Reg or Camera purchase next?

[Centrals]

The last thing that any new divers need is a underwater camera or something similar.

 

[JediCheese]

Agreed. I run an AI and the small-dial SPG is the one 'redundant' piece of gear I have on my rig; I put it on a short miflex hose and clip it below my inflator hose. I can quickly gaze down at my chest and confirm what my AI is claiming.

I've never dived with you, so only you can judge how 'good' you are with a camera. It has been my observation of others (and definitely myself!) that the introduction of a camera too early in a diver's training is inadvisable. But you already own the GoPro, so use it! When you can easily hover and hold horizontal on an object with breath control, very little fin movement, and no hand/arm motion, you're ready for more advanced photography.

Make sure you post some photos from your St. Maarten trip!

I was pretty good with breath control to stay on the level I wanted. Never really got good at the various kicks, but the camera tray forced no hand/arm motion.

This is sound advice. If the GoPro is working, run it, but try to do so in a way that does not occupy you.

I use a mask mount. My hands are full otherwise, and this works for me. I did have to train myself to slow down a bit, but that’s a good habit anyway. It is true that this can result in shakier video than other methods, but as long as you remember to slow down a bit, it can work.

Regardless of whichever method for video you use, you need to do some work in post production. No one wants to watch a 45-60 minute video of every moment of your dive. Trim it to some highlights if you want to share it and have people actually watch it.

The GoPro I had back in the day didn't have stabilization which I found was pretty important (lost too much back in the day doing stabilization in software). Thus why the only reason I'd want to replace it. I did get some good clips, but not enough because a lot of the editing required stabilization + color correction and stabilizing an hour of video back then took forever on my laptop and the stabilization software never really worked quite right.

When I was diving previously with the GoPro, I used a Scubapro snapper clip to attached to the BCD. Worked out well overall.

Picture of my camera setup I dove with (not bad for AliExpress DIY). Had the dive housing + extended battery so I could record a full hour of dive.

 

[JediCheese]

I'm going to go with a GoPro 12 to upgrade my video rig. It introduces only one change (the new dive computer) instead of three (new dive computer + AI + Reg). That's a lot of possible failure points and/or places to screw up.

I'll be diving in San Diego in April or May when my dive partner gets their AOW (assuming they like real diving vs training diving). I can tag along on the training dives and test a new Reg + BP/W.