If you thought regular photography was expensive, scuba photography takes it to a whole other level. To add to the fun, if you have a break in your seal, you can kiss your dSLR and lens good-bye, and yes I have seen this happen. (Not to me).

There are a number of different scuba diving rigs available, the more expensive ones (in the $4-5K range) are machined out of solid blocks of aluminum. That is before you purchase any lens ports or strobes.

Ikelite makes a variety of very thick plexiglass housings for many different cameras and is one of the more affordable alternatives to the very expensive metal housings.

When you shoot in water, you will experience a 1.3x multiplication factor on your lens due to the diffraction of water, and because of this, I wanted to shoot full frame when scuba diving.

The rig handles will accept a strobe each, which is also absolutely necessary to get any quality shots. Different ports will allow the rig to accommodate different lenses, and these can range from $100-$500 each.

There is also a limit to the types of lenses you can use with the housing and I find I use mostly primes, including the Canon 100 mm Macro L , but I also use the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye set to 15mm (essentially acting as a prime in the housing).

To be honest, the rig I purchased had some issues at first, with an irregularity that was pushing the hot shoe sync cord out of the hot shoe mount under pressure rendering the flash system useless. (Very frustrating when diving as there is no way to trouble shoot in the water and now Im lugging around this useless 30 pound weight.) Sent it back to Ikelite and they eventually figured it out. Solid customer service, its been working since.

Great way to start dSLR scuba photography if you can afford it .