Looking for advise on Newbie (but not so Newbie) kit.

Looking at getting back at UW photography, I initially did years ago with a Canon G5 and Ikelite housing but stopped as there was always 1 person in my group who was so good at UW photography that there was no point at hauling a camera around, unfortunately that person is no longer available, and am thinking of taking up the slack as I am always wide eyed in disbelief the amazing WA shots they took of wrecks & caves.

I am a complete newbie when it comes to cameras as it has been too long since I picked one up and shot anything, I really have no interest in topside photography. Basically, all I know is there are compact systems (point, wait & shoot), DSLR's (has view finder) and mirrorless (no viewfinder)....that's about it.

I still have a few buddies that shoot UW, but they are 99% macro and are relatively clueless on UW WA photography, all they can say go with a Nauticam housing.

So to make a long story short, I am looking for a decent setup that I can start off with and if I end up enjoying the art again, that I can upgrade if needed (basically good strobes + possibly a slave).

Since I only do wrecks & caves, unit most be good to 100M and tailored to WA photograhy. If a dome port is needed I prefer glass over acrylic due to where I haul my body.

Really need some help & direction. I don't mind starting off with a basic/starter system but insist on good strobes so that I can move them over to a better system if needed.

As for a budget, well cheaper is always better for me (new rebreather this year & scooter have broke the budget) but decent quality where I can enjoy shooting without too many issues.

So in short order:

what body?

Housing needs to be Nauticam

what ports & extensions?

what WA lense?

what recommended strobes?

anything else I missed?

Thanks

My first question would be to ask how much gear can you manage, along with your CCR and scooter? I struggle to imagine how I would manage a housing with a dome port and strobes on long arms on a scooter. If size / weight / complexity are important considerations then they are going to narrow your options.

Second would be the type of photos you hope to shoot. You mention caves and wrecks so do you envision balancing low ambient light with your strobes? If so then looking at systems with large-aperture WA lenses and high ISO performance might be important.

The third question has got to be budget, to narrow the choices. I'm a big fan of the Olympus / Panasonic m4/3 cameras as I think they hit the sweet spot in terms of the price / quality / size equation. I am primarily a macro photographer and these systems are definitely not the last word in WA, but I am happy shooting a 7-14 lens behind a 6" port when I do go WA. The comparable field of view with a DSLR would require a much bigger (and more expensive) port.

I've seen great photos taken with all kinds of cameras, from P&S to various m4/3 to crop and full frame DSLRs. If you haven't done this kind of photography in a while and are unsure if you're going to stick with it, then my advice would be to start with a small high quality P&S from Sony or Panasonic or Canon plus a compatible wet lens for WA. I would personally go with Inon Z240 strobes as they are relatively compact, plenty powerful, and will not hold you back if you upgrade cameras / housings.

Speaking of which, upgrades in this business are painful, as you need both a new camera and a new housing. If you're relatively sure that you will upgrade from time to time, picking an ecosystem like Nauticam's DSLR or mirrorless or Sony lineup will at least allow you to retain ports as you change housings. In that case, you could start cheap with an Olympus E-M10, the 7-14 mm rectilinear or 8 mm fisheye lenses and ports, and look to grow into the E-M1 and its successors and the Pro line of lenses eventually while keeping the original lenses and ports. The same argument would of course apply to the DSLR or Sony A7 systems albeit at a higher initial budget

Thanks Troporobo for the detailed reply.

I'll try and answer your questions as you asked them:

1: As to how much gear I can handle, i would say a fair amount, I was scootering, shooting video (with an old style big assed housing) with stages in the past. Obviously, with any new gear additions, it would be a take it slow approach, initially just the rebreather & camera, then slowly increase task loading till I am comfortable to handle what I have with me.A smaller package is better so the mirror-less seems like a good choice as it would be easier to bring along/clip off when caves & wrecks.

2: As you mentioned my interest is in WA wrecks & caves with divers usually in the foreground.I really do not envision myself doing small criters in macro. Mostly low ambient light or none at all though some with be caverns with natural lighting in the background. quite a few areas I dive in have a lot of particualte in the water so the closer I can get to my subject the better. Looking at the compact mirror-less cameras, from what I understand (I could be wrong) the focal length is effectively double what a DSLR is so a 8mm fisheye is effectively a 16mm......would this effect my shots too much?

3: Budget.....well that's the big question....like everyone,I want the best for nothing but understand that is impossible. I see myself getting real good strobes with optical connections, as from what I was told...good strobes can last you a very long time. I do not see myself changing housing/camera after I purchase it...as I am not a fan of buying gear just to upgrade it a year or 2 latter. ( my last scooter was purchased 9 years ago, and only recently changed as I am getting too old to lug around 90-120 lb scooter to the shore ). Glass optics/dome is important as being in a wreck/cave environment lends itself to the possibility of some accidental oppsie's.I can also see myself just getting a housing/camera....playing with that for a while and then getting strobes at a latter date (new or used), using white balance adjustment to get the colours correct in shallowish water. Though I would love to be ready with the whole kit when I travel to Truk Lagoon next year.

Again, thanks for the time you took to reply.

Regarding the focal length of m4/3 lenses, you are right that the so-called 2x "crop factor" means you get an equivalent field of view to a lens that is twice as long in full-frame terms. But the Olympus 8mm fisheye, for example, has a 180 degree field of view so you really can't get much wider than that. I don't like the FE look so I use the 7-14mm rectilinear lens which has a 115 degree field of view at the wide end, which I find to be plenty, even too wide, for reef scenics some times.

For my purposes, size was a major factor. I can fit my whole system including strobes and two ports into a normal backpack. And I can get into tight spots a little easier. Oh and by the way, almost all m4/3 cameras have viewfinders (though some of them are not so useful under water)