Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo

For the most part, I was really impressed with Backscatter. They were kind, patient, and dealt with my needs with efficiency and care – again, for the most part.
I’ve been doing underwater videography for a living for two years now on the island of Koh Tao, Thailand. It’s an island known for its function as a «training ground» for scuba divers. Here I film students completing their Open Water certification on the final day of their training. It’s not glamorous, but it gives me an opportunity to dive and make a film out of it every day.
After many months of saving for housing and lenses (I’m not paid incredibly well), I moved from using a company camera to my own. In reading as many articles about UW photo/​video as available, I was fairly confident in my knowledge of the equipment I wanted to buy and the necessary adapters I would need to go along with all of it. After speaking to a Backscatter’s Rusty, however, I felt silly. He belittled me for my lack of knowledge about the necessary adapters and was, just in general, quite rude. To my own discredit I can’t recall verbatim anything he said to me, but I do know I hung up fairly crestfallen and definitely offended. Upon looking up Backscatter’s reviews on Unilocal,lo and behold, there was Rusty’s name in the only one-​star review. I dealt with him a few times when I called with questions, and every time was treated with relative contempt. When I returned to Koh Tao after a brief vacation, I spoke with another underwater photographer about his dealings with Backscatter. He complained about a single employee as well. I wasn’t surprised to hear, again, it was Rusty.
Perhaps its my own insecurities in being a fledgling professional in this very exclusive industry, but I think Rusty’s general condescension towards customers could prove very bad for business. I plan on pursuing underwater videography as a career, so alienating a single new customer, especially one as excited as I, could prove disastrous for long-​term business. Some of the people buying «introductory» equipment could be the ones (if they’re lucky) buying more and more expensive gear in a few years, even decades. Few people are professionals here: most are like me – relative amateurs wanting high quality underwater images.
I happened to call Backscatter a final time and was lucky enough to deal with Rob. He was fantastic: kind, patient, and deeply (if not overly) apologetic about any lack of professionalism. He was highly knowledgeable about the products I needed, and helped me to take care of the rest of my order.
I’ll likely be returning to Backscatter. They have a solid reputation as the best company in the US for underwater equipment, and, with the exception of Rusty, they live up to their reputation. Many thanks to Rob for all the help with my purchases.

My husband is the camera guy, and this place has A LOT of cameras and accessories.
What caught my eye were the Prawno t-​shirts and seatshirts. Prawno shirts and sweatshirts & t-​shirts are made out of recycled material, specifically 50% recycled plastic and 50% recycled cotton. I’m all about saving the planet and recycling, so yeah, I purchased a dope zip hoodie with some sweet shark/​fish/​turtle print on it.
As far as cameras go, they seem to have everything you could possibly want for your next under water adventure. From GoPros, Cannon, Nikon, Sony & a plethora of underwater housings for all. They have all sorts of lighting options and of course all sorts of filters and attachments accessories.
I would highly recommend checking this place out!

BackScatter is a great place to buy equipment — extremely helpful and informative!
Original equipment I purchased didn’t work — but they worked with me to get everything resolved. Excellent customer service — really listened to what I had to say and wanted.
Always professional and willing to help in any way!

My husband recently bought an underwater housing unit for a new camera and wanted to get some lights for underwater photography. The lady who helped us answered all his questions about filters and the different kinds of lights, as well as, helped with some questions we had about our gopros and keeping everything on us when we SCUBA or free dive.

I dabble in still photography and video. I am an avid diver and snorkeler, and I have bought a lot of equipment from Backscatter. Every time I call with questions about a product, they are so helpful. Everyone I talk to has extensive knowledge about what they sale. They will always have my business. I was in Monterey on vacation a few years ago, (before I knew about Backscatter) and was sad to find out I just missed them. I will have to make a trip back to Monterey and see the shop and to see the Backscatter team. Highly recommended.

Probably the best selection for underwater video and photography anyplace in northern California. Staff is very helpful. Prices are a bit on the high side except for package deals but even then I found stuff cheaper online. The real benefit here is when you need a camera part of housing in a pinch for a last minute dive trip. They pretty much have everything and the first time I learned how to put my gear together it was challenging but thanks to Backscatter team they really helped me out a lot. I did have to order some GoPro stuff directly from GoPro because they did not have it but none of the stores have it so go figure. Highly recommended.

I would love to be able to give this company a 5-​star rating. I think their products are great and the location could not be better.
Unfortunately there is an employee there named Rusty. I’m not sure what the deal with this guy is, but this is NOT the job for him. I was in the shop (the only customer) in mid-​July and I was willing to spend upwards of $ 1000 on lighting for my GoPro. I had seen a set up on a dive buddy I really liked and he said he bought it from the Backscatter shop. I told Rusty what I was looking for and he said, «that’s a stupid set-​up» (yes verbatim).
When I mentioned my friend bought what the shop recommended Rusty took my friend’s information and looked up his purchase history. Sure enough, I was correct and Rusty ridiculed his own company and completely dissuaded me from buying any light at all.
I was also looking for a two handled mount and they had one for about $ 130. Rusty told me I’d be «stupid» to buy that when Backscatter had one coming «in two weeks» that would be $ 60. I mentioned that I was keen to get something ASAP but Rusty and his rubbish customer service encouraged me to place the order and run from the shop.
I went in with a friend the following week to be sure there was an order in the system and spoke to another staff member who was just great. I complained about Rusty and was told that they’d received complaints about him before. It is now mid-​September and I called this morning and (groan) got a hold of Rusty. I said I had an order I was waiting for, was it by chance in. Rusty told me it was not in and wouldn’t be until at least the 27^th of September. I mentioned that I was told the product would be available the first week of August and asked if there was anyone else I could speak with, maybe a manager. He said no one would know anymore than he does and I was free to cancel my order. I am flummoxed why Rusty is so keen on NOT selling product for the store he works for. I asked Rusty this very thing and he hung up on me. I love Backscatter products, location, and the other staff members. Rusty, however is such a malevolent, miserable person he’s poisoned the store and its product for me.
Buy Backscatter, but buy online because if you happen to believe in their products and want to buy from them and happen to cross Rusty’s path, he will convince you not to buy anything at all.

I haven’t been to the store yet but I have ordered from them online. Good communication (re: in stock/​shipping) I was not disappointed! I can’t wait to go to the store now! Hopefully I won’t treat it like a trip to Costco! Ha ha!

Great customer service but be prepared to wait!
Thanks to the IPHONE app, I can write a tip when I check in to help jog the now 41 year old brain matter. We were here in August when the husband and his best friend were gearing up for a dive and his best friend had purchased some great underwater camera gear for he and his wife’s upcoming trip to the Galapagos and for a shark dive he, his wife and my husband were taking at the end of September.
Kevin and his best friend met when they were 13. Kevin became a certified diver when he was just shy of 15 and Chip became a diver sometime in his 20’s. They have been diving together ever since (though hardly at all in their 30’s). Anyway, Chip bought some super duper fancy expensive gear and had some extra questions regarding lighting and what not. This store had 2 guys working and each took their time with their customers, and extensive time. Since Kevin loves cameras and equipment and because I made him live vicariously through Chip’s camera, they spent a long time learning about different aspects of the different techy stuff (they are both engineers).
Admittedly, I was bored after about oh 30 seconds and did some window shopping and bench warming elsewhere. Chip’s wife joined me after about 20 minutes, but the guys had a great time and were full of new information after their lengthy visit and Chip’s purchases.

I have been diving for 20 years and filming underwater for 12 years. The Backscatter team has been a huge help to me in my pursuit to make better underwater videos and photos. Twelve years ago I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on gear but wanted to try my hand at underwater video. They got me set up with a Top Dawg housing that fit my Sony TRV-​8 topside camera. I spent many hours in Backscatter’s old shop at Monterey Breakwater talking about my underwater challenges and boring them with my footage shot minutes before out in the bay. They always took time to listen, watch/​review footage and then teach me what to do differently. You cannot get that kind of service from just any camera shop.
At one point in my Top Dawg owning years, I had an in issue with my monitor back while in Hawaii on a family vacation. I placed an emergency call to Backscatter in hopes to be able fix my camera myself in the filed because I had booked myself on dive boat charter trip the next morning. Hurray! Backscatter staff helped me through the fix, which included a total of three phone calls and one MacGyver style-​shopping list for the Home Depot on Kauai.
I have upgraded my gear a few times since my Top Dawg days and I travel more remotely for dive travel now. Yep, I have had to call or email in for field support a few more times over the past 12 years and from more remote parts of the world: Indonesia, Maldives, Singapore. Every time the end results is a fixed, properly equipped system whether the fix be as simple as connecting me with a local Singapore distributor that could sell me a forgotten part or a complicated engineered solution including some in-​the-​field JB Weld repairs.
I cannot give high enough praise for the technical support both for repairs and shooting techniques that I get from Backscatter’s staff and thus they continue to get my business and I continue to stop in after my dives in Monterey Bay to learn from the Backscatter team.

I’ve known friends who have dealt with Backscatter in the past, and had a good experience, so they were my choice after looking at different options, including stores in Florida and a contact through a friend overseas. I went with Backscatter because I had heard great things about their customer service, and knowledge and I was not disappointed. Since they are in Monterey and I’m in LA (though I’ve been to their actual store previously, and its awesome and well laid out) I spoke with Craig over the phone, and he helped me with my strobe selection as I had been wavering between two. He also recommended a few things, and was on top of making sure I had all the pieces I needed so that I would be good to right away. I got an email pretty quickly after our conversation with a quote, and it was easy to approve online, all a very fluid and well set up process.
In addition he included The Underwater Photographer book for free as a useful tool for me. I felt that was really great and showed that they care about their customers, at least in my experience.
The gear was shipped out the same day I approved the quote, and I received everything in order within 3 days, with free shipping since my order was above $ 200. I will definitely use them again, and will not hesitate to call if I have a problem or question regarding my gear.