BEST COMPACT DIGICAM AND HOUSING?

I'm in the market for a new digicam and housing.

From the reviews I've read the Fuji F30 is one of the best current options - due to its low noise at higher ISO values. However, Canon has just released the G7 with IS.

Ultimately I want to go DSLR +housing - but maybe not for a year or two.

What advice can the contributors to this forum give me?

Dave

the Oly SP350 seems to be a popular product with the Ikelite housing.

also, Canon always makes a good bet.

Whichever way you go with the camera I would suggest getting a good strobe, not a "starter" strobe. As you say, you want to go DSLR in the future, you would be better off to get a good one now and not have to worry about upgrading it down the road.

Inon 240 would be a good choice as its quite small

Inon 240 would be a good choice as its quite small

Would two Inon D2000 olso work with a DSLR like for example the D70 or D80?

The F30 is a great available light camera. It would be an ideal choice for Magic Filters. However it doesn't have full manual control, so it would not be the best choice with a strobe.

The Olympus SP-350 is a great choice. I have a SP-310 (7MP, no hot shoe). Manual control is very easy, with quick exposure compensation. You can shoot RAW and convert to JPEG in-camera. So if you want to make minor white balance changes you don't need a computer.

The new G7 looks nice, but only with the Ikelite housing once it's available. The Canon housing is a joke. No hot shoe and no wide angle lenses with the Canon. Considering the cost of the camera and Ike housing, you might be better of buying a used housing for a D70 or 350D.

Would two Inon D2000 olso work with a DSLR like for example the D70 or D80?

The D2000 will not work with a DSLR as it can only be triggered by a slave sensor.

On the other hand, the next generation (D2000W) accepts sync cords and works with beautifully DSLRs.

Any thoughts on the Sea and Sea DX-8000? Is it better to go with that or something like the Olympus with an Ikelite housing?