Need help choosing equipment

I am new to underwater photography (not much to diving, did a lot of free diving when younger), and I'm starting to plan on buying some stuff. I have a D700 which I'm going to use. I have seen a lot of housings and the Ikelite is much cheaper than other options and seems pretty good. I've seen some reviews and none says very bad things about it.

I should mention that I will use it mostly for pelagics, large fish in general and some freshwater. I plan on starting with wide-angles only (Nikon 16mm and 24mm). So, my initial doubts are:

1) Is the Ikelite a good enough housing or should I look for something else? I really don't want to spend more than around $4,000 in housing, strobes, domes, etc.

2) What about domes? If going for the Ikelite housing I'd buy their 8 inch acrylic dome port (with possible need for a couple extension rings, gotta check that). Is glass that much better that I should just forget about Ikelite and go some other brand?

I think it's worth saying that I am a professional nature photographer and underwater photography will be a new endeavour in my career.

Thanks a lot

I am new to underwater photography (not much to diving, did a lot of free diving when younger), and I'm starting to plan on buying some stuff. I have a D700 which I'm going to use. I have seen a lot of housings and the Ikelite is much cheaper than other options and seems pretty good. I've seen some reviews and none says very bad things about it.

 

I should mention that I will use it mostly for pelagics, large fish in general and some freshwater. I plan on starting with wide-angles only (Nikon 16mm and 24mm). So, my initial doubts are:

 

1) Is the Ikelite a good enough housing or should I look for something else? I really don't want to spend more than around $4,000 in housing, strobes, domes, etc.

 

2) What about domes? If going for the Ikelite housing I'd buy their 8 inch acrylic dome port (with possible need for a couple extension rings, gotta check that). Is glass that much better that I should just forget about Ikelite and go some other brand?

 

I think it's worth saying that I am a professional nature photographer and underwater photography will be a new endeavour in my career.

 

Thanks a lot

If you are planning on selling your UW pictures then I think getting a housing that is simple to operate, intuitive and lets you concentrate on the shot rather than on trying to figure out how to use the housing makes sense. Certainly you can get great photos with the Ikelite system, but it will be bigger and bulkier than the aluminum housings. I personally think that glass domes are better optically than acrylic ones and this has been debated ad nauseum here on Wetpixel. For $4K you won't be able to get a housing, viewfinder and large glass dome though, let alone strobes so it appears that Ike is going to be your best bet, unless you buy a used system.

Bill