Regulars to diving or underwater photography related Facebook groups may well have seen me recommend the Canon G9X MkII in the Fantasea FG9X housing to people asking what underwater camera should they buy?
I thought it might be a good idea to give some specific info in a blog about what sets this particular compact camera and housing combination apart from the rest of the field.
The Canon G9X and G9X MkII are externally identical and have the same dimensions.
The Basics
To start with the G9X MkII ticks the five boxes that make a camera well suited to being used underwater which I detailed in my early blogs about 'what makes a good underwater camera'
Custom White Balance
The custom white balance on the G9X MkII works well for underwater when used down to about 15 metres depth, if you remember to set your white balance when you change depth by more than a couple of metres. There is a slight annoyance in that Canon chose to change the process you have to go through to set CWB from the one touch method available on almost all their compact cameras up to and including the original G9X. Instead the MkII uses the same method as on Canon DSLR's where you have to take an image of something white or grey and then set the White Balance. This is more clunky and involves multiple button presses but still gives good results if you don't want to shoot RAW and colour correct with editing software.
In this aspect the Canon compacts come out ahead of the Sony RX100's which all struggle to some degree with white balancing for underwater photography.
Custom white balance on Canon compacts can also be used when shooting video which is a big plus and makes it worthwhile learning how to do it even if you take RAW stills and colour correct with software.
Shooting RAW
As with most comparable compact cameras the G9X MkII allows you to shoot RAW format images and software such as Adobe Lightroom Classic can handle these files. It also allows for shooting RAW and JPEG simultaneously if you want to.
Bear in mind that some waterproof cameras such as the Nikon W300 and a lot of the cheaper/older action cameras don't shoot RAW.
Able to use a wide angle wet lens
This is a biggie with us and what sets the G9X's apart from their big brothers the G7X's. Adding a wide angle lens will significantly improve your images and the G9X's have a zoom lens that is the right size to work well with any of the good quality wide angle wet lenses on the market.
This shot was taken using a G9X in Fantasea housing fitted with the Fantasea UWL09F wide angle wet lens.
Cameras with long zoom lenses such as the G7X's or the RX100 MkVI need large ports on their housings to accommodate them. This results in difficulties when using wet lenses. The size of the port causes vignetting when the lens is zoomed out for wide angle. Vignetting is dark areas at the edges of shots. This means you have to zoom in to remove it which negates a lot of the increased field of view provided by the wet lens you've added.
One way to get around this issue with cameras like the G7X MkII is to use a shorter port for wide angle photography and a larger port for macro. Nauticam have done this with their G7X housings by making them interchangeable port systems. But doing this comes at a premium. We sell the Fantasea housing for the G9X's for £449 but the Nauticam housing for the G7X MkII is £953 plus an extra £178 for the short port. While this housing is a great piece of kit and the G7X MkII is a nice camera with some features that on land put it ahead of the G9X MkII, underwater you'll get very little discernable advantage for your additional outlay. In fact you'll lose the flexibility of being able to do macro and wide angle in one dive as wet macro lenses work better with the camera lens zoomed in.
This shot illustrates the amount of vignetting that occurs when using a Canon G7X MkII in a Fantasea housing with the Fantasea UWL400 wide angle wet lens and the camera lens zoomed to its widest. To remove this you have to zoom the camera lens in which will reduce the angle of view. Little if any vignetting occurs when using wide angle wet lenses with the G9X in a Fantasea housing.
2020 Update
Canon released a G7X MkIII last year with a lens of the same length as the previous model. Both Fantasea and Nauticam chose to stick with the ports that had been use for the G7X MkII.
FULL MANUAL MODE
Another really import feature if you want to get serious with your underwater photography. Being able to control shutter speed, aperture and ISO independently gives you the ability to consistently produce images with the look you are want. For example black background shots like those I discussed in a previous blog (Here) are very difficult to achieve in daylight without having manual control.
This shot of a goby on a seastar in a Scottish loch utilised strobes to light it and a fast shutter speed to make the space behind the seastar appear dark.
This is one of several areas where the G9X's come out ahead of the very popular Olympus TG's. The TG4 and 5 lack shutter priority and full manual modes. Some control can be taken of shutter by using aperture priority and adjusting the exposure compensation settings but this is nowhere near as effective as being able to set shutter speed yourself.
2020 Update
There is now an Olympus TG6, which still doesn’t have a full manual mode allowing control of shutter speed directly.
HAVING A FLASH
Pretty much all compact cameras have a built-in flash unlike the action cameras.
Where the G9X's stand out from some of their competition, in particular the Sony RX100's is the fact that you can set the flash to manual. This is a standard feature on Canon compacts and one reason we've been keen on them for underwater use for a long time.
This macro shot was taken using similar settings to the one above. For both pictures I utilised a Fantasea +12 macro lens.
The manual flash mode allows you to set it to minimal output and use it to trigger a strobe. This keeps battery use down, increases recycling time and removes the delay caused by the preflash when using built-in flash on auto. Unfortunately Sony cameras don't let you do this which means power usage is higher because the camera sets the flash output and causes delays when taking pictures.
Another nice feature on Canon compacts is that you can set the flash to fire on first or second curtain in manual mode. This is one aspect that puts them ahead of the Olympus mirrorless cameras like my EM10 MkII which only allow second curtain in an separate auto mode that some strobes don’t work with.
Icing on the cake
There are other attributes with the G9X MkII and Fantasea housing combo that help make it our current top choice on the compact market.
As you'll realise from the discussion of the G7X MkII and Nauticam combinations the G9X MkII setup is cheaper than many compact setups. This stems from a less feature heavy camera than many of it's contemporaries, with relatively small zoom range compared to many, alongside a polymer rather than metal housing that doesn't require interchangeable ports. For more info about plastic vs metal housings read my blog on the subject- here
The camera has a one inch sensor like a Sony RX100, Canon G7X or Sealife DC2000. This puts it way ahead of something like a Paralenz, GoPro or Olympus TG in terms of low light performance, dynamic range and image quality.
The Fantasea FG9X housing will take either the G9X or the G9X MkII
The Fantasea housing is robust, has good controls including buttons that operate touch screen functions that allow all functions of the camera to be accessed. It also has a 67mm thread on its port for attaching conventional wet lenses such as Fantasea's own range. You can also fit a quick release lens system to the housing. The base mount has several screw holes for attaching a tray, and the housing comes with a detachable fitting for strobe cables. The housing also comes with an electronic moisture sensor to give added peace of mind against flooding.
Flies in the Ointment
There are one or two things that mean that the G9X MkII isn't perfect.
As mentioned previously the lovely one touch custom white balance has gone. If this is an essential for you then think about picking up a used G9X instead.
It doesn't shoot 4K video which isn't something I'm overly concerned about myself but for serious video shooters I'd probably go for a Sony RX100 MkVA if you have the budget and are happy to use editing software more heavily to take advantage of the Sony’s S-Log feature.
The controls on the G7X’s are a little nicer to use in that you have two separate dials to adjust Aperture and Shutter Speed while the G9X’s use the lens dial for both and you have to press a button to choose what setting to change.
As a land camera there are plenty of better performing compacts with longer lenses and more features. If you are looking for an all round camera for land photography then there are better choices and this can be seen in the reviews it gets on mainstream photography sites. But bearing in mind the cost of housing a mirrorless camera or even a G7X MkII in a Nauticam housing it's actually cost effective to have the G9X for underwater and another camera for land.
2020 Update
Since this blog was written we did discover an issue with the FG9X housings touch screen buttons, in that one customerfound he couldn’t operate them while wearing dry gloves with liners in. Without the liners, using wet gloves or bare fingers no problem.
Another development in recent months is that Fantasea have added the option to fit a vacuum leak testing system to their housings for G7x MkII and MkIII, and the Sony RX100s via an M16 port but not for the G9X housing.
We’re still waiting for a now overdue G9X MkIII,which if it comes will most likely feature 4K video.
Parting Shots
Bear in mind we aren't a Canon dealer. We do sell Fantasea housings but we sell them for G7X's and Sony RX100's as well, we also sell Nauticam and Olympus. So we aren't pushing an agenda here, we make money on which ever housing we sell. We recommend this setup because we know that it gets the job done for less money than most of it's contemporaries and anything cheaper than it is going to be lacking in some area.
We are now in affiliate programmes for Wex Photo and Video, and Amazon. If you want to buy a G9X MkII, using one of the links below will mean that we get some money from the sale which will help to fund blogs, online talks and our Facebook group.
To buy the black G9X MkII from WEX click here or click here for the silver version. For the G9X MkII on Amazon.co.uk go here (be aware some cameras on this listing may be used)
If you want more specific advice or have a suggestion for a blog subject feel free to get in touch, email info@alphamarinephoto.com or comment on here. Do the same if you'd like a quote for equipment or to book on one of our workshops (dates are on our Events page). Anyone with an interest in photography is also welcome to join the Alphamarine Q and A Facebook Group
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