The full frame journey starts here (again)

[Interceptor121 712]

My third attempt at full frame has officially started on November 26th with the acquisition of a Sony A1. I know not the cheapest camera however the challenge remains to have something that would beat my GH5M2 on both photo and video in a variety of settings.

As discussed many times here I see very little to no difference between APSC and MFT, if you are a DSLR users there may be many reasons to stick to your Nikon or Canon camera but for Mirrorless today APSC is really only FUJI and the lack of housing and underwater ports for the X2H means Fuji is a no go for me.

Back to the full frame topic Panasonic, my favourite brand for ergonomics, lacks housing options and only takes APSC 60fps video. So you are left with Canon, Nikon and Sony

Canon and Nikon are laggards on mirrorless and although the recent R5 and Z9 are no doubt interesting cameras that can do anything I do not like Canon policy of not supporting yet third parties lenses with autofocus and I do not like the grip format of the Z9 surely a very competent camera.

This left me with Sony. For me readout speed is paramount no camera that reads out the full sensor slower than 1/60 is a viable alternative as it measn it will crop at 60fps and also have a number of side effect.

Today other than the Canon and Nikon camera mentioned there only the Sony A1 offers speed, high megapixel count and good uinderwater housing options plus a lens ecosystem supported by other manufacters like Sigma and Tamron.

The Sony system means I can readapt all the ports I have purchased on the Nauticam N120 system as I was using premium MFT optics and the Canon 8-15mm fisheye as a zoom, I can also reuse the WWL-1. By all means my underwater rig will be the same size of my GH5 not more and perform very similar. Only weight penalty will be macro due to the size of the lens.

First tests topside confirm the A1 is a fantastic camera for photos with the fastest autofocus out there and is small and portable. I am confident the same qualities will be there underwater when I will house the camera but what is more important is that all my underwater glass 140mm dome, WWL-1, 180mm dome will be reused. I need new adapters and few flat ports and of course the housing but that is not going to be such a big issue like investing in RF or Z system and their WACP needs.

Versatility remains key and bulk as well. I am sure I have taken a compromise when it comes to rectiinear wide angle as I will be using a tamron. probably mushy corners until f/16 but this is not a major part of underwater shooting.

Of course the A1 is very expensive almost £6,000 but the other bodies are the same and would not enable me to recycle ports.

The order for the underwater parts is not yet in although the bill of material is there with Alex Tattersall and I won't sell my GH5 rig until I have done a few trips with the A1

I am sure there will be challenges and few scenarios where full frame is not the answer (topside long lens wildlife video is an example) but I am looking forward to the new challenges

[LarryHallas 40]

I wish I would have gone the Sony route after shooting Nikon Z6 and Z 6 II for 2 years. My main issue is the autofocus on the Z 105mm macro is slow and causes me to miss some shots. There are times on cloudy days that the Z 105mm won’t auto focus at all unless I use a bright focus light which scares the critters away (or focus manually). Unfortunately, I am too heavily invested in the N120 port system to switch now; with 2 glass domes, a macro port, several extension rings and a variety of Z and F mount lenses. My other issue with the Z lenses is the barrel extends when zooming and can’t be used with the WACP-1 or WACP-C (ironically I would have to use a Sony lens with an adapter for full zoom through). The Z mount can’t use the WWL-1 like the Sony. Finally, the corners are soft with the wide rectilinear lenses like the Z 14-30 even with the $600 S&S internal correction lens and a 230mm dome. There is no fisheye option for the Z mount, so I use the F 8-15 fisheye + FTZ with the 140mm dome port which solved my corner softness but introduced the fisheye barrel distortion which I don’t really care for. My only hope is the release of the new Z 6 III or the Z8 will fix my autofocus issues but will likely require the purchase of a new $6500 Nauticam housing ($10,000 if you include the new camera body). In my opinion you have made the right choice with the Sony A1 and should not have any of the issues I described above. Thanks for letting me rant! 

Edited January 2 by UWPics

[shanesmith.photos 13]

Good choice @Interceptor121, the A1 is a fantastic camera. I made the same choice 9 months ago and have enjoyed it thoroughly ever since. If you’ve got any questions about settings, strange behaviour by the camera, etc. for the A1 underwater, feel free to tag me in them and I’ll happily share what’s worked for me. I’ll be interested to hear how you set your rig up for video as I’ve focused primarily on photography so far and have just guessed my way through the video settings for the bits of video I’ve taken (which to be fair have all come out very nicely).

[Interceptor121 712]

7 hours ago, shanesmith.photos said:

Good choice @Interceptor121, the A1 is a fantastic camera. I made the same choice 9 months ago and have enjoyed it thoroughly ever since. If you’ve got any questions about settings, strange behaviour by the camera, etc. for the A1 underwater, feel free to tag me in them and I’ll happily share what’s worked for me. I’ll be interested to hear how you set your rig up for video as I’ve focused primarily on photography so far and have just guessed my way through the video settings for the bits of video I’ve taken (which to be fair have all come out very nicely).

Hi Shane. Thanks very much for your comments. I have looked at your images when I finally made the decision and I know that from photo point of view will have no regrets. For video the situation is a bit more complex depending on what you want to accomplish and I have several ideas to try out. I am currently investigating the camera behaviour top side before I put into a housing. I think there are some specific challenges for prolonged video but the camera works pretty well just by pressing record but that is not what I am planning to do of course I want to extract all the juice it has.

I will send you a PM so we can exchange contact details if that works for you