UW Camera equipment Rentals

Found a shop here local (So. Cal) that is renting a housing for my Canon 10D. Called the place up to find out how much it would be for about a 8 day rental and YIKES.

The housing would cost me 400 doughnuts and a strobe would be 100 more. I was saddened by the price. Nothing against the shop owner he seemed like a really cool dude, and I guess thats what the going price is (well as far as I know) but 65 nuts a day, it aint for me. Rent it 2 times and thats what it would cost me to buy a Ikelite housing.

Anyway pretty dissapointed guess I'll have to save my change and bribe my wife to get a housing. Ahhhhhhhhh crap! I'll have dishpan hands for years to come. Oh well what ever it takes! :wink:

DJH

On a daily basis, it's not really so bad. But if you're going to need it for an extended period it probably doesn't make sense. Might be worth it for a day, though, to find out if you like the setup. The same economics hold true for scuba equipment rentals. Not too bad for a day or weekend, but it can add up if you need the stuff for a week or two. Especially when you're paying rental rates for travel days!

DJH:

When do you need to rent the housing for and for how long? I assume you are in So. Cal. I have a Subal for the 10D that you can probably borrow depending on what you need it for. We are going out tomorrow (Saturday) on the Spectre but you can get hold of me on Sunday or next week.

BVA

all reasonable people / wetpixellians please excuse the directness of this re0sponse. IF I OFFEND YOU -- I AM TRULY SORRY AND WILL BUY A DRINK NEXT TIME I SEE YOU.

Dear whoever you might be, is it not a reasonable thing that a person who is prepared to invest in such equipment in order that such types as yourself (who refuse to invest in equipment ) are then able to get their camera's underwater.... might need toget a commercioal return ,,,, he certainly need to get a return on a limited rental unit such as the strobe. LETS FORGET ABOUT THE NO CHARGE CONTROL ARMS OR SYNCH CORDS AND OTHER BITS.

LETS GET BACK TO PURCHASE OR RENT THE GEAR AND BE HAPPY. WE HAVE ALL GOT HEAPS OF BITS AND THINGS TO USE -- NO PROBLEMS OUR IMAGES ARE FINE.

RENTALS ARE A GREAT HELP , BUT DIG DEEP AND MAKE GOOD YOUR INTENTIONS.and DO THE RIGHT THING. help those who help you.....

REMEMBER THEY DID NOT HAVE TO TRY TO HELP YOU OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE

ALL THE BEST

Peter

SUNDRY BITS TO MAKE YOUR BOX WORTH SHOOTING

all reasonable people / wetpixellians please excuse the directness of this re0sponse. IF I OFFEND YOU  -- I AM TRULY SORRY AND WILL BUY A DRINK NEXT TIME I SEE YOU.

   

Dear whoever you might be, is it not a reasonable thing that a person who is prepared to invest in such equipment in order that such types as yourself (who refuse to invest in equipment ) are then able to get their camera's underwater.... might need toget a commercioal return ,,,, he certainly need to get a return on a limited rental unit such as the strobe.  LETS FORGET ABOUT THE NO CHARGE CONTROL ARMS OR SYNCH CORDS AND OTHER BITS.

 

LETS GET BACK TO PURCHASE OR RENT THE GEAR AND BE HAPPY.            WE HAVE ALL GOT HEAPS OF BITS AND THINGS TO USE  --  NO PROBLEMS OUR IMAGES ARE FINE.

 

RENTALS ARE A GREAT HELP  , BUT DIG DEEP AND MAKE GOOD YOUR INTENTIONS.and  DO THE RIGHT THING.  help those who help you.....

 

REMEMBER THEY DID NOT HAVE TO TRY TO HELP YOU OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE

 

 

ALL THE BEST

 

 

Peter

 

Hi Peter, I really don't understand what your post meant, but as far as renting equipment for longer that a day or two, for me it just is not worth it. Rent the equipment twice and you might as well buy. Again 1 or 2 day would be great but a week or longer just dosen't make sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDRY BITS TO MAKE YOUR BOX WORTH SHOOTING

DJH:

When do you need to rent the housing for and for how long? I assume you are in So. Cal. I have a Subal for the 10D that you can probably borrow depending on what you need it for.  We are going out tomorrow (Saturday) on the Spectre but you can get hold of me on Sunday or next week.

 

BVA

Wow BVA thats very kind of you to offer the use of your truly top of the line housing.

DJH

fair enough if a private person will loan you his equiopment at no charge.

But do not consider a store thart is trying to get less tha an 8 % return on rental to be unfair.

fair enough if a private person will loan you his equiopment at no charge.

 

But do not consider a store thart is trying to get less tha an 8 % return on rental to be unfair.

I didn't say it was fair or unfair I said it wasent' for me!

A friendly Pm from pmooney to me:

you dickhead - have real good look at the favour the operator was doing for you.  

new gear , fully serviced , in perfect working order,  

what more did you want ----- complimentary blowies or whaty...or should the staff go out and shoot the images for you ??????????????????????........

dude you need to take a pill or something

fair enough if a private person will loan you his equiopment at no charge.

 

But do not consider a store thart is trying to get less tha an 8 % return on rental to be unfair.

I didn't get the impression that he thought the shop was unfair, He was just suffering from sticker shock. You should have seen the look on my face when I first found out what a Subal housing would cost for my S2Pro! About 3 times the cost of the camera! And that is without ports or strobes! That's why it took almost a year from the time I decided to house my camera to when I actually bought the housing. BTW, I went with Ikelite not for the low cost but from nearly a years research into service, support and MUCH internet time reading others opinions.

So settle in dchillis and save some money, do some dishes and enjoy the ride! Sticker shock does not kill!!

fair enough if a private person will loan you his equiopment at no charge.

 

But do not consider a store thart is trying to get less tha an 8 % return on rental to be unfair.

 

I didn't get the impression that he thought the shop was unfair, He was just suffering from sticker shock. You should have seen the look on my face when I first found out what a Subal housing would cost for my S2Pro! About 3 times the cost of the camera! And that is without ports or strobes! That's why it took almost a year from the time I decided to house my camera to when I actually bought the housing. BTW, I went with Ikelite not for the low cost but from nearly a years research into service, support and MUCH internet time reading others opinions.

 

So settle in dchillis and save some money, do some dishes and enjoy the ride! Sticker shock does not kill!!

I really like the Ikelite also thats the housing Im hoping to get,

here's to dishpan hands!

Renting is what got me started in underwater photography. I knew that you need the right tool for the job. Something like $75 per day isn't too bad. Try to get a weekly rate!

My experience is that for a longer rental, some shops may be willing to work a deal. About 5 years ago I took a 2 week trip to the Red Sea. At the time I had sold my Nikonos 20mm lens. I called up Underwater Photo Tech in New Hampshire. We cut a deal to rent the 15mm lens and everybody was happy.

I have rented my housing out twice, both times for commercial photo shoots. I charged $400/week for the housing and a strobe+cord. I obviously thought that was a reasonable price...:-) I have loaned housings to friends, but for a commercial shoot or for someone I do not know - I'd have to charge.

Cheers

James

Considering what a housing, port, arm and strobe combo will go for retail, there would be no doubt in my mind that I'd charge rent, why not? It's a sizeable investment on my part and if a total stranger wanted to borrow it....

Also, since you are a new diver with still a beginner skill set in terms of bouyancy etc...I wouldn't even think of borrowing BVA's Subal C10 until you've gotten a few more dives under your belt. At $2900 for the housing alone, let alone ports and strobes...you're looking at beaucoup bucks if something happens to the housing while you're possibly fighting your bouyancy.

Not wanting to sound elitist, but as I and others have responded in your other posting, get comfortable with your scuba skills before getting into the water with a camera... The risks you impose on yourself and possibly others could be catastrophic....I know, I was on the receiving end of a panicked new diver/photographer one time (and he was only using an Aquashot!) and nearly got bent trying to rescue the guy.

my 2 cents.

Stu

I dont' think it sounds elitest at all. DC, you just had your first scuba class and while I think it's great to want to pursue uw photography and be excited about it, I also hope that you put the "gung-ho-ness" in check to be more concerned about personal safety (and the safety of fellow divers) as well as the preservation of the underwater environment. As someone else mentioned in the other post, bringing a DSLR ino the water will increase your task load tenfold. It not only has to do with checking your gauges/computer from time to time but also the conditions of environment you dive in, your bouyancy skills, emergency skills, etc. Others have suggested to log many dives before bringing the camera in....i really hope you listen. Imagine being 60ft and being so engrossed in adjusting strobes, shutter speed, whitebalance, aperature, etc. that you don't pay attention to a shark feed going on and the sharks start bumping you...how will you react? Panic? What if you're so engrossed in taking a picture that you forget to check your air supply and have to make an emergency ascent from 60ft? Sounds like these things are worst case scenarios but they do happen...adding a camera to the mix just takes your concentration away from the most important thing...life support.

After you log enough dives and feel confident in everything, try bringing the camera into an easy area (sandy areas where they have check out dives, for example) and get used to working with it as well as with your dive gear. When you get comforable with that, move on to reefs. Here's a little light reading on "Reef Etiquette" for you:

http://www.seaquestdivecenter.com/cre/INHOUD.HTML

Pete

If you are truly just starting diving and want to try uw photography...

Maybe give ebay a shot on a Oly/Sony with housing. I know it's no DSLR with strobes, but you could prob get the gear for less than the rental fees you are looking at. Give you a chance to try out uw photography without ALL the hassels of a full rig.

Just tie it off to your BC with a long enough leash that if you get excited and need both hands, just let go of it and it floats up and out of your way.

Gary

Good suggestion about a consumer Camera.

But even whith that one in my area you'd first have to prove your skills before you could take the Camera with you, and if you're not master enough of bouancy and such the Camera simply stays topside.

That very possibly happens as well at the place where you wanna go.

Just consider the frustration and anger if you got yourself the whole rig and then maybe as to stay out of the water.

Safety first, no picture is worth a life! (Also no marine life!)

cheers

thomhard :idea:

All your points are well taken, considering I will buy my UW Photo equipment I will NOT be taking photo's untill I feel that I have control underwater. Which will probably be quite awhile so really it will work out for the better. It will give me lots of time to save for my equipment and learn what I need to for scuba. thanks folks!

DJH

add: I will still inquire about UW photo equipment so I will be able to make the best purchase I can. So don't be concerned when I do inquire, I will make my learning process for diving my number one priority. thanks again