Sony RX100 VI or Sony a6500 or Olympus EM1 Mkii?

I've been struggling which camera rig to get. I'm currently using compact TG5 camera with strobe and video lights and planning on upgrading.

My wife has a RX100 VI, I'm contemplating to buy a nauticam housing for it OR sell the camera and get a mirrorless set-up. I'm choosing between (RX100VI, a6500 or EM1 MKii) and planning get Nauticam housings for all options.

Which of the 3 would you recommend? I'm planning to use the camera into: 50% macro photos, 30% videos, 20% wide angle photos.

Any advice would be highly appreciated.

Thank you.

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For mirrorless, the recently announced Canon M6 Mark II looks interesting.  It’s in the same class as the Sony a6500 and Olympus EM1 MKII.  I’m looking at it or the Olympus in a Nauticam housing, because with a single lens you can shoot both macro and wide-angle on the same dive using CMC/WWL.

Since you have the RX100 already, it’s a great option too. You mentioned Nauticam, and if the price works that’s a no brainer. Great housings, and you’ll love the leak detection.

Sounds like your bigger decision is compact or mirrorless.  Travel size/weight and overall cost favor compact, but image quality will be better with mirrorless.

Lance 

Thanks for the note! Do you know if Nauticam sells the Canon M6 mkii housing Already? Between a6500 and Olympus, I'm Leaning towards Olympus. Which lens are you looking to get if you don't mind me asking. Thanks

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Waiting to see if Nauticam will build a housing for the M6 Mark II, nothing yet officially. If they do, I’d look at the Canon EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM kit lens for versatility. There’s a good write-up about this for the M5 here.  

Looks like the Olympus can use their 14-42 lens for the same thing. Lots of good lens options for the Olympus.  

Lance

I think for lens options Olympus is the most flexible of all the listed options. It allows for a standard zoom with wet lenses setup, but also has dedicated macro options and a proper fisheye. The latter is something that Sony sorely lacks. 

Thanks both! What are your thoughts ot the Panasonic GH5 given its great performance for video, how about photos does this compete if not better with Olympus' EM1 MKii?

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Image quality is the same. On land you lose the high resolution mode, but that’s not usable underwater. C-AF is better on the Olympus, but I am fine with S-AF underwater. I think both are very much equal with minor advantages depending on specific use. 

If you really are 50% macro then I think the RX is not the optimal choice. For you, I think the GH-5 option is more useful if you really are doing 30% video. The lens choices are better for the u4/3 than for the Sony. BUT I would avoid the all in one solutions. For macro nothing is as good as a dedicated macro lens and for WA you might use the WWL but it is large, heavy and expensive compared to a tiny dome port and an 8mm Fisheye. I don't think you could tell the EM-1 from the GH-5 in terms of stills but for video the GH-5 is more optimized.

Cheers

Bill

The GH5 and the EM1 share the same sensor however Panasonic and Olympus have made different choices in terms of construction of the camera. As result the GH5 has slightly better color and dynamic range but the EM1 has some more performance a higher ISO we are talking about small differences. In terms of video Olympus devices have always been lagging but now they are decent. When it comes to still features Olympus is better than Panasonic at focus and other features,

The other factor to consider is that the Panasonic m43 work well with any lens brand, the Olympus camera prefer Olympus lens and give some side effects with Panasonic lenses.

For macro you can use the Olympus 60mm for most and for wide angle the 8mm Panasonic if you use the GH5 or otherwise better the Olympus for their EM1. 

For video the approach is different and I prefer a 14-42MM zoom with wet lenses wide and close. You can of course use this as a platform for stills and it does better as wide angle than macro where even with a strong close up lens you cant beat the 60mm

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. It definitely helped me to decide which camera to get after the TG5. I've been told by a friend that it's better to get a rig that has room for growth rather than do the tg-compact-mirrorless/dslr route and spend more in the end. Hearing your thoughts on the PANASONIC GH5 now makes me consider this seriously. The only concern (if any) that I have would be the size and of the rig itself. I guess that's tradeoff of better camera quality and usability than compact rigs.



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I have the EM-1 mkII, AF is really quite good and a noticeable step up from lesser models like the EM-5 II.  C-AF plus tracking actually works and is quite snappy in most circumstances with the 60mm macro, AF is far easier to use than it was on the EM-5 II.  I also use the Panasonic 30mm macro on dives targeting larger macro subjects and that is even better with AF.  Can't comment on video as I don't use that a great deal.  Wideangle work with a fisheye is nice I have the Panasonic 8mm but think now the Olympus lens may have been a better choice. 

Chris: Can you compare the Panasonic 30 macro to the Olympus? 

Bill

No I've never used the Oly 30mm.  But here's some images with the Pany 30mm:

It's every bit as sharp as the Oly 60 and better AF.