I think this fellow was wearing too many hats, but I empathize with him. I would suspect that selling videos is a large part of the income he gets -- in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he goes largely or completely unpaid by the operator except for that income. And, as you said, it would be relatively unusual (or at least one would hope it would be) to have a student in a formal class on such dives, so this may have been an unwelcome thing dropped in his lap by his employer.
Like you, I more or less expect that guides on such dives will help us see cryptic critters we would otherwise miss, and I would have been mildly annoyed if the guide was producing video for sale which interfered with him doing that, unless it was made clear at the outset that he was not really guiding. It's kind of all about expectations. But the student was getting shortchanged, for sure, if he was swimming around videoing the group for a sales tape. AOW can really be a joke if the instructor approaches it that way.
Like you, I more or less expect that guides on such dives will help us see cryptic critters we would otherwise miss, and I would have been mildly annoyed if the guide was producing video for sale which interfered with him doing that, unless it was made clear at the outset that he was not really guiding. It's kind of all about expectations. But the student was getting shortchanged, for sure, if he was swimming around videoing the group for a sales tape. AOW can really be a joke if the instructor approaches it that way.