PhilW

@John E: please don't think that these 3 models are the only "good options" or even "the best options"! At the point of time when I started this thread (Sept 2020), I have already had taken the decision: a) to change from Olympus E-M1 II to fullframe and b) that it's gonna be a mirrorless In the end, I picked those 3 options and wanted to hear about the community's opinions and experiences. No doubt that a "real FF" definitely has some advantages which are very hard (if even possible) for the mirrorless to meet! @adamhanlon is right: D850 and/or D500 are still very good - and for some use-cases the best - options! especially if you get them second-handed And the usual prejudice is that FF are very bulky - well, yes they are. But mirrorless are not very much less bulky.....

@Draq: definitely, the "which brand" questions are difficult to get a "good" answer from, since every one of us has slightly different preferred techniques and likes stuff which others find useless. Nonetheless, it helped me quite a bit to get many pros and cons together in one thread. @John E: whether the R5 greatly tumbles things up? hard to tell, but I don't think it is a gamechanger. In the end, it is like Draq wrote: best thing is to rent the gear and use it for a couple of dives! Like I did - rented a Sony A7R IV and found out that all bad prophecies about nonsense-like menu-structure etc were not true to me. I quickly got used to the knobs and wheels. Yet I have to say: NAUTICAM definitely has a high-quality housing; but the arrangement of knobs is such that if you're used to using the camera at land, you will not find some knobs and wheels in the first place - but that has nothing to do with the great specs of the camera itself. Hope you'll find the camera which suits you best, JohnE! if I can be of more help, let me know!

Hi Bill1946 I've also been shooting OM-D for years (though, I recently couldn't resist to changing to a mirrorless fullframe), using the M5.1, M1.1 and lastly M1.2. I can only repeat and agree to what @ChrisRoss and @Phil Rudin already told you: - the 60 is perfect for the really small stuff (nudis etc) - the 30 is much easier if you go for fishes - I strongly recommend on trying the 12-40! it's no comparison to the macro-lenses :-) - autofocus works fine with all 3 lenses as long as there is enough light on the subject; I reckoned that the cams struggled a bit in low-light conditions have fun!

@adamhanlon@Phil Rudin@ChrisRoss@ajay@heynsheyns@davehicks@Akoni@hyp@oneyellowtang@Interceptor121@PeteAtkinson Thank you all for the broad, honest and facts-based discussion, opinions, etc! I finally took the plunge into the SONY A7RIV. I already went on a one-week-trip and am totally happy with it. I even had the opportunity to try out the brand-new NAUTICAM EMWL with the whole range of accessory lenses! :-) Of course, it's still a battle to accustom myself to the new functionalities etc to get the best out of it, but I quite got the hang of it.

Hey guys big thanks to all of you who put a lots of brains, experiences, opinions, etc into this post! As I expected, the sheer amount of information hasn't helped me to take a decision yet. Although, I must say I am very close to committing myself to the A7R IV. As for the issues which have been raised: - if you say the autofocus is better: you mean, it is quicker? or more precise? the speed convinced me, but I'd like to do a live-testing on a D850 for comparison - lens choices: well, I see disadvantages for the Z- and R-mounts, pro's for E- and F-mounts - no native fisheye: I heard the Canon 8-15mm works almost perfectly? yeah, I heard about the R5. If the rumours are correct, they overdid it with the video-capabilities they tried to implement... and I don't see any advantages in the stills compared to the R IV... You're right, Adam - I am aware of the bulkiness, yet I haven't really experienced what it feels like! :-) So, the choice now is between the R IV and a Nikon DSLR...

Hi Adam, Phil + Chris thanks for the hints. I usually do both, macro + wide angle - with a hang to wideangle since quite a while. So I'd say 80% of my photos are WA (of which a good part is CFWA) and 20% pure macro. For wideangle shots, I have been using: Oly OM-D EM1MII 8mm fisheye 7-14mm 230mm or alternatively a 170mm dome @adamhanlon 1) I did find various arictles treating these cameras - yet none that compares them to each other, is there? 2) I haven't really taken into consideration a DSLR, due to the bigger dimensions. As far as what I have seen + experienced with the SONY A7R IV, it really convinced me. Another approach (any maybe a naive question): what are the downsides of a mirrorless compared to DSLR? @Phil Rudin thanks - I took a deep look into your magazines. Great job! @ChrisRoss thanks for the "heads-up-call" with the Canon, I'll think about it.

Hi guys! I am totally new to this forum. I tried to find a thread treating my issue but haven't found one, so I decided to start a new topic. I have been using Oly MFT (since 2011 OM-D M5, since 2016 OM-D M1MII) for years and I was quite happy with it, especially with its packed-size and "travellability"! Nonetheless, I started to look around for another (better) solution and rented a Sony A7 IV for 1 week on a dive-trip in the mediterranean sea - the result KNOCKED ME OFF!!! I am sure all of you guys already using a FF mirrorless can only laugh of me :-) So, I took the decision to upgrade my gear to a fullframe, mirrorless cam and started searching different options. I am currently struggling between the 3 models: NIKON Z7 SONY A7R IV SONY A7R III I wonder if anyone of you could give me a clue why I should prefer the A7R III or Nikon to the A7 IV (except the additional price-step to take and the higher noise)...! :-) For those of you who'd like to read some pros and cons about the 3 candidates, just read on. For those of you who can give me a hint, feel free to scroll down and type your answer - THANKS!! I've read several forums and comparisons about advantages and disadvantages, some of which I'd like to share with you! Nikon Z7 I have had "hands-on" in a camera-shop. Good "look and feel"-feeling, but nothing really better than the SONY. + proven manufacturer + high-quality products + sensor quality + quick cardslots (XQD) + menu-structure a bit more well-thought than the Sony (not necessarily from my personal point of view, though) + quite a fair price - currently only a few lenses available (except F-mounts with adapter) - generally one or two steps behind in developing mirrorless cams - "only" 1 cardslot (although I cannot imagine this really being an issue in everyday use...) Sony A7R IV I was able to do a 1-week-live-testing with a rented equip. and I was absolutely convinced of this baby! :-) + successfully selling and developing mirrorless fullframes since 2013 + incredibly high pxl: 61MP + rocket-fast autofocus (provided using a GM-lens) + picture quality + highest resolution of viewfinder (5.6 MP vs 3.6 MP on the Z7 and A7R III) + very wide variety / choice of lenses (all possible lengths, types and price-segments) - due to the very high density of pxls on the sensor (50% more pxls on the same area 36x24mms), slightly more noise - ... and maybe some erratic colors (I haven't been able to confirm this issue => anyone an idea?) - the cardslots are not working very quickly, despite the fact that both slots are UHS-II SDXC - Sony is not very known (as far as I know) as a manufacturer in the PHOTO-segment (more in the movie industry) Sony A7R III I have not yet been able to see it live, but I was told that for my purposes, it would serve almost as well as the A7R IV with some compromises. However, its price is remarkably lower... Compared to the A7R IV: + remarkably less pricey + noise and color accuracy are told to be a bit better => can anyone confirm this?? - less resolution (42MP vs 61MP) - viewfinder less resolution (3.8 MP vs 5.6 MP) - slower autofocus Thanks for reading, folks!!

Hi I'm Phil, living in Zurich, Switzerland. I have been diving for almost 13 years, since 5 years doing instructions. Last year, I took the rebreather-course and am absolutely excited! I've been taking pictures since 2011 using Olympus MFT, but will shortly do a step-up to a mirrorless fullframe. I am running a small website for showcasing: uwpix.ch Hope to find and give some good and useful tips + tricks for successfully shooting great images!