Where to rent underwater camera equipment? (canon s95)

[vandal138]

Greetings, this is my first post on here. Thanks for having me

I'm a beginner diver coming to Australia for a few months and I'm really interested in snapping some pics along the way. Being a beginner diver, I know I shouldn't be to concerned with photography just yet, but I would still like to capture some images from at least one of my dives.
Instead of buying thousands of dollars worth of equipment I was thinking that I should rent instead. I've asked google where to rent some cameras, but that wasn't very helpful. Can anyone recommend a place to rent cameras? Specificly housing for A canon s95 that I plan on bringing with me?

 

[TheDolphin]

Hi Vandal,

If you have already bought the Canon S95 (nice camera BTW), the Canon housing (Canon WP-DC38) is excellent value at around US$200 (check online). Overall you'll spend well under a thousand bucks and will take some memorable shots.

 

[vandal138]

thanks for the advice... I would rather try to rent it than spend money on it (if im only planning on using it once or twice). Although if I were to rent anything longer than it would be cheaper to get the canon housing.
I was kinda hoping for someone to recommend me a place where I can rent an s95 enclosure.

thanks for your input!

 

[TheDolphin]

Hi Vandal,

I'm not aware of any place that rent just the housing, but some of the large dive operators may rent cameras.

If you're planning on doing liveaboard diving from Cairns I know that Spirit of Freedom and Mike Ball offer rental cameras for $40-$100 per day. These liveaboards go out to the Coral Sea and I highly recommend them.

http://www.spiritoffreedom.com.au/reservations/on_board.html

http://www.mikeball.com/prices

I actually use a Canon S95 too and take it underwater in a RecSea S95 housing. Personally if you think you'll be diving for years to come, the standard Canon camera housing for around US$200 is very good value and will last for years if you treat it with care.

Where are you planning to dive in Australia?

 

[vandal138]

Hey, thanks for your input. I'm now leaning towards getting the canon housing to start with, rather than renting something.

I'm not completely sure where I'll be diving, but I assume it will be somewhere out of Cairns. I haven't done too much research on diving locations just yet. Those live aboard trips look like alot of fun, but I don't think I am willing to spend $1500 on a few days of diving. Although I haven't done much research on this just yet, I'm hoping to find somethign more affordable.

I will be wandering around Australia for a month or two in June/July, so I can pretty much go anywhere to dive. I'm also thinking about taking a trip out to Fiji for some diving 'cause I hear its really great out there... or maybe even Bali.

 

[TheDolphin]

Hi Vandal,

You'll enjoy yourself for sure. There are some nice diving in Cairns. Customer safety is a top priority so guests are very well looked after (perhaps too much so). The Outer Great Barrier Reef is worth checking out. Way out to Osprey, its simply spectacular and on a luxury live aboard just makes it more special.

If you stop by South Australia send me a private message and I can get you on some of our local dives.

If you're a certified cave diver, the sites in Mount Gambier is worth checking out too. Perhaps unlikely, but thought I'd mention it since it is quite special.

Outside of Australia, the South East Asian Pacific region is just packed with great diving (you name it Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Thailand, Malaysia, it just goes on...).