Fins for photographers

Hi,

tried many fins over the year and setting up on the: Mares Avanti Quattro plus open Heel Bungee strap fin, as it has a great balance of rigidity and weight.

If you look at the cave diving community in the cenotes 30% of the people will use these fins.

They are light to travel, easy to put in, and you can push through the water with the two sidemount tanks and 1 stage easilly.

If you need to push 4 tanks overall they may be too soft for it.

I find that I prefer short surf style fins when working in less than 40ft

On 2/24/2020 at 9:25 AM, Zow said:

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.


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Hi Zow

For blue water dives, apnea / freediving long fins will allow you a powerful throttle. But when you are close to the reef they become quite messy and will make it more difficult to take pictures / make movies without damaging the reef.

Besides that freediving fins will be much more demanding for your legs. If you are not used to it or if you do not have strong legs, it will give you cramps. 

I dived Maldives 3 times already. Used TwinJet split fins from Scubapro. I got quite strong currents. With strong current you learn to use the terrain to Advance  and most important, do not fight the current. You will lose.

the fins you have I do not know them, but they look fine fins. 
 

Hi Zow

For blue water dives, apnea / freediving long fins will allow you a powerful throttle. But when you are close to the reef they become quite messy and will make it more difficult to take pictures / make movies without damaging the reef.

Besides that freediving fins will be much more demanding for your legs. If you are not used to it or if you do not have strong legs, it will give you cramps. 

I dived Maldives 3 times already. Used TwinJet split fins from Scubapro. I got quite strong currents. With strong current you learn to use the terrain to Advance  and most important, do not fight the current. You will lose.

the fins you have I do not know them, but they look fine fins. 

 

I used split fins the first time I went to Cozumel and dealt with strong currents…. I switched after that experience to solid blade fins. When I dove the Maldives with strong currents, three of us were diving OMS Slipstream fins (Tech style solid blade fin) and non of us had problems maneuvering for shots that we wanted to make. Since then, I would recommend the Deep 6 Gear Eddy Fins, since they are just as effective but slightly narrower/shorter which makes them easier to pack for travel. Another good option would be the xDEEP fins, since they come in several material stiffnesses, allowing you to tailor your fin to your preferred style with a medium or stiff fin.

I have force fins, 3 pair. First pair at list price subsequent ones on ebay. Replaced straps with bungee straps. I use different sizes for various boots in colder water. I prefer just a dive sock and the fin. All the positives above are true for me. The exceptional features are small light weight for travel and so easy to take off. Thats a big deal to me at 70 and after a hour in the water not doing much, my legs stiffen getting back on a boat. You can turn on a dime with these fins, great for maneuvering for the best angle and light on a creature. Very easy to frog kick, seems like a completely natural move. Been in some currents not much of an issue. and on a emergency diver recall I beat 2, 26 yr olds and a 50 yr old back to the ladder. 

I'm considering the Aqualung Storm fins for travel on liveaoards; no boots needed.

They're being well received by YouTube reviewers. Has anyone had experience with these fins?

14 hours ago, joncroweucl said:

I'm considering the Aqualung Storm fins for travel on liveaoards; no boots needed.

Check the weight. They look as if they could be a bit heavy with all the strap mechanism as well as the foot pocket. 

On 1/29/2022 at 12:45 PM, JohnLiddiard said:

Check the weight. They look as if they could be a bit heavy with all the strap mechanism as well as the foot pocket. 

Pair size M-L ScubaPro Go = 1.2 kg/2.6 lbs

Pair size XL Aqualung Storm = 1.36kg/3 lbs

Between the Go and the Storm at size L, I think the weight is pretty much  wash.

Pair size super Apeks RK3 = 2.88kg, before considering boots.

Go have smooth foot pockets. I've heard issues of feet slipping around inside. Storm foot pocket is textured, supposed to solve the problem. I think I'll go for the Storms.

I travel with my RK3 fins despite the weight!

I have split fins which I love in general but find can be difficult to hover with.

This is an old post and looking back, roughly,  there are less than 1% posts of female divers.  Any women interested in weighing in on fins for hard current but not too heavy?

On 1/6/2019 at 12:43 AM, Oceanus said:

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.

These are my go to fins for travel in tropical waters as well past 6 years. Scubapro Go fins) They are the lightest and most comfortable .

In should add that I really dislike plastic fins.

They are unisex and come in all sizes-I have super wide feet and the XXL fist me with a thin 3mm bootie

I suggest these for both sexes. They are extremly lightweight and are a mix between a plastic and rubber fin in feel and action

You will save many pounds off your bag with these fins

I got the Scubapro Go Travel fins too - at Christmas.

The dive centre I use have them as the standard rental fins. I tried some out for a couple of weeks.

As others have commented, I find them great for u/w photog. Not too long but still enough to be able to move in currents. They are comfortable with or without a sock and they are easy to put on and remove. The big bonus for travelling is that they are light-weight and easy to pack.

The Deep 6 Eddy from Deep Six are short, light in weight, and have a decent amount of power. Really convenient for photography.

15 hours ago, theocean said:

The Deep 6 Eddy from Deep Six are short, light in weight, and have a decent amount of power. Really convenient for photography.

Och they are great, been longing for these for a while...Sadly Deep 6 seems not interested in opening to EU market. And importing these from US costs and arm and a leg ;/

I am on my third set of fins.  First two were ScubaPro.  First were the split fins.  Those worked great for diving.  However I moved to photographing whales at the surface.  I needed something with a little more power.  I moved to the Seawing Nova.  Those worked great.  Lots of power burst with them (photo below is taken in Dominica, under permit.). 

Last May I was in Baja photographing orca and mobula rays off of La Paz, BCS.  I was watching how others with freediving fins were able to get deeper, easier.  My last trip was to shoot Sardine bait balls off of Magdalena Bay in BCS, Mexico.  I got a set of Leaderfins freediving fins and really liked them.  I didn't feel that I was working very hard with  them, but damn if I didn't find myself deeper quicker.  I had a medium stiffness, but might go up as my size (6'1", 220 lbs) dictactes that.  

For those who don’t scuba: Cressi Gara Modular Impulse 

Put me down for the ScubaPro Seawing Novas.  I’ve had them since they came out and I love them!  Good blend of ease of movement with power for strong currents.  
 

As a note, they did finally succumb to the potential split in the joint.  Again, that’s after ~10+ years of countless weekly dives.  No worries - they have a lifetime warranty.  A new pair is on the way as replacements!