Camera Shake

[beautybelow]

Originally Posted by mobula

Wow, that's a lot of diving, you could have done it earlier :-)

I had 50 dives with a still cam (video only overwater) and then 400 with a video cam, 100 with SCR and camera..

To check the impovement this is what I did:

I showed others my first videos (overwater) from 2002 in French Polynesia. This was kind of embarassing :-) Today I would cut that down from 3 hours to 15 min and it was shaky like hell.

Hah...I could have done a lot of things earlier.

[mobula]

Me too: e.g. could have started diving with 12 :-)

[Daniel Shelley]

Main thing is that you just need practice practice and more practice and methods to help you keep as steady as possible and your bouncy needs to be at its best!

[sharksdelight]

There are several methods I've employed over the years to reduce the shake you are referring to. Aside from basic bouyancy control, be aware of your breathing patterns. It is little different from shooting handheld shots topside, every breathe you take will create a movement. I know you are not supposed to hold your breath, but for tight shots or if filming scalloped hammerheads, holding your breath is necessary. You might also attempt to hold the housing with one hand while cupping it from the bottom with the other. This forces your elbow into your chest or stomach forming a basic tripod of yourself. I shoot like this quite frequently. Practice is certainly important and knowing every inch of your housing and controls so that you do not have to take your eye off the monitor or eyepiece and can go and adjust instinctively knowing where everything is.
Hope that helps,
Steve