Cressi Leonardo- Too conservative?

[drewmeister_sd]

Greetings all. I've used my Cressi Leonardo on about 30 dives. This seems to be way, way too conservative. On my last dive trip (Roatan, woohoo!) I was with a group of 5 other divers. All of their computers were providing about 20% more NDL time. As an example, I would be at about 3 min while a Sherwood and Suunto (buddy's computer) showed about 12 min left. I set the Cressi to it's least conservative setting, and always tried to be a bit shallower than my buddy, especially at depth.

Does anyone have any similar experiences? I like to always dive safe but it is a bit annoying to have to end my dive/go shallower while my dive buddy and others in the group have 12+ min left.

I'm thinking of replacing the Leonardo. FYI the one button is ok to use. One just needs to get the hang of pressing or pressing and holding.

 

[00wabbit]

I have the leonardo. It's somewhat conservative but I've seen suuntos more conservative. Are you sure the others weren't diving nitrox?

With my new computer (Nitek Q - I dont recommend it) It's much less conservative. I keep the leonardo in my pocket as a backup computer and occasionally I've come out with no deco time left on the Nitek, but the leo says I went into deco.

Don't know how that helps you, but there you go!

 

[Freewillow]

I have 100 dives with the Leonardo and I can confirm that you are very right . However I do see a problem elsewhere. The problem is not the NDL per se. I found it not to be very different from another computers if you do a "square dive", e.g on a wreck. Let's me explain: if you dive to 30 m (100 feet), the ND time will be roughly the same compared to most computors. When I go into DECO mode and go to the different deco stops, it behaves as most other computors PROVIDING THAT I GO TO the deco level and not a few meters below.

The problem is that if you do a "normal dive" , that is go to +/- 100 feet level close to the NDL limit and that you go slowly up, the NDL will not increase like in other computors. It is only when you reach less than 6m (18 feet ) that the Leonardo will start the desaturation process. Most other computors start the desaturation process at much deaper levels.

The (bad ) consequence of this is that if you go close to the NDL at depth and you slowly go up with other divers and spend some time at +/- 20/25 feet like you have on most reef dives, you will end up in deco mode while others will be OK. My deco stopped did once increase from 3 to 4 minutes when I was at 18 feet .

On one of the last dives, one week ago, I ended up with 8 + 3 (safety stop ) when every else was with no deco. Imagine their faces.............. The dive operators confirmed this. For him the Leonardo is good for beginners and people that stay far away from the NDL. For more experienced divers it is a " pain in the xxx".

I have contacted the Cressi people here in Europe. Their answer is that they designed the leonardo as a safe computor. I simply do think that this is pure B.S. I intend to purchase a "real" dive computor in the future. This Leonardo is a piece of ....

 

[C P]

"The problem is that if you do a "normal dive" , that is go to +/- 100 feet level close to the NDL limit and that you go slowly up, the NDL will not increase like in other computors. It is only when you reach less than 6m (18 feet ) that the Leonardo will start the desaturation process. Most other computors start the desaturation process at much deaper levels." : Freewillow

I may have not understood this completely. On this computer when you get to depth, and begin to ascend to a shallower depth, the computer doesn't recaculate and display the increased no decompression limit for the shallower depth?

 

[Roatan Joe]

Greetings all. I've used my Cressi Leonardo on about 30 dives. This seems to be way, way too conservative. On my last dive trip (Roatan, woohoo!) I was with a group of 5 other divers. All of their computers were providing about 20% more NDL time. As an example, I would be at about 3 min while a Sherwood and Suunto (buddy's computer) showed about 12 min left. I set the Cressi to it's least conservative setting, and always tried to be a bit shallower than my buddy, especially at depth.

Does anyone have any similar experiences? I like to always dive safe but it is a bit annoying to have to end my dive/go shallower while my dive buddy and others in the group have 12+ min left.

I'm thinking of replacing the Leonardo. FYI the one button is ok to use. One just needs to get the hang of pressing or pressing and holding.

Make sure you have the Safety Factor set to 0, if you want it to be the least conservative as possible. But, different computers definitely allow for different profiles. I own a Suunto Zoop (backup) and an Oceanic OCi... The Zoop is MUCH more conservative on repetitive dives and will go into DECO long before the Oceanic.

 

[Freewillow]

CP you got it right. FYI Roatan, the safety is on O.

 

[mbychowsky]

CP you got it right. FYI Roatan, the safety is on O.

Great comments!! I am looking to purchase the Cressi Leonardo or Sunuto Zoop. Has anyone used both of them? I am recently certified and purchasing my first dive computer. Is either one preferred over the other? Thanks!!!

 

[lowviz]

mbychowsky,

Do you have any intention to dive locally?

 

[mbychowsky]

mbychowsky,

Do you have any intention to dive locally?

I only plan to dive on vacation - carribbean. I went to the dive store today and they only recommended the cressi which they said is a lot less conservative and has more features than the sunuto. So I ended up purchasing the cress. Hope they are right ?!

 

[stuartv]

From what I've read, the Cressi is less conservative than the Zoop. But, as drewmeister posted, it's still more conservative than other computers - like the Oceanic, Aeris, or Sherwoods, for example.