camera buoyancy???

[Deep Lake]

I am just getting started in photography and have a question about how to set up the proper buoancy for my new camera. On one hand I think my rig should sink so that it doen't run to the surface if I somehow lose it. On the other hand I think it should float in case it gets dropped at the end of the dive. Has any one tried to set their rig up so that it sinks and then attach a small collapsible float to it so that it will float at the surface and sink at depth?

Dan

 

[Dee]

What about the middle...neutral? My rig is just a tiny bit negative. Picture this....if I am verticle in the water column, I can turn loose of my rig above my head and have time to clear my mask, adjust my BC (whatever) make sure computer is on and working, etc. before my rig descends to my knees. Although I immediately clip my rig to my BC via a coiled lanyard when I get in the water, if for some reason I need to turn loose of it, it's not going to shoot to the surface or flop around in front of my face or at the end of a wrist lanyard at the end of my arm. Neither is it going to plummet to the bottom faster than I could go after it if I wanted to.

You need to get your rig in the water and see what the bouyancy characteristics are. Some housings come with small counter weights to be used when no tray and strobe are used. Adding components like strobes and arms will change the bouyancy, some are way heavier than others.

 

[O-ring]

One thing you will notice is that the camera gets more and more negative as the dive goes on. This is due to what we call "the negative effect". Each time you take a picture, the additional weight of that picture adds to your whole camera rig. If you have a large enough roll of film, you might need a liftbag to get your camera off the bottom at the end of your dive.

 

[Dee]

:rofl: Sometimes you crack me up, O-ring! Sometimes....

 

[truva]

Just don’t take pictures of large fish or other big things.

Truva

One thing you will notice is that the camera gets more and more negative as the dive goes on. This is due to what we call "the negative effect". Each time you take a picture, the additional weight of that picture adds to your whole camera rig. If you have a large enough roll of film, you might need a liftbag to get your camera off the bottom at the end of your dive.

 

[O-ring]

Just don’t take pictures of large fish or other big things.

Truva

Good point, Truva! The larger the underwater creature or object, the more negatively buoyant the resulting picture. You can remedy this on a digital camera by deleting bad pictures or pictures of large things to make the unit more positively buoyant, but on a film camera you are stuck!

 

[saf_25]

Good point, Truva! The larger the underwater creature or object, the more negatively buoyant the resulting picture. You can remedy this on a digital camera by deleting bad pictures or pictures of large things to make the unit more positively buoyant, but on a film camera you are stuck!

Is that why macro is so popular? You're taking pictures of small objects, so therefore your trim doesn't get affected?

 

[Paul Evans]

Lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dee]

I guess we won't be seeing too many photos of Whale Sharks, huh?

 

[MildlyDamp]

Does this same phenomenon apply to digital cameras? Each time you take another photo, you add more photons to your camera making it heavier?