Back from Wakatobi and have a few quick observations. I am currently shooting a D2X/Subal setup. We also brought an Ikelite D200 setup and a Sea & Sea 8000 package.

Some summary observations:

1) We've had the D200 for a while. The D2X has some better features, but I can't imagine buying one now when I could buy two D200's for the same price. The D200 is my digital F100.

I can't contribute to the D200 vs. D80 discussion.

BTW, I still find noise level on D2X and D200 at ISO800 unacceptable as shot. Canon still wins on noise.

2) I shot the D2X with the new 105mm VR and the D200 with the old 105mm 2.8 AF-D, one right after another. The new lens wins hands down. The only reason to buy the old lens is to save money. I found no difference in image quality, but AF speed differences were quite obvious when shooting them back to back.

Note to Subal users. Be very careful as this fat lens barely fits through the port opening. It is real easy to bump the AF switch or the limit switch when installing the lens. I hate when that happens. The AF switch bump is real easy to realize, but the limit switch bump can take a slow witted sloth a couple of dives to figure out.

3) Ikelite D200 TTL housing. Results with the TTL were mixed, sometimes disappointing. It was much less accurate than TTL from the film camera days. Rather than be specific through anecdotes, I have devised test parameters for the system and will conduct them between now and Christmas.

The housing itself was a mixed bag. There are things to like about it and several things to dislike versus its more expensive competitors.

Going from the Subal optional viewfinder to the Ikelite viewfinder was quite a shock.

4) The Sea & Sea 8000 was actually quite good for its class. All the general cons of consumer digicams still apply, but great shots can be had with this camera. Just don't shoot in any type of Auto mode. Use rechargeable batteries as it eats standard 2AA's.