Recommendations for UW video & housing

My wife has been doing UW video for some time. Her camera is an old Sony (using mini DV cassettes for recording) in a Light & Motion housing. She wants to upgrade

to an HD video camera. We went to a local camera shop that could only recommend a high end Canon & a housing that (combined) would cost a total of about $5,000; or a Go Pro. From one extreme to another.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a camera & housing somewhere in the middle of these two?

FWIW, I had that same problem about a year ago. I was using an old Sony mini-DV camcorder in an L&M Top Dawg housing. When the electronics went belly up, Backscatter gave me a good offer on trade-in of my old setup toward a new BlueFin Pro housing with a Canon S30. I am quite happy with the upgrade. With the trade in, I couldn't do better at that time. There may be other choices now, though, that might suit you better. The upgrade in video quality has eased the pain of the cost significantly.

There are many other possibilities. For example, you can use an EVIL or DSLR system like the Panasonic GX-1. You could get into that system for $2500 with two lenses and the Nauticam housing. Excellent video but you have to choose what you shoot before you go in the water. There are other possibilities using P&S cameras that are even less money.

Bill