To camera or not?

[SysGreg]

I’ll dive for the footage. I became Tech to get dipper into wrecks. I do spend 5 minutes to setup a composition and set lighting. I have a buddy with me that watch me around and is aware of the time consuming process. But this is my lifestyle and hundreds of different divers will have own opinion contrary to each other.

You have to ask yourself a question, what is the purpose of the footage you do, and this could be all from home movie collection to NatGeo aspiration. It’s about the ultimate feeling and joy you have from diving and in many cases THE reason for diving. So the actual answear to Camera or Not is within yourself and the objectives you have.

 

[Laurie S.]

Please answer yes or no, and why? Me

NO- I used to, dives 10-240. To early I know but didn't know then. Lost my camera last June. Since then, my diving has improved beyond discription.. I have better control, air use, awareness, etc. I now dive simply for the love of being underwater and seeing all the great creatures there. I love it. I have no plans to go back to a camera anytime soon. Thanks and enjoy your dives!

Yes, I've carried my camera rig since Dive 13 and now am on 742. Occasionally, I will leave it behind on the last dive, but only while at my house in San Carlos. I shoot macro mostly, but occasionally will do wide angle.

 

[SlugLife]

Perhaps it's some negative experience growing up, but I certainly prefer to not live life staring through a camera, or posting lots of images/video to social media.

And for diving in particular, it certainly does interfere greatly for a lot of people, whether that's trim and buoyancy, or even paying attention and enjoying the dive.

That said, I can see the utility of having/using one, for some people. For example, if you have a youtube channel, are a photographer, etc. However, if you're just dropping photos on facebook, who are those photos for?

For myself, having a small action cam I can use from time-to-time can be nice. I also expect to help a friend with some footage for their youtube channel this year. Though it it was just for me, I'd probably leave the camera at home.

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

No.

I got a GoPro camera early on in the certification process, and it was a massive distraction and source of anxiety. I stowed it away in a drawer. Several hundred dives spent improving later, I got a new GoPro and tray to play with. Literally on dive one with the new equipment, I felt the frustration creep back in. I asked myself "I spent thousands of dollars to get here and I'm going spend my dives taking it all in through a 2" screen?" No thank you.

Instead I now pay the photographers who capture something wonderful on our joint dives in the currency of their choice for their shots. I enjoy critter spotter duty far more than taking photos.

 

[dolesorchard]

I used to have an uncle like that when I was a little kid. Unending slideshows of dramatically boring pictures while we all feigned astonishment and surprise. I still have to do that with some divers showing me endless pictures of puffers taken from above the subject. I used to joke that the level of a DM's interest in your pictures is directly proportional to the size of the tip he/she is expecting. There are dozens of excellent reference books that show all sea creatures small and large if I need to see pictures of them.

I never show people my pictures I they ask. A lot of folks know that we dive and are curious about what there is to see. Maybe your friends are not curious? Or maybe the pictures are truly boring. The dive master I was showing pictures to yesterday asked about some of the things we saw on our trip to the Philippines 4 years ago. I don't do much editing, and take far fewer pictures than I used to, unleash I'm in a new place with lots of new critters.

 

[USdiver1]

No,

We commonly joke, "What's the best way to assure you have an awful dive buddy? Give him a camera." There is some truth to that. Camera jockeys [and spearos, like myself in a former iteration], are really tuned into the undersea environment, to the detriment of ourselves and those who dive with us.

I've been an active diver for nearly 46 years now, and a much better buddy since I hung up the pneumatic harpoon.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I never show people my pictures I they ask. A lot of folks know that we dive and are curious about what there is to see.

Virtually the only question anyone has ever asked me is "how deep do you go?"

Sure, other divers may be interested, as I am about other divers' photos. I just haven't met any non-diver who was genuinely curious about what I personally see on a dive. I suppose they watch the nature shows on TV, they know what Nemo looks like. They don't care about photos people like me have taken.

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

Yes...I use a GoPro mounted on an Orcatorch tray. However I don't take pics, I shoot video. Editing video and doing the White Balance and color matching is a passion I found thanks to diving.

I also use it to help promote the dive center so it satisfies a personal itch and is used as a marketing tool. Win-Win

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

Virtually the only question anyone has ever asked me is "how deep do you go?"

Sure, other divers may be interested, as I am about other divers' photos. I just haven't met any non-diver who was genuinely curious about what I personally see on a dive. I suppose they watch the nature shows on TV, they know what Nemo looks like. They don't care about photos people like me have taken.

Same question I get asked or at least a version of it. Usually it is "What is the deepest dive you have done?"

 

[GiraffeMarineSalvage]

Very much depends for me, more often than not no camera but absolutely priceless at other times far beyond the times I genuinely needed photo documentation. Whether or not I have a camera with me I make sure to consciously focus on the moment itself either way, I really like Paralenz in that regard (side note, I don't know the latest on their business in relation to bankruptcy, but personally I wouldn't hesitate to buy a used one for the right price...).
Purely practically speaking some of the best nighttime/dusk/dawn views I've ever tried to capture on film look so uninspiring it's not even funny because the combination of low light + movement is still difficult despite camera improvements over the years... But I've gotten some great pictures and videos with good lighting that I'm really glad I have...
Also besides aesthetics/memories I think there is a lot to be said for having an instructor/buddy take short pictures/video doing various skills for the purpose of refining techniques but otherwise I think no students sould have a camera during courses so they can fully focus on what is being learned (regardless of skill level, obvious exception for marine photography course..) and generally speaking in my opinion newer divers should also forgo cameras entirely. I also feel it's worth noting there is a natural instinctive disconnect while focused on filming which means there will likely be a delay helping a buddy relative to exactly the same scenario without a camera rolling..