Arm lengths and overall clutter.

I'm in the middle of upgrading housing (first dives this week) and next task will be strobes and arms. BUT im currently stuck with my old setup.

I find it VERY bulky and messy, especially "folded" (it doesn't - it flops). Its huge, its bulky, its negative. They're DS161s from Ikelite.

I currently have:

2 x 8" Float arms

2 x 7" normal arms

2 x 4"ish normal arms

I use 2 x SUPE video lights on a 3 way elbow mid arm.

This is my WA setup for a Tokina 10-17 on APS-C to give FOV ideas. Its bulky, messy and due to 10 year old clamps, floppy.

For my wide angle, am i better off keeping this setup OR make it neater by replacing the 7" normal size arms with my 5" arms i found in a cupboard (so 1 x 8 and 1 x 5 per side).

Are there any real trade-offs for WA here vs improved in neatness?

Now I've gone mirrorless the abomination of strobe wiring and arms is even more obvious.

Pictures are the 8" and 4" on the WA setup. Can see its not neat at all, especially when "stowed" and holding the camera by the rope it just flops forward off balance. No easy way to carry. I find it ridiculously ungainly and so do boat crew trying to handle it.

So sugestions:

(i) best compromise WA arm length combo

(ii) Best order of arms and clamps to make it usable U/W but also neater to stow/fold.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Rich W