Which housing for Oly C5050 or C5060?

I am looking to get a digital camera for both above and under water use. The Olympus C5050 or C5060 is what I am considering right now. Since I don't need it right away, I was going to wait a bit and hopefully read some more opinions on the C5060 here.

My questions pertains to which housing to get. You can get the Olympus housing for a couple hundred bucks. Or, you can spend considerably more for others, such as Ikelite's.

Is there any reason to spend the extra money for an Ikelite or other more expensive housing?

I've never owned an underwater camera before, just starting to do some research on the subject.

Thanks,

Jim

From what I understand, when you add a tray and handles to your Olympus housing, the price difference between the Oly and the Ikelite is not very much.

If you don't intend to use an external strobe EVER, then I don't suppose you need the tray and handle(s) but I thought I'd mention it.

Cheers

James

The new Ikelite housings for the 5050 and the 5060 have the added advantage of providing real TTL conversion circuitry that works great with Ikelite strobes.

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/oly_5050.html

http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/oly_5060.html

http://www.splashdowndivers.com/photo_gall...olympus_ttl.htm

From what I understand, when you add a tray and handles to your Olympus housing, the price difference between the Oly and the Ikelite is not very much.

 

If you don't intend to use an external strobe EVER, then I don't suppose you need the tray and handle(s) but I thought I'd mention it.

Actually, with prices from UW Camera Pros, the Ikelite housing for $525 is still $230 more than the Olympus housing with Ikelite tray ($219 + $75).

So if you aren't going to use a strobe, go for the Olympus. If you are buying a strobe, consider the Ikelite. Also look into the Inon strobes -- the D180 has some sort of automatic exposure control (not TTL) and I think also works out to be cheaper than the Ikelite equivalent. (?)