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let it mellow posted:We had our GoPro stolen in the Bahamas so we’re gonna get another alternative to the EP5 with strobes and all that poo poo, is the RX100 the best option? Pretty much, especially since when it comes to underwater you're taking into account different factors vs land photography. Tilting screens, viewfinder, remote app quality, manual controls etc. aren't as important as AF speed, ISO performance, macro ability and ease of use. Like, I personally favor the Panasonic LX100 over RX100 but all the features I enjoy about it are really for land not sea work. Also, since they're very popular you can upgrade easily as they keep their value pretty well. If you buy one second hand now it will probably only lose 10-15% value max in a years time. Otherwise a step up would be Sony A6000 or Fuji X-T10 but then you start running into the issue of lens Vs housing compatibility. So you're either stuck with a small range of lenses (For Meikon) you can use or you have to shell out $2000 for a housing with interchangeable lens tubes, and then you also have to get a good wide angle in either Sony E-Mount or Fuji X-Mount and that's around $650+ off the top of my head. So it really hits this sort of exponential slope where it skyrockets if you're looking to go beyond fixed-lens camera + a simple strobe or two. And anecdotally everyone I've seen with a pro-level camera setup has also been diving with their own very expensive rebreather because they want to make the most of it. TLDR: Yes Rx100 is "best", yes there are better options but you have to be 100% committed to going down the $$$$ rabithole that is (semi)pro-underwater photography. But other goons feel free to chime in. Also, can y'all tell me more about diving in the islands of Honduras? My friend really recommends it as he said he had a great time there doing his instructions training, but Im more interested in feedback from those who've been there on holiday since that's what I'd be doing.
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Sep 7, 2018 12:41
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DeadlyMuffin posted:Interesting. You can take lobster on scuba here, but I typically advise people to avoid southern California dive boats the first month of lobster season since it attracts a lot of bad divers and the boats aren't interested in going to protected areas where the life is much better, but people can't hunt. Right, but that's rock lobster right, not Maine Lobster? No big claws? In MA, as a scuba diver, you can't hunt at night (nothing after sundown), you must use your hands (no traps, snares, or spears), and if you use a "tickle stick", it can't have a hook on it, or a pointy end, and any bends must be less then 30 degrees. Also, minimum and maximum thorax size based on a gauge, no taking eggers (holding external fertilized eggs), and no taking females with notched tails. Then the professional lobstermen pull up an egger, they notch her tail, which gives her an additional two seasons to lay eggs, and maybe make it to maximum size. DeadlyMuffin posted:I think it'd be really interesting to dive the temperate Atlantic though. What're the best locations in the northeast to see lots of life? LOL, temperate? Around here, the colder the water, the more life there is! A lot of the really good diving is up in Maine, but again, no lobstah there. We have crustaceans, vast beds of shellfish (including giant scallops, yum), fin fish (including sharks), seals (grey seals are making a come back), nudibranch, green urchins (think sushi), tons of different kinds of seaweed and kelp. Oh, and flounder is plentiful. Sadly, the cod is pretty much gone.  The Atlantic's patterns pretty much split at Cape Cod: north of the Cape is part of the North Atlantic, and south of The Cape is the Mid-Atlantic. There is usually at least a 10 degree difference in water temps on either side of the cape! Come on up for a visit, I'll take you lobster diving. I only dive wet, so my season is like May through November.
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Sep 7, 2018 13:15
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Squashy Nipples posted:Right, but that's rock lobster right, not Maine Lobster? No big claws? I had no idea you could take cold-water lobster on scuba at all. I thought the commercial guys had shut everyone else out of the business.
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Sep 7, 2018 13:30
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Ropes4u posted:My wife and I are thinking about sneaking away for a week and tickets to Bonaire are cost prohibitive right now. We have been to TranquilSeas 3 times and loved it every time: http://tranquilseas.com It's a cool little eco lodge in Sandy Bay with a dive operation on site. Good snorkeling on the inside of the reef right out front, you can take a kayak or just jump off the dock, and awesome food if you're not feeling like going anywhere after diving! Looks like they are running a nice special now too.
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Sep 7, 2018 16:13
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Squashy Nipples posted:Right, but that's rock lobster right, not Maine Lobster? No big claws? Right. Spiny lobster.  Squashy Nipples posted:In MA, as a scuba diver, you can't hunt at night (nothing after sundown), you must use yourp hands (no traps, snares, or spears), and if you use a "tickle stick", it can't have a hook on it, or a pointy end, and any bends must be less then 30 degrees. I think there are similar rules here for our lobster, but I'm not well versed since I don't hunt. Squashy Nipples posted:LOL, temperate? Around here, the colder the water, the more life there is! A lot of the really good diving is up in Maine, but again, no lobstah there. Temperate as in not-tropical :-) I'm good down to the mid 40s or so. What're your typical temperatures? Squashy Nipples posted:Come on up for a visit, I'll take you lobster diving. I only dive wet, so my season is like May through November. I might take you up on that, but it sounds like Maine (no hunting, more life) might be more my jam. Winter has some of the best diving where I normally dive near Monterey. The temps actually don't vary a whole lot seasonally, probably due to the trench. I consider 48-55 F at depth the normal range. DeadlyMuffin fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Sep 7, 2018 |
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Sep 7, 2018 16:41
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MrYenko posted:I had no idea you could take cold-water lobster on scuba at all. I thought the commercial guys had shut everyone else out of the business. Only in Maine. The lobstermen run Maine. In MA, our current rules were the results of hard lobbying by our various "skindiving" clubs under the umbrella of Mass Bay Divers. We can take up to 15 lobster per day, assuming we follow all the other rules. We actually have a decent relationship with the lobster boats, as long as we stay out of their way and don't touch the traps. On rare occasion, we help them out with a fouled prop or blocked outflow or something. Note that the lobsterboats don't actually have to give way to dive flags (which we are required to use!); as long as they are working their turf, it's up the divers to stay away!!! In CT (Long Island Sound), the lobster fishery collapsed so fast that they never had time to put any regulations in place! When I was a kid, I remember a lot of lobster pots in The Sound, but these days, none. Old timers in CT tell stories of hunting massively oversized lobsters at night. DeadlyMuffin posted:
Mid 40s or so is as cold as it gets; the shallow water gets colder in winter, but the main water mass is so cold that the deep water changes very little from season to season. So, deep wrecks, low to mid 40s. When you hit the last thermocline from shore diving, generally mid 40s to mid 50s, depending on season. Water near the shore will be mid 60s this time of year, to mid 30s in mid winter. It's amazing how little the water temps warm up in the North Atlantic. I stop diving not because the water is cold, but because the weather topside gets cold. Plus, I have winter hobbies. DeadlyMuffin posted:Winter has some of the best diving where I normally dive near Monterey. The temps actually don't vary a whole lot seasonally, probably due to the trench. I consider 48-55 F at depth the normal range. You'd be fine diving here three seasons out of the year. Some of the best diving is in fall. Yes, January visibility is supposed to be amazing here, but the logistics of diving in weather that extreme is a lot. Most winter diving is ice diving in lakes, because the ocean is too dangerous. DeadlyMuffin posted:I might take you up on that, but it sounds like Maine (no hunting, more life) might be more my jam. It's not that far away! Lobster are the only thing I hunt, and I don't go for lobster on every dive. If you want to play with the Grey Seals, the Isle of Shoals is on the NH/Maine border. Here, these two books are great reference on East Coast diving (the author is friends with my dive club): A Shore Diving Guide to New England https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097629530X/ A Year Underwater: Twelve Months of Diving, Fraternizing with Marine Life, and Just Having a Great Time, from the St. Lawrence River to West Palm Beach https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0998890103/
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Sep 7, 2018 17:36
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Squashy Nipples posted:
Thank you! I'll do some reading and maybe hit you up some time next year. I've spent very little time on the east coast, I should fix that. Likewise, if you're ever interested in giving west coast diving a shot let me know.
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Sep 7, 2018 18:50
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DeadlyMuffin posted:Thank you! I'll do some reading and maybe hit you up some time next year. I've spent very little time on the east coast, I should fix that. If you want to visit the Cape, give me a buzz. My wife dives for work, and I'm always looking for an excuse to actually GO diving.
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Sep 7, 2018 20:37
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Jomo posted:Pretty much, especially since when it comes to underwater you're taking into account different factors vs land photography. Tilting screens, viewfinder, remote app quality, manual controls etc. aren't as important as AF speed, ISO performance, macro ability and ease of use. Thank you for this advice, and so I’ll answer your Honduras questions. First, we’ve only dove Roatan and Utila, plus I did rescue in Utila, so I didn’t get as many fun dives (what they call rec dives) there as my wife did. Both places are good but Utila is probably better from a pure diving standpoint. For example, we both found seahorses there and those are extremely rare. My wife found hers on a fun dive while I was off doing rescue breathing exercises, I found mine on a tank killer explore after an exercise. The downside to Utila is that it’s Utila. You have to know what you’re getting into there. Roatan, on the other hand, is a fantastic island and has a ton of non-diving stuff to do. The dive sites are pretty populated with both marine life and other divers, so get a shop that goes early. The general area is in good shape and has relatively shallow sites, plus we never ran into time limited dives. Do get nitrox though, since you’ll generally be at 60-70’ first dive and 49-60’ second tank, which will put you near deco with just air and good consumption. Dunno where you’re coming from but I assume you can get to Roatan easily. If you want to go to Utila, take the flights from Roatan. The ferry takes you to the mainland first then to Utila, so that’s like 3 hours vs a 15 minute flight. And for the flight, once you clear customs, take a left in the ticketing terminal and you’ll walk out to the puddle jumper area.
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Sep 14, 2018 04:30
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Jomo posted:
There is a big price jump between point and shoots and mirrorless/dslrs, but you don't have to get into $10,000+a rebreather territory. I'm currently diving:
That's $2,351 total. Figure that a tray, arms, SD card, etc. run you another couple hundred and figure $2,550 for my rig (and that's not getting into macro). A rx100 runs $550 on ebay, and housings are around $400 as close as I can tell. Throw in 2 strobes + the $200 for arms, trays, sd card and you're at $1,750. It looks like you can also buy some full rigs on Ebay for around $1,000 but since I parted out my rig I figured I'd keep it apples to apples. If you were willing to buy a generation back I'll bet you could keep it under $1000. In short: this poo poo is expensive, but if you buy used and don't need the new hotness you can make your money go much further. I dove a S95 rig I paid $350 for for years before I made the leap to m43. My rationale is that this is my passion; I dive as much as I can, and I don't have other expensive hobbies, and I tell myself I'll never be one of those people with a $10,000 rig. But maybe I'm just kidding myself. It's a lot of money. Pics from this weekend with the setup I listed:  Blue rockfish  Pretty reef  Kelp rockfish
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Sep 17, 2018 20:45
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DeadlyMuffin posted:There is a big price jump between point and shoots and mirrorless/dslrs, but you don't have to get into $10,000+a rebreather territory. Nice pics and ty to everyone with the rig advice.
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Sep 18, 2018 05:30
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Since we're talking about cameras: one thing that really annoys me is that there is no good source (that I know of) for housing/port/lens compatibility. Here's an example of a picture taken with a 7-14mm lens with the housing + dome I listed above.  Note the blurring in the corners. That's field curvature, and it's caused by the dome not being centered on the entrance pupil of the lens. The focal plane ends up being a curved surface rather than a flat plane, so the further you get from the center of the image the worse the focus is. That's an easy thing for the camera + dome manufacturer to figure out, but it isn't published anywhere. I bought this dome port specifically for that 7-14mm lens, and was super disappointed with it. If you look at the 12mm pictures I posted above the corners are sharp. It's because the entrance pupil of the 12mm prime lens sits further back than on the 7-14mm zoom, and is a better match to the dome. I've had a few conversations with folks at underwater camera shops (Backscatter and Blue Water) and nobody's really interested in coming up with a list of what's compatible as far as I can tell. They have tables of port/lens combos, but they seem to just be making sure the ports don't vignette the lens. DeadlyMuffin fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Sep 18, 2018 |
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Sep 18, 2018 06:04
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Since I killed the thread with camera chat, let me try and resurrect it: Does anyone have a recommendation for Caribbean destinations with a nice house reef? I did Buddy Dive in Bonaire a few years ago, and being able to walk from my room to the beach, grab a tank and fall in the water was glorious. I'm thinking of doing it again, but I'm wondering if there are other/better places on Bonaire or elsewhere in the Caribbean
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Sep 20, 2018 17:26
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DeadlyMuffin posted:Since I killed the thread with camera chat, let me try and resurrect it: We spend two weeks a year at beachcombers in Bonaire. It’s a nice condo above the owners home with a nice dive out the front door. The apartments have a kitchen and air condition and the owners are very nice. https://bonairebeachcombervillas.com
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Sep 21, 2018 03:55
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DeadlyMuffin posted:Since I killed the thread with camera chat, let me try and resurrect it: Westpunt in curacao, check out go west diving for the reef that’s right off their dock E: or go back to Bonaire and rent a hilux, we did that and it owned. Drive around and pick a site, then go let it mellow fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Sep 23, 2018 |
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Sep 22, 2018 04:11
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let it mellow posted:E: or go back to Bonaire and rent a hilux, we did that and it owned. Drive around and pick a site, then go Yeah, we did a lot of that too. It was an awesome way to dive
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Sep 23, 2018 06:19
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NC coastal diving is done for the year (at least where I am), so let’s reminisce about some good times.  
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Oct 1, 2018 14:11
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let it mellow posted:Westpunt in curacao, check out go west diving for the reef that’s right off their dock Curacao has the same sort of easy shore diving that Bonaire does, but the guys in my dive club insist that Bonaire is way better, because the entire reef is protected. This is compared to Curacao, where they just ripped out a reef to build a new cruise ship terminal... which also ruined the only good wreck dive on the island. Icon Of Sin posted:NC coastal diving is done for the year (at least where I am), so let’s reminisce about some good times. Hah, you wimp! I'm going diving in North Atlantic this weekend.  (Great pics!)
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Oct 5, 2018 18:32
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Based on collective wisdom of people I trust, Bonaire is the best place in the Caribbean, particularly if you like shore diving. Personally, I can vouch for Curacao and Barbados, both of which are great destinations even without the diving. Barbados has great food, super nice locals, and the softest, finest beach sand I've seen anywhere.
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Oct 5, 2018 18:35
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Squashy Nipples posted:Based on collective wisdom of people I trust, Bonaire is the best place in the Caribbean, particularly if you like shore diving. Bonaire is easy and beautiful, but I was blown away by Saba. It's all boat diving (no beaches on the island) but there was a crazy amount of invertibrate life, cool structure, and even big fish (jacks and reef sharks). I'm interested in Bonaire again because I want to do a billion drives a day and follow my own nose, but I don't think the reefs compare. One goon's opinion, obviously.
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Oct 5, 2018 20:29
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The season is just about over for it, but anyone who hasn’t done the Goliath Grouper dives with Jupiter Dive Center is doing it wrong.
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Oct 5, 2018 20:49
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MrYenko posted:The season is just about over for it, but anyone who hasn’t done the Goliath Grouper dives with Jupiter Dive Center is doing it wrong. We live 10 minutes from there . The Moorings.Lol our last dive with them was after a goddamn upwelling
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Oct 6, 2018 03:54
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I went diving a few weeks back and made a video but forgot to post it so here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc3L2UK6gis
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Oct 19, 2018 18:41
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I'm thinking of going on a diving trip next year, and one of my possible destination is Bonaire. I know some people in this thread have been there, so I figured I'd ask a couple questions. The big thing for me is that I'm traveling on my own, so that means having to pair up with someone once I get there. Usually I'd do boat dives so I'd get paired up there, but since shore diving is a pretty big thing in Bonaire, how much trouble is it normally to find a buddy to dive with? Other question, how much boat diving is there in Bonaire? I'm mostly used to having a divemaster lead the dive, so if it turns out that not having that and pairing with someone I don't know isn't really my cup of tea, how reasonable would it be to just fall back on boat diving for, say, a one/two week trip? Lastly, dive shop recommendations?
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Oct 28, 2018 20:00
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:I'm thinking of going on a diving trip next year, and one of my possible destination is Bonaire. I know some people in this thread have been there, so I figured I'd ask a couple questions. We see singles diving alone all the time in Bonaire, but there are boats all day long from the dive shops. We have taken a few and with the exception of a few spots you aren’t getting anywhere you can’t walk to. Most of the shops have bulletin boards you could write on looking for a partner. We use dive friends because they have a pick up and drop off spot walking distance from our condo. We always see 3-4 trucks diving together from one of the all in one spots, Buddy Dive, so you might want to email them and ask about partners.
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Oct 28, 2018 22:47
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Visibility was glorious today. Enjoy some temperate reef.   I had a godawful work week and this really helps me feel better about going into what's sure to be another one. I'm so glad I live here and can do this. DeadlyMuffin fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Oct 29, 2018 |
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Oct 29, 2018 04:52
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Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:I'm thinking of going on a diving trip next year, and one of my possible destination is Bonaire. I know some people in this thread have been there, so I figured I'd ask a couple questions. As said above, Buddy Dive has lots of trucks out there that we saw driving around the sites so that’s probably your best bet. The shore dive sites absolutely do not need an instructor unless you’re looking for help spotting sea life - Something Special had three seahorses that we found, but we were told ahead of time by someone coming out to the shore where they were. We just rented a place near the airport and picked up a hilux, but not sure I’d do that solo with the expectation of finding a competent buddy....
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Oct 30, 2018 04:03
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My folks are getting old, so they bought a condo in Stuart Florida. I'd like to do some scuba diving when I visit over Thanksgiving. Can anyone from that area recommend me a dive shop? Looks like these are the three close options: https://www.kirksjensenbeach.com/ http://www.scubacentralfl.com/ http://www.stuartscuba.com/
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Nov 6, 2018 23:59
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I recently did the Goliath Grouper trek with Jupiter Dive Center which is about a half hour south of Stuart. It’s not the season for that particular dive, but it’s a great shop with boats at the dock outside. Recommend highly.
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Nov 7, 2018 00:46
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Looks like there’s a new wreck to dive in Norway! Cythereal posted:So remember that Norwegian frigate that got hit by a tanker the other week?
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Nov 13, 2018 21:50
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MrYenko posted:I recently did the Goliath Grouper trek with Jupiter Dive Center which is about a half hour south of Stuart. It’s not the season for that particular dive, but it’s a great shop with boats at the dock outside. Recommend highly. Someone from my dive club also recommended this shop, and I should have listened! I decided to go with Stuart Scuba for my first trip, since it was a lot closer then Jupiter. But the boat they signed me up for leaves out of West Palm Beach, a solid 20 minutes south of Jupiter. DOH! From now on, definitely going with Jupiter, got to love a shop with the dock right out back.
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Nov 15, 2018 18:34
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walkers or pura vida?
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Nov 16, 2018 03:15
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Jupiter dive center is good for air / nitrox fills, especially if you are using your own tanks. They are cool people but they also have large boats so it’s up to the group how good your dive is. We’re hitting snowbird season now which means it’s amateur hour.
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Nov 17, 2018 05:17
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let it mellow posted:Jupiter dive center is good for air / nitrox fills, especially if you are using your own tanks. They are cool people but they also have large boats so it’s up to the group how good your dive is. When is the busy season? Same as the rest of the Caribbean?
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Nov 17, 2018 17:52
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Squashy Nipples posted:When is the busy season? Same as the rest of the Caribbean? No, it’s a bit different here. Basically thanksgiving to Easter is season and that’s when stuff is more expensive.
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Nov 18, 2018 04:10
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I just got back from Bonaire a couple weeks ago. Went through a local dive shop which specializes in tech so a lot of the people I went with were fairly experienced and knew where to go. They also arranged for us to have rental pickups to cart our gear around between dive sites. When I got back I got a chance to try out drysuit diving that turned into a not so drysuit dive. I am on the fence about going that route as living in NC I do wreck diving which kind of shuts down in the colder months or Caribbean diving. Though I am looking to start a Cavern course pretty soon.
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Nov 22, 2018 06:58
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What’s up, NC dive buddy  
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Nov 22, 2018 15:51
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owDAWG posted:I just got back from Bonaire a couple weeks ago. Went through a local dive shop which specializes in tech so a lot of the people I went with were fairly experienced and knew where to go. They also arranged for us to have rental pickups to cart our gear around between dive sites. Man, you should have rented the hi-lux and just drove around with your wife or whoever you were there with and just gone. That’s the best part of Bonaire.
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Nov 23, 2018 03:44
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Diving was pretty good through Stuart Scuba! I liked all the folks associated with the shop. While dive boat left from a marina in West Palm Beach, which is a 50 minute drive south, they said that pretty much all of the good reef diving starts at West Palm and South. Anyway, clear blue water, great vis, some good sized sharks, morays, barracuda, one big grouper hiding in a wreck, and lots of spiny lobster. I also saw a type of parrot fish I hadn't seen before. They have a bunch of seized, scuttled drug boats all in a row that made for a fun drift dive. There is apparently really good shore diving from the Blue Heron causeway, I'm definitely going to do some dawn dives there next time. Also... a woman on my boat found a $900+ Shearwater computer!!! Check out my Instagram for pics: https://www.instagram.com/diveandeat/
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Nov 23, 2018 17:01
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Just sitting on the bottom? Sweet. The best I ever saw was a DM who lost her sunglasses over the side of the boat. They weren't even at a dive site, but a week later someone was on the local facebook asking if anyone owned these glasses they found 30m down 
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Nov 23, 2018 18:19
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