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About Us
Ocean Optics enjoys the loyalty of leading professional underwater photographers and beginners alike. Our team of underwater photographers do not consider themselves to be salespeople, but rather consultants.
We're renowned for resolutely advising clients not to buy equipment instead of over-equipping them. Ocean Optics does not even actively pursue mail order sales, preferring instead to try and deal with clients at our spacious showrooms whenever possible. This lets us talk through your equipment needs in detail and show you options that you can actually handle. When selling equipment, we'll take the time to make sure you fully understand how to prepare and check it for diving and share a few tips with you. That might take as little as half an hour for a compact camera housing on its own through to three or four hours to go through a D- SLR system (our record is six hours). We've become used to author - photographers such as Constantinos Petrinos and Tom Peschak www.currentsofcontrast.co.za flying in from Greece and South Africa respectively to buy their systems from us.
We were founded in 1978 by Peter Rowlands, a ground breaking underwater photographer. Over the years Peter brought the best underwater camera equipment into the Uk and provided a level of service that became known throughout the world. Steve Warren took over in 1994 and continued the tradition as well as adding innovations such as the annual Visions in the
Sea Underwater Photography Festival, which has featured David Doubilet www.daviddoubilet.com, Amos Nachoum www.biganimals.com and
Michael Aw www.michaelaw.com and introducing other educational aspects to help underwater photographers improve their images.
Ocean Optics is not - and does not wish to be - the cheapest at what we do. We like to say "our clients make our reputation". Ocean Optics clients by - lines will be found on the front covers of best selling books (around a dozen books include dedications of thanks to the Optics team), in leading diving, travel and wildlife magazines and on winning portfolios in international photography competitions. Our clients put a firm value on our expertise and depend upon us for the right advice and correct equipment that helps them to be successful. All top photographers start off as raw beginners with that very first shot and we're equally proud that so many divers begin their underwater photography careers with us and go on to create stunning images. www.malcolmnobbs.com
Ocean Optics invests in ongoing underwater photography experiences for our team. We've sent full time members of Optics to Indonesia, the Red Sea, the Maldives, Gibraltar, Lanzarote, France and on the Sardine Run for product training. One of our teenage Saturday lads joined a BBC crew filming "Blue Planet" and another spent two weeks shooting sharks in South Africa. We have a reputation for identifying and encouraging high flyers. One of our team later served as technical editor for "Dive Magazine", another is currently a professional underwater cameraman with "Save Our Sea's" and a third co - presents "The Underwater Channel".
Visit Ocean Optics on a busy day and you'll find it's more like a club than a shop. And that's just how we like it. As Constantinos says you come "to Ocean Optics not just to buy equipment, but to learn as well".
Drop in and see if we're right for you.
Steve and the team.