"That" diver

[Steve_C]

But some of us like taking pictures, so we carry one anyway. I'd recommend starting out with a simple P&S with no strobe,

Hard to get pictures in low light or not shallow dives without strobe which is essentially all dives in our area.

I dive a PS with a digital strobe. Wide angle lens so focus is at a fixed setting. Only one adjustment on the flash distance. That is near, close, far. Pretty simple. For macro I pop off the fisheye and then I also have an automatic focus to deal with.

Point is that strobe is really important in many areas. But agree completely with keeping it simple especially at first. In my case forever.

-----

I am working on my fish ID and sometimes a quick photo looked at later is helpful in telling exactly what you saw.

 

[Storker]

Come on the boat sometime and you will be welcome to use all or any of it.

I'll really consider that if I'm ever in your part of the world.

I don't like to be distracted from diving by carrying a camera. There is too much to see outside the viewfinder.

Well, there's some of the difference between you and me. I don't like to be distracted by carrying a camera, either. I carry it on most dives, though, and if I see something cool I try to grab a more permanent memory of it by shooting it. I don't dive with my camera fixed to my mask. But like hunting, shooting makes me become more aware of my surroundings and turns me into a more diligent spotter of the cool critters and cool scenes.

---------- Post added July 23rd, 2015 at 05:13 PM ----------

I am working on my fish ID and sometimes a quick photo looked at later is helpful in telling exactly what you saw.

Yup. There are many occasions where I've checked my pics to find out what I saw, too.

 

[freewillie]

PADI is not a legal entity and cannot place restrictions on anything. However, for what it is worth, it pains me as well and I have no idea what to do about it other than try to set a good example of staying off the reef and still getting my pictures. Maybe like air marshals, there could be dive marshals hiding behind the reef outcrops ready to leap out on "that guy" but more likely "that guy" would continue to smash the reef and they would give me a ticket for not having a snorkel because PADI says I need one. So maybe that will not work either.

I would prefer that sensitive dive sites require, by actual law, certain rating or experience, and perhaps even a demonstration of competence before being given the arm band or medallion or whatever that says you are allowed to be there.

Did you report the devastation to the captain/crew?

I dunno.

N

Didn't need to report to the DM since he was watching the same thing. There was one DM I had on a different dive that would not have stood for that behavior. Ironically he wasn't too friendly either. But he did keep control over his group. There was a 12 year old boy who swam up to a turtle resting on the reef. He apparently got to close and the DM signaled for him to move away from the turtle. Too bad "that" diver wasn't in his group.

---------- Post added July 23rd, 2015 at 12:39 PM ----------

Over 6,000 dives and I haven't needed a camera yet. Haven't carried one, either. I have no excuse for poor buoyancy control.

You don't technically need a camera, but it would have been nice to have a recording from some of the dives. We saw a turtle hanging out on the reef in the coral and would have been a nice picture, I saw a small drum fish. They are hard to find and that would have been nice to record as well. And the family vacation photos with my daughter and nephew both on the boat and in the water would have been cool too.

Ironically I did bring my own GoPro for this trip but due to stupidity the housing flooded on the first dive and I have no videos. As for the poor buoyancy control it is still a work in progress for me but I do feel it's good enough for me to start trying some video. At least I'll respect the reef and not kick it with my fins.

 

[cbm32]

A DM that is more worried about his tip than he is the reef that allows him to earn any money at all is severely short sighted. Perhaps NOT protecting the reef in these instances would be a great reason NOT to tip a DM and letting him know why he wasnt being tipped (or letting the dive op know that) would result in the DM being more aggressive in protecting the reefs. After all, tipping is supposed to be for exceptional service, not just for doing the bare minimum.

 

[NorCalMola]

I'm a newish diver, and I found the Intova camera on the hand mount to be a good fit for my skill level. It leaves my hands free with nothing dangling, and it's easy enough to turn it off and forget about if there's surge. I think that fussing with focusing would be too much of a distraction for me at this point.

 

[Iralub]

I'm a newish diver, and I found the Intova camera on the hand mount to be a good fit for my skill level. It leaves my hands free with nothing dangling, and it's easy enough to turn it off and forget about if there's surge. I think that fussing with focusing would be too much of a distraction for me at this point.

I also dive with an intova camera, hand held, but with a lanyard so I can let go of it at any time. I'm usually recording continuous video and if I get something good, that's great and if I don't, so be it. I didn't start using one until about 30 dives in and, with just under 100 dives, still tell DMs and buddies that if they think the camera is interfering with my diving or buddy obligations, they should tell me and I'll put it away.

But even though I'm not crashing into reefs or ignoring buddies, I must admit that wanting to get a decent shot probably does affect my trim while diving and can be a distraction. Because I have better than average air use in normal conditions, suboptimal trim is generally not a big issue, but I can see how lots of tourist divers with cameras would be a real issue and make dms' jobs much harder compared with say 10 years ago.

 

[DennisS]

All those divers with all those cameras, most of the pictures end up in a file folder never to be looked at again. Today's dive pictures are the vacation slides of yesteryear, if you notice your friends eyes glazing over when you start showing them dive pictures, give them a break. Don't be that diver

 

[dmaziuk]

All those divers with all those cameras, most of the pictures end up in a file folder never to be looked at again.

I think that's always been the case: you only get one or three good pix from a shoot. And now with the sizes of modern sd cards us those divers can afford it, too. I don't carry the camera I had on our OW cert dive because I flooded it a couple of years back. I carry a DC1400 we bought the day after.

 

[dmoore19]

That might be true for some. I frequently look back at my photos even 3 or 4 years down the road. It brings back some good memories, most of the good ones I can remember getting the picture.

 

[scottwilson1]

with my limited trips so far as a newer diver - I haven't seen horrific damage by photographers most of them seemed fine - However the Dm's have pulled divers off the reef but never seen anyone getting
a talking too - only time seen a Dm get a little upset was at a guy who blew threw his tank real fast on a 85ft wreck dive - on the surface he said sorry for the short dive but since his however many bypass surgeries ( forgot but it was alot ) he's been a heavy breather - DM was upset because he never told anyone prior to the dive.

Yup Dm's are in a awkward spot - I'm sure they want to protect there reef but if they scold every customer who touches coral then they may see alot of negative reviews on-line.....