Big Camera Decision Please Help!

[scubaaa]

I have been taking pictures with an old Sea&Sea750G (Point and Shoot) for years and I have been saving to move up to dSLR. I purchased a Nikon d90 a few years ago and was saving to get the housing.

WELL, I won an Aggressor Fleet photo contest and part of the prize was an Sea & Sea RDX-600d housing, port, and YS-01 strobe. Unfortunately, it did NOT include the camera.

Now I have to decide if I want to buy a Canon Rebel T3i and lens OR if I should keep my Nikon lens, sell my camera and try and swap the housing for a Nikon.

I don't have a ton of money to spend, but I want to make the best decision as far as housings/cameras go. I want to make sure that I am not going to quickly out grow the Canon Rebel.

Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated!!!

 

[gurnie]

If you are a nikon shooter, stay with it. See if they will swap it for nikon model or just ebay it and put it towards a housing you can use. Chances are you already have an investment in lenses and assessories, can't see starting your kit from scratch just so you can use a housing.

 

[Diver Dave1]

First off, Congratulations on your winning photo! Your competition likely had better gear but you apparently know how to get a lot from the gear you have and know well.
That said, I agree with Gurnie. I would stick with the camera system you have and look for ways to turn that winning into the DSLR housing system you want. There are plenty of used D90 housings available that can use the strobe you won. Even I have one for sale but this is not an attempt to sell it here.
You might consider a housing purchase that can be modified to handle a D7000D7100 if/when you move up in that direction. I know Nexus can do this and perhaps other brands as well.
With your one new strobe and the right lens, you would be set for some nice macro work. Plenty of used 105 micro and 60 micro's for sale on ebay if you do not have one already.

 

[Tzetsin]

As a photographer, and a long time member of a beginners photography forum, I see this kind of question a lot.

The answers you've gotten already are the correct answer. Its generally accepted that when you buy one system, be it Canon, Nikon, Sony, ect you are in essence "marrying" that system. if you only have the camera and lens that came with it, your still have the option to change, but once you start building the system up, buying flashes, lenses, ect, You are going to loose a significant investment by swapping systems.

The D90 and t3i are also very similar cameras, so there is no advantage at all to go with the Canon system at this point. Actually, for UW photography, I would give the edge to the D90, but not by a significant margin.