Long selfie stick GoPro Question

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Joel2693

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How cumbersome or what issues do you see with a selfie stick that is telescoping and goes up to 9 feet 10 inches when used for snorkeling. My goal is get to as close to the reef as possible as the depth of the reef is 25 feet. Thank you.
 
I used one for years. It gets really shaky and a lot of footage is unusable - but that was before in-camera stabilisation was common. But if you keep it short and attach a weight next to the camera (I used a dive light) it becomes more steady and stable.
 
Unfortunately, a GoPro isn't going to take great footage of a reef 15+ feet away, especially at the end of a long stick. If you can, it would be better to concentrate on shallower areas of reef. An added bonus is that the natural light will be better.
 
Get a finger spool with 25' line and let that sucker all the way down. Just tie it off well. Remember, if you can't tie a knot, tie a lot.
 
telescoping and goes up to 9 feet
On my video camera I use a 7 ft long telescoping down to ~40 inches painter's pole from Home Depot. I clip it to my shoulder BCD when diving off the boat then extend it underwater. It absolutely allows me to get shots within inches of the lemon shark's eyeballs since they are more focused on the main part of my body which is feet away. My camera does have stabilization and the videos come out clear, smooth and incredible eyeball closeups that just wouldn't be possible with a hand hold. Since it collapse's so short it never tangles on line or the reef and it's easy to adjust underwater if I need to get it in a tight ledge. For the camera mount I drilled a 1/4" hole in the tip of the painter's pole. Then used a 2 inch long stainless steel 1/4-20 eye bolt with nut + washer & tension wing nut so it will thread directly into the camera's mount. By grabbing the circle of the eyebolt underwater, I can easily turn & point the camera for a straight or sideways shot while underwater. Highly recommend a long collapse-able pole, you will be able to get so much closer to your subject without spooking them like this 25 second vid clip below with big Jacks that usually stand off and you can see how close the camera can get. (zero cropping/color adjustment>straight out of the camera)

20240313_090543.jpg


 

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