Camera, float or sink?

[Linedog]

Not wanting to lose my GoPro setup, I was wondering just in case it decided to leave me and go solo during a dive would negative or positive buoyancy be the best bet? I'm leaning towards slightly positive as on the surface many more people could find it not just fellow divers. Your thoughts?

[Dusty2]

My 2psi is definitely neg. Having lost one I can tell you that it is far better that it goes to the bottom and stays there. There is a much better chance of being able to recover it from the bottom than the surface. If it goes to the surface your odds are slim of finding it and it could go just about anywhere and be found by anyone or not. On the bottom it will stay in a relatively small area and you can go back and look for it or the odds of another diver finding it are good and with the tight community here odds are you get it back. At any rate put your id on it so if found it can find it's way back to you.

[Linedog]

Dusty, I have my name and cell number on the back of my camera, I have no doubt if a diver found it I would get it back. Maybe I'll get one of those led tank flashers and attach it.

[Dusty2]

Dusty, I have my name and cell number on the back of my camera, I have no doubt if a diver found it I would get it back. Maybe I'll get one of those led tank flashers and attach it.

A flasher of some sort isn't a bad idea as long as it's not bright enough to mess up your pix. All of my camera gear is negitive and I have never, knock on wood, lost any but I have more than once had to pick it off the bottom while gearing up.The one video camera I had lasted about 30 min. I had it on the elastic head band that came with it and it simply floated away never to be seen again. You would be surprised how hard to is to see something like that floating on the surface.

[Jeff Pack]

If I had a camera, it'd be the same as my scooter, slightly positive, as when I let go, I want it to float ever slightly, not drag about.

[CaptnJack]

Sinking slightly.
While intuitively you'd think you could find something on the surface, its pointless unless you have some way to get your eyeballs way up high and look down into the water. Eyes at wave/water level you'll never see it unless you are right on top of it anyway. Unless it's so bouyant that parts of it actually rise above the surface, in which case you will be fighting it underwater. Sinking works better.

The golden rule of all cameras is not if its going to leak but when, so don't get too hung up on this decision in the meantime.

[spatman]

The only camera I ever lost was positively buoyant and long gone by the time I reached the surface. The other two that got away from me were right there on the bottom when I turned around to look for them.

[H20doctor]

i would say positive .... why ? .. Negative well lets say youre going to jump off the boat , giant stride or back roll, oops guess what you rig /camera/gopro just flew off you... and down down down it goes to the abyss ... neutral you say ... well it sinks then stays neutral in the water , and the current has its way with it..gone
Positive... well looky looky there is it floating on the surface , easy to retrieve ... Oops it came off me during the dive .. floats to the surface and gets carried away by the current.. eventually its going to wash up somewhere and be found, and when it does it has your info inside of it , and if your lucky the person is Honest and calls you to come get it

[mpspringer]

How about some reflective tape on the back or the sides?

[WylerBear]

I definitely think slightly negative is better. I've dropped mine a few times but have been quickly been able to find it. On the other hand, when it was unintentionally positive, it made it's way to the surface on a dive in Bonaire, traveled over to Klein Bonaire, buried itself in sand, was found by a day tripper, went to Norway, then eventually found it's way back to me. And another time, the weights fell off and it headed to the surface at Redondo. I walked the beach after our dives and found it still way out from shore and quite a ways down the beach to the north. Made a very uncomfortable swim in my drysuit sans fins and weights (I didn't really think I'd be able to spot it so didn't take my gear when I went to look for it). But I think I was incredibly lucky both times.