radiikal and 5615 mike .... the comment about "small is a definite advantage" depends on how and where you're using it ..... To
me small is
NOT better for several reasons.
Overall operation of the camera for one thing .... If you're looking to just take a few snap shots here and there .... YES
then small is nice to be able to tuck it away when not in use. Great for warm water diving with no gloves on. But in cold water (and I dont know where you guys do your diving) gloves play a role in the camera's function. I know Cecil uses his in cold water so he can further comment on that.
Stability of the camera when using an external strobe ..... some of the bigger strobes are probably two to three times the size of the sony.... which could make that setup very unbalanced...(I dont know much about that sony set up and I dont even know if it can accommodate an external strobe)
There are several other things that would steer me into the Olympus (many more features, many housing choices, available media storage options, peer support ..... Going out on a limb I would venture a guess that Olympus (most likely with Nikon and Canon) in the States is close to being one of the most popular choices for digital amateur U/W use.
The picture quality of the Olympus series IMHO produces some of the most colorful, sharp and clean photos out there....
Here is a
thread
from a few weeks ago that has some good info in it....
Bottom line ....you need to get whats right for you and fits your diving style ... not what I or anyone else thinks is right for you ...... Funny thing is I have more sony equipment than anything else .... 3 TV's, 2 DVD's, Digi camcorder, CD players ... you get the idea
I love their stuff and feel they make some truly high quality equipment
BUT I also really like the Olympus cameras
Good luck !!!