There is no single ‘best’ option that will always be best in every circumstance. It all depends on what you want from your rig, and what you do with it.
I’m not familiar with the Nikon camera you list, but in terms of popularity out in the market place, Canon’s point and shoot cameras seem to be more popular. Things that might make you choose one camera over another are very variable, as are things that might make you choose one housing over another.
Considerations you might want to take into account include:
- physical size - the ikelite housings are larger than the Canon housings. If you travel alot, smaller might be better.
- quality - there’s no denying that the Ikelite housings are better built than the Canon housings. They are more robust, but this comes at a price, in terms of size and cost. One thing I have noticed is that the controls on the Ikelite housings are also better than those on the Canon housings. In particular, the shutter release control on Ike housings is usually a lever which gives you better senstivity to find the ‘half press’ to prefocus the camera.
- lens accessories - will you want to add wide angle or close up lens converters (wet lenses)? If so, you need to look at what is available for each housing. Many (but not all) Ike housings have a screw thread on the port so attachment of accessory lenses is easy. Inon and other companies make converters to allow the attachement of accessory lenses to some (but not all) Canon housings.
- strobes - strobes can be added to both Canon and Ike housings, but if you like Ike strobes, it may work out easier to have the Ike housing because the strobe system is designed to work with their housings. That said, you can get an ikelite tray that pretty much any Canon housing bolts on to, and the strobes attach to the tray instead.
- depth rating. Ike housings are rated (mostly) to 60m, Canon housings (mostly) to 40m. If you dive deeper than 40m, then the Canon housing obviously isn’t really a choice for you.
- How does photography fit into your diving - do you dive to take photographs, or do you take photographs as you dive? If the former, then you will probably care more about the finer details of your gear, and so the Ikelite housing may be more favourable to you. If the latter, the Canon housing will probably be fine for your needs.
It’s really alot like choosing a car: you need to identify your needs to determine what will be best for you, and as always, your choice will probably be limited by your budget.
Its not really valid to just say that one or other combination is the best. It depends on what you want, and what you want is to be able to take a few pics of your dives to remember them by / share with friends or whatever, then your needs will be fairly generic and either of the two choices you have identified would do the job just fine. If what you want is more complex than that, then those wants will start to narrow the range of valid choices, although conversely, the more specific you are about what you want, the more you will find that all choices represent some sort of compromise.
If you want more advice from people here, it would help if you gave details of what you want from your rig, where you plan to dive, what sort of conditions are typical there, what sort of things you want to photograph, etc. Then people can share their experience of what has worked for them and what has not. It also helps if you demonstrate that you have done some research of your own, i.e. reading past posts on this board, and others.
Good luck in your search.
