dSLR Underwater Equipment checklist

Here is a short equipment checking you can use, when you are purchasing a new underwater photography system, covering the basics.

• Camera body

• Macro + wide angle lens

• Flat port + dome port

• Port extension, zoom gear, and diopter (if its required) for the WA lens

• Port caps & housing cap (if they are not already included, check with your camera shop)

• Dome port cover, dome port share (may be included)

• 2 single sync cords or 1 "Y" sync cord, unless you are using fiber optics to fire your strobes. Then you will need 2 fiber optic cables

• 2 strobes, make sure they include diffusers

• 4 arms, ball and joint clamps, and necessary connectors & adapters

• Focus light + focus light accessories (additional clamp and small arm may be needed)

• Optional TTL converter

• Storm case or pelican case for travel

• Backups as your budget allows, if you will travel alot  (sync cords and strobes are usually the 1st backups purchased)

• NiMH rechargable Batteries and chargers for everything. Make sure your chargers are 110/220 volts.

• Lens cleaning kit (air blower, blower-brush, lens paper, lens cleaner)

• A couple memory cards, 8 gig cards work well, Sandisk extreme have a good reputation

Underwater Photography Costs

Let's look at the approximate cost of some UW camera systems in the USA, as of early 2009.

Here's some sample systems we might purchase:

• (used) Canon A570 + canon housing + Inon strobe + fiber optic cable + arm $800-$900

• (used) Canon G9 + Ikelite housing + inon z240 strobe + sync cord + arm + stacked macro lenses $1200

• (new) Nikon D90 + ikelite housing + macro lens, macro port, 2 ike ds-51 $3500

• (new) Nikon D300 + S&S housing + 2 lenses, ports, 2 inon z240 $5000-$6000

• (new) Nikon D300s + Subal housing + 2 lenses, ports, 2 ike ds-160 $10,000

Further Reading

Underwater photography packing list and flood insurance

Best locations for underwater photography

Underwater photography equipment

Underwater equipment photos of complete setups