Switch from RX100 to a7C

Hi all

I currently own an RX100 III that I use both on land and underwater while traveling.

I'd love to shoot some nudibranches and critters with it, so I initially planned on getting something like an UCL-165 or CMC-2 with a flip diopter holder as the zoom should be enough and easier to use in comparison to the stronger variants. Since I was also looking to upgrade my camera as I'm somewhat limited with the quality (especially on land), I'm playing with the thought of upgrading to an a7C which seems to be the perfect camera for me. It's quite compact, affordable with great specs. Now ideally I would want to replace my RX100 in favor of the a7C and use it as an allrounder for both land and underwater.

The thing I love about the RX100 is that it comes with a built in flash which keeps it super compact and is actually enough for my underwater uses. As the a7C doesn't come with one sadly, I'm trying to find the best option to solve this without having to pay a hefty price for strobes including the added luggage space and size that comes with it (Traveling with a backpack when possible).

I'm currently looking at the seafrogs housing and maybe something like a backscatter mini flash would work (Don't think there is a kraken ring light that is compatible). For macro I'm not sure, a dedicated macro lens or maybe the CMC-2 would also work with the kit lens?

So in summary, I'm trying to keep the a7C as compact as possible. A simple light or flash like the built in of the RX100 would do in addition to macro possibility.

Any experiences or suggestions on how to gear it up?

Are you only planning to do Macro or also some wideangle? The backscatter mf is powerful enough for macro on ff but nowhere near for any type of wideangle. 

For macro and especially nudis you can get away with one strobe on a short arm with a diffuser (or a snoot if you have some patience).  With the diffuser you would position the strobe fairly close to the subject.  Something small like backscatter miniflash or inon S-2000 works but a full size strobe (Z330) may have slightly better performance.

Also I would be hesitant to use a seafrogs housing with a camera that is also my best land camera. 

I basically made the same upgrade a year ago, from a RX100 MKI to the A7C, but did use 2 external flashes which carried over with the flash trigger. For macro, the CMC-2 does work well with the 28-60mm kit lens, but I found the rear panel display was not adequate for focus and upgraded to a Nauticam 45-deg viewfinder. On land, I do wish I had a wider lens, the kit lens is a bit lacking for wider landscapes, but otherwise seems fine.

If you are using the built in flash on your RX100 , adding an external strobe to that will be a significant improvement, possibly more so than upgrading from RX-100 to A7 (both with strobe).  Light is everything for UW photography.  You may find that adding a CMC lens to your RX-100 might shade the subject more because you will be closer to the subject. 

A solution to consider might be to get a strobe for your RX-100 and a macro lens and dedicate it for UW and get the A7C for land use.  Use them for while and see how you go.  You may well find that the addition of the strobe and macro lens is enough.  If you are looking at macro only I would think the strobe could move with you if you buy a housing for the a7C later as could the CMC lens - no regret purchases required.

18 hours ago, hyp said:

Are you only planning to do Macro or also some wideangle? The backscatter mf is powerful enough for macro on ff but nowhere near for any type of wideangle. 

Mostly shorter distances and macro, so anything that will provide light at an arm's length will be enough.

15 hours ago, rwb500 said:

For macro and especially nudis you can get away with one strobe on a short arm with a diffuser (or a snoot if you have some patience).  With the diffuser you would position the strobe fairly close to the subject.  Something small like backscatter miniflash or inon S-2000 works but a full size strobe (Z330) may have slightly better performance.

Also I would be hesitant to use a seafrogs housing with a camera that is also my best land camera. 

The S-2000 seems like a great alternative, http://www.inon.jp/customer/discontinued/strobe/s2000/setup.html I like the SB and D4 Kit, very compact and good for traveling.

When it comes to housing, I think there are only 3 options available, Seafrogs, Ikelite and Nauticam. I guess I could also get the Ikelite if Seafrogs is notorious for leaks. Nauticam however comes in at a whopping $3.5k which I think is way overkill for this minimalistic setup.

15 hours ago, RVbldr said:

I basically made the same upgrade a year ago, from a RX100 MKI to the A7C, but did use 2 external flashes which carried over with the flash trigger. For macro, the CMC-2 does work well with the 28-60mm kit lens, but I found the rear panel display was not adequate for focus and upgraded to a Nauticam 45-deg viewfinder. On land, I do wish I had a wider lens, the kit lens is a bit lacking for wider landscapes, but otherwise seems fine.

How are you liking the a7C with the CMC-2 so far?

12 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

If you are using the built in flash on your RX100 , adding an external strobe to that will be a significant improvement, possibly more so than upgrading from RX-100 to A7 (both with strobe).  Light is everything for UW photography.  You may find that adding a CMC lens to your RX-100 might shade the subject more because you will be closer to the subject. 

A solution to consider might be to get a strobe for your RX-100 and a macro lens and dedicate it for UW and get the A7C for land use.  Use them for while and see how you go.  You may well find that the addition of the strobe and macro lens is enough.  If you are looking at macro only I would think the strobe could move with you if you buy a housing for the a7C later as could the CMC lens - no regret purchases required.

That's also something I had in mind. While I like the idea of using the a7C as allrounder for both, I could just grab the CMC and strobe if needed for my RX100, see how it goes and use them for the a7C at a later point as they will most likely be usable on both.

3 hours ago, frekus said:

While I like the idea of using the a7C as allrounder for both

I think this is an idea that you should really NOT like.  There are some benefits to having a land camera and UW setup that share the same lens mount: Some of your underwater lenses will also get some use topside.  If you use the same camera body and as you suggest just the one copy of the camera body, there is a cost savings but also a definite risk and some logistical limitations.  How are you going to snap some sunset pics if your camera is still in the housing?

16 hours ago, ChrisRoss said:

If you are using the built in flash on your RX100 , adding an external strobe to that will be a significant improvement, possibly more so than upgrading from RX-100 to A7 (both with strobe).  

absolutely.  I would buy a strobe first and use it with your RX100.  You will need the strobe with any future setup worth using anyway.