Value of GoPro vs waterproof camera on Australia/New Zealand tour in addition to DSLR
For those of you that brought a GoPro on this trip - when did you use it? I have a good DSLR camera. I figure I could use a GoPro on Great Barrier Reef, but wasn't sure if there are other times/places when this would be desired over my DSLR (which I am definitely bringing). If you used a GoPro on the Great Barrier Reef, did you have a floating handle attached to it? Mine is in a waterproof case. Alternatively I have an older small waterproof Nikon Coolpix with an LCD screen. I used it snorkeling in Gallapagos. It was nearly impossible to see through face mask through the LCD, but somehow (lucky I guess) I got some great pictures. I do not want to travel with 3 camera, so some advice would be appreciated.
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I haven't been to Australia, but have done P&G. I used my GoPro for U/W shots. Frankly, unless you are really into photography and more specifically, U/W photography, I recommend spending your time in the water just looking at and enjoying all the fish and the beautiful reef. When I watched my videos I was amazed how much I "missed" while trying to focus on a particular subject. I have been a SCUBA diver for most of my life and got serious about U/W photography when I was younger.
As you already discovered, it can be difficult to do U/W photography, especially if just using a snorkel (instead of SCUBA). Unless you are a good free diver, you will only be able to capture fish and reef features from the surface and fish and other objects that are deeper will have washed-out colors, mainly blue-green (the water filters the reds, yellows, etc. from the sunlight so colors get worse the deeper you go). Until it malfunctioned, I used a large LED array homemade U/W light to get better colors. Due to the wide angle of the GoPro it wasn't optimal to shoot from more than a few feet away, anyway. It took a lot of work and lung power, but I was able to get some fairly decent stills but I mostly shot video (most video editing software allows you to extract stills from video), but I had to do a lot of free diving wearing a weight belt- not ideal if you are not a strong, confident swimmer (I am). Again, due to limited lung power, the videos were shot in short 15 - 30 sec. segments (take a deep breath, dive down, approach and shoot the subject, then get back to the surface with burning lungs) then I edited those together once I got home. Still, some leave a lot to be desired in my opinion. If you are interested I can post the link to the YouTube location of my videos.
As you also discovered, the LCD and the viewfinders on most consumer-grade U/W cameras are pretty useless when wearing a mask. Most of my photography years ago, was shot while SCUBA diving using a basic fixed pointing frame mounted on top of my Nikonos dedicated U/W camera.
I know diving on the barrier reef may be a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I would not spend a lot of money for the short amount of time you will have on the reef platform. If you have a GoPro, just take that, leave the Coolpix at home. Use your DSLR for land stills and videos.