ylop
Well-known member
I’ve never had a problem taking holiday snaps or making videos with a decent smartphone, using its automatic settings in daylight. It might not win any photography awards but would be amazed if it was not good enough for evidential purposes for anyone that was close enough to actually be a real concern rather than a minor irritant. HOWEVER:
- bringing your phone out and pointing it as someone when in some sort of confrontation or they are being a dick is rarely a way to diffuse the situation.
- if they were approaching me so fast to cause real concern, standing on deck trying to point a camera phone with one hand would not be high up my priorities - if I was genuinely scared about their aggression I’d want to be on the helm getting out of there, or the phone/radio calling for help. If they were mucking about “recklessly” that usually involves either a lot of wake or you to be prepared to take evasive action.
If I was really finding it a regular problem then some sort of GoPro type camera permanently mounted on the boat which can start filming at the touch of a button would probably be more effective. This would be like cyclists/motorcyclists with helmet cameras etc. whilst there are understandable reasons for wanting to capture evidence of those who put you at risk - SOME users end up with it being their mission to capture offences they would historically have barely noticed, that’s probably not healthy for the user. Ie, if a camera would make you more likely to sail through an area with a group of PWC mucking around, or more likely to demonstrate your verbal debating skills rather than simply pass round or ignore them, you may be needlessly increasing your blood pressure.
