Hi all, I have some decisions to make about my gear and was hoping someone could help me. I have to spend my savings so a can seriosly go digital UW. I have a 20D with the 18-55mm witch it came with, a 70-200 f4 and a 75-300 IS USM, I use this gear for shooting dolphins and whales, as well as some landscape. For UW i have a olympus 5050 in a pt-015, its not enough.
Now, I either buy a ikelite housing for the 20D, a couple of DS 125 strobes, and then I have to buy a second camera to keep in the boat, I´m thinking of the 5D.
Or a can buy a second hand 300D with a Ikelite housing, buy strobes, and keep the 20D as a surface camera, saving a lot of money. I want some gear witch will give me top quality shots, but I would also like not to go bankrupt, I´m strating to get a name and some request for my shoots.
And as for the lens, a good wide angle is priority and macro would be great, is the 18-55 good enough as a wide angle or is a 10-22 a must?

Thanks a million, Nuno.

Now, this will depend on what happens next month at PMA, but . . . Canon is rumoured to be announcing the release of a replacement to the 20D. If this happens and if you can afford to wait a while, it is likely that the price of 20D bodies in the used market will come down a bit once the new camera starts hitting the shelves. At that point, you could buy another 20D body. You could get a 20D housing and have two bodies to put into it should any problem arise with one of them. This is what I did with my 10D system when the 20D was released. I picked up a used 10D on eBay for $700 and had a spare for the housing and an body to use topside. I would say to get two of the 20D replacements, but it is likely that housings would not be available until sometime after the camera is released.

The 20D is a nice camera, though the 5D is certainly more capable. If you really want to go "pro" and sell a lot of topside stuff, the 5D might be a viable option.

Mike

I would actually consider the 5D for the underwater camera - you have more flexibility in your wideangle lens choice (15mm acts as a 180 degree fisheye, and the 16-35 and 17-40 seem to be better lenses than the 10-22). Topside reach is more of a concern if you're shooting dolphins and whales, so the 1.6x crop factor of the 20D is a benefit.

So I guess none of you think buying a used 300d a good idea, well I didn´t like the idea that much myself. But what I hadn´t thought of was what Brian said about using a 5d for UW and keeping my 20d for surface.

Thanks a million.