dewmercer

Hi All:

I'm a tech diver in the deep cold waters of the Pacific Northwest so I'm always in a dry suit with fairly bulky gloves (DUI Zip Gloves and liner(s)).  My max depth is never below 170'.  

I'm looking to get into UW Photography and I'd like to buy a rig that will last me a while and, most importantly, not require me to upgrade the day after I get it and discover I bought the wrong stuff.  Whatever I get, I'd like it to have some reasonable video capability also, realizing that this will require its own lighting.

The cameras I've been looking at are the:
--Sea and Sea DX-GE5 and 2G,
--Canon G12 with housing/strobe package (I hear its gotten great reviews), or
--A housing and strobe setup for my Wife's Nikon D3100

So what to do?

I'm tempted to drop the $$$ on a housing for the D3100 as she has a Nikor 18-55 lens which should give me fairly wide angles.  I presume, however, that I will need a dome port for this.  Is this so or will a standard port do?

For the D3100, the housings I've been looking at are Ikelite and Nimar.  I know Ikelite has a great name.  Any opinions on Nimar?  Are there any other recomendations?

In looking at housings they all seem to have their control buttons fairly close together.  Is this an issue in dry gloves or will I seldom fiddle with camera settings underwater?  I do some tropical diving but that's a rarity.

Based on advice from a friend, I'll start with one strobe.  Any suggestions for strobes for the D3100?  Given our dark, and often murky, waters:  Should I concern myself with guide numbers?  I think I should but I really don't have a clue.

I've seen on the board recomendations that newbies buy used.  I've looked at EBay but it all seems  to be new stuff at full retail.  Do you have any pointers for sites I should look at for used gear?

What else should I be thinking about?

Lastly:  What are the top 1 or 2 things that I should absolutely avoid doing or buying?

Thanks in advance.

DAve