Subal, Seacam, Aquatica VS Ikelite

"Ol' ike doesn't want to make money, he just loves to sell housings."

www.ikelite.com

But the days of a lifetime camera and a gold plated housing to go with it are over I'm afraid.

In my view the past never presented us with a "lifetime camera and gold plated housing", there was way to far to go with both cameras and housings. It is only recently that this possibility has come to pass.

I think there are 2 or 3 Canons and 2 or 3 Nikons that rise to the level of lifetime cameras, and if matched with an equal housing, in my mind Subal and Seacam measure up, then you have a photo rig that will please most of us for the remainder of our diving lives. Some of these 10-12 mp Canons and 10 mp Nikons are really nice cameras. In some ways they render the d2x and 1dsmkII silly and unecessary given the expense.

I think the only thing that would make me move from my current rig is if someone developed products with the same capabilities in a much much lighter housing package. Well, maybe if someone developed a sensor or resolving engine that eliminated bloom I'd be interested, but even then I am not certain I'd neccesarily jump.

I think there are 2 or 3 Canons and 2 or 3 Nikons that rise to the level of lifetime cameras, and if matched with an equal housing, in my mind Subal and Seacam measure up

And I feel the same way about Ikelite. That extra $2000 is two trips to Bonaire for me, and two more chances to take pictures.

I think maybe you misunderstand my comment. It wasn't about maker, or cost or even our respective ability to spend, but rather about about the notion that only recently have we had cameras and housings offered that enable a kind of "end of the road" ownership possibility. I only mentioned the makes I did because they are at the forefront of quality and capability and therefore represent the best opportunity for lifelong use.

If one thinks back to how fast we went from 6006 to 8008 to N90 to F100/F5 (each being a significant jump in capabilty) it's easy to see that we won't see those kinds of jumps in dslrs. At this point it's basically become an issue of mp and refining engines. I just don't see where these makers are going to come up with the same legitmately great stride in performance in digital cameras as they did in film cameras.

If one considers just how good the top 3 cameras from each Nikon and Canon are, it makes you wonder how good the new cameras are going to have to be to entice people to move to another setup.