RX100 V underwater housing recommendations

I replaced my Sony RX100 I with a Mark V. I have a Meikon underwater housing for that Mark I which does not fit the Mark V, so I was looking into what I want to replace it with. The Meikon housing isn't great. It offers no control over the rear control wheel, and the metal on the threads that keep the hood and flash diffuser from floating away is rusting. Also, buoyancy is quite positive, which is a pain. But I can compensate by attaching a ballast at the tripod mount.

I was looking at the Fantasea FRX100V, which seems to be the cheapest option that offers full control. But it seems quite a bit larger (especially height-wise) than my Meikon. I was wondering if there are other housings that hopefully aren't too expensive and do offer full control while being a bit smaller.

I have looked at the Recsea WHS-RX100IV btw, which I kind of like. It is much smaller, but it is also much more expensive, and for me it's just too much. Also, I like that the Fantasea has the labels on the buttons, which the Recsea does not.

Other things I would like are flash diffuser options and maybe a red filter, and the option of attaching a wet lens (not something I see myself doing now but perhaps in the future).

Do you think I should go for the Fantasea or is there an alternative you'd recommend?

Thank you.

I have an RX100 II that I used diving back in 2015.  Then my choices were between Recsea and Nauticam for housings, and I chose the Nauticam.  I'm very happy with it, to the point that I got Nauticam housings for my D810 and D850.

The SeaFrogs Salted Line RX100 housing fits models III and up, and costs all of $367 with threaded macro port, which you will need to use wet lenses. It's certainly more bulky than Nauticam and other aluminium housings, but the cost difference is massive, and it does give you access to all the controls (including the rear wheel). Unlike the older Meikon housings, it also comes with a vacuum valve port, although the actual vacuum system is a separate accessory. I've been using the A6xxx version of this housing since it came out in 2018 and no real malfunctions so far.

Barmaglot_07 wrote:

Unlike the older Meikon housings, it also comes with a vacuum valve port, although the actual vacuum system is a separate accessory.

Question about this: I understand how a vacuum system works, but is it really necessary? I occasionally maintained the O-ring on my Meikon but didn’t really put that much effort in, and I never had a problem. Although I suppose that’s what people who never had a card fail on them say about single memory card cameras.

It has saved me from losing several thousand dollars in camera + lens + flash trigger several times. For instance, I was staying at a house with a bunch of cats. In the morning, I sealed the housing, pumped the vacuum, went to have breakfast, glanced at the camera and - whoa! - the blinking green has turned red. Opened it up and found a tiny (3-4mm long) cat hair on the o-ring. The tiny white hair was almost invisible on the white o-ring in a white housing. Couple other times it went red for no apparent reason, but removing the o-rings, cleaning and re-greasing them achieved a good seal. I don't dive without it anymore.

starbase218 wrote:

Barmaglot_07 wrote:

Unlike the older Meikon housings, it also comes with a vacuum valve port, although the actual vacuum system is a separate accessory.

Question about this: I understand how a vacuum system works, but is it really necessary? I occasionally maintained the O-ring on my Meikon but didn’t really put that much effort in, and I never had a problem.

I actually never had a flood in several Canon point-n-shoot acrylic housings, but the replacement cost of the cameras wasn't a big deal either.

Once you have a vacuum system, you'll never want to dive without it.  It's saved me at least once.   Just the peace of mind it gives you is worth the $200 I spent on it.

starbase218 wrote:

I replaced my Sony RX100 I with a Mark V. I have a Meikon underwater housing for that Mark I which does not fit the Mark V, so I was looking into what I want to replace it with. The Meikon housing isn't great. It offers no control over the rear control wheel, and the metal on the threads that keep the hood and flash diffuser from floating away is rusting. Also, buoyancy is quite positive, which is a pain. But I can compensate by attaching a ballast at the tripod mount.

I was looking at the Fantasea FRX100V, which seems to be the cheapest option that offers full control. But it seems quite a bit larger (especially height-wise) than my Meikon. I was wondering if there are other housings that hopefully aren't too expensive and do offer full control while being a bit smaller.

I have looked at the Recsea WHS-RX100IV btw, which I kind of like. It is much smaller, but it is also much more expensive, and for me it's just too much. Also, I like that the Fantasea has the labels on the buttons, which the Recsea does not.

Other things I would like are flash diffuser options and maybe a red filter, and the option of attaching a wet lens (not something I see myself doing now but perhaps in the future).

Do you think I should go for the Fantasea or is there an alternative you'd recommend?

Thank you.

I have the Fantasea housing for my RX100Va, with the Vacuum port on it.  I love it, I'll never dive without one.

I also have it for sale since Ive upgraded to something else for underwater photography. It had about 35 dives on it with normal wear on it, always rinsed after diving.  Let me know if your interested. (fingers crossed)

kelpdiver wrote:

starbase218 wrote:

Question about this: I understand how a vacuum system works, but is it really necessary? I occasionally maintained the O-ring on my Meikon but didn’t really put that much effort in, and I never had a problem. Although I suppose that’s what people who never had a card fail on them say about single memory card cameras.

$230 to protect 2-5000 in gear is cheap insurance. Much cheaper than those policies, which do little for you if you're 300 miles off the Costa Rican coast.

Well, my RX100 V has cost me 630 pounds in total (350 when I bought it used and another 280 for the repair after I found out the aperture was broken). Not cheap but I wouldn’t spend thousands of pounds for a compact camera, and I wouldn’t take my DSLR under water.

But I get what you’re saying. And after having to invest 630 pounds to get a working used RX100 V, I wouldn’t be too happy if it would get destroyed on the first dive.

I've seen people lose their camera minutes into a dive. And given the weight limits in travel, it's rare that they have a backup. The camera body will be lost, the lens will be lost. The flash memory at least should be fine. The housing itself may need an overhaul.

Regarding travel restrictions, that is actually important to me. I don’t travel with checked in baggage unless absolutely necessary. I have a 37 liter backpack in which everything has to go, including the housing (I do have a separate DSLR bag though). This is also why I prefer a smaller and lighter enclosure.

It also removes much of the potential moisture, which for the more compact cameras actually could lead to a fogged port for part of the dive.

Now I went a few hundred dives on a 20D system, using the Aquatica's somewhat fudgy two buckle closure system. I never removed the main o-ring, just lightly greased it at the beginning of a trip. The only time I was close to a flood was when I didn't properly attach the electric strobe connector. A little water seeped into the port fitting, and it and the cable got a bit of corrosion, but didn't penetrate the paper thin layer into the main body. A vacuum would have detected that fault. Nevertheless, I avoided any major mishap.

All this talk of failing O-rings reminds me of a friend of mine who once said he disliked them, because they cause accidents. “It’s always O-rings”, he said.

The more consistent your routine, the less the need is. But it's difficult to maintain that sort of consistency on every sort of dive boat or resort out there, where you may have your own camera station, or work in the dining area. If you're taking the sort of trip where you flip back and forth between macro and WA, you might be doing quick setup to swap the lens and battery. If you skip steps to make the deadlines, you may bite yourself.

Deadlines? I’m not a pro. But yeah I do want to swap out batteries in particular.

starbase218 wrote:

kelpdiver wrote:

If you skip steps to make the deadlines, you may bite yourself.

Deadlines? I’m not a pro. But yeah I do want to swap out batteries in particular.

I think deadlines was ment more as in, "We have 5min until the gates are open.  Gates close 10min after first diver is in the water!"

starbase218 wrote:

and I wouldn’t take my DSLR under water.

If you did, you might never look back.

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

starbase218 wrote:

and I wouldn’t take my DSLR under water.

If you did, you might never look back.

Well, one thing is that it would be hard to put inside my 37 liter backpack. Though perhaps not impossible to put in a 60 liter-ish backpack.

But still, the quality of my underwater photos, the bulk to handle it while I'm still learning to improve buoyancy control... no, it's not for me. At least not now.

starbase218 wrote:

the bulk to handle it while I'm still learning to improve buoyancy control...

I hated hearing this while learning to dive but I would suggest that you become a proficient diver BEFORE you bring your camera with you underwater.  I just switched to a drysuit and I feel like I'm back at dive number 2 of my diving career.

starbase218 wrote:

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

starbase218 wrote:

and I wouldn’t take my DSLR under water.

If you did, you might never look back.

Well, one thing is that it would be hard to put inside my 37 liter backpack. Though perhaps not impossible to put in a 60 liter-ish backpack.

You can stop worrying about carrying it.   There just isn't any convenient way to travel with a a full-frame DSLR housing, especially if you have a big dome port.

Myself, I fill one entire roller bag with most of the gear, and several more bits have to go in my waist bag.  (Incidentally, one of the things going into my waist bag is my RX100 II Nauticam housing, there for backup purposes.)   And I still have to put more parts - including a port with glass - into checked luggage.

On top of all the camera gear, I also bring a plastic 36-quart cooler that is used to hold the camera on a dive boat if not a big enough dunk tank onboard, and a very useful 'tub' to use as a rinse tank after dives when I only have a shower in the room.  While very bulky, at least it servers as very useful padding.  I even stick my laptop inside it to protect it in the suitcase.

But still, the quality of my underwater photos, the bulk to handle it while I'm still learning to improve buoyancy control... no, it's not for me. At least not now.

OK, now there's something to think about.   Unlike some, I don't think you have to master buoyancy first, but there is definitely risk there.   My late wife ripped her ear once drifting down while concentrating on shooting a lionfish and not realizing she was descending 6 feet.  (She had a weak ear from previous rips).

Myself, it forced me to become much better at buoyancy control quickly.

For starting out, I would highly recommend a small housing that can be attached to a wrist and simply dropped if you need to focus on something else.  Once you get to the point of attaching a strobe arm, you tend to be in a situation where you have to go through an entire dive without letting loose of the camera.   It's a huge difference in your diving, and much more risky for a beginning diver.   For example, my air hose often gets caught in one of the strobe arm clamps when I turn my head to one side.  Then when i try to turn back, the regulator wants to get pulled out of my mouth, and my face mask prevents me from seeing what is going on.   That was pretty surprising the first time it happened.

kelpdiver wrote:

Conversely - the big rig is easy to make neutral, as compared to a metal housing for a compact with two strobes.

I guess that depends on how close to neutral you want to be.   I bought my RX100 rig in 2015 with dual YS-D1 strobes.  I put two pair of STIX floats on the arms (recommended by Bluewater Photo) and I was good to go.

When I got my D810 rig, I moved the strobes to that rig.   Never changed the floats, even for the 230mm dome port.    Same with the D850 rig.  Still running the same floats.

My DSLR rigs are a bit negative in buoyancy.   Probably helps trim me out when diving as I have heavy Apollo Biofins on the other end.

kelpdiver wrote:

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

But still, the quality of my underwater photos, the bulk to handle it while I'm still learning to improve buoyancy control... no, it's not for me. At least not now.

OK, now there's something to think about. Unlike some, I don't think you have to master buoyancy first, but there is definitely risk there. My late wife ripped her ear once drifting down while concentrating on shooting a lionfish and not realizing she was descending 6 feet. (She had a weak ear from previous rips).

This would be the most prevalent issue - either drifting down without realizing it (extremely easy to do in blue water chasing the mantas or whale sharks) - risking barotrauma or exceeding your nitrogen and PO2 limits, or corking up, risking DCS. Any delta from neutral is an accelerating situation, particularly for those in exposure suits (wet or dry). And even if perfectly weighted in a skin suit, the 6lbs of consumable air buoyancy has to be accounted for, as is your chest volume if you hold your breath while you stalk your target. (The rebreather is a huge win on these fronts- albeit with a huge increase in complexity risk)

True, but that’s not what I mean. Although I will say that the last time I dived I did cork up during my refresher dive. But in general it’s not really a problem for me. I actually think I got my weights wrong that time as well.

What I do mean is how to stay in the same place, or how to control my movements underwater anyway. How to stay very close to, for example, the bottom without touching it.

Reef destruction is another consequence of those who are negative. To shoot macro with a big rig without constantly handling the reef near the subject requires high proficiency and comfort.

I think this is more what I mean, maybe. Although I am very careful. But also wrt breathing and perhaps currents. But I do know to rely on my gauges and dive computer to tell me what’s going on.

Conversely - the big rig is easy to make neutral, as compared to a metal housing for a compact with two strobes.

I don’t actually use strobes. I’m also not sure a typical dive shop, where you dive with maybe 5 other people and one or two instructors, would want to accommodate me bringing such equipment with me.

starbase218 wrote:

True, but that’s not what I mean. Although I will say that the last time I dived I did cork up during my refresher dive. But in general it’s not really a problem for me. I actually think I got my weights wrong that time as well.

Been there.

What I do mean is how to stay in the same place, or how to control my movements underwater anyway. How to stay very close to, for example, the bottom without touching it.

You don't need good buoyancy control to do that, you need excellent buoyancy control!

A lembeh stick can help.

Reef destruction is another consequence of those who are negative. To shoot macro with a big rig without constantly handling the reef near the subject requires high proficiency and comfort.

I think this is more what I mean, maybe. Although I am very careful. But also wrt breathing and perhaps currents. But I do know to rely on my gauges and dive computer to tell me what’s going on.

Some places will have too much current to stay in one spot (Cozumel), but often you get out of the strongest currents when closer to the bottom.

These are diving skills you have to pick up over time with experience.

Conversely - the big rig is easy to make neutral, as compared to a metal housing for a compact with two strobes.

I don’t actually use strobes. I’m also not sure a typical dive shop, where you dive with maybe 5 other people and one or two instructors, would want to accommodate me bringing such equipment with me.

Uh... yeah, they will, or you don't go back there.    Biggest problem I've had is not having a big enough dunk tank, or beginners trying to wash their masks off in it.   I bring my rig to the boat in a big plastic beer cooler anyway (convenient to carry something big and wet like a rig), and I will use that to hold the camera between dives if no dunk tank.