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Could a experienced underwater photographer take a better shot? Emphasis on experienced... Potentially, but the chances are it would only be very rarely that it happened and the 5D MkII would take the better shots far more often. Also, depends on what you then want to use the shot for and how large you want to print it. If you are hoping to produce large prints then you are a lot better off with the Canon.      

The comparative cost of learning would be a fair amount higher with the Nikonos. Think about the cost of the films and then developing them. From having had a quick look on the net seems about $7 per film then presume developing cost say $5 though it is probably more. For me, when i first got my housing for the 5D MkII i shot around 10,000 shots in the first 3 months (i dive 2-4 times a day, pretty much every day). ok, so that is a lot of shots but i just could never have taken the scope of shots and learnt nearly as fast. I had been shooting with a point and shoot for a few years before so i was not totally new to shooting underwater but when moving to the larger dSLR it almost felt like starting again. Simple maths.. if you work it out to be $12 per 36 shots.. it works out to be a bit below $3500 to have taken the same number of shots with the nikon.

If you really want to shoot with the Nikonos i personally think that by far the best route would be to get a housing for you 5D, and learn and practice with that. Sure take a few with the Nik at while your at it, you already have it so why not... It will just take you so much longer to gain the same experience just using the nik, then when you are have the best of both worlds and can come back and say which you think reigns! But hey, if you don't really care about having lots and lots of incredibly frustrating dives with a lot of unusable shots costing you a considerable amount of cash to take.. then hell, just stick with the nikonos. Still reckon it will end up cheaper paying for new housing a strobes for your canon.

As for it is the best wide angle lens for UW.. from the nikon range the 13mm f/5.6 AI-s def kicks it but if you have got that sort of money to spend (saw one sell for £25,000) then hell, all of this is just plain academic as the chances are you would have all the stuff you wanted!!

For 1500 euros would think the G series and housing/strobe will prob be the best you can get for the cash, unless you are willing to look at slightly older stuff. There are a few old Canon 5D's and housings around, they may be old but still can take great shots...

All depends on if you want new or not... Well worth checking out the classifieds...

With ref to Autopsea's point on 'would you get as good documentaries?' I think that Frozen planet is a good bit of proof that you would. Sure it would take a lot more time and the old adage of time being money is obviously the main perk of it.

The problem is if someone were to just do it once then i am sure it is fine but when has that ever been the case. The sad fact is that humans are just too arrogant and too darn impatient and want it all.. the pressure is passed on to the dive operators who feel the obligation to 'guarantee' shark sightings and other things and if they don't the competition will. Hell, it is a never ending circle. Personally i think it is wrong as it does start to change entire feeding patterns and do believe that it can lead to more risk for the divers as the various species loose the fear of humans and start to me more expectant. It also makes the fish so vulnerable to local fishermen that poach in reserves etc. that they never end up being around for that long and so can lead to a whole load of juveniles never reaching the age to mate of the end result of that one is... well..

We really need to pay attention to the people who have actually spent time studying it but then most vitally actually have the moral back bone to follow the advice given, even if the operator next door continues. There needs to be some sort of environmental independent rating that dive operators can get that testify that they adhear to certain standards and then we have to keep our fingers crossed and hope the customers are not all completely selfish and choose to vote with who they give their custom too... Darn long shot i know!

But the tittle was 'Photographer ethics' and there have been many posts on that one.. seeing photographers in photo comps squashing nudi's so others can shoot them and many other antics.

Think you gotta take it for what it is... It does show how wonderful the world is.. BUT on a lighter note.. anyone notice just how camp they monkey (or baboon) was wading in the water! that made me giggle!!!  

it is kinda hard to compare Lightroom and photoshop as they are two programs meant for different things and have evolved to meet different needs.      

Lightroom is fantastic for work flow management but there are others out there that are great too. I don't use aperture so can't comment on it but most people who use it seem to rate it highly but for some reason i have it in my head that it is a nikon thing.. no idea why..  I know a few pro's that use Photo Mechanic and seem to like a lot. The editing abilities in Lightroom are not meant to be advanced, but are great for letting you get a good idea of what things could be and personally i use them to see how different crops might look, different filters etc. and it is also good for helping re-sizing for printing etc.. and also helps you create instant backup when you import new stuff which have definitely been a god send on a few occasions!

Photoshop is simply an amazingly powerful editing program and most users will rarely use the full range of what it can offer, but i think most people would agree that for photographers they are best used in combination with each other and not an either / or.

Anyways, that just my thought.. bored on a sunday evening so apologies!