Advice for freedivers first digi cam

I know this has been asked again and again, even by me but just wanted a current view on whats availiable.

Basically im a freediver/spearfisher looking for a digital camera and housing or even a dedicated u/w digi cam to take with me, my criteria are:

Cost.. must be cheap, by cheap im hoping under £500 for the full setup (guess thats around $1000)

Ease of use, most of my shots will be 'grabbed' as situations arise but a few will be more composed however freediving i wont have the time to play with settings constantly underwater and probably will only take one or two shots of a subject before heading back up.

Size.. this is pretty important as i want minimal weight and bulk which will cause drag

Quality.. obviously i want as much quality as i can get both in picture quality and quality of the gear

Prints.. most prints would be 6x4 or 8x10 but there are one or two situations a year that i would love to have blown up BIG like the basking shark i dived with this year (and got some cracking photos of with a cheapo disposable u/w film camera)

Tweakability.. want as much option to correct my shooting errors on the pc as possible!

Anyway suggestions welcome bring them on...!

Joe

I go to Hawaii once a year and snorkle, freediving to about 30 feet to take pictures. I have a Nikon D70 which I thought might be took bulky for me to handle, but I bought a used Ikelite housing and went for it. It worked great. Generally kept the settings on one of the auto settings, but had to do a little adjusting for white balance once I learned about it. On a lanyard it follows nicely and is easy to hold in one hand, except for taking the pictures, you then need both. Since there is now a forum member selling Fantasea housings, they might get more reputable. I was leary of getting one, but the price was more of my liking than others. I think they are also smaller than Ikelite and don't have as many adjustments, which might be fine for you. Sooooooo, I would wonder whether a used Nikon D70(s) and kit lens with a Fantasea housing might work for you and be close to your budget. I think you would be much happier with your images than with a P&S.