Building a beginner's rig for Great Whites @ Guadalupe Island

[Akimbo]

Would a full frame option take me well beyond my current budget or would that be something to aim for long term?

Probably, but you never know what kind of deal you can make. I mentioned Micro 4/3rds because this is an Olympus forum, and I use it. There are plenty of other brands with larger sensors that are still less than full-frame. What is more important to you, stills or video?

For example, most lenses for sub-full-frame cameras won't work on the same company's full frame version. As a result, you will often see great deals on a metal housing, camera, and a great assortment of lenses when people are upgrading. Nikon and Canon are the most prevalent on the market. Are you interested in underwater macro or just wide angle? What about topside photography? Telephoto lenses are pretty nice topside.

Upgraders will often keep their strobes but they can be purchased used as well. A lot of flash-only strobes are being upgraded for flash & video lighting if video lighting isn't important to you.

On the other hand, you may only be interested in snapshots for your phone and social media. A smaller and simpler system may be a better choice. Your luggage gets heavier as you move up the resolution ladder. Like many things in life, zeroing in on "good enough" is a challenge.

 

[Akimbo]

@tedblack

Olympus OMD EM5 and Olympus housing

 

[tedblack]

@tedblack

Olympus OMD EM5 and Olympus housing

Thanks! I just saw this and I’m currently trying to compare the EM5 and the EPL10

 

[Hoag]

One of the nice things about Isla Guadalupe is that a strobe falls into the "nice to have" category rather than the "gotta have" like it does with most dives. While you are in the cages, your head (and therefore your camera) will only be a foot or two below the surface so you aren't really losing any colour. This changes if they have a cage that can be lowered. In that case, for one dive, you might be 25-30 feet deep.

In this one unique case, if you are looking at either a wholesale change to your set-up or for those looking to start from scratch for a trip to Isla Guadalupe, I would skip the strobe for now (for that trip) and spend the savings on a higher end camera and as wide a lens as you can get.

 

[Skeptic14]

What Hoag says is my understanding of those dives too, mostly or all ambient shooting, so a camera with bigger sensor and familiarity with shooting manual for ambient are probably where you should concentrate for this dive.

 

[Hoag]

Here are a couple shots showing the depth that you will be shooting at. I had strobes on my camera but I did not need them. (These are not shots of me, they are shots of someone in the other cage, but it gives an idea of where the camera is relative to the surface.) These were from a trip on the Solmar V.

and just in case you were wondering what a 17ft Great White looks like up close ...

 

[tedblack]

@Hoag awesome photos! I’ll be on the Belle Amie in October. I’ll be using both the surface cages and the submersible cages as well. So I’m interested in having a strobe for the deeper dives.

looks like you had a great time! Any tips for someone venturing out their first time?

 

[Hoag]

@Hoag awesome photos! I’ll be on the Belle Amie in October. I’ll be using both the surface cages and the submersible cages as well. So I’m interested in having a strobe for the deeper dives.

looks like you had a great time! Any tips for someone venturing out their first time?

The Belle Amie looks like an amazing boat! My first suggestion for a Great White Trip is bring something to do while you are not in the water. It is about 15-18 hours (give or take a little) to get out to and then back from Isla Guadalupe. Depending on when you leave and where you leave from. (The Solmar V left from Ensendada.) you may sleep most of the transit or you may have a fair bit of time to waste, so bring something to do.

Don't try to sleep in. The sunrises at the island are breathtaking, and make for outstanding pictures.

Bring more SD Cards (or whatever your camera uses) than you think you will need. It is kinda like money. Its better to have more than you need than to wish you have more at the end of the week.

In the surface cages, (where you won't need your strobes) shoot at the fastest rate (frames per second) as your camera will shoot. You don't want to miss the action or that "key shot". On the submersible cage, you can be more selective in your shots.

Don't be afraid to shoot from the Belle Amie if you have a good vantage point. If nothing else, these shots will give context.

If you get a chance to "go see the seals", grab your camera and go take a look, but before you do, find out how long the trip to see th seals will be. When I did it, the person taking us to see the seals liked the seals more than the sharks, so we were gone all morning. It is very interesting, but not worth an entire morning out of the cages.

I hope that helps.

 

[tedblack]

The Belle Amie looks like an amazing boat! My first suggestion for a Great White Trip is bring something to do while you are not in the water. It is about 15-18 hours (give or take a little) to get out to and then back from Isla Guadalupe. Depending on when you leave and where you leave from. (The Solmar V left from Ensendada.) you may sleep most of the transit or you may have a fair bit of time to waste, so bring something to do.

Don't try to sleep in. The sunrises at the island are breathtaking, and make for outstanding pictures.

Bring more SD Cards (or whatever your camera uses) than you think you will need. It is kinda like money. Its better to have more than you need than to wish you have more at the end of the week.

In the surface cages, (where you won't need your strobes) shoot at the fastest rate (frames per second) as your camera will shoot. You don't want to miss the action or that "key shot". On the submersible cage, you can be more selective in your shots.

Don't be afraid to shoot from the Belle Amie if you have a good vantage point. If nothing else, these shots will give context.

If you get a chance to "go see the seals", grab your camera and go take a look, but before you do, find out how long the trip to see th seals will be. When I did it, the person taking us to see the seals liked the seals more than the sharks, so we were gone all morning. It is very interesting, but not worth an entire morning out of the cages.

I hope that helps.

Yeah checking out some seals sounds nice but I’m not about to miss a morning of shark dives to see some seals. But a quick trip sounds like it would be fun.

good tip on the sunrises. I’ll definitely be getting up early on the boat to get the day started as soon as possible.

how was the food on board? I’m not too picky but I am curious. Did you spend money on anything besides drinks on board? I’m trying to make sure my budget lines up for the whole trip.

 

[Hoag]

Yeah checking out some seals sounds nice but I’m not about to miss a morning of shark dives to see some seals. But a quick trip sounds like it would be fun.

good tip on the sunrises. I’ll definitely be getting up early on the boat to get the day started as soon as possible.

how was the food on board? I’m not too picky but I am curious. Did you spend money on anything besides drinks on board? I’m trying to make sure my budget lines up for the whole trip.

I agree. If the "seal watching" was an hour, that would have been great after all, the reason the sharks are there is because of the seals.

In general, I have never been on a Live Aboard that has bad food. It may be simple, but in general, it is good, hearty, and plentiful. I have never been on the Belle Amie, but I would expect it to be the same. Perhaps somebody who has been on the Belle Amie (I think that @The Chairman has been on her, and @Dan is on her right now in Socorro.) could answer that question better than I.

As for money, again, this is going to be a generalization. I would imagine that you can pay for everything except the tip with a credit card and some boats might even let you do that. Check the Nautilus website or drop them an email to be sure. All of your essentials will be included. On most boats that would even include "adult beverages". If you want any souvenirs, that will be extra. Typical souvenirs that might be available are things like T-Shirts, a video (or pictures) of the trip shot by the crew, coffee cups and ball caps. Again, an email to Nautilus might clear this up. Typically, the dinner on the last night (once you reach the dock) will probably be on shore and therefore an extra cost. This info should be available on the Nautilus website.
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One tip that I missed, is chat with everybody. You never know who you will meet. On the trip that I was on, we had an FBI Agent, a pro photographer who had worked quite a bit for Playboy (mostly shooting parties at the mansion), and a daughter who was traveling with her mother who was terrified of sharks since she saw "Jaws" in the 1970s. Her theory was if she could deal with Great Whites while on a the deck of a boat, then she may one day overcome her fears. By the end of the time at the Island, you couldn't get her out of the cages. She had gone from petrifying terror to being awestruck in just a few days.