What's the best Canon or Sony camera/housing setup ....(for a newbie)

[dogatecat]

(newbie questions)
What's a great underwater set for someone to start learning with???

I'm currently considering the Canon SD800 or the Canon S80. In each cause the camera will be housed in either an ikelite housing or the canon produced housing. I'd also like a simple strobe sytem to complement the camera.

Has anyone used both these camers? One of these camers? And is ther anything good or bad you'd like to say about them?

Are there advantages and disadvantegs to each of the housing types? Ikelite vs Canon? or are they both dreadful and I should be looking elsewhere?
oh, and what about wide-angle lens adapters? do Canon and Ikelite both have them available? are they $$$pricey?


What strobe system is best for these cameras? Seeing how I'm new to all this, I'd like to keep the cost of the strobe system releatively low.

One strobe I'm currently considering (througha recommendation ) is the : [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Sunpak G-Flash All Weather/Underwater Strobe with Bracket - Rated up to 148'[/FONT]

I was told it's an inexpensive, fully capable piece of equipment. Any opinions here?

Any Sony branded camers anyone would recommend?


ALL comments and shared knowledge is GREATLY appreciated,
Thankis.
Robert

 

[nivla80]

I'm considering too. Prolly getting a Canon housing and a SeaLife strobe... Compatibility wise, I think the WP-DC9 is a better bet. Used it b4 too, till I lost it. Sigh...

Ikelite housing: Has 2 scew mounts at the bottom, compatibility problems with the lower end strobes, which only utilises one tripod mount.

Canon WP-DC9: One tripod mount, extremely versatile when it comes to cheaper strobes.

I heard you could drill your own holes into the tray to fit the Ike housing, but i'm not too sure abt it. Check this out.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=174061

azcaddman gave a pretty good explanation how you can do that (props to him), but I'm still not too confident. I think I will go for the Canon case, with a SeaLife strobe, and in the future when I get more financial capability, upgrade to their Ike housing with their arm, tray and strobe system!