Building a setup for now and later

Another noob here. I have been using an old Canon S50 with housing until the camera died during my bonaire trip (do not drop your camera on concrete floors). Got a couple nice pix but I always hated the lag and poor manual contol of the thing anyway. I have debated getting a housing for my D70 for a while but never splurged. Now I am ready to splurge but want to do it wisly.

So what to get and when. First question everyone asks is budget, then interest. So budget is open. Lets just say <$10K - I dont plan on spending that at once, but I do not want to limit purchases by budget. I dont buy crap... I buy what I want whenever I can afford it. That said, spending ~$3K to start is ok. So I need lights, right. Ikes 125 seems to be at the top of the hit list, although a little bulkier that some. But I see them a lot so there must be a reason. Then I need camera (and lenses). As I said I have a D70 and a few lenses (including the older Nikon 105 AF and my sister has the Nikon 60mm so I have access to the two prime macro lenses I see talked about.

I do not foresee getting rid of my D70 until Nikons (or someone w/F mount) has a full frame DSLR for <$2K... so a couple years. With 2 dive trips a year (1-2wks each) I am ok waiting until them to get the DSLR housing a just get a decent P&S and get the stobe(s) now.

So what should I do? Is there a good P&S + housing combo that will work nice with a strobe to get me going?

Oh, as far as interest - I am into little guys and soft coral these days - next trip probably Indonesia.

Rather than spending on a point and click, personally I would keep an eye on the classifieds on here and ebay to look for a 2nd hand housing. I bought a Sea and Sea housing for my D70 for $900 and I have seen them go for £350 ($700). Whilst you'll need the ports, strobes, and cables, but these are normally transferable when you upgrade so you are not losing money there. You already have the lenses (or access to them).

Bear in mind that yesterday's compact is often worth very little 2nd hand and you are unlikely to salvage anything other than the strobe when you upgrade.

Daniel

Good advice so far. There have been a LOT of D70 housings on Ebay lately. I even saw a Nexus D70 go for $1200 the other day!

For starters, I think you can't go wrong w/ the Ike DS125's for multi-purpose shooting.

You'll want at least one macro port to use w/ those lenses, but fortunately, you can usually use a 60mm port with an extension to shoot the 105 too.

As for wideangle, if you start out w/ a zoom and one dome, you will be all set.

Cheers

James

Thanks. What housing should I look for? Again, I dont mind paying a bit more for good stuff. And since my next trip is probably not for ~6mo I have time to keep an eye open. What will I need in terms of sync cords and such? Is a 2-strobe setup the way to go for DSLR?