buying gear/camera housing/advanced certification

[asiders9]

Hello everyone,
I am new here and am not sure if this is the right place for this question but here it goes anyway. I'm 17 and am looking into getting more involved in scuba diving. I am currently interested in buying my own equipment but also want to try to get my advanced open water and get back in the water since I haven't gone anywhere this year. I am also interested in buying a housing for my D70s because photography is a big part of my life right now. The problem is diving is expensive and I have a pretty steady job right now to help pay for it but not everything I want to do. This being the case I think I have an idea how I can attempt to get started with all of this and was wondering if you guys could look at my plan and give me some input?

I think it would be best to get my advanced open water in the coming months, buy a bcd and then a housing w/o a strobe and then hopefully go diving in march and buy my regulator and computer after that.

I'm looking at the ikelite housings and was wondering if you guys think I should wait until I can buy a strobe system to go with it before I get the housing?

Lastly are there any great places to go diving for march that are under $1500 and are cruises ok for diving? Sorry for the long post but any imput would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Adam

 

[fppf]

I would skip the camera for now and get a good set of gear.
Most people do not develop the level of skill needed to handle a camera until they have a good number of dives under there belt. A point and shoot is one thing but a DLSR takes a lot of attention.

After you get your skills down, buoyancy is the big one, the get your housing and at least 1 strobe. You can shoot without a strobe down to about 40-50 feet with white balance but you wont get the color. Then you need a buddy that will let you shoot, it can take 20 minutes to get one shot.

 

[asiders9]

But what about the advanced open water? Do you think I should skip that for now and just start getting my own gear like a bcd and save then for a trip to go on over spring break and then try to get my advanced open water after the trip?

Thanks

Adam

 

[alcina]

Welcome to Scuba Board!

I'd ask about the photo stuff in the photo area. Make sure to give an idea of your budget and how often you get to dive in there. You might also start off by having a look through the Sticky in UW Photo (also the Pink Link in my signature).

For dive travel, check out the travel areas of the board and give your nearest airport so people can chime in with deals they have found.

Anything that gets you diving - course or just getting out there and doing it - is a good thing. Do more diving. Buy more stuff AFTER you do more diving. My two cents, from a confirmed shopaholic

 

[philmayer]

Getting your AOW is important, but I think having my own gear is even more important. Don't bother with a housing for your camera. I'm shoot underwater with a housed D200 and strobes. It's very cumbersome. The single greatest thing that improved my underwater photography was improving my bouyancy control.

Spend your time and money learning more about diving and becoming a better diver. You'll enjoy your photography much better when you're not having to worry about killing yourself.

 

[asiders9]

does anyone else have any advice?

 

[shark.byte.usa]

Same advice, get your gear and dive, dive, dive, even if it's only locally in a lake, mudhole, quarry, take AOW w/PPB when you can, wait on adding the camera/strobe to your diving until you get some diving in consistantly and your buoyancy and skills down pat, i.e. experience.

"The shortcut to skill is practice. There is no shortcut to experience." -Mo2vation

-Garrett

 

[The Logic Theorist]

A camera and housing was one of the first things I bought. I don't think you need to wait till you're a perfect diver to get it, just be competent enough to have neutral buoyancy. I've brought my camera on 3 out of my 12 dives, which apparently everyone else will tell you means I'm going to have an embolism and die. Just be aware that when you start screwing around with camera settings, its really easy to focus in on your screen and lose sight of things like buoyancy and current. You need to keep focus on what's around you while you're setting up the shot. You won't get any GREAT shots until your skills are polished, but you can start getting used to working the camera and being aware of your surroundings at the same time.

As far as your class goes, I would recommend a refresher dive before the AOW course. Depending on the elective dives you make, they may already expect you to have pretty sharp skills for AOW, and I would not count on it to be your refresher.

 

[Damselfish]

You may or may not have the skills yet to deal with the camera while you are diving, good chance not at this point. (Not saying you're going to die - but the stuff around you is another matter. ) Either way, if money is an issue I would put the housing after getting all your own gear. Besides, you save money every time you don't have to rent something. You may be disappointed with the pictures you get without a strobe. AOW is probably not going to cost you anywhere near as much as any of the gear, so if you want to do it may as well.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

does anyone else have any advice?

I agree with the rest. I got into underwater photography not too long ago, started with a point-and-shoot, and just a few months ago moved up to DSLR. Let me tell you, shooting a dSLR underwater is a whole different ball game. If your buoyancy skills are OK, forget about photography for now and hone your skills first. If your buoyancy is good, do the same. If your buoyancy and your comfort level under water both are excellent, try taking pictures. I'm not saying this to sound discouraging, but for the following reasons - if you get serious about photography before your diving is really, really good, this is what will happen:
1) You won't have fun
2) You will destroy a lot of aquatic life
3) You may endanger yourself and your buddy
4) Your photos will suck

Take it slowly and you will have a great experience!