Recommendation for affordable <$2000 Complete UW Photography setup

Hi all,

Looking to buy a used set of photography set up for under $2000, any recommendations is going to be helpful

Currently looking at approximately:

Camera & Housing: $500-$800

2 Strobes: $800-$1000

Lens & Accessories: $200-$400

Thinking something along the lines of a TG5, any other recommendations?

Thanks in advance

Have a look at the used section. 500$-800$ can be very little for a good housing and compact. In fact the TG5 with Olympus housing is probably one of the few that sits in that price region. It is a good camera, but if you have a look at 1" sensor compacts (Sony RX100 (any model really), Panasonic LX10, Canon GX7mkII) you will find that while they may not be quite as good on the macro side as the TG5 they are significantly better for wide angle. If macro is your main interest though, you cannot go wrong with the TG5.

When shooting with compacts I find that even for Wideangle the smaller and cheaper strobes are good enough. I'm sure more light is better, but I find that I can get away with my YS-02 (same as YS-01s without TTL). I would recommend shooting manual strobes from the start. TTL is a crutch, and one that is not very reliable.

Your Accessories budget is probably already filled with your strobe arms. I doubt you can squeeze in an extra lens. I think you will be fine without a wetlens starting out though, so I wouldn't stress about that. My first attempts at UW-Photography were all with a bare Panasonic LX7 and I'm still happy with some of the images.

Agreed, the TG-5 is AMAZING for macro photography. I had the TG5 + strobe set up in Lembeh and here are the images that I got. I love it so much, highly recommend! If you haven't already purchased, I know of some second hand gear on the market for the setup.

https://www.elisaschan.com/lembeh

On 11/10/2019 at 8:24 PM, ellebelle said:

Agreed, the TG-5 is AMAZING for macro photography. I had the TG5 + strobe set up in Lembeh and here are the images that I got. I love it so much, highly recommend! If you haven't already purchased, I know of some second hand gear on the market for the setup.

https://www.elisaschan.com/lembeh

 

Wow, thanks for the inspiration with those great macro shots. Just setting up a TG5 system, coming from gopro which has always served me well until last Feb trip to Bali lol. Headed back in 2 months, starting in Amed and want to try the macro photos. Thanks again.