What system are you using in 2022?

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

Not been here for a long long time but prior I was all about UW Video. Now more focus on stills and have always used Canon DSLR's. I like the whole aspect of mirrorless but too heavily invested in DSLR peripherals to want to switch it all out to another system. 

Recently bought a used Nauticam D850 housing from Saudi Arabia and two D850 bodies (one new)

The D850 has some newer features on light control that I will use. 

I will be selling my subal D800  custom housing early next year along with two D800 bodies and some extras.I'll post them here 1st.

I never considered mirrorless as they are not yet any lighter than a d850 when housed. I am now on my last system in 40 years of diving for photos I feel. Started with Ikelite in the mid 80s and went to a few Aquaticas by 87  then 4 Subals from film to digital .I am vested in Nikon SLR lens (now all autiofocus for old eyes)

I think the D850 will be the last SLR Nikon produces as well.

we shall see how I like the over engineered Nauticam stuff.

Been a lot of years with underwater photo gear

As documented moved from FF system to the Sony RX100 series.  With good strobes and all the amazing wet lenses been very happy.  Just sooooo much easier to travel with, dive with and more durable.  I'm not making wall sized prints or submitting to Nat Geo so quality is fine.

Still using a Nikon D850 (and used the Nikon D5 on my last trip to Norway). Expect to be running a FF mirrorless by this time next year. Although, very unsure if it will be Nikon, Sony or Canon. All three have a decent chance, odds are probably in that order.

Just packing for Raja Ampat. And it actually surprises me how little of my luggage is actually Nikon stuff. It is all UW optics and strobes and a housing! That seems to be the future for me.

Alex

I switched from Nikon D800/Nauticam to Nikon Z50/Nauticam because I wanted a lighter rig for declining health. (I built my first housing 48 years ago...) But the weight saving was negligible; a gym membership might have made more sense. My mirrorless is more complicated (I need to remove the port and lens to change card or battery - except with the 16-50 kit lens) but I am enjoying it. I like the WWL-C because the optics are good, but seldom use it as the 8-16 Sigma is wider and great for over/under with the 8.5" acrylic dome. And the expensive 8-15 fisheye is good too and useful on an APS-C sensor, akin to the 10-17 Tokina.

I don't understand the obsession with higher quality, frame rates etc when pictures have almost no value. I shot for Getty for 24 years, I caught the tail end of the heyday luckily, but unless you are consistently making huge prints (and Topaz Gigapixel is cheaper than a new housing) I wonder why there is this obsession with upgrading?

To me, the sweet spot seems to be a Nikon D500/Tokina 10-17. I went from D200, D7000. D800 to Z50.

My sweet spot was the Nikon F5 with sports finder viewfinder in a Subal F5 Procase housing.

Best finder I ever used so far. Yes the Nauticams viewfinders  are good but smaller image and a lot larger unit sticking out.

Lets see early 80s Pentax something (junk in an Ikelite-also junk) then a few Nikon F3s then a few F 5s then a few D300 then D800's now D850s

Not going mirrorless with housings .Maybe topside but its a BIG MAYBE

I had the good years with an Image going for $250 per shot-sold some topsides as well back in the day especially lave into the ocean shots. Photo was always a side deal for me but I do have stacks of calendars and articles written with photos when the pay was decent. Digital killed all of that.Also used to sell large images for the walls back then. Slide shows for nonprofit fund raisers as well. All thats a done deal now.

Mine is a Sony A6600 in Nauticam housing. Carried over my YSD1"s and 2"s and arms from my last rig. I got the A6600 because I wanted to be able to use my wet lenses. My big beef with the larger rigs is that you have to make a decision on what your going to shoot before you go under. This way I can still shoot macro and wide angle on the same dive. I haven't been under water yet, I was waiting on a UWT flash trigger which just showed up. so I'll get wet soon.

Nikon Z6 ii, Nauticam NA-Z7II, Inon Z-330 strobes

Still Lenses: 

• Z 105mm Macro
• Z 14-30mm Wide Angle
• F 8-15mm Fisheye w/FTZ
• F 60mm Macro w/FTZ

Video Lenses: 

• Z 24-70mm Zoom

Waiting for the Z7 ii price drop and upgrade (After Z7iii or Z8 maybe?)

I upgraded to a Canon 1DX Mk III plus Nauticam housing two years ago. My previous work horse u/w was a Canon 5D MkIII with 16-35mm + 8" dome. For land based shooting I had (and still have) a Canon 1D IV - that's why the 1DX III felt natural to me. Since I have half a dozen L-series lenses, I hesitated starting from scratch, especially with any other camera brand.

Currently my main lense combination is Canon 28mm EF + WACP-1 (stills and video). However, when travelling "light", I use the Canon 8-15mm behind a small glass dome (stills only).

For lighting I use either ambient light or Keldans, the CRI95 version. More than half of my shooting is for 3D photogrammetry projects. Pictures below show me "in action" and illustrate the need to shoot from close range.

Recently upgraded to a Nikon D500 after shooting the D300s for many years. Even though the D500 is several years old at this point it has been a nice upgrade. It's fun to try other rigs when the option presents itself, but the cost is a bit prohibitive for me to be changing very often.

I don't have the budget of many on here, so I'm always playing catch up. I started off with Sony and then Canon point and shoot cameras in manufacturers housings. Then progressed to a Nikon D80, later I upgraded to a D7000 (which I've been using for 10 years). I've just upgraded to a second hand D500 and housing, the camera had <1000 shots and the housing had never been used. There is a decided improvement from the D7000. I'm using most of the lenses I bought back in 2007 when I bought my D80 and these still work brilliantly with the D500, and the focussing is amazingly fast and accurate. I'm more into macro than wide angle but always try to all styles of photos. I can't see any advantage for me moving to mirrorless. I get that things have moved on, but I'm only taking pictures for my own (and friends) consumption so I don't need 40 megapixels, FF gives me less depth of field (yes I know taking the picture at the some distance away and cropping the FF gives the same result - but when I'm just taking the picture of a nudibranch in the UK and trying to get it to fill the frame it does make a difference, I believe), FF 20+ megapixels would give me worse results I believe (I'm happy enough with the noise of the D500, and UK natural light is a rare thing for me ).

I just don't see the benefits of mirrorless for the average underwater photographer with existing lenses etc. I also don't see the point in changing a camera ever time a new one comes out. Maybe if I had money to burn?? The costs of £3000 for a decent mirrorless camera, £4000 for a housing and then £3000 on lenses to take pictures as well as one could with ones old system seems madness. I'd rather go on another 5 or 6 holidays abroad.

What am I missing? I get that people starting from fresh don't have dslr as a new choice and don't have older lenses. 

2 hours ago, MTH said:

What am I missing?

Only new toy envy?

Ive had my D500 system since 2017 and must admit to having new toy thoughts over the Z8. But, really, would it enable me to take better pics? I very much doubt it. There are some interesting thoughts about improved AF etc on the Z8 but, honestly, just how often has the D500 AF let me down underwater? Errrrrr……

If you’re finding your picture taking limited by the camera system then maybe it’s time to consider a move. But otherwise? New toy envy……

( and of course I’ve succumbed in the past. And I have a Z9 for topside) 

19 hours ago, MTH said:

 

What am I missing? I get that people starting from fresh don't have dslr as a new choice and don't have older lenses. 

Nothing really, if the D500 is working for you no need for a change.  I'm still shooting my 2017 EM-1 mkii happily.  I've upgraded topside, but no real need to take the new camera underwater right now.

@MTH & @TimG

I can provide a little perspective here, having gone through the upgrade path from a Nik V to a housed N90, then moving to DSLRs (eventually shooting the D100, D200, D7000, D7200), then the D500, and D850 (of which I still shoot both now).

At every step I felt like the camera equipment enabled me to get shots I couldn't before (with likely the hardest transition being going from the N90 to that first DSLR). The camera wasn't better, however the ability to review shots "live" was a game changer. 

Having two kids who both shoot underwater (now both 18+), I've watched them go through similar transitions (usually with either my old gear or occasionally with equipment they've picked up).

My son started with an Oly, then moved to my D7200, and now shoots with my older D500. Even as his skills have developed, the camera progressions have also enabled him to get better images - some of this is due to AF, some is due to resolution (and being able to crop inside an image), and some is just due to the camera (better IQ, etc.)

Our daughter moved from that same Oly system her brother started with to housed Sony systems several years ago (A7III, A7R4, and now the A7R5).

Having both shot side by side with her for the last ~8 years, and having had the opportunity to shoot her systems, I can say (first hand) the A7R5 is as good/better than a D500 (as a camera for u/w shooting). The only advantage that the D500 still has is the availability of lenses (Sony just doesn't have a comparable macro lens that can hold up to the venerable Nikon 60mm macro, or the 105 for that matter). 

So I would state it this way (which has been shared on these forums by others as well). The question isn't what new mirrorless systems offer that older DSLRs don't, but rather when will the new mirrorless systems surpass the older DSLRs either in innovation or even just availability.

Said another way:
The A7R5 is the first mirrorless camera that I've shot with that makes the D500 feel "old..."  I would say it's mostly a "wash" at this point between the two systems (depending on what you personally value), but this also tells me that the next generation of A7 will surpass the D500 - there won't be any question (other than "sunk cost" in lenses, etc.).

The Z8 breathes some life back into the discussion for Nikon, but the Z9 wasn't a slam dunk for u/w, and the Z8 doesn't seem to have anything that changes that equation (other than price). 

I'll keep shooting with the D850 and the D500 for awhile longer, but I've kind of resigned myself to moving to a Sony system in the next generation or so.


 

41 minutes ago, oneyellowtang said:

The A7R5 is the first mirrorless camera that I've shot with that makes the D500 feel "old..." 

Thanks for this. Interesting.

Like you I've done the iteration: Kodak something-or-other, CP5000, D100, D200, D300, D800 - now D500.

I can understand that the A7R5 makes the D500 feel old. The latter is of course now an old design and the mirrorless cameras are more compact and a slightly different shape. Are there noticeable differences in what you can achieve with it?  

Great to hear everyone's views.

I totally get that things are improving and I get that mirrorless has killed off the dslr top side. I agree, the result will be that we will all be using mirrorless in the future .

AF improvements, and maybe also AI, will definitely improve.

I've designed chips for about 20+ years and know that improvements in noise are going to be limited, while we may see lots of 60+mp sensors appearing, I don't see the benefit for most photographers. I remember being happy with 6mp .

I also shot a friends nikonos V on a trip to Sipadan in the late 90s. I got a few pictures that I thought were ok but wouldn't even keep today. To be fair I was new to underwater photography then, and I learnt a lot a more as soon as I got my first P&S digital and housing (a sony Cyber-shot P1). However, my D80 was a complete revelation, love my D500 though.

Maybe I'll change to mirrorless in 10 years or so. I'll be retired by then and my have more time to play.

to the moderators: we should close this thread and rerun for 2023 as things have moved on

I had been a Nikon user for over 40 years. But when I started shooting video, I realized they were way behin in that area, as well as ignoring the mirror less revolution. So I switched to Panasonic GH5. Since then my only upgrade has been to the GH5 II. Same body, improved firmware.  
 

I'm now shooting a Z9 in a Nauticam housing, using older YS-D1 strobes and a Backscatter MFW-4300 focus light.

I have two lenses - wide zoom and macro.   14-30 and 105, both z-mount Nikons.   I shoot the wide zoom through a 230mm dome port, and I added the Sea and Sea Internal Corrections Lens to the 14-30.   I shoot the 105 macro through the matching Nauticam macro port.

I don't use wet lenses, though I have looked at them with a lot of interest.  I had two for when I ran the RX100 II, but I never used them.

Before the Z9 I was shooting  D850 in a Nauticam housing with same strobes and dome port.  Different macro port and dome extension.   Lenses were 16-35 (with Sea & Sea Internal Corrections Lens) and 105 macro.

Before the D850, a D810 in a Nauticam housing for four years.

The better the system I've shot, the more focused it tends to be.   These last three rigs traded any semblance of easy portability or flexibility for better absolute IQ.   Yes, if you mount a 14-30 and come up on a small shrimp, it's not good.  Neither can you properly photograph shipwrecks with a 105 macro lens.   So .... do more dives!