Getting in without killing your camera

Probably a stupid question, but one that has me contemplating. Ive got ~30 dives with camera under my belt (a Fuji F100 in OEM housing) and the majority of those dives were either shoredives or off a RIB, so getting the camera in was easy (either held close to chest and back roll, or handed in). I was in Egypt last year and did a few dives holding the camera close for the giant stride entry, not ideal but was ok with a small camera, anyways Ive just bought a strobe and as you can imagine thats increased the bulk of my camera, and am back off to Egypt in a week for a 10 days of day boat diving. Whats the easiest way of getting in with the camera when the boats busy or theres current, and its not easy to have the camera handed to you? Ideas guys ?

Moose

Off a RIB you can hold the camera in the water behind you and then roll in after it.

But most of the time it is preferable to have the camera handed to you.

Alex

Probably a stupid question, but one that has me contemplating. Ive got ~30 dives with camera under my belt (a Fuji F100 in OEM housing) and the majority of those dives were either shoredives or off a RIB, so getting the camera in was easy (either held close to chest and back roll, or handed in). I was in Egypt last year and did a few dives holding the camera close for the giant stride entry, not ideal but was ok with a small camera, anyways Ive just bought a strobe and as you can imagine thats increased the bulk of my camera, and am back off to Egypt in a week for a 10 days of day boat diving. Whats the easiest way of getting in with the camera when the boats busy or theres current, and its not easy to have the camera handed to you? Ideas guys ?

Moose

Hey Moose,

The problem with jumping in with the camera is that when your body enters the water it creates a big hole which is quickly filled with the water you've displaced. In fact the hole is closed with quite a lot of force which causes uneven pressure around the O rings. (The O rings create a seal by spreading out evenly under pressure), leaks can and do happen in these circumstances. Without doubt the best way to avoid this is to have the rig passed to you after you're in the water. If this isn't an option, one way to avoid the pressure wave is to hold the rig above your head lean forward placing it gently in the water then follow it face first. It isn't very dignified but it works a treat. A friend of mine does it all the time after having a member of crew hand him his rig whist holding it by the domeport which then became un-screwed and caused it to drop off. Ruined his week.

I've also seen divers suspend their rig with a five foot lanyard, lower it in the water then jump to one side of it, the lanyard is then removed rolled up and put into a BC pocket.

By holding the rig by your chest and doing a backward roll you put the camera exactly where the water smashes back to fill the hole so this method should be avoided at all costs.

I hope this helps

Nige Wade

Cheers guys, the lanyard idea sounds like a definate plan. I remember a couple of the dives last year at Tiran were a little too swift of current to have anything handed to you so to dip the camera in first sounds like the way to go. Anyways thats just getting in, still got to figure out the whole strobe thing. Managed to get some nice pics last year in Bali http://www.flickr.com/photos/mooseman1007/sets/ using the onboard flash of my cameras and a Inon 165 Macro, but wanted to add the next part to the kit so my new ULCS and YS01 setup is now ready for christening :-)

Moose

Probably a stupid question, but one that has me contemplating. Ive got ~30 dives with camera under my belt (a Fuji F100 in OEM housing) and the majority of those dives were either shoredives or off a RIB, so getting the camera in was easy (either held close to chest and back roll, or handed in). I was in Egypt last year and did a few dives holding the camera close for the giant stride entry, not ideal but was ok with a small camera, anyways Ive just bought a strobe and as you can imagine thats increased the bulk of my camera, and am back off to Egypt in a week for a 10 days of day boat diving. Whats the easiest way of getting in with the camera when the boats busy or theres current, and its not easy to have the camera handed to you? Ideas guys ?

Moose

The lanyard dangle with a shock cord is likely more preferable than a giant stride with camera. That said, I can do a giant stride and not go deeper than my shoulders initially. Timing and a good kick is what it takes. Practice! One hand on mask & 2nd stage and the other arm holding the rig aloft (Statue of Liberty entrance?). I am older than dirt, so you young puppies can do this.

Bob

I would agree that I prefer my camera handed in to me whenever possible, but over the years there have been occasions when it has not been a feasible option. Scapa Flow on a boat with a 1 metre giant stride entry springs to mind, I got away with this with an Ikelite housed D70s and 8" dome with Tokina 10-17. This was over 8-9dives and with the old two clip retaining system for the port. I held it close to my chest with the dome held on firmly by my arm. I have only during 8years of diving Ikelite housings had one catastrophic leak which was early on and user error with the oring kinked, the camera was carefully handed in on that occasion. This has not stopped me worrying about such entries and leaks in general though the 4 clips on the D300 housing do give a better feeling of security.

This may be an overstated problem, but I will continue not to do entries like Scapa if there is a feasible alternative.

Eternal vigilance is the price of dryness!

Tim Digger

Camera handed to you is the very best option...but I know exactly where you are coming from...and sometimes its not an option...

If I am going off a rib or a small zodiac (I have been on Red sea liveaboards where the diving is indeed sometimes done out of a small zodiac)-particularly if- say- the pre-dive brief says you must hit the water and submerge quickly as there is a current running....well... I just swing my legs over the pontoon, camera rig outstretched in front of me..about level with my forehead (just like Deep 6's Statue of liberty- have one hand on your rig...or if its' too heavy, then both hands), regulator in your mouth, bcd deflated.....and just 'bottom slide' off the pontoon...gently into the water...my feet go first, then my body, then my head, and the last thing to go under is my outstretched arms with my rig in it.

Back rolling off a boat with my rig.... in any shape or form...is an absolutely no-no for me!

I want to see where my camera is at all times.

Also, if you are in the water....keep a good distance from other divers if you are all on the surface together..because surface collisions with ur rig and another diver are also a possibility.

Good luck.

I'm bucking the trend here... I just clip my Nauticam rig to my shoulder D-rings and jump in off the dive deck or roll backwards off the rib whether its blue water single cylider diving or teckie stuff with multiple stages.

I'm bucking the trend here... I just clip my Nauticam rig to my shoulder D-rings and jump in off the dive deck or roll backwards off the rib whether its blue water single cylider diving or teckie stuff with multiple stages.

This is how I get into the water with my housing too. I tend to hold onto the housing and try to grip it so that the flash arm(s) have limited movement and I've never had a problem doing so. I doubt that 'O' rings will get displaced during such an entry (as far as I can see they would need to have a great deal of space to be able to move in and as most are already under effective compression they shouldn't be able to displace) but housing, flashes and arms battering together can cause damage so everything needs to be kept as tightly bundled as feasible. I use a single rope lanyard.

If you are diving in a big current, the option to have the camera handed to you after entering the water may not be there. Also, after having a dome port fall off as it was passed to me (yes, I lost the camera) I noted painfully that this is also a risk with some housings. For this reason my prefered method is to put the camera in the water (from dive platform or RIB tube) myself and, without letting go of it, follow it in. It may not look elegant but is my camera flooded? No!

Thanks for all the advice guys, currents werent as bad as last year up at Tiran, though the Thistlegorm dives were a little more choppy. Ended up getting in mostly quite buoyant and with the camera above my head, worked a treat and I dont know what I was worried about now. 20 dives this trip and apart from dislodging the fibreoptic once on entry no problems. Strobe took a bit of getting used to but its definately helped.

Moose