Field-based observations of fish behaviour are critical for understanding how they respond to habitat variation in the wild. Our capacity to record in situ behavioural observations of fishes in marine environments has grown over the past six decades with the development of modern SCUBA equipment. Recent advances in underwater video technology and affordability is now set to provide a similar revolution, by providing a novel means for recording and analysing how fish swim and forage within their aquatic environments. We present several case studies in which we aimed to measure the utility of underwater video for recording the behavioural response of fishes to changes in their marine environment (e.g., wave energy, prey availability). Our findings reveal that video can provide unique insights into the drivers of fish behaviour, but in some cases, direct manual recordings by human observers provided an equally effective and more efficient mode of data collection. Consequently, researchers should carefully consider the pros and cons of each approach relative to their study question when deciding which form of technology to apply in an analysis of fish swimming and foraging behaviour.