How many shots per dive?

Just curious:

How many shots are you DSLR guys taking per dive? And, is this a major factor in choosing a DSLR over a film camera?

Hi!

My standard configuration allows me to take 84 shots in reasonable quality. I used 2/3 of the available space at most at great dive sites. A friend of mine missed a whale shark when surfacing because he didn't have any pictures left on his film I'm able to do 2 consecutive dives without opening the housing. This comes in handy when I'm out with a zodiac or small boat only.

The main factor is that I'm able to see my mistakes pretty soon. It helps me to improve. With film you get the results when you can't remember what you did wrong. In addition, you get a log of your exposure data along with the image. Good for analyzing.

Helge ;-)=)

160 images per dive were the limit with our Coolpix 990. I finished my dive dive with a full CF Card several times though. But not all of the shots were keepers. But I like to sort that out back on the boat.

Hi

D100 raw = 107 images. 53 images per 2 tank dive. Not opening the housing is heaven. Discard bad images during the surface intervile.

Joe Parisi Nahant Ma

Keep the oceans clean for all to enjoy.

80 in RAW mode on my Fuki S2 and 1GB microdrive.

The greater number is great for diving, however I would argue that the true value is:

1) Greater experimentation

2) Preview of exposure (close anyway)

3) Ability to not have to waste images (either the 30 images taken on dive one, I'll have to change film for dive two)

4) Ability to take a couple of images topside and not have to worry about starting a dive without a full set of shots)

M

I find that given complete diving freedom (I.E. the number per day and duration of dives is entirely up to me) I shoot a shot a minute. So I find that the 107 shots I can get on 1GB with my D100 last most dives.

I tend to have the same shot rate with film: and in shallow water I often do 6-7 dives a day of about 40 minutes each - a roll each time.

So if you have complete freedom to decide about your diving then I actually don't think that the amount of shots is that important. However, we all usually have to conform at some point, and that is when digital is great!

This afternoon, as an example, I did an 80 minute dive on the North Wall in Grand Cayman and shot 55 shots with D100 and 28-70mm, then popped back to the boat collected my film camera and blasted off 34 of a Velvia 36 with F100 and 105mm.

I also agree that lots of shots are particularly great for experimenting - I was shooting long exposures this morning - meaning that I was throwing away 4 out of 5 shots, but 1 in 5 came out great. I'd never take risks like that with just 36 exposures.

Alex

36, I shoot Velvia.

I've taken any where from 8-60 shots on a dive. Many of the 60 shots were repeaters trying to get the exposure correct, something I did less with film.

With film I would shoot 8-36 shots.

Was the greater number of available shots a reason for switching to digital? Not underwater. As Marriard pointed out, not having to make decisions on partial rolls is a big plus. If I took 18 shots on 36 exposure roll, should I switch out for the next dive?

Switching to digital for land use, the number of exposures and workflow dynamics was the primary reason for the change. Shooting a weekend roll was a pain in the .... Drive to and from the lab for one lousy roll.

Hello,

I think you should shoot as many as you can thinking about the second dive too since I don't think you should open your housing in between dives.

It would be hard to put a rule in: shoot 40 pics a dive.

That's why we went digital to see the results fast and to be able to shoot as many as we want/can and then deleate the bad ones.

If you have a dive with 2 ft of vis. and you don't shoot macro then shoot 2 shots. If you have a dive with 100+ ft vis. you would be a fool not to shoot all your "roll" of course you have to conserve a coupple of shots for the safety stop. You will allways have the dolphins comming to play with you after your last shot.

I missed once when I was shooting film an octopus that would have made a beautiful shot. I am not going to do that again.

Vlad

It sure was nice to be able to shoot as many photos as I wanted of the two Mantas that I encountered on Monday. That was at the end of the dive - so if I had been shooting film, I probably would have been in trouble.

With Ike DS125's that recycle in 1 second, it sure is nice to be able to shoot a LOT of shots from different angles, bracket, etc.

I believe I shot about 30 pix of the mantas.

On a "typical" reef dive I shoot about 40 to 50 shots.

Cheers

James

So Mr. Wiseman lets see one of the finest.

Lucky guy you are!

Have many many photos to go through from 11 dives shooting.

Cheers

James

James, which site had the manta? We saw ours on the West Bank. I wonder if its the same one?

We are going back on August 23 & 24 on Sea Searcher II.

Karl

Now that's what I call a manta! Not this fat manta birostris, looks like a slim and huge mobula thurstoni. I think I really have to pass by your waters someday. My Dream would be to see the giant Atlantic Mobula one day which makes it up to 5.2 m

A man can still, dream though...

Karl,

Yes, I believe we saw that one and a smaller juvenile with an almost completely white underside.

The best way to ID a manta is to get a shot of the underside. Do you have one? I have one of that fish which I will post shortly.

Our siting was at East Bank #2 We also saw the same fish at East Bank #4

Cheers

James