camera bouyancy

My previous camera was a SeaLife Reefmaster CL 35mm. This camera had a slght positve bouyancy. I did not mind it because I could clip the lanyard to my upper BC ring & the camera would float out of my way. Many times, I would forget that I had it. I have now upgraded to a SeaLife DC500. This camera has negative bouyancy that gets more negative when I add the wide angle lense. Since it is negative, it dangles & interferes with my octo. I have thought about replacing the lanyard with a retractor, which would reduce the distance that it dangles.
What do the rest of you people do? Do you try to make the unit positive? Do you have any secrets to keep the unit from dangling & possibly interfering with other equipment

The only time I let go of my camera is when I'm putting on my fins on a beach dive, or when I need to adjust my equipment, move the anchor, etc. The rest of the time, it's in my right hand, tethered to a coiled lanyard on my chest. My rig is quite negative, so I always make sure the boat lanyard is still on until the chest lanyard is attached, and I lay it on my chest or support it between my knees when I'm doing stuff that requires two hands. Sometimes, if I have a task that requires all limbs and full concentration, I'll just let it hang from the lanyard. You can adjust the buoyancy of your camera with hollow strobe arms, or by adding a little capped PVC pipe to it in a strategic location if you want.

I keep my camera, which is slightly negative, clipped off to a D-ring on my left chest. The method of attachment is cave line and a SS boltsnap, as pictured here How to Attach a Snap My octo/backup regulator is attached to my neck via a short bungee necklace and the camera does not interfere with it. You might want to look into using a bungee necklace to keep the regulator close and out of the way of your camera. With this setup it is also easy to tell if the regulator is free flowing and simplifies air sharing. If the buddy is OOA, simply hand off the primary and use the necklaced regulator. That way non essential equipment like the camera will not interfere with breathing or gas related equipment at any point during the dive.