In Reply to: Rebreather vs. open circuit posted by Frank O on March 05, 2008 at 20:36:46:

I have never filmed with my rebreather. It has taken a long time for me to get it set up properly and have everything positioned well should I have a problem. I have talked to filmmakers who shoot with RBs and they all have said they see many more creatures than on OC. It's ready now but I'll do some warm up dives with the camera before shooting with it. Mine is a manual unit so I have to be totally comfortable with the controls and guages before I'll consider using it to film. What I do use is a Mistral reg. It's a POS but the bubbles exit behind the head and for tiny creatures this may be less intimidating for them. I'm not really sure. Diving a RB in foreign lands is a big hassle and seems to be worthwhile mainly with easily spooked big animals like whales, dolphins, whalesharks, schooling hammerheads, etc... I have found that most creatures are much more likely to approach me while on the RB and I like the quiet. You just have to be very cautious when diving them as they can bite you. That being said there are prople who feel that they're safer than OC (Tom Mount). In Lembeh you can get O2 and sorb but you don't really need a RB because most of the creatures are filmed continuously and are fairly comfortable with divers and their various contraptions. I cannot wait to start filming with my Sport KISS. Hope that helps... If you ever consider getting a Mistral email me first because there are some serious caveats with that reg.
Steve

• Mistral Divebum Don 07:34:54 03/07/08 (1)
  • Re: Mistral Steve Clark 20:35:18 03/07/08 (0)