I am thinking to purchase one, maybe two, high buoyancy, float arms (When using only a single strobe with snoot for macro photography, I do not have enough space to mount all floats required to the single remaining arm)...

When I look at the prices for float arms, I see that a single arm can cost around 200 Euros (e.g.: https://www.nauticam.com/products/90x170mm-carbon-fiber-aluminum-float-arm-buoyancy-450g). While I find it o.k. to pay hundreds or even thousands of Euros for lenses, camera, housing and similar sophisticated gear, I find this price for a comparably simple item of equipment rather daring...

In the internet I see that similar float arms can be purchased at a wide price range from a variety of sources, also at substantially lower prices. The range goes from other brands with good names, similar to Nauticam, but substantially cheaper (e.g. Inon, just to name a brand) down to brands that are known for budget prices (e.g. Seafrogs)...

My experience with cheap and highly priced simple items is not always the same, so far: #1.: I have a set of regular Nauticam arms (S, M, L and XL) and the quality is good. Previously I was using a set of budget arms ("D&D"). The only difference that I was able to detect is, that the Nauticam are slightly lighter, what is a small advantage when travelling by air, otherwise the "performance" is pretty identical. #2.: The clamps are a different story: The ones from Nauticam last now for years, while the cheap ones lost their grip after about 1 year. Here the saying "buy cheap, buy twice" applies and I always would buy Nauticam clamps again..

Hence my question whether there exist differences in performance and durability between different manufacturers and whether someone could recommend budget priced float arms that are of good quality...

Thank you, Wolfgang

Hi Wolgang @Architeuthis

Years ago I had exactly the same problem.... float arms are expensive very expensiv... And before you find the good setup (before you change some part, lens or... ) you will need to buy bigger smaller, longer, shorter etc.. to find the good combination.

NOOO Thanks it's the reason I started with DIY... I spend a lot of money with that.... learned a lot... and now I have THE solution (for me)

If I need more beyoncy I can calculate how many more volumeI I need... and change my arm to achieve the target. (for the opposit the same ;) )

OK it's a little work, time and some money but I have exactly what I want.

I don't know how many know how you have in DIY (3D Printing in this case) but it will be good to explore this direction

It is tough to do better than good old ULCS aluminum grid arms with Stix Jumbo float blocks. They cost less than the Nauticam float arms and they WILL last a lifetime. They are pretty much indestructible. I am still using ULCS arms that I bought 20 years ago. Change the o-rings every decade or so, and you'll be set.

I agree with Dave. My ULCS stuff is 20+ years old and my Stix 15. All still good!

Ebay and Amazon are full of inexpensive float arms. Most of them work quite well. Couple of things, unlike some float arms from the camera housing companies they have no internal connection between the end caps. They often leak, usually if they are going to it will be on the first few dives. When you begin to ascend, the arm becomes pressurized and blows the end cap off. Yes, this has happened, to me. I dumped the water out and glued it back together with epoxy adhesive and it is still in use.

I have a couple of sets of inexpensive float arms I have used on many dives over several years. One of my dive buddies had the same sort of arms and one of his flooded also but ti did not pop apart, just had water sloshing around inside and loss of some buoyancy. So, I guess it can be hit or miss.

For absolute reliability, aside from Nauticam or equal floats, the Stix floats on ULCS arms is possibly the best way to go.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by Nemrod

I've had pretty good luck with the DivTek brank on Aliexpress. Only complaint is the anodizing on the balls isn't as strong as ULCS or Nauticam.

I also have a set of ULCS float arms but they don't have the lift for my housing. Too bad since they are bomb proof.

As already stated, Stix are pretty much the standard if they provide enough flotation. On an 8" arm I can fit 2.5 of them for a total of about 450g of buoyancy. I use Stix, but they often just aren't enough and I need to add something more. If you want/need the serious buoyancy arms, the Inon megas are much less expensive than the Nauticams and I have never heard of them leaking, but they aren't quite as floaty as the same size nauticams. But close. The Nauticam carbon arms provide the most buoyancy but are overpriced. Nevertheless, I use them when I need all the floatyness I can get. In that case I will pair two of the Inon or Nauticam float arms with an arm with Stix on it. I generally use the jumbo ones and have cut some in half for additional flexibility in flotation.

There are other brands out there, but I don't know much about them. By the way, if you go much beyond 130' deep, the Stix will compress and they don't regain their shape right away. By about 150' feet, they lose a lot of their buoyancy.

So you are saying you don't have enough arm to mount stix floats I assume?

I've had good experience with the INON Mega float arms :

https://underwater.com.au/shop/inon-mega-float-arms.html?srsltid=AfmBOor-N9Og_rOsVktINaj5kcBjeHfFdAxIgvWnuYQp-zD7ocxAZywL

available in either 390 or 650 gram buoyancy, I've had mine quite a few years, they seem quite durable and price is not crazy. I also have a couple of Isotta float arms, basically an aluminium shell, they cost a little more, I have two of 670 gr arms for my wide angle setup, quite a bit cheaper than Nauticam but seem like they should be durable., about 40% cheaper than Nauticam. The Isotta are limited to 70mm dia so are quite long if you need a lot of buoyancy, the INON are big diameter and shorter.

a long clamp between the two arms of each side to the M helps to get them to fold flat against each other.

I just ordered a set of these:

Ultramaxdive

HELIUM Variable Buoyancy Arm System

Innovative design HELIUM VBA (Variable Buoyancy Arm) System from ULTRAMAX allows you to create your BuoyFloat Arm’s lifting force from 0.5 lb (227g)~1.0 lb (453 g) using modular segments design to fit

My instructor has a set and seems to like them for travel as they break down (he also uses Nauticam arms and Stix floats). They have the added benefit of being a waterproof stash for keys, etc. They are about the same price as arms+floats, but seem to be less than the Nauticam carbon fiber float arms (they supposedly don't leak, or at least are less likely to fail than the Aliexpress variety).

Nice product

Another vote for Stixx.

I got some of the cheap ones (BGNing) to try out and they seemed ok to me - not that I had anything to compare to! I think I used 2 x 5 inch and 2 x 8 inch, with those long clamps with the hole for a shackle to keep them far enough apart to fold up together.

I haven't used them all that much so can't really comment on the long term usage, or quality - but they did the job and didn't leak in the week that I used them (20 something dives in Dumaguete). They look to have a threaded rod all the way through to stop the end popping off.....but I haven't taken them apart to confirm!

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003127674881.html

I do think I might need even more lift though so might need to reconfigure things a bit! The stix collars look good for the 90mm port 🤔

The clamps I used were these but nauticam do ones with shackle holes too (handy for lanyards):

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006060100346.html

The required bow shackles were quite small, I think an m3 or m4 shaft from what I can remember.

These INON Float Arms serve me for several years now:

https://www.hydronalin.eu/inon-mega-float-arm-s-mit-390-gramm-auftrieb_2058

They come in various shapes.

Very lightweight, durable and have two M5 threads on which you can connect accessories such as LensHolders, Actioncams etc.

First, I thank you all for your highly valued input...👍

From what I read here the Inon float arms seem to be an excellent solution (good quality at approx. 30% of the price of Nauticam arms plus additional fixture for a lensholder)...

When using a single strobe, I just do not have enough space to attach all the floats (to the non-float arms) to compensate the buoyancy of the rig as I do now with a two strobe macro setup (Nauticam A7R5 with 90mm macro plus SMC-1 on flip holder; I do not know the exact down-force without strobes, but with two HF-1s I need 2000g buoyancy and the rig is still slightly negative).

=> I am thinking of mounting two Inon float arms (650g buoyancy each) "naked" to the sides of the housing and mount the single flash to the middle. Plus a Stix float belt to the macroport (583g buyoancy; https://www.uwcamerastore.com/stix-float-belt-sx-fb10) and compensate the rest with detachable floats to the arm on the middle flash.

Is this a good idea (the dilemma is, as Caolla wrote, that one has FIRST to buy everything and only THEN can test out...)?

=> Is a float belt on the macroport a good isea or is the belt an obstacle, e.g. when putting the rig on the seafloor to get a nice perspective?

Edited just now1 min by Architeuthis