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Trivia
Feb 8, 2006

I'm an obtuse man,
so I'll try to be oblique.

MA-Horus posted:

What is it with Japanese tourists and ruining things? Was back out at Sail Rock again with the bull sharks, but the seas were so rough the Japanese couldn't get back into the boat. So we left after one dive.

Fuckers.

I'll hop on the generalization train and say that JP divers are either really good (dive masters) or horrible (tourists). In Palau I'd see them sitting on the loving reef and I'd just about have an aneurysm. I am almost certain it's because their licensing organizations are poo poo.


In a similar anecdote, back in 2009 my then JP girlfriend and I decided to go to the Philippines to get our advanced open-water. I've had mine since I was 13, but she still need to get her basic. She did so, and we jaunted to Cebu.

It was in the pool that I realized just how ill-prepared she was. She didn't know how to attain neutral buoyancy, how don equipment, or other basic skills. I was baffled and asked her if she did any skills training, to which she said no. Her advanced course was essentially a basics course as well.

One day we were doing some skills tests and she was complaining about splitting migraines afterwards, saying she might have to quit diving. The dive master and I were pretty perplexed until I asked "Have you been clearing your mask?" The answer was of course "no." Cue the furtive exchange of nervous glances.

Hell, she didn't even know what decompression sickness was.

Trivia fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Sep 7, 2012

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MA-Horus
Dec 3, 2006

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.

Trivia posted:

I'll hop on the generalization train and say that JP divers are either really good (dive masters) or horrible (tourists). In Palau I'd see them sitting on the loving reef and I'd just about have an aneurysm. I am almost certain it's because their licensing organizations are poo poo.


In a similar anecdote, back in 2009 my then JP girlfriend and I decided to go to the Philippines to get our advanced open-water. I've had mine since I was 13, but she still need to get her basic. She did so, and we jaunted to Cebu.

It was in the pool that I realized just how ill-prepared she was. She didn't know how to attain neutral buoyancy, how don equipment, or other basic skills. I was baffled and asked her if she did any skills training, to which she said no. Her advanced course was essentially a basics course as well.

One day we were doing some skills tests and she was complaining about splitting migraines afterwards, saying she might have to quit diving. The dive master and I were pretty perplexed until I asked "Have you been clearing your mask?" The answer was of course "no." Cue the furtive exchange of nervous glances.

Hell, she didn't even know what decompression sickness was.


The Japanese dive masters here are indeed quite good, and must have the patience of saints. The tourists hop in the water with thousands of dollars in camera gear and start flashing away at loving everything. It's very annoying.

The other day at Sail Rock, we come around this pinnacle and see a group of big eye trevally, escorting a 5m whale shark. We swim with it for a little while, then the Japanese show up and the water just starts blinking with camera flashes. And it leaves.

eviljelly
Aug 29, 2004

The worst four divers I've ever taken out fun diving were all Israeli. Common to all of them: barely listened to the briefing ("yeah, yeah, we know. we know") which led to them not even knowing basic hand signals that I went over, couldn't achieve neutral buoyancy (one was a rescue diver, even), never paid attention underwater, and had no qualms about just shooting up as fast as they could kick. One Advanced Open Water girl didn't know how to clear her mask.

Trivia
Feb 8, 2006

I'm an obtuse man,
so I'll try to be oblique.
I can't believe people don't take scuba more seriously, especially considering these are save-your-life skills in an inherently dangerous activity.

SlicerDicer
Oct 31, 2010

PAILOLO CHANNEL

East gales to 35 kt. Wind waves 17 ft. Scattered showers.

Its time to DIVE

Trivia posted:

I can't believe people don't take scuba more seriously, especially considering these are save-your-life skills in an inherently dangerous activity.

And now enter the world of recreational rebreathers! PPO2 crash kills you as easy as a car crash...

Its not SCUBA its Underwater Life Support..

TANZENTURTLE
Oct 15, 2009

Pikachuuuuu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suKuS7NYy94
Video here of last thursday's night dive at Bare Island in Sydney's La Perouse. This is the place where Tom Cruise did all kinds of nonsense in Mission Impossible 2. He drives his motorbike down the bridge to the island for like 1 minute, and it's only about 100 metres long.:confused:

MA-Horus
Dec 3, 2006

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.

So. Two weeks of diving on Koh Tao complete. In those two weeks I've purchased a BCD, reg, fins, boots, rash guard and dive computer.

I am addicted to this sport. I can't stop thinking about when I can dive next. I'm pretty sure I'm coming back to do my DMT.

ttomkat
Mar 26, 2010
So I am heading off to Belize in about 6 weeks and I am still fairly new to diving but I really want to capture what I see underwater.
I have been looking at underwater cameras, but I am still undecided. I don't have a huge budget for a full camera/strobe package. I am not looking to go pro, just to have fun and share my experiences with friends and family.

What should I go for or do you have any other suggestions?
HD Hero 2 with Backscatter UW Housing

Canon S100 w/Ikelite UW Housing

I need a new camera so I am leaning towards the S100, but I am open to suggestions.

Thanks!

cefyr
Sep 10, 2012

ttomkat posted:

So I am heading off to Belize in about 6 weeks and I am still fairly new to diving but I really want to capture what I see underwater.
I have been looking at underwater cameras, but I am still undecided. I don't have a huge budget for a full camera/strobe package. I am not looking to go pro, just to have fun and share my experiences with friends and family.

What should I go for or do you have any other suggestions?
HD Hero 2 with Backscatter UW Housing

Canon S100 w/Ikelite UW Housing

I need a new camera so I am leaning towards the S100, but I am open to suggestions.

Thanks!

Well I've been diving in Oahu for a couple of years now and originally bought a gopro for all my diving/god-oh-why-did-I-think-this-was-a-good-idea activities and can recommend it very highly for such scenarios however that's about the extent of its usefulness as it's not meant to be a "real" camera but more a point of view only camera. ( you'll notice the lack of screens or eye ports) with that being said
it does a spectacular job of staying dry at depth.

Now if you want a real camera for out of the water shots then I suggest you steer away from the point and shoot cameras and instead give a DSLR a try, they not only allow you to take control of virtually every aspect of the process but their larger imaging sensor produces a much clearer and better quality picture overall and with the advent of mirror less cameras you will find that there are a lot of deals on very good cameras out there in the same price range as the S100.

If you need any help choosing a good starter camera just pm me or ask me here.

Trivia
Feb 8, 2006

I'm an obtuse man,
so I'll try to be oblique.
I picked up a camera and housing for 200 each. I think it did a fairly decent job underwater, and above water it's great too.

I looked into gopros, but you'll need to buy additional accessories if you want a display, etc. You may also have to buy a special housing for underwater photography, as there is some distortion last I checked.

MA-Horus
Dec 3, 2006

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.

A friend of mine has the S100 and it takes pretty nice underwater shots.

A woman I dove with yesterday has the Canon G12 with a strobe and that takes exceptional shots, picked up the colors on all the pretty nudibranchs really nicely.

I'm gonna miss Thailand. Well I'm gonna miss the bikinis a lot too, but I'll miss Thailand the most.

Trivia
Feb 8, 2006

I'm an obtuse man,
so I'll try to be oblique.
Thailand's Similans was kind of my diving renaissance, after which I've been to a couple of other world-class destinations.

I will say this: Palau is incredible and if you love diving you owe it to yourself to go. There are flights to Koror from both Japan (Narita Airport, Delta) and the Philippines. DO IT.

ttomkat
Mar 26, 2010

cefyr posted:

Now if you want a real camera for out of the water shots then I suggest you steer away from the point and shoot cameras and instead give a DSLR a try, they not only allow you to take control of virtually every aspect of the process but their larger imaging sensor produces a much clearer and better quality picture overall and with the advent of mirror less cameras you will find that there are a lot of deals on very good cameras out there in the same price range as the S100.

If you need any help choosing a good starter camera just pm me or ask me here.

I considered the T3i, but one it is pretty expensive considering the fact that I would still need an underwater housing and two, I want something portable for activities like zip lining, cave tubing, hiking. I just can't see myself lugging around all that stuff.

I like the G12 as an option as well.

Loving Africa Chaps
Dec 3, 2007


We had not left it yet, but when I would wake in the night, I would lie, listening, homesick for it already.

cefyr posted:

Well I've been diving in Oahu for a couple of years now and originally bought a gopro for all my diving/god-oh-why-did-I-think-this-was-a-good-idea activities and can recommend it very highly for such scenarios however that's about the extent of its usefulness as it's not meant to be a "real" camera but more a point of view only camera. ( you'll notice the lack of screens or eye ports) with that being said
it does a spectacular job of staying dry at depth.

Now if you want a real camera for out of the water shots then I suggest you steer away from the point and shoot cameras and instead give a DSLR a try, they not only allow you to take control of virtually every aspect of the process but their larger imaging sensor produces a much clearer and better quality picture overall and with the advent of mirror less cameras you will find that there are a lot of deals on very good cameras out there in the same price range as the S100.

If you need any help choosing a good starter camera just pm me or ask me here.

I've got a DSLR but the problem is the housing would cost the same as a diving holiday in the red sea.

cefyr
Sep 10, 2012
Well if you already have a DSLR then go for the GoPro it really is a great deal for the money. I've never had a reason to complain about it and have taken the poor thing through hell and back a few times over and it still has a few trips left.

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004
I've never used it for stills, but I have a GoPro Hero 2 with the dive housing and it takes great video for the money.

SlicerDicer
Oct 31, 2010

PAILOLO CHANNEL

East gales to 35 kt. Wind waves 17 ft. Scattered showers.

Its time to DIVE

cefyr posted:

Well if you already have a DSLR then go for the GoPro it really is a great deal for the money. I've never had a reason to complain about it and have taken the poor thing through hell and back a few times over and it still has a few trips left.

My GoPro I left it on the bottom doing a 4 day timelapse gig. Its in a extreme hostile environment right now. Wish it luck people :) its on a pinnacle off molokai just off the Pailolo Channel. Pretty much extreme water.



Otherwise I shot this today with my DSLR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEX9eYuo2gY

Crunkjuice
Apr 4, 2007

That could've gotten in my eye!
*launches teargas at unarmed protestors*

I THINK OAKLAND PD'S USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE WAS JUSTIFIED!
That is really loving cool. Is there software on the gopro for the timelapse? How do you coordinate lights turning on/off for the photos as i assume they won't/can't stay on for 4 days? How many photo's are you taking total? Whats the goal of the photoshoot?

Seriously, give me some more info here dude. Thats rad as hell

Asymmetric POSTer
Aug 17, 2005

ttomkat posted:

So I am heading off to Belize in about 6 weeks and I am still fairly new to diving but I really want to capture what I see underwater.
I have been looking at underwater cameras, but I am still undecided. I don't have a huge budget for a full camera/strobe package. I am not looking to go pro, just to have fun and share my experiences with friends and family.

What should I go for or do you have any other suggestions?
HD Hero 2 with Backscatter UW Housing

Canon S100 w/Ikelite UW Housing

I need a new camera so I am leaning towards the S100, but I am open to suggestions.

Thanks!

I'd go for an S100 with the official Canon Housing, not the Ikelite.

I've been diving with the S90 since it came out and for the size/price, it takes pretty nice shots.

Just make sure (if you're buying it in store) it's not one of the recalled units

cefyr
Sep 10, 2012

Crunkjuice posted:

That is really loving cool. Is there software on the gopro for the timelapse? How do you coordinate lights turning on/off for the photos as i assume they won't/can't stay on for 4 days? How many photo's are you taking total? Whats the goal of the photoshoot?

Seriously, give me some more info here dude. Thats rad as hell

I second that ! also are you securing it to something somehow? just saying if I found a camera during a dive just laying there, well it would be there when I end my dive...

on a side note I have now found a Hawaiian goon, now I just need one on the same island who plays eve and I'm golden

SlicerDicer
Oct 31, 2010

PAILOLO CHANNEL

East gales to 35 kt. Wind waves 17 ft. Scattered showers.

Its time to DIVE
Its a time lapse hardware mod.
http://cam-do.com/GoProTimeController.html

No it wont stay on 4 days but by power cycling with the controller above you gain far extended time. Also it has light sensor so it turns off at night. My goal of the photos is to see what is out there during the time I am not there if possible. I spend 6 hours a week there on my rebreather on average, whats going on the rest of the time? Only one way to find out yes?

Knowing that things like, Scalloped Hammerheads, Tiger Sharks, Oceanic Blacktips, White Tip Reef Sharks, Galapagos Sharks, Whale Sharks, Hump Back Whales, Pilot Whales, Dolphins (Spinner and Bottlenose), Eagle Rays, Manta Rays, Hawaiian Stingrays, Less common? Great Hammerheads have been seen. Great White's, Mako's, Oceanic Whitetip, Marlin, "Insert Here"

As for somebody finding the camera? I doubt it is that likely given how many people go out there. I am going to be changing it in short order so it will be almost invisible... unless you know what you are looking for you will NEVER find it. The chances of people diving down to those depths and looking when nothing is down there is unlikely. And most people that dive out there are too worried about their impending death to worry about a stupid camera. Hell if I decided to get adventurous and start looking I know of at least 3 8000+$ cameras setting on the bottom in about 120ft of water in a general heading.

And yes its secured with 10lbs of LEAD lol...

The reality is I am more worried about a tigershark eating it.

Hope this helps? And I live on Maui

Crunkjuice posted:

That is really loving cool. Is there software on the gopro for the timelapse? How do you coordinate lights turning on/off for the photos as i assume they won't/can't stay on for 4 days? How many photo's are you taking total? Whats the goal of the photoshoot?

Seriously, give me some more info here dude. Thats rad as hell


cefyr posted:

I second that ! also are you securing it to something somehow? just saying if I found a camera during a dive just laying there, well it would be there when I end my dive...

on a side note I have now found a Hawaiian goon, now I just need one on the same island who plays eve and I'm golden

cefyr
Sep 10, 2012
Well going back to the original question I have stills both above water and under I can post if I ever figure out how and/or you actually want to see them.
both taken with a stock gopro ( not the full hd one but great non the less)

macado
Jun 3, 2003

How to keep an idiot busy, Click here.
Anyone have any recommendations for taking the PADI IDC course? I'm looking to take the IDC/IE sometime in late January or February depending on the schedule.

I'm just having trouble finding reviews of different places, the options are endless from Florida, Mexico, Costa Rica, Utila, Roatan, Thailand for places to do it. I thought about doing it in Cozumel since it's one of my favorite places and I frequently dive there and have lots of friends that work on island but I just figured I would also look around at other places. I also looked at Rainbow Divers in the keys.

If you've done the IDC, do you recommend the place where you took it?

My fear is getting stuck in a class with lots of younger students with limited dives. I'm obviously not the most experienced person but I have been diving about 10 years (~850 dives) lots of local diving in New England, wreck/tech diving. I'm not looking for zero-to-hero. I'm already a DM and frequently help OW students in the pool and deckhand/DM on the a dive boat locally.

TLG James
Jun 5, 2000

Questing ain't easy
CUTTLEFISH MANIA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSE92dq9H8s

NPR Journalizard
Feb 14, 2008

cefyr posted:

if I ever figure out how

go to imgur.com
upload pics.
paste into reply.

SlicerDicer
Oct 31, 2010

PAILOLO CHANNEL

East gales to 35 kt. Wind waves 17 ft. Scattered showers.

Its time to DIVE

cefyr posted:

Well going back to the original question I have stills both above water and under I can post if I ever figure out how and/or you actually want to see them.
both taken with a stock gopro ( not the full hd one but great non the less)

It would be neat to see them. Yeah like previous post just do imgur :)

Le Edit: Tomorrow I go to Molokai and pick up my Go Pro thats been there since Tuesday! I hope its survived the harsh world of the fringing Pailolo Channel!

SlicerDicer fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Sep 14, 2012

TLG James
Jun 5, 2000

Questing ain't easy
Anyone have any idea what the hell this guy is?



In Caribbean.

MA-Horus
Dec 3, 2006

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.

Some sort of shrimp, perhaps?

SlicerDicer
Oct 31, 2010

PAILOLO CHANNEL

East gales to 35 kt. Wind waves 17 ft. Scattered showers.

Its time to DIVE
Commentary on Helium Shortage, Trimix is in danger!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgluZXfqlbA

cefyr
Sep 10, 2012
well goons asked and I deliver! (I hope...)











these are all just random under water and above
I'll be glad to photograph anything specific you might want to test

cefyr fucked around with this message at 07:28 on Sep 17, 2012

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004
Is that the stock housing? It looks blurry.

cefyr
Sep 10, 2012
entirely stock and god know what setting it was on, I pretty much jsut threw the instructions away and hosed with it till i got it to work, i highly recommend you get the underwater housing and lcd backng so u can see what u r doing

SlicerDicer
Oct 31, 2010

PAILOLO CHANNEL

East gales to 35 kt. Wind waves 17 ft. Scattered showers.

Its time to DIVE

cefyr posted:

entirely stock and god know what setting it was on, I pretty much jsut threw the instructions away and hosed with it till i got it to work, i highly recommend you get the underwater housing and lcd backng so u can see what u r doing

just remember when you post a imgur link you can always edit it but...



http://i.imgur.com/lRhJkh<-- Add trailing h here

http://i.imgur.com/lRhJkh.jpg results in this link and makes the image smaller.

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004
Yeah, I have a Hero2 and the GoPro dive housing. I don't have the LCD and I'm not really sure that I need it really. It drains battery like crazy and it's so wide angle that it's pretty hard not to really aim it right. If I were trying to shoot stills that would be different though. I'm using it solely for video.

NPR Journalizard
Feb 14, 2008

SlicerDicer posted:

http://i.imgur.com/lRhJkh.jpg results in this link and makes the image smaller.

Or, you can use the timg tags.

cefyr
Sep 10, 2012

SlicerDicer posted:

just remember when you post a imgur link you can always edit it but...



http://i.imgur.com/lRhJkh<-- Add trailing h here

http://i.imgur.com/lRhJkh.jpg results in this link and makes the image smaller.

Thanks brother, I'm still learning the ways of the forum! edited and fixed.

pupdive
Jun 13, 2012

macado posted:

Anyone have any recommendations for taking the PADI IDC course? I'm looking to take the IDC/IE sometime in late January or February depending on the schedule.

I'm just having trouble finding reviews of different places, the options are endless from Florida, Mexico, Costa Rica, Utila, Roatan, Thailand for places to do it. I thought about doing it in Cozumel since it's one of my favorite places and I frequently dive there and have lots of friends that work on island but I just figured I would also look around at other places. I also looked at Rainbow Divers in the keys.

If you've done the IDC, do you recommend the place where you took it?

My fear is getting stuck in a class with lots of younger students with limited dives. I'm obviously not the most experienced person but I have been diving about 10 years (~850 dives) lots of local diving in New England, wreck/tech diving. I'm not looking for zero-to-hero. I'm already a DM and frequently help OW students in the pool and deckhand/DM on the a dive boat locally.

Not to be confrontational, but the first thing to think about before becoming an instructor is that we really do not need any more instructors who already know everything teaching. We have more than enough of those, and that is the reason why we cannot get octopus's moved to the left side of rental gear, and why we still have tank valves turned back, and why we are still training with snorkels, etc. etc. Because we are tied to the way things used to be, for largely no good reasons other than inertia.

An example of a a word that screams 'already thinks they knows everything' is the word zero-to-hero. I learn something from every single open water student I teach. I have done far, far more diving than anyone I ever teach, and yet I look to students for new ideas, both for my teaching, and for general dive behavior. New ideas come from people new to the field. I want new instructors who are also new divers around me, because at least some of the time they are actually thinking new thoughts. Experienced divers and instructors often tend to get set in their ways. Unfortunately, there are plenty of new divers and instructors who also just parrot what they heard/read and get set in their ways early on without any real experience.

I say that recognizing full well that an instructor's experience is useful. But it is only really useful to those who open to learning from it. And being open to learning from it requires one to be ready to learn from those less knowledgeable about things. Which you do not appear to be ready to do.

Separately:

The IDC is not going to teach anything but how to manipulate the PADI educational system, and course directors are mostly equally good at conveying that info. It would be nice to think that there might be something more in an IDC but since the IDCs are store/resort based nowadays, the something more has just become marketing the store/resort.

macado
Jun 3, 2003

How to keep an idiot busy, Click here.

pupdive posted:

Not to be confrontational, but the first thing to think about before becoming an instructor is that we really do not need any more instructors who already know everything teaching. We have more than enough of those, and that is the reason why we cannot get octopus's moved to the left side of rental gear, and why we still have tank valves turned back, and why we are still training with snorkels, etc. etc. Because we are tied to the way things used to be, for largely no good reasons other than inertia.

I don't think you're trying to be confrontational; I understand what you're saying. I'm very open minded person when I teach or help out students as it is. We have too many macho/arrogant "know-it-all" instructors up here (in New England) with chips on their shoulders. Believe me, that's not what I am shooting for. That sort of attitude kills me. I have fun on every dive and diving with anyone regardless of their experience.

With that being said, I have met some very new instructors who are great with students. Teaching just comes easier to some people. On the other end of the spectrum, I know of 30 year veteran instructors whom I wouldn't recommend anyone to.

I am mainly looking for an IDC has turns out good quality instructors and teaches to (and or beyond) standards. Maybe they all do that? But I haven't really been able to find reviews on different IDCs. My whole comments on my experience were based on the fact that I didn't want anyone to think i'm a bright-eyed student with grand delusions of becoming the next big PADI Master Scuba Diver Instructor.

MA-Horus
Dec 3, 2006

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.

Must it be PADI? I've found SSI puts out some very good instructors.

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macado
Jun 3, 2003

How to keep an idiot busy, Click here.

MA-Horus posted:

Must it be PADI? I've found SSI puts out some very good instructors.

No beef with SSI. They seem to have decent instructors except for one person I know. I found some of their training material to be a little unpolished. I hate how they refer to everything as a "Total Dive System."

I've taken courses from PADI, NAUI, SSI, TDI, CMAS. While PADI does have a reputation for having some terrible instructors, I firmly believe it's the instructor not the agency. PADI just happens to be the biggest so naturally there are more PADI instructors/divers out there.

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