Better gopro video

[Hatul]

I tried using the foam pipe insulation to decrease the negative buoyancy of my gear once, and what happened is the foam compressed at depth and became useless.

 

[3D diver]

I tried using the foam pipe insulation to decrease the negative buoyancy of my gear once, and what happened is the foam compressed at depth and became useless.

Yeah, you need Divinycell:

DIY Underwater Camera Floats & Strobe Arm Floats

DIVINYCELL FOAM PVC from Aircraft Spruce

 

[frndrfoe]

I tried using the foam pipe insulation to decrease the negative buoyancy of my gear once, and what happened is the foam compressed at depth and became useless.

Oh crap, minor oversight

 

[diversteve]

The econo version (pool float):

Or pay a lot more money for Stix - Stix Underwater Buoyancy Strobe Arms & Floats

 

[sunnyboy]

I have a gopro mount on my scooter, but wanted to add a light and also have something I could detach and use to film without the scooter.

I built one in a couple of hours with the spare bits in the gopro (clone) kit and some aluminum stock. It has loc-line on a loc-line base so I can connect my Sola 1200 to use as a video light.

Normally it's attached to the scooter but yesterday I unclipped it at the start of the dive and gave it to my buddy to video me driving my scooter. It worked really well.

 

[frndrfoe]

I'll be trying a poor man's 2nd light attachment next week on the pool noodle float.

 

[DMDavid]

I bought a fairly inexpensive tray from Light & Motion and added a YakAttack handle to it, all for under $100 not including lights and camera of course.

 

[sunnyboy]

Another photo of my homemade tray. One thing that has been great is that I can detach it from the scooter and take 'hand held' video or even give it to a buddy to video me. The bungy tethers are just there to prevent loss.

 

[CuzzA]

A little update on the buoyancy front...

I was at my local tackle shop the other day and spotted those little buoy floats the commercial guys use on nets and after handling them they seemed absolutely perfect for this application.

They are rock hard and after coring them out to fit on the locline I discovered they are essentially a hard foam and impregnated with some sort of rubbery epoxy. They are super buoyant and rocket to the surface when submerged and they displace very little water, literally sit on the surface.

The best part is they were $0.90 cents a piece. They come in a number of different sizes. I ended up with 8 floats rather than a fewer number only because I liked the slimmer diameter of this size.

I submerged my rig in the pool and while it did sink, it was very slow which makes me believe they would be almost neutral in saltwater.

I can clearly tell this will be a big improvement in stability and better quality video.

I'm going to give them a high gloss rattle can finish and I would say my rig is just about perfect.

One last thing will be to sew a neoprene beer coozie to size and attach a little shock cord to make a camera coat to protect the flip filters when not in use.

I would love to test this thing out this weekend, but once again it's going to be snotty. 15-20 knot winds and 4-6 ft. seas. Stupid! I just want to dive. :/

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I've used a go pro a bunch, and sometimes on a metal tray with dual lights. My rig is negative.

I have never tried to attain neutral buoyancy and I am not so sure it is worth the effort. I can understand if someone has a big camera and big lights and end up with something that is cumbersome and heavy to swim with, but with a Go-pro tray and small arms and lights, I have no issues with carrying it.

I like being able to set the rig down and have it somewhat stable and this allows it to film unattended. This allows me to film myself and also some creatures are less scared when you leave the camera running and the bubble blower backs off. If the rig were entirely neutral, the current and surge might move the camera rig around.

I'm all for tinkering with dive gear, but I would try the very small, negative tray and small lights alone before making something that is more bulky.

those net floats are pretty tough, they should not compress much and will hold up to a lot of abuse.