Choosing an underwater housing for your camera can be a daunting task. We want to make things easier for you, so we’ve created this mini-guide to help you decide what’s the best underwater housing for your Sony RX100 Series!
What are the options?
Fantasea FRX100 VA M16 Underwater Housing for Sony RX100 III / IV / V / VA
Ikelite Underwater Housing for Sony RX100 III / IV / V
Nauticam NA-RX100V Underwater Housing for Sony RX100 V (M5)
Fantasea FRX100 VII / VI LE Underwater Housing for Sony RX100 VII / VI (24-66mm* zoom)
Nauticam NA-RX100VI Underwater Housing for Sony RX100 VI (M6)
Ikelite Underwater Housing for Sony RX100 VI/ VII
Nauticam NA-RX100VII Underwater Housing for Sony RX100 VII (Mark 7)
Comparison Chart for RX100 V/VA
| Fantasea FRX100 VA M16 | Ikelite RX100 V | Nauticam NA-RX100V | |
| Material | Polycarbonate | Polycarbonate | Aluminum |
| Thread Mount | 67mm | 67mm | 67mm |
| Controls | Full controls | Controls for all camera functions except Flash switch and Viewfinder switch | Full controls |
| Vacuum System | Available separate | Available separate | Available separate |
| Default Bulkhead (strobe connection) | Removable double fiber optic cable connection | Dual fiber optic | Dual fiber optic |
| Depth Rating | 200ft/60m | 200ft/60m | 330ft/100m |
| Interchangeable Ports | No | Yes, dome available | No |
| Price (USD) | $399.95 | $495.00 | $1,040.00 |
Comparison Chart for RX100 VI / VII
| Fantasea FRX100 VI/VII | Ikelite RX100 VI/VII | Nauticam NA-RX100VI | Nauticam NA-RX100VII | |
| Material | Polycarbonate | Polycarbonate | Aluminum | Aluminum |
| Thread Mount | 67mm | 67mm | 67mm | 67mm |
| Controls | Full controls | Controls for all camera functions except Flash switch and Viewfinder switch | Full controls | Full controls |
| Vacuum System | Available separate | Available separate | Available separate | Available separate |
| Default Bulkhead (strobe connection) | Removable double fiber optic cable connection | Dual fiber optic | Fiber optic ready | Fiber optic ready |
| Depth Rating | 200ft/60m | 200ft/60m | 330ft/100m | 330ft/100m |
| Interchangeable ports | No | Yes, dome port available | Yes, dome and short port available | Yes, dome and short port available |
| Usable zoom (with standard port) | 24-66mm | 24-200mm | 24-200mm | 24-200mm |
| Price (USD) | $574.95 | $495.00 | $1,110.00 | $1,150.00 |
Conclusion
The RX100 series are an amazing imaging tool and highly popular for underwater photography, due to their small size and superb quality.
When choosing an underwater housing for the RX100, you need to take several things into account – while the camera and housing are the heart of the system, you will most likely upgrade it with tray, arms, lights, wet lenses and more.
Try to take future upgrades into consideration as well, even if you don’t get them right away.
Among the polycarbonates, Ikelite has an advantage of offering a true dry dome instead of the standard port. However, Fantasea has the better ergonomics, leak detector, double o-rings and other advantages.
Note that the RX100 VI and VII have a much longer 24-200mm lens than its predecessors. The Fantasea housing does not support it and the Nauticam housing uses interchangeable ports to produce ideal optical results with it.
If getting perfect wide angle results is important for you, then consider the Nauticam which allows you to get the short port which is ideal for wide angle wet lenses.
The Fantasea housing also gets great results with wide angle lenses, at the expense of not supporting the full zoom of the VI and VII lenses.
If you’re still unsure about the best housing for you, reach out to use on the chat. We’d love to help.
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