Sony a6500 for uw video and stills

The Sony a6500 looks like a very good camera for underwater work in low light, and getting the IBIS in it is a nice addition.

To what effect would you think the insane rolling shutter will be a problem for uw video? I have seen samples from the a6500 and it looks no better, maybe worse, than the a6300. Slow moving should be ok as long as you always keep it in mind. But what if you have the camera on a scooter, both facing forward and 90 degrees to the side sweeping across wrecks?

Also I see a lot of people complaining about setting the WB, this also I would guess will be a bigger problem for video than for stills. But do most people using the a6300 find workarounds that is not too cumbersome?

Caveat: I own an A7RII, not an a6000/a6300/a6500. But I suspect much of the same stuff applies.

Re: rolling shutter: I've never found this to be an issue on the A7RII, either in full frame or APS-C crop, which is known to have pretty bad rolling shutter (though not as bad as the a6300/a6500). Frankly, even when on a scooter, you'll be moving at best at 3, maybe 4km an hour? Water dampens movement. I would hazard a guess that it will not be a significant issue.

Re: white balance for video: if the a6300/a6500 series is the same as the A7RII/A7SII, you'll be fine with ambient light from 0-10m. Below that, you'll need to use a red filter. If you're mainly diving deep with low ambient light and good video lights, then you don't need to worry about it. So I guess it depends what depth and lighting conditions you're shooting in. If you expect artificial light to be a large part of your filming, then I wouldn't worry much about the white balance.

If I were you though, I'd wait a few months to see how the Panasonic GH5 and replacement to the Sony AX100 pan out. 4k60p would be nice to have..

I mostly want to do wrecks, exterior shots both with ambient light and artificial and some with only ambient. Deep waters and dark, so the Sony lineup seems to be preferred over the m43 due to the sensor and low light capability. I own a G7, which I fear will be pretty similar to the GH5 in that regard, and can't say I'm impressed with low light performance. I also want a small form factor, otherwise the D500 might have been an option.

The a6500 does seem like a promising camera, but there is always something on every model. I have never shoot anything ever using filters, so I would prefer to not need it. And combining artificial lights when having a filter installed would probably not be a great idea. Is it that difficult to correct WB in post for video? For stills using RAW it works pretty well to correct in post for the ones I have tried, is the Sonys any worse?

You dont need IBIS if you use Sony glass with OSS and you don't need the touchscreen underwater. I would think about the A6300.

Can't say much about the WB, will test my A6300 next week for the first time. I will take a greycard with me to do a custom WB underwater. Cheers

I would like to use maybe the Tokina 10-17 or Canon 8-15 for wrecks and CFWA. But ibis would be nice for land use also.

I'm looking forward to your feedback after trying it underwater. Could you test rolling shutter also and see if is at all any issue underwater? I saw a test with the a6300 in an ikelite housing overheating in only 13 minutes of filming, that could also be an issue for me although the a6500 has a menu option to allow more heat without shutting down.

Are there any port/dome combinations for the Tokina or Canon? You will need to use a adapter (Sigma MC-11 or Metabones) and the lengh of the lens will change. I would stick to Sony/Zeiss glass because of the perfect AF (Sony SEL1018F4; Zeiss Touit12F2.8, Sony 90F2.8 Macro).

found this a6300/SEL1018 video

How well does the a6500 handle focus selection? I understand it's a touch screen, so that's not going to be accessible once it's in the housing. Does it have a quick way to accept focus point selection as deemed appropriate by the underwater photographer? Does it require manual focus?