Hi
I've been doing a bit of underwater photography with a housed ixus 500 and a YS-25 strobe and while some of the results have been great I've become a bit frustrated with it. I think I'm ready to take the next step and buy a DSLR which will be useful above water as well. This is my shopping list so far:
EOS 350D or EOS 20D - is the extra £370 worth it for the 20D or is it overkill for a novice, since I'm probably going to spend £4-5K it seems like a relatively small amount more.
Lenses
10-22mm with 3" dome port
60mm with flat port
17-85mm for general use above water - is it worth getting a port for this (it's only £150), most people don't seem to like this sort of range but it seems like it would offer good flexibility
either a 28-200mm or 90-300mm for telephoto above water - the 90-300 is significantly cheaper and seems more sensible (since the 28 end of the 28-200 is covered by the 17-85) is there any reason to go with the 28-200?
Underwater kit
Ikelite housing
Ports (as above)
DS-125 strobe kit with cables, arms, etc (I'd love 2 but that really would be pushing the budget to breaking point)
And finally a 2GB Sandisk Extreme III CF Card
This gives a total price of of around £4000-4800 depending on what options I go for. As a student this represents a fairly huge fraction of my savings so I want to get this right first time. I guess my specific questions are
a) 350D or 20D?
b) do I get a port for the 17-85mm?
c) if I get a port for the 17-85mm do I need the 10-22mm and 60mm?
d) is there a good reason to get the 28-200mm over the 90-300mm
Anyway I'd be really grateful for any advice that you can give.
Cheers
Mike
