First efforts with new Sony a7rIV

Some shots from my trip to Morehead City, NC, a couple of weeks ago. Diving with Olympus Dive Center (the best!).
All shot with a Sony a7rIV in a Nauticam housing, with Sony FE 28mm f/2 lens, Nauticam WWL-1 wet wide angle dome, and 2 x Inon Z240 strobes. I was shooting on full Manual. I think most of these are SS 1/125, f/7.1, ISO 400. Strobes on Manual, set around f/4.

Maybe 6" away from my dome.

Sand Tiger on the wreck of the Aeolus

Yet Another Sand Tiger

And another

I like how i can the reflection of the shark in the dome of my friend's camera rig

The shell is about 2" long. I love having 61MP to work with!

Not bad, I think, for such a small subject, being shot through a 28mm lens and WWL-1 wide angle dome.

1 of 17,000 lion fish...

One of which just barely pricked me - through the kneepad of a 5mm wetsuit. Fortunately, it just barely got me. Wasn't even as bad as a bee sting.

The German sub, U-352. Sunk off the coast of North Carolina in May, 1942, by the US Coast Guard Cutter Icarus.

Too bad I was too dumb to turn off my strobes for this shot, so I would not get all that backscatter. Live and learn...

For Wolfgang, here are some similar pictures that I took in the same location last year, using my Olympus OM-D E-M10 with the kit 14-42 lens, through the same Nauticam WWL-1 dome.

Thank you Stuart for posting these highly interesting images from both SonyRIV and Oly EM10 (cutting edge FF camera vs. not so up-to-date MFT camera)!

I see you have given a representative series of images for every camera, from technically close to optimum to not so good - this is very valuable, the first time that I see such a comparison. I am impressed..

The images underline what you wrote in Wetpixel: under optimum conditions the IQ (at least for viewing on the computer screen) is comparable, but FF is better correctable in case something (exposure, more cropping) is not to the optimum...

May I add that AF is greatly improved in the EM1II (PDAF) vs. the "older" MFT sensors (I can only compare to EM5II, but this is likely very similar to EM10). Also dynamic range and resolution is somewhat better. I also must say that (when pixel beeping), I am surprised by the amount of noise of the SonyRIV at ISO400, I always thought this is the speciality of MFT cameras...

The difference is substantially smaller than I expected, but I still have the urge to try out FF sometime...

Wolfgang

Just for the record, I did not do any kind of DeNoise processing on the Sony pics. Topaz DeNoise is SOOO slow on my old MacBook when running on those 61MP images... And I thought they were more than adequately clean for my current purposes.

As you suggested, I strongly suspect that an E-M1II would give me AF capability that is comparable to the Sony.  But, for me, a FF sensor has other advantages that the m43 sensor cannot match. And that is why I went with the Sony over a new high-end m43 when I decided to upgrade.

kelpdiver wrote:

glad someone is able to get into the water. And with international travel uncertain for the year, NC wrecks seem like an attractive destination.

Can you speak to the seasonality of this area - bad times, good times to go?

I've been diving down there out of Morehead City for 5 years now. I've logged 80 dives out of Morehead City.

My dives have ranged from late May to December 1st. The coldest water temp I have recorded is 66 degrees (on Dec 1). The warmest was 81 degrees, coincidentally on the same wreck, on Sep 24.

I *would* go at any time of the year. But, it is my understanding that between Christmas and April-ish, the water tends to be cooler and dirtier. I just haven't been able to go at that time of year yet.

From May to December, the only bad time to go is when there's bad weather.

A great time to go is in July. There is usually an aggregation of Sand Tiger sharks on the wreck of the Caribsea at some point during July. There can be a hundred of them all just hanging out. I have not yet had the good fortune to hit that yet, but I've seen the video from friends of mine who have. It looks spectacularly amazing.

If you do go, I give 5 Stars to the Olympus Dive Center. I have dived with the other big shop down there and I have settled on always diving with Olympus when possible. Olympus has fantastic customer service, excellent captains and mates, and they are the best equipped shop in that area for supporting technical divers. They don't supply sorb, but they do have O2 and they can get helium if you make arrangements in advance.

Any more questions, feel free to ask.

Rodger in Edmonton wrote:

# 2 for me - all the way.

Great composition and love the opposition of the big shark among small fish - works like a charm.

Thank you! That is my favorite, as well. But, a close 2nd is the other one in that series, where you can actually see the shark reflected in the dome port of my friend's camera.