air consumption increase by 50%!!!

[cool79]

Is your camera neg? If so trim it out, it shouldn't be loads of work to hold the camera if it is properly trimmed. So if you feel like you are lugging a brick around then it probably needs trim. As for your buoyancy you should not have to kick alot to hover, when you do your safety stop use that as a time to work on some buoyancy, there is nothing else to do while you wait. Get to where if you are motionless you can hover. When you can do that with out thinking then adding a properly trimmed camera wont upset things much.

Thanks. Think I need to make the camera neutral buoyancy.

 

[cool79]

this is the picture that my dive group caught me when i was shooting.

 

[Larry C]

With a GoPro, you just swim and let the camera take pictures. Afterward you sort out the crap. With a still camera, you are using your body positioning and breathing to maneuver and hold positions while you line up your shot. When you're concentrating on the camera and trying to hold still for the shot, you're probably breathing irregular or excessive breaths. It will take a while to get comfortable. First, don't chase pictures: when you see a picture developing, find a position with a good background and wait for the fish to come to you. Second, relax and get your buoyancy settled while you watch your composition, then look at your viewfinder and take your picture.

 

[cool79]

Thanks Larry for your tips.

 

[TSandM]

I can think of a couple of reasons why this could happen. First off, if the camera is not neutral, then putting it out in front of you upsets your balance, and you have to fin or wave your hands to maintain stability, which burns gas. Second, when you are controlling your buoyancy for a photo, you are probably doing a lot of breath-holding or changing your lung volume. This is what I did when I first started running line, to do the tie-offs, and I saw big increases in my gas consumption. When a more experienced friend picked up on it and told me to use my BC instead, and keep my breathing normal, my gas consumption when running line went back to nearly normal.

 

[cool79]

Do I need to get another arm and add in floats to stabilize it? I am currently using single strobe and I also mounted my go pro n torch on the other side but this side doesn't not have an arm.

 

[3D diver]

Build yourself some floats:

DIVINYCELL FOAM PVC from Aircraft Spruce

DIY Underwater Camera Floats & Strobe Arm Floats

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Definitely try to make your camera as neutrally buoyant as possible. I'm still quite new with my camera, and my instructor (nwgratefuldiver) gave me a couple arm floats that made a huge difference. Also, warn your dive buddies about the increased drag. I was on a dive with a couple dive buddies where they started finning fast. I simply couldn't keep up and got left behind. I wasn't happy, as I wasn't able to get their attention (but my attitude is I'm a solo diver with someone to either retrieve my body or inform the authorities where to look for it). So hopefully you dive with a pony as well as having more aware buddies.

 

[TSandM]

We actually haven't been organized enough to get any of the closed cell foam -- we're using cut up pool noodles . They do compress at depth, but still give enough lift to keep the camera from being hopelessly negative.

 

[gekodivebali]

Pool noodles i've used compress at depth but never regain their original shape. They end up not adding much buoyancy after a few deep dives...