bigblue_hi
Registered
The cost savings between the D5100 and the D7000 are negligible relative to the thousands you're going to be spending on ports, extension rings, domes, housing, lenses.. etc..
E.g. off the top of my head.
D7000 - $1200
Aquatica/S&S Housing - $2500-3000
Macro Port - $500
Wide Angle Port - $500-$1500
Extensions/Zoom Rings etc.. - $400-$600
Tokina 10-17 - $600
Nikkor 60mm Macro - $500
Strobes/Focus Lights - $500 - $2000
Magnifying Viewfinder - $1000 (optional)
Total w/o D7000 ~= $6000-$10000
Oh and you'll want insurance. That's another several hundred dollars.. plus all the other miscellanies..
Is that $500 you're saving on a body up front really make sense given you're dropping 5x that on the housing alone?
Of course what you build will look slightly different from this, but not dramatically. You're going to want a fisheye and a macro. You may want a rectilinear ultrawide zoom or decide you want to play with wide angle primes and so forth.... you may want multiple domes (probably a mini and a medium/large)... but this is a realistic baseline. My point isn't to create a perfect list.. but simply a realistic sample.
If this seems too daunting, consider something like the G12 which is a very good camera in its own right.
E.g. off the top of my head.
D7000 - $1200
Aquatica/S&S Housing - $2500-3000
Macro Port - $500
Wide Angle Port - $500-$1500
Extensions/Zoom Rings etc.. - $400-$600
Tokina 10-17 - $600
Nikkor 60mm Macro - $500
Strobes/Focus Lights - $500 - $2000
Magnifying Viewfinder - $1000 (optional)
Total w/o D7000 ~= $6000-$10000
Oh and you'll want insurance. That's another several hundred dollars.. plus all the other miscellanies..
Is that $500 you're saving on a body up front really make sense given you're dropping 5x that on the housing alone?
Of course what you build will look slightly different from this, but not dramatically. You're going to want a fisheye and a macro. You may want a rectilinear ultrawide zoom or decide you want to play with wide angle primes and so forth.... you may want multiple domes (probably a mini and a medium/large)... but this is a realistic baseline. My point isn't to create a perfect list.. but simply a realistic sample.
If this seems too daunting, consider something like the G12 which is a very good camera in its own right.