What system are you using in 2022?

As time goes by I thought a quick survey of the audience would be appropriate

I have not been active here in a few years. I was using a 5DM3 in an Ikelite housing. I bought an R5 a couple years ago and just bought an Ikelite housing for that. I wasn't sure if I wanted to take it underwater but after using it for a while now the features are so strong that it can only elevate my results. I just have to work out my lens choices now. 

Sony A7 series which replaced my Canon dSLRs. Love/hate relationship BUT my 'hit rate' has increased so on blance a good move. Biggest gripe is lack of really useful shorter focal length IF macro - the Canon 60EFS was brilliant even on FF with an extender. For wide work I find the system excellent though.

Would it perhaps make sense to split mirrorless into M4/3 and FF ? These are not the same, at least from my peasant point of view

23 minutes ago, makar0n said:

Would it perhaps make sense to split mirrorless into M4/3 and FF ? These are not the same, at least from my peasant point of view

The shooting experience of any mirrorless camera is the same. Otherwise you need to start going into APSC as well

I switched this month.  Previously D850, up to June.   Now a Z9.

11 hours ago, phxazcraig said:

I switched this month.  Previously D850, up to June.   Now a Z9.

Did you find the new system any lighter ?or smaller ? (I'm getting older with a D800 and subal housing) and what about the variety of lens choices The same?

On 9/6/2022 at 9:06 AM, onokai said:

Did you find the new system any lighter ?or smaller ? (I'm getting older with a D800 and subal housing) and what about the variety of lens choices The same?

No way it's any smaller!   I did manage to fit it into the same carryon, but the housing itself is physically bigger.   The lenses are a bit smaller/lighter, but that's just negligible in terms of the overall weight.   The housing itself is heavier.   The dome port is the same.  New macro port about the same.  50mm extension for 14-30 versus 90mm extension for 16-35 is the biggest difference between systems in terms of size/weight.

If you are looking to save weight, you would not be looking at FX.

I have a FX system (subal d300)

I do not use it it anymore-really not much different than my Subal D800 setup 

Of course I shoot two heavy ikelight strobes whuch are much heavery than most strobes

Now how about the lens choices-I shoot a bunch of lens from a 60 to 105 macro to a zoom long lens that is also macro to all the wide angle stuff

I thought mirrorless was still less in terms of lens choices?

what brand of housing are you using-a Nauticam?

I have a FX system (subal d300)

I do not use it it anymore-really not much different than my Subal D800 setup 

Of course I shoot two heavy ikelight strobes whuch are much heavery than most strobes

Now how about the lens choices-I shoot a bunch of lens from a 60 to 105 macro to a zoom long lens that is also macro to all the wide angle stuff

I thought mirrorless was still less in terms of lens choices?

what brand of housing are you using-a Nauticam?

Native lenses for mirrorless exist for macro standard and wide

There are no fisheye currently but any OEM lens can be adapted

So the lack of lenses is overrated in fact except the odd D850 nobody buys a new DSLR housing (source three nauticam dealers in 3 countries)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1 hour ago, Interceptor121 said:

So the lack of lenses is overrated in fact except the odd D850 nobody buys a new DSLR housing (source three nauticam dealers in 3 countries)

Not sure which 3, but my sources tell me they are still selling fine!

31 minutes ago, adamhanlon said:

Not sure which 3, but my sources tell me they are still selling fine!

What is selling fine? Most manufacturers have phased out APSC DSLR and there are only few full frame models left of which the D850 is one of the few that still sells. In some cases because people that had a D500 and do not want to go mirrorless as the Nikon mirrorless APSC offering is not good so they go full frame DSLR instead of mirrorless

Many lenses are also being discontinued so really we are approaching the end as this small survey shows mirrorless are already the majority. You can brag about how representative a sample is but overall it would take a lot to turn the table.

On 9/6/2022 at 9:06 AM, onokai said:

Did you find the new system any lighter ?or smaller ? (I'm getting older with a D800 and subal housing) and what about the variety of lens choices The same?

I weighed my rig last night - 26 pounds.  (Weightless in the water.)  That's a Nauticam Z9 housing, 50mm extension, 230mm dome port, Backscatter MW-4300 focus light, dual YS-D1 strobes on 8+8 inch arms, Z9 and 14-30.

I haven't weighed the macro rig, but it is considerably lighter  (still heavy).

Interceoptor

I am not taking about SLRs as they are not being made anymore and mirrorless are now the future.-I get that-I have been thru more housing since 1982 than I want to talk about.-My questions are are the mirroless setups smaller and lighter and do you have more or less lens options. The only reason for me to get one is less weight and smaller size (old guy) I have no plans on replacing my subal D800 and will most likely never move up anymore unless the new system is smaller and lighter by a bunch

My setup dry weight with spoting light is 22.5 #s with a long marcro lens (over 160mm)

since I have over 12 lens I'm not looking for more and since mirrorless is not smaller lighter in a housing why move?Now thats a disscusion point

10 hours ago, Interceptor121 said:

What is selling fine?

D850 is doing fine. I know of one major manufacturer that is selling more D850 housings than Z9. SLR lenses are still plentifully available.

However, barring any surprise announcements, the reality is that people are going to be buying more mirrorless housings, because they have no choice! I'm not sure that any sales figure comparison has any long term relevance, nor does it reflect any form of technical improvements. 

The more interesting question is how many people will be trading in their SLRs for mirrorless now. Do people feel that mirrorless is mature enough to really offer a significant performance upgrade over SLR, or are they just sticking with what they have for the moment?

35 minutes ago, adamhanlon said:

or are they just sticking with what they have for the moment?

Stick! (D500)

1 hour ago, adamhanlon said:

D850 is doing fine. I know of one major manufacturer that is selling more D850 housings than Z9. SLR lenses are still plentifully available.

However, barring any surprise announcements, the reality is that people are going to be buying more mirrorless housings, because they have no choice! I'm not sure that any sales figure comparison has any long term relevance, nor does it reflect any form of technical improvements. 

The more interesting question is how many people will be trading in their SLRs for mirrorless now. Do people feel that mirrorless is mature enough to really offer a significant performance upgrade over SLR, or are they just sticking with what they have for the moment?

The Z9 is a very expensive camera with a massive body a resemblance of the D4/5 etc legacy is not for everyone

Nikon users are sitting on the fence APSC are doing nothing or getting a D850 if they want and a minority that can getting a mirrorless

However canon users have a greater choice of options including APSC mirrorless, canon DSLR sales are dead practically. The R7 housings are selling and many canon users are going to mirrorless as canon is releasing loads of lenses

We also have to remember Sony is the market leader and the cameras are smaller lighter and the housing cost less and have now plenty of water contact optics probably the best priced full frame mirrorless system on the market 

In line  with Onokai, Tim and Adam, I am keeping my Nikon D7200 in a Subal housing, and am seeking a Subal ND500 for my D500.  A few years ago I dived with a D800/Subal, and much regret having sold it, as I would still be enjoying it.  The cost/benefit of moving to mirrorless escapes me. 

6 hours ago, adamhanlon said:

D850 is doing fine. I know of one major manufacturer that is selling more D850 housings than Z9. SLR lenses are still plentifully available.

However, barring any surprise announcements, the reality is that people are going to be buying more mirrorless housings, because they have no choice! I'm not sure that any sales figure comparison has any long term relevance, nor does it reflect any form of technical improvements. 

The more interesting question is how many people will be trading in their SLRs for mirrorless now. Do people feel that mirrorless is mature enough to really offer a significant performance upgrade over SLR, or are they just sticking with what they have for the moment?

I switched. Being a Canon guy with a 5D3 my next step was to a 5D4. I unintentionally waited long enough for the R5 to come out. The significant improvements in FPS, ISO performance, auto focus and resolution over the Mark IV made it a pretty simple choice. As I'm sure everyone knows Canon has abandoned the DSLR moving forward. So why not just jump on the band wagon now. Buying RF lenses hurts more than I would like though. Thankfully all my EF glass work very well with the Canon adapter. 

On 9/1/2022 at 4:11 PM, Interceptor121 said:

The shooting experience of any mirrorless camera is the same. Otherwise you need to start going into APSC as well

A rather strange answer if you dive into into the consequences of FF and M4/3 sized sensors.