To Rent or to Buy that is the question

[Dangerous Brian]

Hi, I am off on a trip soon and want to remember it. I have a u/w camara but would like some help on video. I have a sony TRV46E Sony handycam and wonder if it would be cheaper to hire an underwater housing for it for one week or buy a secondhand one. I dive about two weeks a year on holidays and at home about two dive every three months.

Help ! Thanks
Steve

 

[ChrisA]

Hi, I am off on a trip soon and want to remember it. I have a u/w camara but would like some help on video. I have a sony TRV46E Sony handycam and wonder if it would be cheaper to hire an underwater housing for it for one week or buy a secondhand one. I dive about two weeks a year on holidays and at home about two dive every three months.

Help ! Thanks
Steve

Can you find a second hand housing for a TRV46E? You would be lucky to find one on such short notice. Most liky you would have to buy a new one

Likely cheaper to hire a videographer to follow you around a take the video then to buy a housing. Good Housings start at about US$800 and if you want lights, filters and wide angle lens and a pelican case to staore it all in it's more like US$2K. You could rent a housing but do you really have the time to learn to use it. Figure it will take some time to get good at it How long did it take before your still UW photos where of acceptable quality?

You could get a very simple housing, one with just one control for on/off or one where you start the camera recording then seal up the housing and later edit out the junk that would only be about US$300

I'd say the reason you buy a housing is because you want to shoot lots of video and figure that over the five or ten year life of the housing you will get much use out of it. But If you only do a very few dives each year I dobt it would pay.

One more thing. Video housing are huge, big two handed things you may not like diving with one. If you take a video camera you have to plan the dive around what yu want to shoot. With still camera you go "click" and you are done. With video your eye is in the viewfinder all the time.

 

[Dangerous Brian]

Thanks for the info. Lots os things to think about and not enough time to learn. I think you have just saved me quite a lot of money and frustration! I am now looking for some one that does this is phuket. Anyone know anyone?

 

[MoonWrasse]

Contact Batfish. He hangs around here and runs a dive shop near Kata (Karon) where you're headed to. Plus he's from your corner of the globe, so maybe you 2 can share a warm beer when you get there (be forwarned the beer sucks in Thailand).

http://www.scubaboard.com/member.php?userid=6700

http://www.sunrise-divers.com/

 

[Dangerous Brian]

Cheers MoonWrasse Will do. I will post some pix when I get back.