start off with the right camera system

[TheUWPhotographer.com]

I second the vote for the Canon G10 in the Fix housing. I have both a Nikon D300 and a Canon G10 and I'm blown away by how well the G10 keeps up. The cost is so much less, but you're not sacrificing all that much. Sure there are things you can do with an SLR that you can't do with a point & shoot, but there are also things you can do with a P&S that you can't with an SLR. I do workshops for people wanting to learn photography and I see more amazing shots coming off the P&S cameras than ever before and they almost always win the photo contests!

 

[matt215]

your budget of 3K will get you an Ikelite housing for an SLR, dome port, two strobes, sync cables, extension ring, etc. Their prices are the same for most of their slr housings. your camera and lenses will be in addition.

my opinion is to spend a little more and get into an slr. this is not to say that you can't get good photos wit ha point and shoot like a g10.

if you do get the slr housing, i strongly advise you to read the manual and practice assembling and disassembling it before you take it on a trip.

 

[scottfiji]

hey Shane, you're getting lots of good views here.

congrats on getting into UW photography. Based on what you've written, imho I really think you should keep your budget range and go with a dSLR. PM me if you want more info. Good luck!

 

[bvanant]

Shane: Here is what I would do
Canon T1I $769 (all prices current B&H)
Tokina 10-17 lens $570
Sea&Sea RDX housing $1300
Sea&Sea Port $370
Inon s2000 strobe $450 or so
Plus some arms and stuff. This will get you going wide angle for about $3500. For macro add the flat port for $200 and a canon 60 mm macro for $370 and you have both for just a bit over $4K. This will definitely let you grow the system just be prepared to spend a bunch later for more lenses, more ports, more focus light, you get the idea. But compared to a 2 week liveaboard someplace warm and far away its a bargain NO.

You could probably do the exact same system with Nikon stuff (Scott G is a nikon guy) but I wear a t-shirt that says "friends don't let friends shoot Nikon"

Cheers and welcome to the club.
Bill

 

[bvanant]

To Scott and my point, the G10 is a great camera, but you can grow with a DSLR. Make your first decision wisely, but mostly ignore the camera body. Buying the first DSLR is buying into a system your lenses and your housing ports, strobes etc will last forever (mostly) but the body and the specific housing will change over time. You can do well with either Canon or Nikon at this level and either Ikelite or Sea&Sea fit your budget but only Sea&Sea at this price point will let you graduate to higher level systems as your budget changes in a few years.
I know it sounds like a lot of money but you'll use it for year. As for insurance make sure you get some, DAN or DEPP are both OK.

Bill