camera for shark cage trip?

[voodoomagic5]

i am new to photography and uw photography. i am planning a shark cage dive trip to guadalupe island and wanted info as to a camera body, lens, housing and strobe. i was leaning towards a canon t2i since i wanted one for my day-to-day family pics. what would be a good wide angle lens and housing for it? also, will i NEED strobes? i dont expect to need an underwater setup after this trip since i live in nyc and wont be needing an underwater camera after this trip. is there a place that might rent housing and strobes?

any info is appreciated! thanks!

 

[Puffer Fish]

Nice camera, but the case for that is a very major purchase. The lowest cost would most likely be the Ikelite housing, but you would also need the wide angle lens and the dome port for it:

Ikelite SLR-DC Housing for Canon Rebel T2i/550D [ike.6871.55] - $1,329.95 : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros

Strobes... well it would depend on how deep you were going. If it is in shallow water, then no. Strobes will more than double the cost.

Can you rent them? Not that I know of, and if you could, I would not put one of my camera's in one.

The only "deal" I know of for "C" size sensors would be to get one of the "evil" cameras. The Oly with this housing would be reasonable:

Zen WA-100 Pen Dome for Olympus Pen E-PL1 (in PT-EP01) - Zen Dome Ports - Optical Ocean Sales Underwater Photo - 800-359-1295!

On the other hand, if money is no object, either of those two places can set you up with a very nice DSLR setup.