Best housing for newbie with Nikon 7900?

Hi,

I'm new to underwater photography - but I'm looking to give it a go next time I go diving (2 weeks - Red Sea - Can't wait!).

I have a Nikon Coolpix 7900 and was wondering what people's opinions where about the various housings available for it.

I count three, but if anyone knows of any others I'd really like to know.

Nikon's own WP-CP4 (this looks discontinued tho???)

Fantasea's CP-7

Ikelite's 7900

Specifically is the Ikelite worth the extra money (and why)? Which is easiest to setup/use? Is there a clear winner for good quality shots.

Typically I dive to upto 30m, normally in areas with good/very good visibility and lots of tropical fish/reef/coral. That's what I want to snap (macro stuff). I'm not (at least not yet) interested in wide angle shots of wrecks and so forth.

Finally (and slightly off topic - sorry), what do people have to say about Nikon's Underwater Scene mode? Is it good enough, or am I better using the manual mode to get the best shots and tweaking the settings myself.

Any advice muchly appreicated,

Thanks,

Phil.

hi phil,

i have the same camera and i'm using the fantasea cp-7 housing. i had trouble finding the nikon housing too.

i'm happy with the fantasea product. i've taken it on several dives and it's great.

ikelite is a little pricey. i don't think it does anything different than the fantasea. i just wasn't worth the extra money for me. the fantasea is rated to 130' and that's plenty for me.

when you get a housing, try using the movie mode on your camera. without an extra light source, your pictures may still come out quite blue in color. the video at least will give you a different way to share your diving experiences. you can still get still shots from the video with software.

later you can add on a external flash and led light.

hope that helps.

mish