I started diving back in 1993 but didn't do any underwater-photography until the year 2000. The decision which system to use for underwater photography was not easy at all. However, it was clear pretty early that I wanted to use a SLR camera in a purpose-built underwater-housing. Alternatives would have been to use a specialized UW-camera like the Nikonos or Sea & Sea series.

The main reason being that I wanted to use the SLR + lenses I already got and not invest money in a second camera-system. Doing the latter would have meant to carry two cameras + lenses on my holidays. Hmm, now I need to carry the camera and the housing, which is not really fun either ;-)

The next task was to choose a housing for my Canon  EOS 50E (also known as Elan IIe in the US). As most underwater housing manufacturers (for no particular reason I'm aware of) somehow concentrate their efforts on Nikon equipment, the given variety on the market was not too large.

So I put my cash into a camera housing made by Subal  from Austria and a flash housing from Seacam , also an Austrian company. The lenses I mainly use include the 2.5/50mm Macro, 2.8/100mm Macro and 2.8/20mm Wideangle lens. I started using the Fuji Sensia film for the first few rolls but changed to the Fuji Velvia in the meantime due to its fantastic colors.

The following table summarizes my gear used when I'm beneath the waves: