Advice on camera for cave photography

[Mike Swe]

Hi,

It's not exactly caves I photograph, more old abandoned mines... Anyhow, I'm looking for a replacement for my old D90 with Tokina 11-16 lens as this camera is now lost.

The first three and the sixth photo in my flikr photostream is the kind of photos I'll be taking with the replacement: https://www.flickr.com/photos/akrylamid/
Other photos above ground are not much of interest now days, but I can put a lot of effort into photos like these:

https://flic.kr/p/aqPbbP

I'm looking for a much lighter system than my old D90 because in that first photostream photo I have to ascend 150 meters of rope to get out. I'm pretty tired of carrying the weight of my old D90 Tokina combo one around, so I guess mirror-less is what I'm looking at.

I've been a lot of review readings and so on, and interesting cameras are Sony A6000, Olympus E-10 Mark II, Fujifilm X-E2 or X-T10, and with a lens like the Sigma 19/2,8 DN Art. That's about where my budget is... but I really can't decide.

Focus speed, movie capabilities, built in flash, image stabilizing, handling feeling... none of this matters to me. I'll be mounting the camera on a tri-pod and shooting in bulb mode with a radio remote while running around waving flashlights or firing flashes. Fokus will be set and locked before running around. Focus accuracy in dark conditions, wide angle lens, picture sharpness and quality is what is of most interest to me.

With the D90 and Tokina I was always shooting at the widest angel and with F8 aperture. Also, with the Tokina there was so little barrel distortion. Little enough so I never had to fix it. The original D90 lens I had before I always had to correct this. I'd really like not having to need to correct the photos from what ever system I get now.

I'd be really grateful for any insight, my head is spinning from reading and viewing so many reviews and camera/lens comparisons. Not many of them focus on what's interesting to me (understandably so).

 

[Mike Swe]

I guess I'm on my own here... Oh well, decided on a Canon EOS 100D with EF-S 10-18 lens. Seems to be a good combination of good stuff and light weight.

Sorry for bothering you.

 

[Cato1040]

The sensor and lens should be better than what you had so this combo should work well and they're not too expensive either!

 

[osv]

I guess I'm on my own here... Oh well, decided on a Canon EOS 100D with EF-S 10-18 lens. Seems to be a good combination of good stuff and light weight.

i hate to say it, but i think that the 100d uses a similar sensor to what's in the 700d, and it's much weaker than the a6000: http://photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm#Canon EOS 700D,Sony ILCE-6000

Sorry for bothering you.

sorry i didn't catch this sooner... everything that you are doing there is a natural for mirrorless, not dslrs.

 

[Cato1040]

I would agree that the 100D might not have a good a sensor as the A6000 (though some may disagree with us), but the Canon 10-18mm is much cheaper than the Sony 10-18mm (though it can be understandable as the Sony one has other features).

I have a Sony A6000 with a 10-18mm. I used to have a 7D with the Canon 10-18mmm. I do prefer the shots from the Sony, but the Canon ones are good too, and it would save the OP a few hundred dollars.

I would also agree that the Sony A6000 may have some advantages in the dark as it has better live view capabilities that allow users to see better in the dark, but the OP can still work around it.

In short, new at B&H, Canon 100D + 10-18mm = $680 while Sony A6000 + 10-18mm = $1300. For many reasons, I went with the Sony (and got better deals on my kit by buying used), but the Canon kit is much cheaper.

 

[osv]

I would agree that the 100D might not have a good a sensor as the A6000 (though some may disagree with us),

there can't be any disagreement about it, because the measurements prove it, plus it's 18mp vs. 24mp... still yet another example of how canon sensors are weak sauce.

the a6000 is currently $150 more at b&h, which is worth it for this application, but it was down to $400 just a few weeks ago, at multiple stores... if you can wait you might save some $$$.

there might be an argument to be made that the 100d(sl1) has better af, but the o.p. doesn't care about that, and it hardly matters for an ultrawide lens.

but the Canon 10-18mm is much cheaper than the Sony 10-18mm (though it can be understandable as the Sony one has other features).

what i've seen of the canon 10-18 showed a lot of ca, it was ugly, but if you must have it, just get a cheap adapter for $100, and use it with other canon lenses... remember that he doesn't need af, and and an evf is much better for manual focusing.

a6000 is a winner here... kinda sad that the forum let him down here.

 

[Marylee12]

I have seen some tips for cave photography online (https://digital-photography-school.com/14-tips-for-cave-photography/). Hope that this will help you out.