Nitrox and Photography

[Hory]

Am seriously considering taking up nitrox course to increase my bottom time to take pictures. Would be interested to hear if any of you went along this path in pursuit of uw photography.

Best,
Hory

 

[Dee]

Yes, Nitrox does extend your bottom times in most instances but it also has some serious drawbacks, such has solid depth limits.

Alot of photographers, especially new ones, get caught up in the chase and 'gotta get the shot' mind set that they forget to check their gauges and monitor their depth. I've been guilty of it, too. Depending on your mix %, you have a hard deck limit that could mean death if you cross it.

Nitrox is a great thing but it's not a license to live on the bottom!

No...I did not get Nitrox certified to extend my bottom times. I did it for the safety factor. Most of the time when using Nitrox, I still use air tables.

 

[nwdiver2]

It is a bottom time issue with the added safety thrown in. If you are looking at shallow long dives use larger capacity tanks 98-104 and nitrox. It will give you the ability to get the longer bottom times due to the reduced nitrogen load. If you can’t hit your target NDL on an aluminum 80 with air the larger tank alone will give longer bottom times.

If you are to dive nitrox use the nitrox setting on your computer or the proper table. Air tables may overload you on oxygen especially if you are doing back to back dives in a single day. Learn to use the mixed gas and use it properly it can be more dangerous than air.

 

[jepuskar]

You know that diving Nitrox while going off of Air Tables doesn't really offer you an significant safety advantages..right?


Jason

 

[Hory]

Am not familiar with the air tables. Say if I were to do 40-60 ft, how much more bottom time will I get?

Hory

 

[Dee]

jepuskar once bubbled...
You know that diving Nitrox while going off of Air Tables doesn't really offer you an significant safety advantages..right?

Really? Since when? There's an awful lot of divers who would disagree with you.

No never mind...I will NOT get into this discussion topic.

Hory....you're NOT familiar with air tables? You should have gotten a set of tables when you got certified. I suggest you find them and learn to use them, whether you have a computer or not.

 

[indiana*joe]

I think the question was not really air tables, but Nitrox. How much more time (w/o NDL loading) do you get with Nitrox over Air. I have many times did 4 back-to-back dives 60-80fsw (<1hr turn-around) with 32-36% and stayed below yellow on my Oceanic computer. (yes, Green is good to go, Red is stop!)

Using the pre-dive planning mode, I came up with these numbers for NDL at 50 and 70 fsw:

21% (air) 1:27 / :43
32% 2:46 / 1:11
36% 3:13 / 1:19

In the shallower depths the numbers get silly (> 8hrs!)

You can see at just 32%, you can get an extra 1:15 / 30min!

The Max depth you can go is 113' / 132 for 32%/36% respectively. Below that, chances get really high that you will die due to plain ole' chemistry / bio-physics....

These numbers are for discussion ONLY! Nitrox, though a rather simple skill to learn, carries some SERIOUS hard and fast rules - get formal training before dorking with it!

On the lighter side, being a bit older and in less good shape I find myself to be more energized after a dive than before. That's why I dive it.

 

[Dee]

I agree....I lost track of the subject when he said he wasn't familiar with air tables. That's a basic piece of knowledge everyone is supposed to have!

 

[cornfed]

jepuskar once bubbled...
You know that diving Nitrox while going off of Air Tables doesn't really offer you an significant safety advantages..right?

Care to explain?

 

[domino22]

I got my nitrox cert for two reasons one the longer bottom time in my normal 40 to 80 ft shooting depth. And two if you are not shooting digital with a big card it will do you no good.I used to end my dives when the "Old" nikonos 5 ran out of film. Now I end my dives do to time or air/nitrox left-not because I am out of "film".