Underwater housing for RX100

[neonexxer]

I'm looking to use this camera in my cold & dark home-waters, so I'll be diving it with dry-gloves most of the time. Therefore the important of decent ergonomics also with gloves.

Half press trigger sounds like an excellent thing, (if Nauticam supports that too.)

The Recsea's half press trigger is fantastic and would probably work well even if you had to actuate it with your big toe Good travel and lots of feel. I love it. I'm sure the thickest gloves would be of no hinderence here.

Also the knobs like the front ring should be decent, and that's where my impression from the product photos made me think that Recsea's large front-ring would be great. the rear dial is of course an issue. How well is the Nauticam front knob operated on comparable housings?

Yes indeed, the Recsea's humongous front ring is great for gloved hands. The freeplay on it makes it feel a little clunky at times, and you can feel the gears in the mechanism, but it works. Accurately, too - I had no problems nailing manual focus with it.

The rear dial, I think, might be a problem. Even with my bare fingers, it was VERY easy to misoperate it. The center button and the other 4 surrounding it are fine, but the rocker/d-pad action cuts in far too easily when turning this dial, so I find I have to be very careful using it. If I try using my right thumb to turn it, I inevitably end up pushing it far enough for it to turn into a rocker motion.

Even when I'm diving with a dual strobe set-up, I tend to only hold the left handle with left hand and hold/operate the camera with my right hand (not the handle) so the controls should allow for this.

Any other comments on ergonomics with gloves?

Can't speak for the Nauticam RX100, I only have my Recsea (and I haven't dived with it yet - just pool tests). Perhaps Surya P can chime in when he's secured his housing?

 

[neonexxer]

Oops. Gotta make a small correction to an earlier post above.

I'd described the Recsea RX100 housing's rear D-pad dial as oversensitive, which it indeed is. The D-pad knob is a 4-way rocker, but also rotates to scroll thru values/menu items. Earlier, I said that the rocker part of the mechanism is too easily engaged, especially while trying to rotate the dial. My brain wasn't working and I mixed up my description, getting it in reverse instead.

What I meant was that when using the D-pad as a rocker, it is too easily nudged into an unwanted "rotate" action. For example, if I'm holdng the camera with my right hand, I'd move my right thumb over to try and hit the "left" position of the D-pad, but if my thumb is only slightly mis-positioned on the D-pad dial, the D-pad rotates instead.

In any case, this still isn't a big problem and could be because my hand is smaller than normal. Come Saturday, I'll be diving real dives for the first time with this housing and update this thread

 

[OS74]

I'm curious, how did it work in RL?

I'm actually keen to know how it works in low light/high iso conditions, but i guess that's not a problem for you (anyhow it should be considerably better than my old Richo GX100 on both shadow noise and autofocus speed ;-)

Cheers
OS

Come Saturday, I'll be diving real dives for the first time with this housing and update this thread

 

[neonexxer]

Haha, work's been real tight since I got back from my trip. And I only just got round to washing my dive gear, so will post a short one now, and give a full run-down this weekend once I get past the work grind

On the RX100's performance:

• So far, I only shot with availablle sunlight and/or handheld flashlight
• Had no filter, so I maxed the built-in WB manually
• AF not quite fast enough for frenetic reef fish. OK for larger pelagics+macro
• Really needs a strobe or red-filter if you don't wanna do too much PP
• Even without a flash/filter, image white balance can be recovered quite well in PP
• Don't go above ISO200 if you want the sharpest detail, unless using strobes
• ISO400 onward, IQ gets crappy pretty quickly without good light
• The MR function was a real help!
• F1.8 is wonderful for shallow DOF shots underwater -wasn't possible with my previous cameras (the original Olympus Tough, and Panasonic FT-1)
• Video on this is pretty damn good, even in tough light conditions. Had a GoPro2 shooting the same scenes and it was no match for the RX100.

I'll need to dive at least coupla more times to get into my groove with this camera, but i can already tell it can do the job for me

On the Recsea housing:

• Deepest dive this weekened was 22.8m (75ft). No problems at all.
• Was a real pleasure to handle. So compact!
• In spite of my earlier concerns, I had no difficulties with any of the controls
• The half-press shutter works VERY well

To put it simply, the Recsea did its job very well, and I can't complain.

This last weekend, I only did 4 dives and spent 75% of the time shooting video. The few stills I did take had sub-par settings (ISO too high, too slow shutter speeds, too large aperture...etc) Didn't try out macro shots or fully test telephoto either. I should be planning another trip sometime soon, with the intent on focusing more on stills, and especially macro.

This weekend, I'll put up some samples and video Over and out for now...

I'm actually keen to know how it works in low light/high iso conditions, but i guess that's not a problem for you (anyhow it should be considerably better than my old Richo GX100 on both shadow noise and autofocus speed ;-)

Cheers
OS

Come Saturday, I'll be diving real dives for the first time with this housing and update this thread

 

[Ken Sky]

These housings are well and good for those who SCUBA seriously, but for those who snorkel or don't dive deep or are using the RX100 as a backup carry anywhere camera, we are looking for a cheaper alternative such as the Meike plastic housing for the NEX 5 & 5N. Surely, there is a much bigger market for this type of user.

 

[Surya P]

@Surya P: Banget! Saya orang Singapura, tapi turunan orang Indonesia. My grandparents come from Djambi and Padang Very glad to know you're a video chap too, and not too far away either. Indo is probably my favourite dive destination and I've had many of my best dive encounters there. We must dive together sometime! I'm not diving much this year cos I'm broke from indulging in my new hobby (photography...haha). But now that I have a new setup, I intend to use it. My first real dive will be on a liveaboard to Malaysia next weekend. But it'll be great to meet you someday and check out your gear.

Thanks for the heads up on the filters and color issues. Yeah, I'm aware of the SRP clip on polarizer and other filters for the GoPro dive housing. Saw their youtube video. Still in proto, but am ready to whip out my credit card as soon as those filters are released... Was really torn between the old GoPro and the 2, but ended up with the newer one cos basically I assumed it will be better supported. Oh well, its money spent already, so I'll have to make the most of it. Sounds like you're heavily invested in the older version, and I almost went that route too when I dived with a friend using Eye Of Mine. The results were GREAT and that's when I decided my next rig would include one! My last UW setup was a panasonic P&S (the old FT-1/TS-1), so the quality of all my video so far is pretty meh. The 5N was suppose to be my next UW rig, but I couldn't bring myself to buy those uber-costly housings for it. I hope to up it now that I've got my RX100, I can finally bring some measure of quality into things.

Am curious to see what you do with your RX100 setup. You'll be using an external monitor you say? Wow. Serious stuff. What do you use for lights?

Hi Neo,
Sorry me was away..........
Great to know you are in Singapore. Close by yah and Indo blood too ha ha ha.
I had GoPro since HD1 days, its a long time passion.

Lights, I have iTorch Video Pro4 and a few others. I am soon to use a 10,000 lumens one. Which is twice as bright as Solas brightest 4000 lumens.

For video I think RX100 is a good compromise for size, plenty of manual controls and most importantly, this baby Sony will get support by 3rd party vendors to the extend of Canon G12 did.........so it would be awesome.

Yes we should meet up sometime for dive yah.
[email protected]

Thanks Neo......Later.

 

[OS74]

Any new images or experiences on the housed RX100?

Especially has anyone here already tried different WA lenses with the housing?

Rgds
O

 

[Surya P]

Any new images or experiences on the housed RX100?

Especially has anyone here already tried different WA lenses with the housing?

Rgds
O

OS74

Won't be so soon I guess. This is so new. You will see more images from RecSea for sure and within 30 days later from Nauticam. But you can see the test images here taken with Nauticam RX100 prototype and there are supported by +10 Subsee maginifier I heard.

http://nauticam.smugmug.com/HousingTests/NA-NX100/24539952_6RWckV# !i=2003882667&k=HQxpcDZ

This is why I like Nauticam. They test first real hard what they make, improve where they can and start selling them. We are not their tester.

Enjoy..............

 

[Surya P]

Took delivery of my Recsea RX100 housing this morning.

Quick Impressions:

The mode dial slips a bit, but I expected that since the RX100's dial is quite firm and the housing's dial engages it only via a friction contact with an O-ring.

Most frustrating control for me was the the rotating dial on the rear panel, the one flanked by the 4 rear buttons. While the positions was perfect, this particular control was far too sensitive and would often rock in a different axis from the intended one, or activate with very light pressure. During my test hour, I was constantly getting it wrong if I tried to operate the wheel with just my right thumb as I held it with my right hand. The only way to guarantee accurate activation was for me to use my left thumb and forefinger. A bit frustrating, but I suspect I'd get used to it, or improve my right thumb accuracy with more practice. I'll have to try the controls with dive gloves next time to see if operatibility suffers any without direct "finger feel".

Overall, I love this housing. It feels hewn from solid, because it is.

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Hi Neo,

I hope all good with you.

I have not got my Nauticam NA-RX100V ( video version ) but have mess with the RX100 "normal" type, which is NA-RX100 ha ha ha.

I now know why your rear dial on RecSea doesn't live up to the expectation of precise operation and often accidental activation.

Can u check if your RecSea gimbal inside the back door, if it is the same as these photos :

http://www.backscatter.com/hostedstore/templates/backscatter_wideload/product_detail_zoomimage.lasso?img=rs-whs-rx100_8

http://www.backscatter.com/hostedstore/templates/backscatter_wideload/product_detail_zoomimage.lasso?img=rs-whs-rx100_4

Which is the same one as what RecSea uses for its S100

http://www.backscatter.com/hostedstore/templates/backscatter_wideload/product_detail_zoomimage.lasso?img=rs-whc-s100_7

That rear dial on RX100 is Sony's famous Tri-Nav, same as the one on my NEX7. I been awed by Nauticam NEX7 for its mechanical interface towards Sony Tri-Nav. I was so thrilled that RX100 actually gets the same Tri-Nav and Nauticam RX100 uses the same mechanicals as Nauticam NEX7 for Tri-Nav. I have decoded Nauticam's gimbal system for Sony's Tri-Nav, so no surprise when I see RecSea system, I know why you are experiencing those you complaint about.

So I took a closer look at RecSea rear dial and its gimbal for you. I love this kind of engineering challenge.

I know why RecSea rear dials can never mimic Sony original Tri-Nav control.

The problem with RecSea design is, mechanically it can never achieve its goal with their kind of dial+gimbal design.

RecSea also failed to remember that RX100 Tri-Nav is not the same as S100 kind of Tri-Nav and therefore they can not simply place a dial+gimbal suitable on S100 to an RX100.

Observe carefully the differences between Canon S100 and Sony RX100 Tri-NAV





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What do you see on S100 version of Tri-Nav vs Sony one ?

The S100 Tri-Nav is a 3 mechanical interface or assy ( assembly) in one. The Sony TriNav is a 2 mechanical interface or assy in one, but both serving 6 actions.

S100 spinning dial assy is only the most outer diameter being the spinning one and that is a dedicated spinning mechanism. The middle diameter assy is separated from the outer diameter and it is for the 4 buttons. This is why the legends/labels is on the middle diameter, because this assy does not spin. The middle button stay as push-only button, be it in S100 or RX100.

RX100 Tri-Nav has only two assy ( assembly), one is the spinning outer diameter and the middle stay as push-only button. The spinning outer diameter assy hid the 4 micro switches underneath it , which I called the north-south-east-west. This is why on RX100 the legend or label is on the camera body outside the dial and not on the dial, because the legend/label will spin along if so......ha ha ha.

A Sony Tri-Nav is a superb Tripple Control based on two assembly only. It can be a dial, spin it left and right. It can be ON/YES at all four ends north-south-east-west and the middle button is another ON/YES button. So total are 6 actions ( movements ), but the middle ON/YES button I marked as no 5 is actually independent. This no 5 is no issue at all. So the rest of the 5 actions are :

• Actions no 1 to 4 are buttons, push buttons
• Action 6 is rotational, so we need a dial.

See below the Nauticam RX100 engineering approach for Sony Tri-Nav controls.
The solution is by the special gimbal.









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Below is a better view of RX100 gimbal from a NEX7, same thing just different color
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Below is RecSea gimbal as per BackScatter link
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p: recsea.com/Recsea/products/dslr/sony_rdh-snex7.html

Will continue....................

 

[Surya P]

Continued............

The main differences between the RecSea dial + gimbal and Nauticam ones are obvious.
01. Nauticam gimbal has more movement capability

02. Nauticam chooses to use 4+1 middle buttons and 1 separate dial to operate the Tri-Nav controls.

03. RecSea tries to kill two birds with 1 stone by using a dial + 1 middle button, where the dial is also operating 4 buttons the north-south-east-west.

RecSea dial and gimbal is probably was OK for S100 version of Tri-Nav, but for Sony's Tri-Nav, this is a user nightmare due to the obvious design differences of both brands Tri-Nav assembly.

Nauticam separates the dial spinning movement by using a gimbal with a middle part being a friction pad and able to spin independently of the gimbal itself . The rotation of the friction pad I marked green no 6 is controlled by a separate dial. So the gimbal is a two part component but assembled and look like 1 part. This way the north-south-east-west 4 buttons on the housing exterior, can remain as just buttons. Gone are the accidental push.

RecSea uses a dial and a middle button. The RecSea dial can act also as switches for the 4 buttons, the north-south-east-west.





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They should know such design will NOT WORK as expected in a Sony RX100 type Tri-Nav. Sony's TriNav requires a gimbal as good as Nauticam one and a separate dial.
Sad to say, RecSea latest NEX7housing will use this dial+gimbal too :
http://recsea.com/Recsea/products/dslr/sony_rdh-snex7.html

Now the real reason user will often get accidental push of any north-south-east-west buttons on a RecSea type of exterior dial : ..........

The Sony Tri-Nav requires only so little pressure to activate any of the 4 micro switches I called the north-south-east-west buttons, let use an example of 10 grams of pressure. RecSea dial being exposed sea water pressure, will need spring to counter that sea water force. That very spring will have more grams force per mm movement compared to the Sony's Tri-Nav micro switch, I guarantee you that and you can test it yourself.

If this RecSea is rated at 65 meters or 7.5 ATM, we are looking at 7.5 BAR of pressure or 110 psi of sea water pressure able to act upon any control ( dial & buttons ). The exact force can be calculated if we know the actual components used. For simplicity sake, I can tell you that RecSea must use spring/s to counter that water pressure and it is not super soft one like the Sony Tri-Nav micro switch uses.

Only trigger type lever is not effected too much by sea water pressure due to its method of action/movement. Any push in push out action of a button will be effected by sea water pressure.

So the delicate Sony Tri-Nav micro switches activation pressure will be so much lower than the spring counter pressure being used on that RecSea dial+gimbal to oppose the sea water pressure. What we will get is lost of feel. Loss of feel is loss of precise control.

We proceed with another example :

The RecSea dial let say, needs 20 grams to overcome its spring pressure for push to ON action. A Sony Tri-Nav needs let say 10 grams. How would you sense the Sony's Tri-Nav buttons being activated, if the work effort of over coming the dial+gimbal spring pressure alone is 20 grams ?

When user needs to spin a RecSea dial, he must exert force to create some friction on the dial's jagged surface. Exerting force is like pushing, same thing. So it is easy to accidentaly push any of the 4 north-south-east-west buttons while spinning a RecSea dial. Simply its is because the dial is also a push button assy.

Nauticam on the other hand, realized that if a spinning dial needs a spring to counter sea water pressure and that dial in itself is also a push button switch......no precision of operational control could be achieved, so they made an additional dial just to spin the Sony's Tri-Nav and must come up with that special two-in-one gimbal with a spinning part in the middle.

By not using a dial like RecSea, Nauticam can use 4 north-south-east-west buttons where its placement is 100% exactly as the position of the Sony's Tri-Nav 4 micro switches. The illusion of Sony's spinning dial makes people forget that there are permanent non move-able 4 micro switches at north-south-east-west position.

RecSea single dial that can also perform push-to-activate the north-south-east-west buttons can be compared to someone pushing an object with a bent shaft, that is wasting energy and that is the root cause of operational precision loss or accidental ON.

RecSea dial has middle shaft so that it can spin, but that dial also need to be able to "sink" towards north-south-east-west , its like having a flexible center or a shaft with ball joint.

RecSea dial as a concept is brilliant, trying a 100% to be like Sony Tri-Nav but it can't work underwater thru mechanical transfer of RecSea dial + gimbal, compared to our fabulous finger doing the same thing directly on Sony's Tri-Nav on land. No mechanical device can mimic easily our super wonderful finger because we have the sense of touch, we know we touched something simply by laying/applying 1 gram of force on that object or switch or by temperature difference.

This is why many people need a keyboard to have that distinctive click. While on a touch screen like iPad, a minor tone or visual color change on virtual keyboard toots is required to replace that mechanical "click" sensation.

Will continue..........

 

[Surya P]

Continued...........

What I am curious to know is, the actual assembly of RecSea dial and its middle button.

Notice RecSea middle button, which I marked as no 5 if in Nauticam RX100 or Sony NEX7. For a push button to be in the middle and having a spinning dial on middle button's outside diameter , that dial seems to be using tube. The middle button gets a solid shaft and the dial gets a hollow shaft aka tube. This is what I suspect the design is. Its like a stern tube of a ship propeller shaft, but opposite duty. Ship propeller shaft spins, the tube stationary.

Overall the tube diameter will be bigger than the middle button's shaft. Being bigger in total surface area, the more sea water will effect that dial performance at depth or accidental push by sea water pressure alone may occur at very deep dive. Also the tube because it can spin , it will have two o-rings, one is inner o-ring and one more outer o-ring. There will be more risk of leaking there where two o-rings are used as water seal.

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Now we discuss the MODE dial slipping on the RecSea RX100

The Nauticam engineering approach for that dial is not interaction of friction pad or o-ring to push the dial's top surface, which is smooth anyway. Nauticam took advantage of the fact that all camera's dials, on its outer diameter will have checkered edge for our fingers to get friction/hold when spinning the dial. If you see item 7 below :





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........you will notice that the action to spin the camera's MODE dial is by gear and teeth-to-teeth action, just like any gearbox. Its simple and will not slip compared to RecSea design where the contact to this RX100 MAIN dial is achieved using o-ring as friction pad but working against a smooth part of the MAIN dial to surface. Any camera's dial, will have checkered edges for friction at its circumference, that is the best place to get contact, its made checkered edged for our finger to spin that dial. Matched that MAIN dial checkered edge to rubber tooth of the gears, you get great contact and a rubber tooth which can absorb any manufacturing dimensional tolerance of the camera. Do not be surprised to see a camera can be 0.5mm of dimensional difference between batches. One camera may have the dial at say zero position and all good, and another camera has a dial minus 0.5mm away from a housing gear.

See photo the Nauticam housing for NEX7 two top dials gears, I marked 7A and 7B, that is even more advance design, it is self tension toothed gears. I think this is why Nauticam NEX7 is more costly than its Nauticam NEX5N cousin.









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In a Nauticam RX100 gear for that MODE dial on camera, what seems like a black gear's tooth is not plastic, that is moulded rubber on a blue color plastic gear.

RecSea also should add water/flood alarm as standard like Nauticam at their price level. That alarm is like US$75-100 in retail and installed value. Ur RecSea is US$1200ish yes ? Nauticam is only US$950.

I enjoy looking at various housings design philosophy and try to understand what they do to achieve what. This helps me troubleshoot my mechanical cases at work and nothing to do with diving or UW photo, I just love the mechanical aspects of these housings.

I can decode more on RecSea gimbal weakness further but I do not want to bore you

One tip I can offer you for avoiding accidental push on your RecSea dial is, operate the dial only from its side, never from the surface as you would on Sony RX100 camera Tri-Nav. Rest your finger on housing body, and "scratch" from top towards bottom the RecSea dial..... like we tune old radio with a side mounted tuner dial or like when we tease our friend.....tickling their feet when they are sleeping ha ha ha. With your finger resting on camera body, you can no longer exert a push force to dial. But knowing u travel light and using a band wrist , your thumb is the tool and a thumb can't do what I told u to do easily when the rest of the four fingers clutching the housing body underwater. Use left hand to hold camera, and right hand to do dial spin, that will work. If RecSea has checkered edges on its dial side, that will help a great deal.

I hope you had some fun diving Neo. My RX100 video version will need some 2 weeks more I think.

Later,
SP

END END END

 

[ktwse]

Thanks for the excellent report, Surya.

I'm more and more leaning towards the RX-100 for my next underwater rig. Just sold of my E-PL2 and was looking at the OM-D but the RX-100 with the Nauticam housing and a couple of wet lenses seems capable of the same IQ in a much smaller and much cheaper package.

Do provide a report once you've received your housing and used it a bit!

Tom

--
E-PL2 / 9-18 / 14-42 / 40-150 / PT-EP03

 

[Surya P]

Thanks for the excellent report, Surya.

I'm more and more leaning towards the RX-100 for my next underwater rig. Just sold of my E-PL2 and was looking at the OM-D but the RX-100 with the Nauticam housing and a couple of wet lenses seems capable of the same IQ in a much smaller and much cheaper package.

Do provide a report once you've received your housing and used it a bit!

Tom

--
E-PL2 / 9-18 / 14-42 / 40-150 / PT-EP03

Sure Tom. Will show some results. But me video guy mostly.

I now have Inon 165 magnifier to go with RX100 :
http://www.inon.jp/products/lens/ucl165m67/top.html
I will use 165 as macro extra power
I am also intending to get Subsee +5 and +10.









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I also will use Inon UWL-100 wide angle adapter http://www.camerasunderwater.info/optics/inon/uwl100.html









All lens shown will fit Nauticam flip diopter 25101 and that means my NEX7 dan D800 can share the macro/magnifier lens.
That Nauticam flip diopter 25101 can go on my Nauticam NEX7 and Nauticam D800.

All my NEX7 ports, except wide angle dome 4.5", has 67mm thread. The D800 macro port 87, also has 67mm thread. So no waste having 3 macro wet lens or two of the Flip Diopter 25101.

I can also use URpro 67mm Cyan filter for video in ambient light up to 15 meters, and nothing beats the color correction value of URpro Cyan. Need to order them, me only have 52mm URpro Cyan filter for my GoPro, not yet a 67mm.
http://reefphoto.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2931

You should get the Nauticam Flip Diopter 25101 ( it is 67mm ), it is very flexible, instead of threading permanently on your Nauticam RX100 67mm thread on its port any wet lens.
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Have fun shopping........
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[Surya P]

Thanks for the excellent report, Surya.

I'm more and more leaning towards the RX-100 for my next underwater rig. Just sold of my E-PL2 and was looking at the OM-D but the RX-100 with the Nauticam housing and a couple of wet lenses seems capable of the same IQ in a much smaller and much cheaper package.

Do provide a report once you've received your housing and used it a bit!

Tom

--
E-PL2 / 9-18 / 14-42 / 40-150 / PT-EP03

My hope is the same as yours. 1 camera body, no need to take out the camera in a crowded boat, while boat is rocking, with wet hands and all the negativity of opening a camera housing in less that perfect environment.

Nauticam RX100 with those two lens I showed you can be a chameleon.

I like RX100 for its small size and great video, that is the main attraction and the great photo IQ is a bonus. With special mounting kit 67mm thread on float arm or a big BCD pocket and some sort of cloth bag, we can hide the Inon wide angle lens adapter on us, since that bloody Inon weights 577 grams , we can use it as BCD's most expensive intergrated weight belt ever ha ha ha.

You can even add a dome port on top of the Inon wide angle lens and it becomes fish eye but me dont want such big foot print underwater.

In theory, with RX100 and those two lens, 1 dive can give you macro and wide angle without needing to surface and switch gear. Sounds like a dream yes ??

Wide angle port is expensive too for any cameras and so is macro port. So those two lens cost even though not cheap, can be justified.

I just hate swapping ports or camera's lens.......I hate it so much.

Later,
SP
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[neonexxer]

Hi SP! (will email ya right after this post )

My apologies - work is keeping me tied down these few weeks and haven't had the time to put up more findings, but I 'll share a little more in this short-ish post.

First of all, WOW... thanks SP for that comprehensive study of the housings. Yes, my Recsea RX100 housing does have the actuation assembly as shown in your pics/links. I also agree that the Nauticam approach would probably be better than Recsea's faithful reproduction of the RX100's combined rotating dial+NSWE buttons.

I'm also of the opinion, however, that your mileage will vary. Underwater, as you know, I wear two hats - photographer and videographer. My last dive, I spend more time on video. On top of that, with the camera also being so new to me, I was fudging around with it more than actually taking pictures/video. Lets not forget my GoPro that was riding shotgun. It didnt help either that once back on the liveaboard, I was shooting with my 5N. Guess I bit off more than I can chew, wrestling 3 cameras on a weekend trip! Hahaha

Back to the YMMV part... well, I found that when shooting video, and when the camera was set up using the RX100's user memory facility, I was actually very happy. That rear dial stopped being a distraction altogether, mainly because I found I practically didnt use it. There's still the slightly slippy top dial, but my dives were very relaxed and didn't force me into having to make quick settings changes.

If I were wearing thick gloves and shoved into a baitball during the Sardine Run, I'd probably best be served switching to a housing with more accurate and responsive controls Maybe I'm not picky enough, but I can say with all truthfulness, the Recsea works for me. Of course, my criteria is probably lots different from other folks. For example, its perfect boxy shape lets me mount my GoPro using the slide-in shoe (I've abandoned using the hotshoe mount method). Even the lack of a leak alarm doesnt' really faze me because I've taken to slipping a slim sanitary napkin (yes, that always gets funny looks) under my RX100 when its in the housing to mitigate any leaks.

That said, its best for any diver planning on taking the RX100 down to try out both housings (or perhaps a third/fourth one, if maybe Patima or Ikelite step into the fray) and get what works best for him/her. In the last couple of weeks or so, I've grown more comfy with the camera and housing (on land, at least, anyway) and fnd that once I've set up the RX100 the way I wanted, the housing doesnt' really "get in my way" anymore, and I've adapted to the combo. I'm planning another test dive in October and see if that comfort extends beneath the waves.

I'll also try and get better representative pictures to post here. My last round was an ad hoc utter mess... mindless test shots, no macro examples... simply nothing useful that I could share here. The video that I did shoot, was mistakenly taken at the 17M bitrate. Yes, sounds like a lot of excuses... but technically, my trip was a mess.. haha.. sorry. I intend to have a more objective planned approach in October

 

[albatross]

Hi Surya and Neo, thanks for your sharing I'm definitely going to get this camera tonight for my next diving setup. I've been shooting video for the past 2 years with a Panny P&S and have been craving for an upgrade since a dust particle has been sitting in the middle of the lens. How annoying is that! I also want to improve my skills from just full auto to more manual control and it seems the RX100 is the best thing available without getting into more expensive videocam. Once I get around learning the camera and comfortable with it as my u/w option I'll then get the housing. Currently I have to say I'm leaning towards to the Nauticam since it's cheaper and per Surya the control is better. Please keep sharing your experience and samples so I can learn as much as I can prior to my decision.

I've booked for a trip to Malapascua at the end of Oct and hopefully I can have it for the trip!

Once again thank you so much!

 

[Surya P]

Hi Neo,

I once took down 1 of 550D and 2 of GoPro-s on a single SRP tray.......a real mess ha ha ha. I know what u mean, we have so many toys to play with in one trip.

Practice more in your pool, that is what I usually do. Saves us dive trip valuable time.

I will let you know how my video housing version will be like when they arrive yah.

Later Neo.
SP

 

[Surya P]

Hi Surya and Neo, thanks for your sharing I'm definitely going to get this camera tonight for my next diving setup. I've been shooting video for the past 2 years with a Panny P&S and have been craving for an upgrade since a dust particle has been sitting in the middle of the lens. How annoying is that! I also want to improve my skills from just full auto to more manual control and it seems the RX100 is the best thing available without getting into more expensive videocam. Once I get around learning the camera and comfortable with it as my u/w option I'll then get the housing. Currently I have to say I'm leaning towards to the Nauticam since it's cheaper and per Surya the control is better. Please keep sharing your experience and samples so I can learn as much as I can prior to my decision.

I've booked for a trip to Malapascua at the end of Oct and hopefully I can have it for the trip!

Once again thank you so much!

Hi Alba
U r most welcome.

RX100 is good for video. Its zoom when doing video is very soft-slow, so like a video camera. Its focus also the same, doesn't jump in video mode.

Due to its faster lens of F1.8, in the dark and based on contrast focus it is using, it will beat my D800 ( contrast focus when using rear LCD ) using F4 lens for speed of auto non-stop focus, where D800 will stop trying to focus when light level too low.

In fact my NEX7 with kit lens 11-55mm F3.5 is also a dark lens and hence slower, of course as you zoom the RX100, the lens become higher F and slower. In UW setting you won't want to zoom, the shake will be more pronounced, so in most cases you will use bigger F opening and will get faster focus.

You must buy URpro 67mm Cyan filter. It is way cheaper and better than video lights in good viz and daylight use.

I just got 2 of 10,000 lumens video light and will experiment with it for daylight use and see how it compares to URpro Cyan in good viz when upto 15-20 meters.

Later
SP
.

 

[ktwse]

Nauticam RX100 with those two lens I showed you can be a chameleon.

I like RX100 for its small size and great video, that is the main attraction and the great photo IQ is a bonus. With special mounting kit 67mm thread on float arm or a big BCD pocket and some sort of cloth bag, we can hide the Inon wide angle lens adapter on us, since that bloody Inon weights 577 grams , we can use it as BCD's most expensive intergrated weight belt ever ha ha ha.

[...]

In theory, with RX100 and those two lens, 1 dive can give you macro and wide angle without needing to surface and switch gear. Sounds like a dream yes ??

This is the exact setup I'm looking at. However, I'm thinking of simply using an Inon lens caddy (I use ULCS arms and tray). Investing in m67 wet lenses makes perfect sense to me. They can be moved between housings so switching setup is not as costly. Heck, I went from Canon FF to m4/3 and just thinking of the money I lost in that switch makes me nauseous...

The Inon wa 100 lens is a bit on the heavy side, but provided that the entire setup is slightly negative, it won't make it that unbalanced. I don't use float arms. Possibly stix that fit ULCS but rarely even that.

What will be interesting to see is how fast the RX100 is to focus in dark water. I've never used focus lights in the past, either did MF or the camera could handle it. With the Olympus, there was no option to use MF, and it was horribly slow... The RX100 seems much faster in my very unscientific tests (playing with the camera in stores), so maybe AF will be an option, however, with the Nauticam housing, MF is a very clear possibility.

Just picked up the camera today, and will most likely order the housing within a few weeks, although I don't have a dive trip planned until January.

Oh, and I think I need to change my sig... :-D

Tom
--
E-PL2 / 9-18 / 14-42 / 40-150 / PT-EP03

 

[Surya P]

Hi Tom,

If you are using wide and hence F1.8 u get, the RX100 focus is very reliable even in low light and better than NEX7 on kit lens 18-55. I have not test underwater but I tested on land. If all bluewater, surely focus cant lock since there is no contrast, after all RX100 is a contrast focus based.

Since RX100 like NEX7 has focus peaking, you got to train urself to use that, not for anything , but for understanding how contrast focus works and you may try a bit to aim the left or the right or top or bottom of your target to acquire faster focus where there are more contrast. Once it locks, it wont hunt so easily and u move focus to real object. You can change focus point too on RX100, so its useful.

Based on my video test on land, I will never go more narrow angle than maximum wide 28mm RX100 has, even underwater and I will want to start to carry a tripod for macro.
I got this one : http://joby.com/gorillapod/focus
It has the stiffness to allow very heavy lights.

If any focus system on still camera is fast and accurate in VERY low light, it is the phase detect of the Sony A55. I got one and gave it to my son. A77 and A99 uses that phase detect too and the NEX5R use hybrid phase detect and contrast focus, like Nikon V1.

I too can't wait to test this Baby RX100........he he he.

Later
SP