[Cussy]

Helen,
You're going to get a 100 different answers.....

1. Housing: Are you going deeper than 30-40m? If not, then the compactness of the Fuji is definitely a benefit, the Ike adds bulk. If you are more of a diver then a small camera is preferable. I'm even thinking of getting an F30 as my mate has one and I'd love to be able to do a little bit of video every now and then.

2. Macro: I thought the macro on the Fuji was pretty good anyway, do you really need an add-on lens? I used to have Oly's and never needed an add-on macro lens.

3. WA: A WA lens lets you get closer = less water = less back-scatter = more light = faster shutter etc etc.

4. Strobe: The strobe was the first thing I added to my set-up. Cheaper ones have less coverage and aren't much good for WA work. Something like a S&S YS-110 is something you can use with a compact and if you go DSLR will also work with one.

I suppose the important thing to think about is what sort of diving you are doing and what do you want to take photos of? I think from a basic setup if you get the strobe you will get better lighting on macro shots and can start to do effects, you can also do some balanced light scenics. A WA lets you get a lot closer to big stuff but you may have lighting trouble.

What I would say is you NEED to add things that make what you are doing better and WANT things that mean you can do new things.
HTH
Rob