Freedive or scuba

I've have never used scuba so I cant give any pros or cons. But I am curiouse on what the majority here on the forum use?

For me freediving is all I seem to need as of now.

pros-

can spend the whole day diving deep. ( I think scuba is only permited 20 or so min)

Less noise

more agile,

freedivers tend to see more of "big picture" while in the water becouse we are moving up and down the water coloum so frequently.

I think freedivers act more like marine animals then scuba and so the enviroment treats us as such ( good or bad)

Cons

1:30-3min of water time sometimes isnt enough time for composistion. Ive had times where as soon as I start to come up for air the subject will face where I want em.

Freediving holds more of a risk then with scuba.

Its harder to find dive partners that freedive. Especially to depths I like to work at.

can spend the whole day diving deep. ( I think scuba is only permited 20 or so min)

Using air to 20m you could do 38minute, if you swapped to 32% you could spend 60 minutes. After 3 hours on the surface looking through your images you could do a new dive lasting 5 minutes less.

If you do not need to go to 20m but can stay on 10m you could be down 145 minutes on air as your first dive... which seems to be enough for most people.

Ofthen though the limit will not be the accumulation of nitrogen which the values above is based on it will be based on how much gass you are carrying, and how warm and comfortable you are. (The fjord which i plan to dive in later to day is 1 degree in the surface...might not be relevant where you are.)

Less noise

Just mute the move you record

more agile

With scuba and the proper skills you can be very agile. Take a look at side mount for instance :http://www.gosidemount.com/videos.asp

freedivers tend to see more of "big picture" while in the water becouse we are moving up and down the water coloum so frequently.

You will also be in much more of a hurry moving up and down. So I guess it comes with it's benefits as well as its drawbacks. With scuba (and a patient buddy) you can spend 5 minutes getting in place, moving your model back and forth just to get it right.

Freediving holds more of a risk then with scuba.

Scuba isn't risk free either. It is both sports/activities with a inherent risk.

Akalars, I was looking more for personal opinions, Mine was freediving. I am assuming yours is SCUBA?

I do both on a fairly regular basis. I like the lack of bubbles (which can scare fish) freediving, I like the feeling of freedom and lack of kit involved, and taking photos seems to be good for my relaxation while freediving. Most of my photography is pretty shallow- mostly shallower than about 15m and lots less than 8m, because that's where the best coral and life tends to be.

However, I think scuba is better when you're working on a tricky subject, or trying to perfect a new technique. You can spend a whole dive (maybe an hour) trying to get one shot- waiting for the subject to cooperate, or getting your settings just right. In this case, having to return to the surface every couple of minutes can be a bit of a pain.

There are also lots of situations where having good freediving skills are a real bonus- particularly when chasing elusive subjects where you're in and out of the boat all day, and the action is moving fast- like baitballs, whales, whale sharks etc. So it's horses for courses.

Most of my photography is pretty shallow

Awww come on Ferg I think its pretty good

Dive safe

DeanB

I've been freediving for about 2 years and have just got my scuba ticket this month. I'm not the best freediver, and most of my photography on snorkel was done under 5m.

The differences between the two was brought up on flickr a couple of weeks ago, and this was my response:

Snorkel Pros:

1.\Unlimited air, so unlimited time to stay in the water and find critters and photograph them.

2.\ Access to shallow waters such as rockpools etc that you'd just look like a fool accessing on scuba.

3.\ More ambient light in shallower waters increases lighting options.

Snorkel Cons:

1.\ Diving down on fish scares the hell out of them.

2.\ Reduced time to compose, alter camera settings and strobe positioning etc.

3.\More difficult to get eye level and surface shots.

4.\ Severe spinal contortions.

Scuba Pros:

1.\ Approachability to marine life

2.\ The ability to stay still and let critters come to you.

3.\ To get to depths to see different subjects not possible on snorkel e.g. wrecks etc

4.\ Unlimited angles.

5.\ Time to review your photos and change settings, lighting etc.

Scuba Cons:

1.\ Bubbles - You really shouldn't breathe hold either which aids in focus lock and composition. Also bubbles get in the way of the viewfinder and vision

2.\ Time and air restrictions.

3.\ You need to get tank fills, more gear setup time, planning, risk etc on scuba.

One thing i didn't add to the above which i'm starting to realise the more dives i do, is the reduced field of view and awareness of surroundings. My scuba dives so far have generally been horizontal along the seabed, and i've been finding my awareness of my surroundings is limited to what's in front of me, and in my periphery. On snorkel, i find i'm pretty aware of everything beneath me, plus whats going on above the surface (to a degree).

I think each has its place, and i plan to utilise both skills into the future (once my scuba bug has subsided.

I prefere Freediving over Bubble diving for all round Photos!

I have Dived and snorkeled/Freedived since 1987...and I'm NOT one of the "Anti-Scuba" type of Freedivers ore wice wersa..I Love both sports and have allways taken my cameras along.

My Freediving skills tops out at app 45m witch makes 2-3min. Photo sessions at 20-25m OK(30m if I HAVE to but a lot less comfy)!

It takes some traning and a lot of time spendt at the surface inbetween...so your looking at atleast 1.5-2 Hours water time for some desent Photo time...I tend to spend longer!

IMO have found that I can get a lot closer to fish and other bigger sea mammals while Freediving...drifting slowely down on the bottom in front of the disired big fishs lair etc. and aiming the camera allready...waiting paciently...they are shy at first but eventielly they come and investigate...and "klick"!! Twice I have had to hit BIG fish with my camera..ore else I have become lunch! Swimming really close with sea turtles/whale sharks/ Dolphins etc. is another...

This teknique and the over all look from above is great for genral fish/landscape/spotting etc. But harder for Macro as it is harder to spot from above...

Scuba is perfect for macro and shy kritters IMO! and spotting mico life on the reef ore other sea scapes...

where as finding the same for Freedivers is a LOT of work but not immpossible just costs a LOT of water time.

Rebreather sounds like the perfect tool for UW-Photo...but I have never tried it ore seen any one using it in years!!

So to me it's a tie!!!!

Hi again!

Forgot to mention one other CON: reg. Freediving: Shallow water 0-10m!! for perfect balance you'll have to exhaill to balance your self!!

making the shallow water Photo sessions harder than most deeper stuff 10-20m after that your start sinking :-)

But it's still my favorit!!!