Fins for photographers

I've recently switched from DiveR composite fins in an Omer foot pocket to the 300 foot pockets from C4 using the C4 Indian soft (25) blade. They are amazing. Easily a pound lighter than anything I've ever worn and extremely hydrodynamic and efficient.

As far as coral concerns/worries from freedive fins, our area (Destin, Fl) doesn't have coral beds, just sand bottoms and wrecks.

Cheers

Long-time (10 years) user of Apollo Bio-Fin Pro, with spring strap. Wore out one set of spring straps, but the fins are doing fine.

There are pros and cons for these fins. They are natural rubber split fins. They are very efficient. I swapped fins once with a buddy, and it was like wearing nothing at all! I thrashed my feet, but didn't seem to move much. Meanwhile my buddy would flip one fin and be 10 feet ahead. Bottom line is, they work very well indeed for moving forward and saving air.

The con is that they are heavy. Heavy to pack, and heavy in the water, so they tend to pull your feet down. I sometimes blow air through my wetsuit into my boots to help trim them out a bit.

Being soft, they also are not easy to back up in. You can do it, but slowly. I assume a stiffer fin is better at this.

Cool thread !

Warm water - love my Cressi Garra Blades .... I’ve had the same pair for over 20 yrs ....

NEVER touched the reef with them (keep a nice frog kick or high ankle scull & WALA - silt free & coral safe)

Cold water - the same USD Blades I bought shortly after I 1st stared diving in 1989 (have upgraded to spring straps for easier on/off)

Also have a pair of Quatros too.

I’ve always thought to try others, but never seamed to get around to it

I think which fin to choose will depends on which one makes you the better diver. As in your control. We all know that biuyancy is a Hugh factor in taking pictures.

Light or heavy fins will only be relavent on your travel needs.

Funny how some threads seem to live forever. There's lots of good information accumulated in this one.

For travel and tropical water the fairly new Scubapro Go Travel may be worth considering. They are lightweight, and very comfortable to wear barefoot. I'm a big guy, and find them a bit soft when I really want thrust, but most of my photo dives are quite slow so I can live with that.

For travel (to tropical water) I switched to barefoot fins years ago. When I don't need boots / socks it also saves weight, and its one less item to forget or lose. Other barefoot fins often give me blisters after 2-3 days of intense diving, the Scubapro Go Travel is the first barefoot fin I have tried that doesn't.

The spring strap design is actually really comfortable, and makes them fit most people.

+1 for the Scubapro travel fin. Very easy to wear

Agree with the Scubapro Go travel fin sentiment ...very comfortable, indeed.

Only negative....Maybe a little lacking in power if needed.

Any opinions on the OMS Slipstream fin? I see they have a new material and have slightly changed the design...

l love mine. Previously dove the Tusa split fins, the Scubapro Twinjet Max split fin, the Hollis F2 and finally landed on the old style slipstreams and pretty much wore them out, so I bought the new style in white.

Another possible suggestion would the IST military style fin:

http://istsports.com/web/category.php?id_category=60

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

At my first dive center, people swore by Aqualung stratos-1(full foot), they have weird sizing although. I remember, some staff used them for seasons together, even in current 2-3 knots. Personally, my size was a issue and I landed up with blisters a lot of the times with those so I used Mares Avantti Quattro- amazing fins but they were super heavy. Aqualung came out with a stratos 3 (also full foot) which fit me perfectly, since then I have been very happy with the propulsion. I travel with them wherever I go, quite lightweight and yet they give me the power I need, in all situations. The blade is perfect stiffness for me, but this might not be the case for everyone.
In my experience, I would say try out what works for you best, we each have different strength generated by our kicks which varies by the length of the kick, leg strength, possibly the wave, oscillation etc, and maybe various other factors too..Some say- Strong legs would do better with a stiff blade, and weaker ones need more flexible fins.

The gull's, for most they are overly flexible and personally I don't move with them but then some people really it. They sure feel good to touch

If you like a pair, stick with it

Scubapro jetfins. Heavy but I love them

Hi, my favorite are ScubaPro Seawing. They provide great propulsion and I can do modified frog kick in them. One drawback to these is that you cannot do a traditional frog-kick in these. However, if I were ever in a strong current I would want to have these on. Recently I did 150 dives in these, all while photographing with a full frame Ikelite set-up. They worked great.

Reviving this old topic. I use Scubapro Jet fins for drysuit diving. They are also fine with a 7mm wetsuit in colder water. However, I am going on a trip to the Azores in september. I've been looking into fins for there. I would normally go with booted fins. The freediving fins will probably have lots of power, but I am not a freediver. I would probably need socks as well.

I broke my booted plastic Seac fins. I was thinking about Oceanic Accel as travel fins, but I have some doubts on the power, would they be ok snorkeling? It is mostly boat diving. Anyone has experience with those? its about 600 grams for a single one, so 1,2 kg for a pair.

https://www.oceanicworldwide.com/us/accel-fin-color-kit/

Other options will be a bit heavier. (thinking about getting regular Mares Quattros) The open boot Quattro fins are actually heavier then the booted fins. That will be about 2 kg for the pair.

Fins-lets see-I must have 10 pair-OK that a lie I have more than that-way more.

If you love the ocean you should have some fins

Lets see fins for drysuits-fins for wetsuits-heavy coldwater suits warm tropical suits-for all sizes of booties

Fins for wreak diving salvage-fins for photo work-fins that my father had from 1953 (orginal gum rubber duck feet from the spear fisherman in Huntington Beach Ca.)-yes I have fins

Drysuit- Apollos and scubascrew jetfins with stailless springs on heels-fin sixe XL

for tropical work I have always been hating taking a heavy fin as it eats into the bag weight.Fin size XL

I also hate plastic fins as they suck- so I have alway preferred a rubber fin

Fins for bodysurfing XL with booties and without depending in water temps

Fins for free diving (extralong) size XL

Late November I spent two weeks diving in Indonesia and tried a new to me fin that was fantastic.

You need a bootie a with this fin and in my case with huge feet thats always been problem. I found a real thin 3 mm

Mares bootie online (size 13)

I thought since this fin felt more plastic than rubber it would suck but really its more rubber than plastic and light as a feather.

These are faily new  product for Scubapro especially in the XL size -Scubapro Go Travel fins-super light my size is XL

-They have a wimpy strap so I bought a spare set but after 22  photo dives I love these fins. They are a breeze to put on and off and feel great underwater.I was able to pack an extra stobe from the weight I saved taking heavy fins.

These fins are the lightest I have run acroos so far. They only come in open heal type so a bootie or a sock is needed

The straps worked flawlessly as well.I recomend them especially if you want to pack photo gear instead of heavy fins for air travel.

How much weight for weight belt if doing primarily snorkel photography with shorty or wet suit top?

I’m going to be in a Maldives Deep South Liveaboard this march. I have a medium compact rig with 2 YSD2 strobes and 2 12K lumens Video Lights (alternating) usage. Will do mostly wide angle shots for the trip.

Can anyone recommend fins for strong current blue water dives? I currently use a Scubapro Go Sport fins. Are freediving fins any good?

Looking forward to recommendations.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Deep6 Eddy fins, light, powerful, best control ever... My personal favorite piece of equipment

I use both Mares quattros or aqualung slingshots. I like a fin that is stiff enough, or has edge blades sufficient to allow, a good back kick if I need it. I back kick when taking photos more than probably any other type of finning technique.  Anything but split fins, which don’t work well trying back kick. 

I absolutely love my Apollo split fins with spring strap!  Only downside is that they are really heavy, especially carrying camera gear too ... so for shore dives that are a bit of a hike I use Scubapro Go Sport fins which are super light weight and work fine.

I’m going to be in a Maldives Deep South Liveaboard this march. I have a medium compact rig with 2 YSD2 strobes and 2 12K lumens Video Lights (alternating) usage. Will do mostly wide angle shots for the trip.

Can anyone recommend fins for strong current blue water dives? I currently use a Scubapro Go Sport fins. Are freediving fins any good?

Looking forward to recommendations.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk