underwater photography

Underwater photography isn't for everyone. However, lots of people really enjoy it as a hobby, artform or profession. Other's couldn't be bothered with all the equipment hassles and would rather spend their time looking at cool stuff. Nothing wrong with that, but eventually somebody asks, after a dive trip, "what did you see?" and then there is no substitute for photography. A Nik5 and 35mm lens? Many outstanding images have been created with less than that. Of course, a wide lens has lots of advantages underwater. The depth of field is really useful with a manual focus camera and getting close to the subject often results in better color rendition since water absorbs red light so much more quickly than the rest of the spectrum. How about a disposable camera in a housing? Nothing wrong with that. The Fuji Endeavor in an Ikelite housing is a great tool for U/W, without taking a second mortgage out on the ol' homested. A housed SLR? Nice, flexible system. Autofocus. A parallax-free viewfinder. All kinds of lenses at a fraction of what the few available Nikonos lenses cost. Complex and bulky, but attractive nonetheless.