How many of you use a lanyard/line to connect your camera to your BC?

[H2O Photo Pros]

I too am glad all ended well for me and my camera! haha I think the incident brought me back to reality a bit too, reiterating that regardless of experience or knowledge,anything can happen and as I always tell my scuba students, plan for the What if, because if and when it does happen, you will be prepared and better able to handle it.

Safe diving to all and happy shooting!!

 

[Darnold9999]

Attach mine to my wrist, just a short strap so I can drop it at a moments notice. Also have a very large bolt snap attached to the housing bed so when the dive is over and I need two hands for some reason I can attatch it to a DRing. Usually right hand chest.

Have always worried a bit about having the camera attached at the wrist without a way of easily letting it go. Worst case would be to cut it off, but really worst case would be not being able to reach it with the other hand to cut it off. If I am worried, for example last few dives were in current and at the edge and in kelp beds I just carry it with no strap at all. If it gets tangled my thinking is to let it go.

 

[dbh]

never have tethered mine......never will (and I have shot fairly $$$$ DSLR's for the last 4-5 years).

Dave

 

[cmburch]

I am new to picture taking.

I use a black coiled lanyard like Teamcasa's. When on SCUBA clipped to a chest D-ring on my Rig.

I freedive more the past few years. I just put my hand through the coil part when freediving. I am trying to attach the camera to my gun. Once I figure it out, that will be the way I will carry my camera.

Well on second thought. Maybe not always on my gun. Divers would not like me pointing my gun at them even with spear dangling and not loaded.

I am trying to make a quick release attachment to use on a speargun. I am using a minitripod from REI. I have to get some soft rubber like a sheet of 1/8" silicon mat so the camera does not slide around the gun barrel.

I also have a possibly bad habit of a wrist lanyard on my gun. One time I lost my gun for a little while after stringing a fish because I assumed it was still on my wrist as I swam away.

 

[craracer]

I found a company that would sell me this little piece, which screws into the bottom of the camera housing.

I attached this piece to the end of a coil lanyard. As an added safety measure, the extra piece of strap on the lanyard goes through the wrist strap on the camera housing:

Here's the whole setup:

 

[AbyssalPlains]

OP, Thank you for sharing your scary experience. I attache my SLR rig with a steel-reinforced coil lanyard, so cutting is out of the question. In a case like yours where the lanyard becomes entangled in the regulator, I think I'm reasonably well prepared by always carrying a pony bottle that's turned on.

 

[Eskasi]

I started off attaching my camera....a Point and shoot with a strobe. Very soon after, I just decided not to bother. Even now when using a DSLR. I find that if conditions are really that bad that you may have to let go and ditch your camera.....you MAY not want to have it attached to you and flapping around in strong current. If I think that may happen, I would abort the dive anyway! I say that but I do have a carabiner on my chest D-ring and will clip on my rig if I need to work with both hands.

I have hung on to rocks in heavy current with one hand holding my DSLR....even taken photos while at it...... however, if the combination of one hand and heavy finning will not do the job. I would not try it anyway and abort. I am just as afraid of the camera smashing on the rocks as I am of losing it.

My rig is always as balanced as I can get it and it and I rather hold it after that than clip it. Having said that, on my last trip to Sipadan, I saw a Japanese diver with really cool clips on each handle of his DSLR which he would clip on his chest D-Ring as he cruised the walls.... very cool.....

Here is a photo I took in heavy current with a hand on the rocks and the DSLR in the other hand.....I could only take 2 shots as my strobe arms folded back flat from the current! After the shot....I let go and continued flying along while I adjusted my arms again.

Oh....I will say, this question should be directed at people with large rigs such as DSLR users or PNS users with strobe systems. If I had just a Point and shoot, I would certainly clip it on purely for comfort reasons.

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Very nice shot! And yes it was definitely directed to those with larger camera systems and most P&S only would not be affected much or have a lot of drag.

 

[Mariozi]

I agree with the ones that condemn it.
I used to fix small dome scratches before moving to Dubai, and have seem many heavily damaged and cracked domes because of it...
I ONLY used it in the few occasions where my safety needed bigger attention from me, and where I went diving thinking of a bail out plan, that included REAL chances of having to leave it behind.
Even though I teach my students (and myself to be prepared to do this in EVERY dive) you are more important than your camera.
I have ONLY used lanyards, while cave diving with it because it is a more demanding dive where I need both my hands more often. In these situation I rarely take my housing, and I prefer to take my Nikonos V setup.

Dive safe!

 

[drbill]

The only time I use a lanyard is when I'm doing blue water dives over deep water (like our shark dives) or am in strong currents. Generally I have the camera "tethered" to my hand with a loop. I keep it slightly positive so it will drift up to the surface if I release it.