About

PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

Past

Why I started

I first picked up at camera at the age of 13, and my passion for photography has grown ever since. I built my first ever camera housing at 14 years of age with the help of my father, fashioning it from plumbing supplies collected from the local hardware store. Whilst it kept my prized Sony camcorder dry, it was far from a specialised, professional housing. Over the next 13 years of shooting I tried various housings on the market, with varying experiences but always believed there was room for improvement.

I noticed other housing manufacturers were struggling to keep up with the latest camera technology, often slow to release housings for new cameras. In particular, the recent push towards mirrorless technology. Being a photographer and a gear-nerd, I understand the need to be shooting with the latest gear, and the frustration of waiting for the housings to be developed in order to take cameras into the water.

 After attaining an engineering degree and acquiring years of surf photography experience, the drive to develop my own camera housings took hold.

Spending months researching different manufacturing techniques and carefully considering suitable materials and parts, I was able to create a design that fulfils my vision of what a camera housing should be.

The result is Salty Surf Housings.

Present

What I do

Currently I operate Salty Surf Housings with a small team, developing the camera housing designs, liaising with suppliers and assembling the final product in Wollongong, NSW Australia.

Through Salty Surf Housings I aim to offer high-quality, yet affordable, CNC billet aluminium camera housings, with a focus on adapting designs to customer driven input through personalised customer service.

The CNC billet aluminium design allows for a unique strength to weight ratio. The housings are extremely durable whilst weighing less than half that of most current competitors. My housings also offer great access to camera functions as a standard feature. Users are easily able to adjust aperture, shutter speed and ISO whilst in the water.

Every day I continue to monitor camera technology, develop new products, and put my current products through rigorous testing. This allows me to be confident that I am providing a unique, high-quality camera housing.

 

Future

My vision

I will continue to develop and innovate camera housing design and provide housings for the most relevant camera technology, so that you, as a photographer, can also stay on the forefront.

I am committed to directly collaborating with photographers, taking their feedback into consideration. The result will be that photographers can see their input in future designs, and that Salty Surf Housings will produce products that are a true manifestation of user inspired design.

Matt Hipsley