When should you first start shooting/filming during dives?

[sinetwo]

Hi all,

I'm curious to understand what people's experiences have been in terms of when they feel comfortable enough to do filming and snapping photos whilst diving.

The thing I'm worried about with all this "film everything you experience" era (gopro's and even waterproof mobile phones) is that inexperienced people (like myself) will want to capture footage and completely forget about their buddies underwater - that could be fatal surely?

How many dives did you have under your belt before you started?

What made you think "I'm confident/good enough to handle a camera under water now"?

 

[Paul Cwalina]

If you go with a hands free type filming setup like in this picture you can start filming your dives during Padi Certification for open water like I did. If you want to use your hands for filming then probably after 6-7 dives you can start filming towards the beginning of the dive and then when your Bar gets to about 100 or so just put it away and deal solely with you and your buddies air/accent.

 

[sinetwo]

Good call - is the chest mount good for 'hands free' diving, or does that interfere too much with the BCD?

 

[gcarter]

If you are in trim, the chest mount will point down, not where you are looking. I exclusively use the head strap with an added chin strap for security. I turn it on and forget it. Zero task loading.

 

[tplyons]

One of my dive buddies has mounted his GoPro on his mask and it doesn't interfere with diving.

I've used the setup and have forgotten it is there, which doesn't distract me in the slightest.

However, he's been distracted by it once or twice and has roamed away from the group looking for "the shot".

My opinion is this: if you're diving to get a certain shot and are actively shooting photo/video, your buoyancy should be second nature. If you use a hands free mount that doesn't distract you and you use it to record your experiences, I don't see it as much of an issue.

 

[ronscuba]

This is different for each person and the kind of conditions you dive in. The amount of dives other people had before using a camera doesn't really matter. You should be a comfortable diver with good buoyancy control. Clear calm water helps and if you are experienced shooting video topside, that's a plus too.

Best thing is a very experienced dive buddy who is not shooting photo or video.

 

[Malpaso]

I exclusively use the head strap with an added chin strap for security. I turn it on and forget it. Zero task loading.

I use the head strap for the same reason. Plus I'm a horrible photographer/videographer so trying to decide what to shoot or not shoot is a waste of time

 

[fdog]

Shooting a camera is a giant black hole for your attention span.

So, you should have enough experience that mundane stuff like awareness of your gas supply, buoyancy control, and keeping track of your buddy happen without conscious effort.

Here's a simple test:

• Hover in the water
• Flood & clear your mask
• See where you end up

If you're not exactly where you started - within 6 inches - it would be wise to work hard on the core skills until you have enough clock cycles to spare to run a camera.


All the best, James

 

[TheTrickster]

Although I'm a fairly experienced diver (Instructor, Trimix, CCR etc) there are times when I don't take a camera... so its not when do you start, its when is appropriate...

We dived on a new site locally to 45m on Sunday, which I've never done before with a couple of buddies, new site, new info - no camera.... Now I have a grasp of the site, I will be taking the camera. Having a camera, would for sure would of distracted me, to the layout of the site, the waypoints etc...

I've tried the head strap, but I prefer one of these handles things (I have the iSteadyShot one, but similar are the SRP etc) as I can get much smoother/steady video, plus now I have lights.

But when I do take the camera i'm solo.

 

[ronscuba]

Forgot to ask. Do you have a regular dive buddy ? Are they a new or experienced diver ? It's generally agreed that photo/video people are bad buddies. When we are busy with our cameras we are not paying attention to what's going on around us.

A pair of new divers with one or both using a camera can be tricky. Stay close to one another, both should carry an audible signal device.

Practice with your camera inside the housing topside. Ideally you will know how to use and adjust all the typical camera settings before bringing it on a dive.