I have recently joined the ranks of big camera geek.
To date I have only used it for 7 days in Roatan and a few pool dives. The poor local vis (most of the time this year), the added weight for the hike up and down our local dives and the fear of sand in the surf have kept me from shooting local.
I have been on a few local boats. I have not seen much room for lager cameras on those boats. Can anyone suggest a local (I'm on Orange County) boat that has good storage and power supplies for photo dorks?
I would most likely be shooting macro due to our vis most of the time. If conditions were good for wide I would like to be able to change my setup. That means a large dome and another lens. So bascialy another bag/case. That would be 2 carry on sized bags and my dive bag.
I know thats alot of stuff and thats why I ask. The boats I have been on dont seem to have that kind of room and I really dont want to be
that guy.
Thanks in advance,
Erik
All of the dive boats were built before divers starting bringing a lot of electronic gear aboard.
Not a one of them, with the exception of the Pacific Star, has an adequate charging table / electrical outlets for camera gear. They simply don't. And even the Pac Star's area has an issue: Its down stairs (not accessible when wet.)
The Vision fleet's idea is putting AC behind the seating area... so now you're stuff is charging where people are sitting. Because of this, nearly every outlet is so worn you need to be very careful when you plug in as a move of 1mm one way or the other and your stuff is no longer being charged.
The Ventura fleet isn't much better. The Spectre has NO charging station. You're balancing your stuff on a ledge in the forward salon. The Peace has a station, but if there are more than 2 or three of you (or if there are also scooters and canister lights) it becomes instantly a mess.
LA is no better. If you're bringing a point and shoot for an overnight and are just charging AA bats, and maybe a camera batt, you're fine. If you're carrying a DSLR set up, with multiple large strobes, multiple proprietary rechargeable batteries, a focus light battery, a canister light battery, a laptop and a scooter - you're soon piling your stuff all over the floor.
You're going to be that guy. Its OK to be that guy. Just don't be that rude guy. Be respectful, arrive early, claim your spot and travel well. Bin your stuff up - forget about the soft bags and all that nonsense. They don't protect your gear, and they get no respect at the charging station.
Bring your own long AC strip. Bring lots of extra batteries so you can swap out during the day, and charge at night. Always look out for yourself, in a respectful way, so your stuff gets charged. Bring clothespins (write "charged" on them) so you know what's been charged and what hasn't. Bring A clamps to help route your cords and let the unprepared deal with the spiderweb of spaghetti.
Put your name on everything. EVERYTHING. Put a ring of colored electrical tape on your cords so you can instantly recognize them from the pile, and route your stuff to your stuff. Put Velcro tie-wraps on every cord you have, so you take up the least amount of space and don't contribute to the spaghetti.
If you're going to be a photographer, you need to be that guy. Just be respectful. And be prepared.
Also - never, never, never let a deckhand put your gear in the community rinse tank. When you come up, ask them, respectfully, to put your camera at your station or on the deck box. YOU will grab it when your out of your gear (and there is no rush) and YOU will go dunk it, then you will immediately pull it out of the rinse bucket and store it until the next dive.
There is no need to soak your camera while the boat moves. There is no reason to subject a housing to leaks and bumps of a sea-level soaking in some crowded bucket of death.
Be that guy. Always look out for you. Always look out for your gear. But be respectful, be self contained, be low maintenance.
And have fun. You're going to love taking and sharing your shots.
I bring two bins everywhere I go. Never been an issue. I've scoped out every boat, I have a quiet corner for my stuff.
There is no such thing as too much gear. If you brought it, its the perfect amount of gear. You bring what you need to bring to get the job done.
Years from now, when you're looking at a shot, nobody's going to care you had a bin and not a bag, and an AC strip of your own. You're going to say, "what a shot" and not, "dang... I wish I left all that gear at home."
Short of the professional live aboard's of more recent vintage (think Agressor fleet stuff) there simply are no boats with adequate storage and charging and SET UP SPACE for photo gear. You need to make your own space. Gear management, multiple trips down the ramp, storage, charging... its all the price of becoming a photographer.
-Ken