred edges soon

By the way the same will be through with the GH4/GX8 people like the various 7-14mm etc but you can use wet lenses easily

This video is shot with a Panasonic GX7 with 14-42 PZ lens and wet lenses macro and wide in the same dive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO2WWBMBF0I

The LX100's video is really nice, although it does not have all the advanced profiles of the GH4. The custom white balance, which is critical for video, is spot on!

I found the autofocus was fast and accurate -- I used a "custom multi" AF where I selected a large group in the center of the 49 point grid that the LX100 has (similar to other Panasonic cameras). I set the AF/AE button on the back to AF lock and used it as a back button AF -- which is a really nice feature to have. I did not try to use AF-C in video, because I don't really know if any camera can pull that off very well, and I was usually drifting along in the water myself -- too many variables to try and control. That said, I want to try out the pinpoint AF on the next dive trip -- it opens a magnification window and you can fine focus using the focus ring and focus peaking. I think that would be great for macro, but I am wondering if it will work with a macro wet lens, like the Nauticam CMC.

However, I also found that you can't lock focus using the mini-dome port, if the lens is zoomed out much past 24mm (equivalent in Full Frame). I think it is because the mini-dome is small, and so the virtual image that it creates is really close to the front of the lens, and once you zoom out -- the lens' minimum focus distance falls past where the actual virtual image lies. That said, it wasn't really that much of a problem, because I used the mini-dome at the wide end generally, but it was a bit disappointing not being able to zoom in at all. This was a non-issue with the standard (flat) port -- the lens focuses on the object, not the virtual image as it does with a dome port. With that port, you get the full zoom range, and the option of adding in a macro wet lens (I'll try that out next time). But the compromise is a smaller field of view.

I was surprised, but I actually like the stills on the LX100 as much as I like the video. My strobe worked great on TTL (once I learned how to do that properly), with the white balance set to auto, I got great results. Sometimes the pictures were a touch overexposed, but I shoot raw and it is easy to fix that in post (1 click in Lightroom).

Compared with other 4/3 cameras, I think the LX100 does really well. Of course it is subjective -- there is no "right camera" or correct answer, it is always a matter of personal preference, and technology has reached a place where you can get amazing results with comparatively modest cameras. I looked at the LX100, and thought seriously about going for the GH4 instead. But, FOR ME (and only me), I think I made the right choice. The LX100 has the same sensor as the GX7 (and similar to most Micro 4/3 sensors), albeit cropped slightly to be a multi-aspect sensor, so you get 13 megapixels (when shooting on 4:3 ratio), vs 16 megapixels. However, the LX100's lens is phenomenal -- it is a Leica designed 10.9-34mm F1.7-2.8 zoom, which compares favorably to Panasonic's pro-zoom that is 12-35mm F2.8. The LX100's lens covers the same zoom range, but it is a faster lens which performs better in low light, and at the wide end, it has a minimum focusing distance of 1.5". It's great for close focus, wide-angle shots, which are my favorite kinds of shots to take. The colors captured by the lens are really pleasing -- again a subjective assessment, but I think it might be a touch of the Leica design.

It is a versatile lens, however you can't change lenses, and put on a true macro lens, or a fisheye....Everything is compromise.

My only complaint is that you have to keep the ISO down -- actually fairly easy given the fast lens -- otherwise you get a lot of noise. I think if I want better noise performance, I would have to go to an APS-C, or more likely a Full-Frame camera. But I really like the LX100 for travel, and for underwater use -- it's a small, versatile package, that gives great results. I would have to spend a lot more to do significantly better.

Here are some pictures I posted on another thread. I am still an advanced beginner, but I am looking forward to the next dive trip and trying out more pictures and video.

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=56425&hl=

You don't need to use focus lock in video just disable continuous focus and press half the shutter to refocus if needed this gives you back the af/AE Burton For AE lock. I put my lx100 on eBay i though of keeping it as compact and getting a gx8 however it has serious issues of focus hunting on land. I put it side by side with the GX7 and the latter wouldn't loose focus. Also when downscaling to 1080p the gx7 footage looks better and the carry on flash is a pain. It is a good camera no doubt but not particularly cost effective when you take it underwater