Mirrorless Underwater Setups

Within the next three years I will likely start putting together an underwater mirrorless camera setup. So I decided to price out a few options. They are all with the Sony E mount since my daughter has a camera on the same lens system.

Sony A7rII Camera with Nauticam Housing:

• Sony A7rII Camera: $3,200
•  NA-A7II Housing: $2,850
• Port for Kit Lens: $380

Ok, I will stop pretending this is an option. This will be almost $10,000 once strobes, gopro mounts, and better lenses are included. While mirrorless camera setups have cheaper housings than DSLR cameras, the high end still costs a fortune.

Sony A7II Camera and Meikon Housing:

• Sony A7II Camera: $2,000
• Meikon Housing: ~$300 (not yet released)

 The A7II would probably take the best baby photos of the plausible cameras I could get. This may make it an attractive option. Additional cost of strobes would ultimately make sense to add on to this package.

Sony A7S Camera and Meikon Housing:

• Sony A7S Camera: $2,500
• Meikon Housing for A7: $260

It is possible that I can get a cheap A7S since the A7SII is just about to come out. If that happens I may elect to go this route. The low light capabilities of the A7S are legendary, allowing photos to be taken of things too dark to see with the naked eye.

Sony A7SII Camera with Meikon Housing:

• Sony A7SII Camera: ~3,000 (not yet released)
• Meikon Housing: ~$300 (not yet released)

Having the best low light consumer camera released would be a lot of fun. Risking a $3,000 loss if a $300 housing fails is terrifying however.

Full Sony a6000 setup with Ikelite housing:

• Sony a6000 Camera: $600
• Ikelite Housing: $1,050
• Sony 90mm Macro Lens: $1,100
• Port for Macro Lens: $250
• Extension for Macro Lens:$220
• AF35 Strobe:$430
• AF35 Second Strobe: $450

This is the nicest setup I could plausibly get. While after taxes it will be something like $4,500 it could be easily bought in pieces over a fairly long time. The camera could be one purchase, the macro lens another, the housing and ports another purchase, and the strobes bought one at a time after that. Probably because of the long delay before the kit is assembled I would wait until the next version of the a6000, although I might be able to get a good enough deal on the a6000 to stick with it.

Partial Sony a6000 setup with Ikelite Housing:

• Sony a6000 Camera: $600
•  Ikelite Housing: $1,050
•  Port for Kit Lens: $350
• Zoom Sleeve: $25

This build has the advantage that it is comparatively cheap, and upgradable to the full setup if it is insufficient. At a minimum it should blow the Gopro away. There is a high probability I will start with this setup.

Sony A7S Camera and Meikon Housing

• Sony a6000 Camera: $600
• Meikon Case for a6000:$250

This is one of the cheapest ways to get started with underwater photography with an E-mount camera. Unfortunately it is not upgradable, and will produce worse images than the other options because of a less nice port. Still, snorkeling it probably does just fine.

College Scorecard

It has previously been very difficult to rank colleges on whether they are a financial disaster. Some reasonable looking schools give students lots of student loans and no more pay than they would get with simply a high school diploma.

The government just made it really easy to figure out whether schools are decent. Now there is a College Scorecard. They took income data from tax returns, so they have a very accurate picture of how much money college graduates make. They also assembled a lot of other information like cost, average debt levels, and graduation rate.

State schools in California still hold up rather well. The big name schools like UC Berkeley, UCLA, or UC Santa Barbara of course have great graduation rates, leave students with good incomes and are relatively cheap. The state college system does a much poorer job, but still is a solid system. For example Fresno State has above average graduation rates, above average incomes for graduates, and a cost which is way below average for in-state students.

A lot of the for profit schools rather predictably do horrible. University of Phoenix for example costs more than average and only about one in eight graduate. Surprisingly those who do graduate make decent income but would clearly have been better off at a state school.

iNaturalist Cameras

Being only a few days away from hitting 4,000 iNaturalist submissions, I have been thinking too much about my options for cameras to use for iNaturalist submissions. Here I am putting what I have learned in one place so when I have more money I can remember what my best options are.

Superzoom Cameras:
Superzooms are probably the best cameras for making iNaturalist submissions. Large zooms in a relatively small package lets them get pictures that you would otherwise miss. Even if a DSLR is your main camera, a pocket size superzoom to carry everywhere makes a lot of sense as a second camera. If they had GPS, a few of the 1" sensor superzoom cameras might make this list since they take nicer photos. Without GPS though they are too unwieldy to make sense for iNaturalist submissions with so many other good options out there. The following are the best superzoom cameras I could find for the application:

1. Nikon P900: For birds, reptiles and mammals, the 83X zoom on this camera makes it almost certainly the best camera out there. A telephoto lens with a DSLR can take better pictures, but only at the cost of really heavy lenses.
2. Sony HX400V: This is the camera I have. It is probably the second best camera for birds, reptiles and mammals, but may be able to beat the P900 for insects.
3. Sony HX90V: The previous cameras are too big. People look at you funny in certain social situations and I have even been known to attract police while taking pictures. The HX90V is able to do 70% of what the other two superzooms can do while remaining small enough to not stand out. Once again, the lack of GPS in some of the competition makes this the obvious choice of compact superzoom. 
4. Nikon Coolpix S9900: A somewhat cheaper compact superzoom that shares most features with the HX90V

Tough Cameras:
Superzooms won't do much good if taking pictures in a rough environment. It is not even possible to buy a commercial underwater housing for one. If taking pictures in less than ideal conditions, these cameras should be considered:

1. Olympus TG-4: Waterproof to 50 feet, amazing macro, and includes GPS. This is what I should have got instead of a Gopro as it is the best option for underwater photography at a reasonable price. It has little use for birds, reptiles, and mammals, but for insects and plants should do well enough.
2. Nikon 1 AW1: A hardened version of a mirrorless camera, also the only mirrorless camera to include GPS. It claims to be waterproof, but every third review on Amazon seems to be someone complaining because it wasn't waterproof. 

Mirrorless Cameras:
While all are a step up from a cell phone, the previously mentioned cameras do not take particularly good photos.  If trying to create better images, while still keeping a small package mirrorless cameras might make sense. Unfortunately, the lack of GPS in any of these cameras means none are particularly great choices for iNaturalist submissions. One of these cameras might make sense if you want a high end underwater camera in a smaller package than a DSLR:

1. A6000: One of the best cameras for underwater use, but lacks GPS.
2. Olympus E-M1: One of the best cameras for underwater use, but lacks GPS.
3. Olympus E-PL5: Generally good reviews for underwater use. The cheapest mirrorless systems for underwater use seem to be built around this camera. Again, lacks GPS.
4. A7S: A very unusual camera, expensive and only 12 Megapixels. However its amazing low light capabilities would make for very good underwater use if willing to pay the steep prices for a housing. It is also likely to be a very good insect camera since in most conditions it can take photos with very fast shutter times without needing a flash. Again, lacks GPS.

DSLR Cameras:
If you want photos with top of the line image quality and don't mind the increased cost and size, a DSLR can't be beat. Unlike mirrorless cameras many have built in GPS, or easily purchased adapters making them a good choice for nature photography. Like mirrorless cameras, they may require lens changes if you are switching between telephoto and macro photos. This causes them to miss some opportunities which a superzoom could easily catch. If pricing one out, make sure to see what it will cost to get a telephoto and macro lens to go with it as the cost of lenses often exceeds the price of the camera:

1. Canon EOS 7D Mark II: Mid range DSLR with GPS. Since it has a variety of options for underwater housings it is likely a good choice for underwater photography.
2. Nikon 7200: Mid range DSLR with GPS modules readily available. Since it has a variety of options for underwater housings it is likely a good choice for underwater photography.
3. Sony A99V: Mid range DSLR with GPS. Lacks good options for underwater photography but would likely be fine for any photography on land.
4. Pentax K-3II: Mid range DSLR with GPS. Lacks good options for underwater photography but would likely be fine for any photography on land.
5. Canon EOS 1DX: High end DSLR, known as the best wildlife camera in the Canon line.
6. Nikon D4S: High end DSLR. If you are not sure whether you want to buy a car or a camera this is probably the one for you.

Laguna Pictures

I took more pictures in Laguna last weekend. Conditions were about ideal, 25 foot visibility in 70 degree water. The Gopro Hero 4 Black with a Sidekick Duo therefore did do quite a bit better. For a few pictures like the Lobster, the Sidekick Duo really was necessary to have any hope of getting a decent shot.

Sealions in the Selfie

California Spiny Lobster

Sand Bass

Kelp Bass

Garibaldi

 Rock Wrasse

Opaleye

Horn Shark

Octopus

 Giant Kelp

Black Surfperch

Barred Surfperch

A Year of Weights

Last September, I bought a scale. At some point I decided that weighing myself regularly would be about the best strategy to lose weight I could find. Here is a few days shy of one year of records. I weigh myself at the same time daily to try to confirm that the measures are meaningful.



After about three months of my tactic failing, I got annoyed with the whole thing, spent about two months being fairly hungry, and lost a bit more than ten pounds. This chart understates it since I was at about 195 for a couple years before this.

From what I hear it takes a year or two at a lower weight before your body stops trying to get back to the old weight. So we will see if I can hold this.

Sonoran Spotted Whiptails

I took some really nice pictures of lizards in a suburban backyard the other day:

The first is a Western Fence Lizard, quite common in Southern California. The second is something more interesting.

The first ID I made for the iNaturalist submission was an Orange-throated Whiptail which is the only similar looking lizard known to live in Orange County. This still looked a bit odd to me, but it isn't unheard of for females to lack the orange under the neck so it still made sense.

Then I got an email:

Hello,
I'm the Curator of the _____ project here on iNaturalist. I saw your recent post of a Belding's Whiptail Lizard from Lake Forest. I was really surprised to see that your locality is at a very urbanized part of Lake Forest. Is that actually the correct locality?

I responded that the location was correct, but I wasn't all that sure of the species. Then the next day I got the following email:

Hi Jesse,
This is really interesting. I have been in communication with a colleague at the USGS who just found whiptail lizards about 2km NW of your location, but also near Jeronimo Lane. We also were unsure of the ID of his lizards, but the current hypothesis is that they are released Sonoran Spotted Whiptails, Aspidoscelis sonorae. My colleague is running some DNA sequencing to determine the ID. We had assumed that this was a very localized population, but your photos suggest that this is a much more widespread population.
Here are the other records:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1635605
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1635555
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1635586
As with your find, the initial assumption was Orange-throated Whiptails, but we later realized that was incorrect. For your whiptails, I am convinced they are not Orange-throats, but I am not sure of the correct ID. I have changed my ID of your lizards on the iNat record to only name the genus.
This is a very interesting, but also troubling, development. If this is an introduced species, it appears to already have a pretty good sized distribution.
In any case, your observations are especially interesting. I will keep you informed as this develops on our end.
...
If you see any more of these lizards in that area, please post them, but also please change the geoprivacy settings to "obscured" or "private." Part of my concern here is that if these are an introduced species, we don't want others to find them and move them around.
Thanks again for posting to RASCals. It is observations like this one that demonstrate the success of citizen science in urban areas.

 So it is fairly likely that I am only the second person to ever find this lizard in California!

Gopro and Sidekick in Laguna Beach

I took the sidekick out for the first time last weekend. Unfortunately, the conditions were not good enough to really make a good evaluation of it. With 10-15 foot visibility it is hard to get good pictures and backscatter gets worse in low visibility taking away some of the advantage of a light.

Still, I did get a few pictures which were clearly improved by the light:

In those cases, it was clear that the subject was just too dark. Particularly with the two Garibaldi photos, I would have never got the shot to come out sharp without the light. Under ledges or kelp beds the light really helps.

There is a down side though, a few pictures show quite a bit of backscatter near the top of the image. This is because the light is too close to the camera when using the dive arm:

Fortunately, the effect is only seen near the top of the image. In a large number of photos, it is hidden by blue water:

This is likely to be as far as I go with modifying my setup. It is true that a dive tray with two sidekicks would have some real advantages, particularly for video, but this is starting to get to be a lot of money for little improvement.

Going any farther, it seems like the Gopro needs to be replaced for something else. A mirrorless camera like a Olympus E-PL5 or a Olympus OM-D E-M1 probably makes the most sense for underwater use. A setup for the E-PL5 ends up at $750 for the housing and $400 for the camera while the Olympus OM-D E-M1 is $1300 for the housing and $1000 for the camera. There is probably another $700 before you have a full dive rig, so it is more like $2000 to $3000 for a full mirrorless setup.

Unfortunately, since I use a Sony HX400V superzoom for most my iNaturalist submissions a mirrorless camera would end up dedicated entirely to underwater use or at best a few photos of kids. Since no mirrorless cameras have built in GPS and all require changing lenses to go back and forth between macro photos and photos of distant birds; they just don't make sense for the majority of my photography.

Maybe a DSLR with built in GPS like a Nikon D5300 would work for both the above water, and underwater photography I do. This gets expensive fast though. The camera will be $950, the housing with a flash will be $2000. Then it would be another $1000 or more in lenses to make it work for both the macro and telephoto photography I do on land. Also, all the reviews suggest that the camera has worse GPS than my Sony HX400V. So more than likely, it would only see use underwater.

If I better understood what I wanted, I would have bought an Olympus TG-4 instead of the Gopro. It is optimized for photos rather than video and is in a similar price range. It is too small an upgrade for me to justify while I own the Gopro though. Perhaps in two years I will change my mind once the Gopro is starting to be dated and we have an upgrade or two to the TG-4.