Recommendation for underwater and land compact camera

 I use the LX100 II in a Nauticam housing. I used the LX100 prior to that, and Nauticam has a conversion kit that allowed me to use the LX100 II in the same housing (for a cost of $30 or $40).  It is a larger sensor than other compact cameras (4/3 sensor), and it has a very close-focusing zoom lens with a bright aperture (F1.7 to F2.8 over its zoom range).  It is good, but not great, for macro, though I am not much of a macro photographer (my next skill to master).  I find it quite good at 4k video, Panasonic and Canon cameras are supposedly the best able to set a custom white balance underwater at depth, which is important in video (saves a lot of hassle in editing). The camera's strength is close-focus wide angle photography, because the lens is very close focusing. The LX100 II is also just a nice travel camera and good for street photography.  Backscatter has a good review of the camera and housing setup on its website. I have some pictures on my website that I shot with this setup in Saba, in October 2019 (the "before" days).

There are more capable options, but you are looking at interchangeable lens camera, and more expensive/extensive ports.  Bigger sensor cameras will give better image quality and low light performance, other things being equal (but they are rarely equal).  I wonder sometimes about trading up to something with a larger sensor, but I would have to jump from the current 4/3 sensor to a full frame sensor to see a significantly better image, and that would entail a separate camera/lens/housing system which takes up a LOT of room (luggage restrictions are really tight) and a lot of expense. I would do it if I could do dive photography for a living (don't we all wish that), but as an amateur, I have plenty of capability in my current setup and do not feel constrained.  I have much more to learn!

39 minutes ago, troporobo said:

Hi Tim - That’s a fair point, though to be precise Olympus imaging was sold not withdrawn.  The new owners and the rumor sites say they will continue with a likely focus on higher end models.  FWIW Panasonic has said the same recently. Who knows?  I’m invested in lots of glass, housing, and ports so will stay with them as long as the gear works as well as it does now, which is brilliantly for me, but I’d probably not start building a long term system around Olympus until it’s future looks clearer.  

Thanks for that correction, Robert. You're right of course: sold on - not finished.

But, yeah, you're spot on: fine to continue with a system you already have; but would it be wise to embark on starting to build a system at this early stage of an Olympus transition? Tricky.

2 hours ago, imacro said:

Also what about the Sony A6400 / A6500 that has a bigger sensor. Price wise it’s about the same but the lenses are more for Sony. How does A6400 / A6500 perform in macro and super macro?

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A lot of people like Sony, but I'm not a huge fan particularly of the APS-c line.  Seems like a bit of an orphan.  I feel the 90mm macro is too long - great for super macro but more difficult to switch to slightly larger subjects as you need to back off too much.  If you stick with macro or wet lens lenses it's compact enough, but wide angle the dome ports are starting to get quite the size compared to m43.  The bigger sensor means you are stopping down more for depth of field and you won't get away with the smaller strobes I don't think. 

 I use the LX100 II in a Nauticam housing. I used the LX100 prior to that, and Nauticam has a conversion kit that allowed me to use the LX100 II in the same housing (for a cost of $30 or $40).  It is a larger sensor than other compact cameras (4/3 sensor), and it has a very close-focusing zoom lens with a bright aperture (F1.7 to F2.8 over its zoom range).  It is good, but not great, for macro, though I am not much of a macro photographer (my next skill to master).  I find it quite good at 4k video, Panasonic and Canon cameras are supposedly the best able to set a custom white balance underwater at depth, which is important in video (saves a lot of hassle in editing). The camera's strength is close-focus wide angle photography, because the lens is very close focusing. The LX100 II is also just a nice travel camera and good for street photography.  Backscatter has a good review of the camera and housing setup on its website. I have some pictures on my website that I shot with this setup in Saba, in October 2019 (the "before" days).

There are more capable options, but you are looking at interchangeable lens camera, and more expensive/extensive ports.  Bigger sensor cameras will give better image quality and low light performance, other things being equal (but they are rarely equal).  I wonder sometimes about trading up to something with a larger sensor, but I would have to jump from the current 4/3 sensor to a full frame sensor to see a significantly better image, and that would entail a separate camera/lens/housing system which takes up a LOT of room (luggage restrictions are really tight) and a lot of expense. I would do it if I could do dive photography for a living (don't we all wish that), but as an amateur, I have plenty of capability in my current setup and do not feel constrained.  I have much more to learn!

So the folder on my website is www.basilkiwan.com/Nature/Saba-Dive-Trip/ 

That was all shot with the LX100 II.  I mostly shot wide angle, with many shots using the Nauticam WWL-1 on that trip. 

Take your time weighing out options, because it is an expensive purchase.  Cameras that have more housing options are definitely more attractive, because your housing is likely to be more expensive than the camera.

The LX100 II is good at macro, but the Sony RX100 line of cameras (probably the RX100 VII) has an advantage because of its longer focal length lens.  When I want to shoot macro on the LX100 II, I use the standard port, and flip on the Nauticam CMC wet lens - that arrangement allows me to shoot tight macro, or flip the lens out of the way and shoot regular mid-range focal length portraits (though not wide angle). I find shooting macro challenging, because with a wet lens, I usually have to manually focus (autofocusing through a wet lens is difficult), and it is hard to manual focus when you are buffeted by currents.  But that is more a limitation of me, as a photographer, than of the camera.

If you go to interchangeable lens camera, (Sony, Olympus, Panasonic), you get the advantage of more flexible lens options.  For example, with micro 4/3 cameras (Panasonic, Olympus), there is the excellent Olympus 60mm macro lens, and some of the zoom lenses in that class have decent macro modes.  But generally, you have a larger rig (more ports, swapping lenses and ports between dives, etc..)  That said, it is worth checking out housing options for any camera you might be interested - Nauticam, Ikelite, Isotta, Aquatica, AOI, Fantasea, etc... because some housings are definitely smaller than others.

For macro specifically, the other advantage that both the Sony RX100 line and the LX100 line have is flash synch speed.  Compact cameras have a leaf shutter - the shutter is built into the lens, not on top of the sensor.  Interchangeable lens cameras (mirrorless and DSLRs) have a focal plane shutter. Typically a DSLR or mirrorless can synch with a flash or strobe at shutter speeds up to 1/200 or 1/250th of a second.  If you go faster than that, you start getting this black band across your image - which is actually the panels of the shutter moving across the focal plane. 

Cameras with a leaf shutter do not have this limitation.  The RX100 VII can synch up to 1/2000 of a second, I believe the LX100 II can synch with a flash or strobe up to 1/2000 or 1/4000 of a second.  It add flexibility to your photography, particularly for macro photos, where you want to obscure the background.  When you shoot with a strobe underwater (or on land), your shutter speed is controlling the ambient light.  Your aperture is controlling depth of field.  Your strobe is lighting your subject in the foreground.  If you have a high shutter speed, you can "kill the ambient" - the background can be rendered almost black, while your subject in the foreground (say a little blenny) is light carefully by your strobe.  It's not the only way to get that black background that isolates your subject your subject in the foreground, but it is an extra tool that you don't get with mirrorless or dslr cameras.  That said, I have not used this very much (since I am typically shooting wide angle not macro), but it is something I want to try more of on my next dive trip.

Excellent explanation @Basil!! 

On 1/15/2021 at 4:30 AM, turandot said:

Excellent explanation @Basil!! 

You are welcome!  One point of clarification: Autofocus through the WWL-1 was completely fine - just as snappy and reliable as the camera is on land (i.e. no difference in autofocus performance from having no wet lens).  The camera is great for wide angle, including close focus wide angle shots.  Autofocus with the CMC Macro wet lens was much harder - and I think it had more to do with the minimum focusing distance, and the fact that the magnification of the wet lens alters that on the camera.  But again, I am not an expert on macro photography. I look forward to future dive trips for more practice, once the pandemic ends!

Have you decided on a camera system yet?  I have recently upgraded from a Sony RX100Va to an Olympus E-PL10.  I am thinking of selling my Sony RX100Va and the housing i  used with it (Fantasea Line vacuum)

Have you decided on a camera system yet?  I have recently upgraded from a Sony RX100Va to an Olympus E-PL10.  I am thinking of selling my Sony RX100Va and the housing i  used with it (Fantasea Line vacuum)

On 1/24/2021 at 10:18 AM, imacro said:

I decided on Sony A6400 and already bought the camera.


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Awesome.