Newbie, snorkel and whales

[Timp]

Joined the forum to take advantage of all the knowledge here. We are intending going snorkelling with humpbacks and I need a camera solution. Am happy with a couple of Canon bodies for general wildlife photography but want something for a special holiday swimming with humpbacks. A housing for the 7D is more than the cost of the body alone so I'm considering either a G12 plus housing or maybe an Olympus Pen Pl2 plus the dedicated Olympus housing and a 9-18mm lens. I really want video capability too and have been disappointed with an Olympus waterproof compact when swimming with sea lions in Baja. The Pen isn't cheap but I hope for good results. Can anyone advise please. The Pen kit costs a bit more than the housing for the 7d here in the uk.
TIA

 

[Timp]

Bump!!

Anybody care to comment?
Still looking at Olympus but there is a new model out now to confuse things.

 

[smellzlikefish]

A couple of years ago, Olympus' claim to fame for compacts was the fact that their cameras were ready to be dipped in water out of the box and without a housing. Image-quality wise they were okay. That was a few years ago. My friend just purchased an Olympus and came back with some fantastic pictures.

I went with and still use Canon because they have yet to disappoint me. Their customer service is astounding, their build quality is still unmatched, and they are still the gold standard of compact cameras. I have a G-12 and freakin love it. I don't use it only because it inspired me to take my dslr underwater.

 

[Timp]

Thanks for the comments. I have tried a small Olympus compact and wasn't too impressed which I why I was thinking of making the leap to micro4/3rds (any excuse for a new toy). That said, I was seriously thinking of a G12 (or 11) plus a Canon housing. Has anyone else who uses a u4/3 camera got any advice??

 

[samtihen]

You might be able to pick up a used housing for the 7D at a decent price, and I can tell you that you wouldn't go wrong doing so.