Disabled Diver And Camera Use, Should I get a Flash?

[c172jeff]

Hi,
I recently was NAUI certified. I am a paraplegic due to an accident when I was young. As a result, I can only use my arms to propel me underwater.

I own a Canon G1X and Canon Underwater Housing. I will be going to Bahamas in November and plan to do several dives while there.

My understanging, is that the flash will reallybring out the color of the underwater world. I wthink we will be diving between 40-80 feet.

I can attach my camea with a lanyard to my BCD and since it is positive buyant, it seems to be not very intrusive and floats behing (and to the right) of me. The lanyard is about 1 foot. I can only use my arms to swim underwater.

I am wonderign about the use of a flash. I was thinking of getiing the Sea and Sea YS-01 flash for compact cameras and attaching it to the housing.

I was then thinking that this ocntraption would float in the same place as the camera/housing do right now and I can still be pretty mobile under water.

Is this a fair assumption? Is it ok to attach a flash/camera/housing via lanyard to ones BCD and assume that it will not be intrusive and relatively safe when I swim only with my arms underwater?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[knotical]

Hi Jeff, welcome to ScubaBoard.

It’s not entirely clear to me from your post: - are you planning to take pictures? If not, and the intent is just to bring out the colors, an underwater flashlight will do that, potentially much cheaper, and will enhance the colors for as long as the light is on, not momentarily as with a flash.

As for a light source floating above and behind you, I’m not sure how effective that would be. Seems to me the flash or flashlight would be pointing in random directions, not necessarily where you want to look. Since you hopefully won’t need to swim continuously, you could aim and use the flashlight (or camera) while hovering.

If you do plan to take pictures, then yes, a flash is almost certainly needed at those depths. But since I haven’t done photography for years, I can’t speak to the suitability of the YS-01.

Or am I mis-understanding the issue(s)?

happy bubbles,

k

 

[live_2_dive]

Hi Jeff! Welcome to SB!

Pretty much same as above...if you are planning on snapping pictures, a good strobe is a NECESSITY! I don't have any experience with that particular strobe unfortunately


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PADI Rescue/DM 09100Z7445
Dr Dive/Wet Dream/Sea Cobra/Y-Knot

Diving is my passion...I live to dive!

 

[c172jeff]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I am planning on taking pictures and do realize that a strobe at that depth would be required to bring out the color. I am only interested in lighting for picture taking purposes and would like to come back with some great ones at that.

What I was wondering is this...

If I buy a strobe and attach it to my compact camera/housing, I now have this big, slightly positive, buyant contraption in close proximity to my arms/scuba tank.
I assume that the flash unit is somewhat delicate and can't be bumped around too much, like the camera.

Would I still be able to move about under water without great concern/worry of bumping the flash/camera. I think most people who do this underwater propel themselves with their swim fins and use their hand to hold the camera. I would be looking to swim with my arms and then rest/stop near something to photograph and then use the camera/flash. While swimming, the flash/camera would be attached to my BCD and probably be floating just behing my head?
Jeff

Jeff

 

[knotical]

Ah, now I understand. An alternate approach might be to attach a small weight to the contraption, so it could be dangling in front of you.

 

[live_2_dive]

^ that would be my exact suggestion. My Sealife DC1200 Camera setup came with 3 counterweights so that you can change the buoyancy of the entire rig...I'm sure you can buy them aftermarket and just attach them so it is co-altitude with you and not floating above you


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PADI Rescue/DM 09100Z7445
Dr Dive/Wet Dream/Sea Cobra/Y-Knot

Diving is my passion...I live to dive!

 

[PatW]

I think a strobe is pretty essential. You lose all of the red light at 15'. At 40', you will lose a the oranges also. I have taken photos of fish against what I thought were drab backgrounds. When I looked at the shot, it turned out that the drab background was a garish mix of orange and red.

How well the whole thing works depends on how fast you go and what your tether situation is and what kind of current there is.

Also, it depends on how dedicated you are at photography. Many photographers will go slow. They often take a number of shots of the same subject from different angles and different distances and different exposures and different poses of the subject until they get things just right. Because of this, photographers often lag guided dives. On a boat dive, you might find yourself just hanging out within about 100' of the boat the whole dive. The upshot is, if you are not moving much or far or fast, your disability may become rather academic.

However, if you just want to take passing snapshots of critters during a dive, the whole situation would be quite different.

 

[Darnold9999]

Depends on the kind of pictures you want to take. Light from the strobe only penetrates a short distance - 2 - 4 feet possibly a bit further depending on the power of the strobe and the clarity of the water. If what you are shooting is beyond this distance the strobe will have no impact and is a waste of $. Someone who has the strobe you are considering will be able to tell you what the maximum distance is. Inside this distance, I agree a strobe is essential and the pictures you bring back will be significantly better for it.

With respect to the floating issue, I think you will find that the strobe, arms and plate to attach the camera to the strobe will likely change your camera from positive to negative and instead of floating you will find it dangling. Probably better than floating, you will just have to watch that it doesn't bang into the reef, otherwise should not be a problem. I occassionly attach my rig to a d-ring to free up my hands and just need to be aware that it is there when approaching something.