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In a few weeks the wife and I are going to QLD for a mid winter break.
Last time we were there I took a P&S underwater camera (one of those Oly pocket full of noise jobs) with mixed results

I was wondering if there is anywhere I can hire an underwater housing for a d300.
I have searched the net a bit with no luck so over to you wise forumites....

Any Ideas?

To be honest Olrac, I would not rent one even if I could find one. One tiny nick on one poorly maintained o-ring and your D300 becomes a very soggy paperweight! Also, if you are not familiar with the camera AND housing, you will spend half your time underwater fiddling with the housing, trying to make something happen and missing that tiger shark that just swam passed your shoulder.

Ant.

I agree with Ant's comments on both the o-rings (of which a housing will have at least 2 user serviceable ones) and the familiarity. Additionally, you will need multiple ports, unless you are planning to only use the one lens for the whole trip (and the renter would have to have the right port for the lens(es) you plan to use).

I used a D70 in an Ikelite housing for 2 years (>70 dives) and got an Ikelite housing for my D300 in February. Despite my experience with the D70 housing, it still took quite a few dives to get used to the D300 housing.

On top of all that there is the general learning of underwater photography technique - which might be the reason you had mixed results with the P&S. I have seen some brilliant underwater shots taken with P&S cameras - especially the Olympus ones in Olympus housings.

Another thing that can contribute to less than satisfactory shots underwater is lighting and generally strobes are the answer to that - so you might have to consider hiring strobes as well.

The other option I have thought about is getting one of the EWA-Marine housings.

Any thoughts on these?

They might be OK if you're just snorkelling, but I would not risk my camera in one. I only know of one person that has used one of these. It didn't leak, but he did find it very difficult to use and it kept twisting around so that the port was causing vignetting.

Olrac, are we talking about swimming/snorkeling or diving? If diving, how experienced are you? I have found a camera can be a distraction until you have done several dives with it (20+) and may actually detract from the enjoyment of the dive especially if diving in a new location. Also, the more complicated the camera the more detracting (but also the better the results) it is from the enjoyment of the dive.

Ant.

I would be snorkeling only, the last time i went to the barrier reef I took the P&S olympus and had some fun but I was disappointed with the quality of the pics.

going back to a point and shoot is like driving a f1 car then returning to a datsun 180b.

olrac wrote:I would be snorkeling only, the last time i went to the barrier reef I took the P&S olympus and had some fun but I was disappointed with the quality of the pics.

going back to a point and shoot is like driving a f1 car then returning to a datsun 180b.

I can agree with that, going back from my D50 to my C-5050 when I am diving means I get a lot of photos of fish tails... Although, some of the new P&S's like the Ricoh's and my friends C-760 (In an Ike housing with TTL) are pretty good now. Unless you can hire a setup with strobes (and have some practice with it) you may find you get the same quality of shot out of a modern P&S. One real advantage I find with my 5050 is I can take a macro and wide angle with me on a dive and actually change under water. Also, the macro performance from a P&S can be fantastic underwater.

Ant.

olrac wrote:I would be snorkeling only, the last time i went to the barrier reef I took the P&S olympus and had some fun but I was disappointed with the quality of the pics.

I used a P&S (Coolpix 4500) underwater for nearly 3 years and I got some great shots. Here are some examples from just one dive: http://atj.net.au/Dive20039211North_Horn.html

As with anything it takes practice and getting to know the gear. I do agree on the issues with the shutter lag and getting fish tails - but hey, that happens to me now with my DSLR because of the preflash for iTTL. There is a species of goat fish that I haven't been able to photograph because the get freaked by the preflash.

going back to a point and shoot is like driving a f1 car then returning to a datsun 180b.

Ah, but going to a DSLR underwater is like going to an F1 car after only ever driving a sedan. Have you ever driven an F1 car? Have you seen Hammond try to drive one?

I did miss that Hammond in F1 episode.

I will continue with the P&S because that is the only really viable option at the moment.
Thanks for all the comments,

AJT love your work...

olrac wrote:I did miss that Hammond in F1 episode.

You should try to get a copy. Each time I watch it I'm amazed just how difficult they are to drive. Basically, after a couple of laps they had to bring the car in to warm up the tyres as Hammond wasn't going fast enough to keep any heat in them.

olrac wrote:I will continue with the P&S because that is the only really viable option at the moment.

Which Olympus is it? You may be able to improve things by adding a strobe (although it may not be worth the expense for just the one trip).

ATJ wrote: I do agree on the issues with the shutter lag and getting fish tails - but hey, that happens to me now with my DSLR because of the preflash for iTTL. There is a species of goat fish that I haven't been able to photograph because the get freaked by the preflash.

So ... turn off the preflash. Just work in traditional A mode; that should be more than adequate.

Actually, I want to go fully manual once I can work out how to switch from iTTL to manual while underwater. I have to experiment with the "manual" setting on the housing to make sure it turns off the preflash.

I might see what I can hire up there in the way of strobes and housings.

It is the olympus sw720

I have to agree with Ant and ATJ. Don't risk your camera in a rented housing. On snorkel it is very unlikely that you are every going to get a killer shot simply because you don't have the time to set things up. To get reasonable results you definately need some lighting gear and that is impractical to use on snorkel as well.

The best idea for snorkel is to stay shallow and use natural light to get shots of stationary objects (coral etc). Forget fish shots.

I have an EWA marine bag which I have used on snorkel and scuba for natural light work. It is OK but it is virtually impossible to change any camera settings once it is in the bag. Definately impossible to operate the zoom on a lens.

Enjoy your trip but if you want a killer shot of the reef you would be best to buy it.

Steve