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Mask Volumes
- Thread starterCoatesman
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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I think superocchio has lower volume, I have one and very pleased with it. It puts the pressure evenly to all of your face, so no more pain 
on the other hand look at exsite aswell, but I think it brings you a larger field of view rather than the low volume.
on the other hand look at exsite aswell, but I think it brings you a larger field of view rather than the low volume.
I used technisub look mask which has great field of vision but gives pain in deeper dives. Then i bought technisub luna and tested it up to 15-17 meter and had no problem. As far as i heard from friends, OMER Abyss is good mask too especially for deeper dives. If you have one wide vision mask you better to buy lower volume for especially deeper dives...
thanks for the replies, I have also gone through the older threads and it seems the the best thing is to have two masks. That is unfortunatly not on the table at this point, I recantly lost my Cessi Oceano which I had for 10 years.
I am going to buy a new mask and can only afford to get one!
So it will have to be a all rounder or a low volume mask.......Super Occio seems to be the standard ?
I am going to buy a new mask and can only afford to get one!
So it will have to be a all rounder or a low volume mask.......Super Occio seems to be the standard ?
I went to Rob Allen today and he recomended I try The Mares X-Vision, so I took a pair and went for a dive. The conditions where mif to say the least, moderate South East (onshore) with a good size swell running. I got through the surf fine, I remeber one of the guys saying that they were concerened about the drag through the surf with the larger front. To be honest, the only thing I noticed in the surf was how awsomly comfortable the mask was.....and with the huge vision it felt like I was almost not wereing a mask in comparison to the Cressi Oceano I have been used to.
I got to the back and noticed the vis was only about 4-5m with the lack of sunshine. But I was very impressed buy the wide vision...like Imax too a TV set! This did get to me after a while as i started to get boggled ...not used to scanning with my eye balls and evey once in a while I would notice the bridge between the lenses. Somthing I could probably get used to.
I then went out to a small reef in about 10m the vis improved abit but the sea was very unsettled. So my diving wasnt at its best. At the bottom the soft silicon compressed easly, and I found myself releasing air not because of pain but it just felt weard.
Never the less I am going to take the mask to 20m tomorrow and I will Let you know how it goes.
Cheers.
I got to the back and noticed the vis was only about 4-5m with the lack of sunshine. But I was very impressed buy the wide vision...like Imax too a TV set! This did get to me after a while as i started to get boggled ...not used to scanning with my eye balls and evey once in a while I would notice the bridge between the lenses. Somthing I could probably get used to.
I then went out to a small reef in about 10m the vis improved abit but the sea was very unsettled. So my diving wasnt at its best. At the bottom the soft silicon compressed easly, and I found myself releasing air not because of pain but it just felt weard.
Never the less I am going to take the mask to 20m tomorrow and I will Let you know how it goes.
Cheers.
Definetely Sphera from technisub. I took it under 50m without any problem. Great visibility, low volume, hydrodynamism, comfort. The mask is flexible because it is made of plastic lenses and a thin rigid structure, and gets compressed around your face if you stop equalising without side effects (mask under-pressurised resulting in an influx of blood in eye capillaries and pain --> eyes popping??...) to a certain limit, do not try 50m without any equalisation. Rigid masks do not allow this.
Target from mares and samurai from sporasub are painfull after a couple of hours when using tuba at the basis of the upper lip under the nose. As OMER abyss is mostly identical, I suspect the same problem but I never try it.
Target from mares and samurai from sporasub are painfull after a couple of hours when using tuba at the basis of the upper lip under the nose. As OMER abyss is mostly identical, I suspect the same problem but I never try it.
Sphera
It is obviously a very good low volume mask since it is the only mask as far as I know to have been below 90 meters in competition! Not that I would know from personal experience since I am a more "recreational" freediver and nowhere near those depths myself.
The reason I got it was for the good visibility. Especially sideways it has almost 180 degree vision (a bit blurry towards the sides). Upward visibility is pretty good too compared to most scuba masks which tend to be angled down toward the instruments.
The special thing about the Sphera is that the lenses are made of plastic instead of glass and this makes it differ from standard masks in a couple of ways:
The plastic lenses does not magnify as much as glass do in the water. Because of the this the difference in field of view between a Sphera and a glass mask is even greater in water than on land.
The lenses cause some visual distorsion in water (not on land) which some people find very disturbing. My personal experience is that these are very easy to get used to and then the brain compensates for them and I don't notice anymore.
The lenses scratch very easily so you have to take care while transporting the mask!
// Johnny
Perhaps you should check out the Technisub Sphera mask which is my personal favorite, all categories!
It is obviously a very good low volume mask since it is the only mask as far as I know to have been below 90 meters in competition! Not that I would know from personal experience since I am a more "recreational" freediver and nowhere near those depths myself.
The reason I got it was for the good visibility. Especially sideways it has almost 180 degree vision (a bit blurry towards the sides). Upward visibility is pretty good too compared to most scuba masks which tend to be angled down toward the instruments.
The special thing about the Sphera is that the lenses are made of plastic instead of glass and this makes it differ from standard masks in a couple of ways:
The plastic lenses does not magnify as much as glass do in the water. Because of the this the difference in field of view between a Sphera and a glass mask is even greater in water than on land.
The lenses cause some visual distorsion in water (not on land) which some people find very disturbing. My personal experience is that these are very easy to get used to and then the brain compensates for them and I don't notice anymore.
The lenses scratch very easily so you have to take care while transporting the mask!
// Johnny
I have seen the guys who freedive using the Sphera and have seen them, they look great. However all the spearo's I have spoken to who have tried them have said that they had problems with the distortion. This sort of rules the Sphera out.
It is interesting to note that Rob Allen is involved in developing a mask with glass sperical lenses where the lens is always 90% to your eye, and hence no or little distortion. In theory the mask should have even less disrtortion than flat glass masks. Rob recons that this will be the first lowish volume mask that will give you almost 100% vision.
Does any one out there use the Mare X-Vision for spearfishing, or has used them?
It is interesting to note that Rob Allen is involved in developing a mask with glass sperical lenses where the lens is always 90% to your eye, and hence no or little distortion. In theory the mask should have even less disrtortion than flat glass masks. Rob recons that this will be the first lowish volume mask that will give you almost 100% vision.
Does any one out there use the Mare X-Vision for spearfishing, or has used them?
CoatMan,
I got a chance to use and x-vision on my last vacation. Gotta agree that the skirt was pretty comfy. I've used older Mares masks, and felt like the silicon was way too stiff. Good to see they have since softened it up.
As far as I can tell, the x-vision is targeting the market currently owned by the Cressi Bigeyes. The two masks have very similar fields of view. Cressi makes a similar mask called the Horizon, which, I feel, should be avoided by any/all freedivers. The mask was clearly designed to satisfy old-school, tech-head, scuba divers who still adhere to the "multi-window" lens philosophy. The two side windows on the Horizon simply serve to allow defracted, "junk" light into the mask. They also make the primary, front lens further from the eyes, thus reducing field of view and increasing volume.
Right then, back to the subject
. The x-vision I tried fit well and sealed well, but did not fit as solid as the BigEyes. I think this is simply because the x-vision has a frame that consists of more bulky plastic. IMHO, Mares should have simply copied the Bigeyes (they did it with the target = occhio/samurai/nulla, and still sold the mask), because the extra bit of vision created by that widened lens on the lower part [of the lens] does not make up for additional bulk.Finally, no matter what your decision, I recommend you get a mask with a black silicon skirt. Every x-vision I've seen in the shops has the clear skirt. I'm sure Mares makes it with a black one, so if you are still sold on this mask, at least search out one that won't leave you disoriented.
Regards,
Ted
Left: Horizon
Right: Bigeyes
Bottom: X-vision
Last edited:
Ted,
The pair i have at the moment are all black with the exception of the front part of the mask that holds the lenses in place.
I also tried the Big eyes and they seemed to have alot more internal volume than the X-V's. I have only used them once in real poo conditions and was hoping to get in a day or so again, but the onshore has been blowing and the all hopes on a good quality dive are days away. :waterwork
When you used the X-V's, what depth did you get to and how much air did you need to com pensate with???
Cheers,
Chris
The pair i have at the moment are all black with the exception of the front part of the mask that holds the lenses in place.
I also tried the Big eyes and they seemed to have alot more internal volume than the X-V's. I have only used them once in real poo conditions and was hoping to get in a day or so again, but the onshore has been blowing and the all hopes on a good quality dive are days away. :waterwork
When you used the X-V's, what depth did you get to and how much air did you need to com pensate with???
Cheers,
Chris
Every mask review should start out.....
......no mask is perfect for every person. I always forget to add the disclaimer. No doubt the x-vis is going to be perfect for someone....just not me .
I took the x-vis down to 25 meters or so. I had to equalize it as much as the Bigeyes.....usually twice (once at around 15m, and once to 'top it off' when I reached the bottom). I guess Yorko uses his bigeyes at that depth, but I think I would prefer to stick with my superocchio. I actually never have to equalize the occhio because I use BTV, and a tiny bit of air leaks out my nose each time I 'crank' my tubes.
I'm still going to order a Bigeyes for hunting. The field of view on the occhio is very good for such a low-volume mask, but the increase of the Bigeyes (or X-vison for that matter) is significant. Should save on the neck. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either of those (whichever fits better) for anyone spearing in the shallows.
Ted
......no mask is perfect for every person
. I always forget to add the disclaimer. No doubt the x-vis is going to be perfect for someone....just not me .I took the x-vis down to 25 meters or so. I had to equalize it as much as the Bigeyes.....usually twice (once at around 15m, and once to 'top it off' when I reached the bottom). I guess Yorko uses his bigeyes at that depth, but I think I would prefer to stick with my superocchio. I actually never have to equalize the occhio because I use BTV, and a tiny bit of air leaks out my nose each time I 'crank' my tubes.
I'm still going to order a Bigeyes for hunting. The field of view on the occhio is very good for such a low-volume mask, but the increase of the Bigeyes (or X-vison for that matter) is significant. Should save on the neck. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either of those (whichever fits better) for anyone spearing in the shallows.
Ted