Dave_Hicks

Camera arm mount for Venture Heated Vest Controller I just designed and printed a camera arm mount for the Venture Heated Vest remote controller. I use a Venture heated vest when scuba diving in cold water for added warmth and comfort. I recently replaced my old and fading Thermolution vest with a new Venture Heat vest. Typically, this controller would be mounted on your wrist or possibly hang from a bolt snap on your BC d-rings. I had the Thermolution controller on the same strap as my Teric wrist computer. Unfortunately, I found that the Venture Controller interfered with my Shearwater computer's electronic compass, making wrist mounting impossible for me. My BC d-rings were already quite utilized, making it difficult to find the controller in the jumble. I decided a better option would be to mount the controller on my camera strobe arms. I always dive with the camera, and this put the controller in easy reach while staying out of the way. The mount can be attached to your camera arm with Velcro strips or zip ties. I used Velcro strips around the Stix foam floats on my camera arms, and it is quite secure. To put the controller in the mount, place it diagonally in the mount, with the spring button angled up. Press down on the raised edge to snap it into place. I suggest attaching a small carabiner to similar clip to the controller and then affix it to the loop on the mounting bracket for extra security. Print in PETG or ABS for best results. PLA is not great for underwater objects and might be too brittle to handle repeated installation and removal of the controller over time. (You must remove it to charge periodically.) https://makerworld.com/en/models/1642165-venture-heated-vest-controller-camera-arm-mount#profileId-1735278

I am curious what the deal is with the rash of certificate failures in the last week. Did someone not setup auto-renew on some accounts? :)

Don't buy oversized cells. The higher capacity ones are larger in diameter and may not fit It's an easy job if you can do the soldering. A cheap spot welder kit may yield better results.

The WWL ports are pretty big compared to the MWL. Typically you put a mount on your camera arm if you want to remove the WWL during a dive.

Get some Sugru

I saw one where the wires inside the hotshoe were frayed creating a short. Open the hotshoe connector to inspect. First look for loose solder connections on the circuit board, hotshoe wire bundle, and battery.

I put a lite lanyard on my WWL-C. The original rubber grip got cut on rocks and fell off. I printed a replacement that has lanyard loops on it. Some knotted fishing fishing line and a micro clip to the handle ensure it does drop if i fumble the burb. 😧 https://makerworld.com/models/637896

Let's see some photos of your additions!

I use the WWL-C and occasionally fisheye up there. I tend to shoot macro for the 3rd dive of the day when the light is fading. The visibility is what it is, sometimes excellent occasionally less so. You can control the particulate with careful lighting in an conditions.

I have a buddy that likes to use some exotic manual focus lenses from LensBaby. I think 56mm and 24mm. He used them with out a focus ring for a while, but then i got a 3d printer and made a few zoom rings for myself. Pretty soon i was able to make focus rings for his lenses. There are none made or sold for these lenses, so it's the only way to go.

I found that with the Arm floats stix foam is hard to beat. The dry weight vs buoyancy ratio of jumbo stix is superior. Its just cleaner and more durable. Port floats work a bit more in favor of printing as you can get really snug, clean, and maximize volume.

I should go into business. I could sell a float collar for $50 and still make a $40 profit. Turns out my hourly rate is $0/hour since I retired. Obsolete and unemployable!

The port floats are big jobs, about 12 hours prints and use 1/3 of a KG spool. But once tested out, they are pretty easy to reproduce. So far, I just have designs for the 3 macro port configs I listed. I don't have a WWL-1 to measure.

I've been experimenting with 3D printed buoyancy solutions for a while now. I've created a few iterations of a form fitting collar that snuggly fit over a 105mm macro port and add about 250 to 350 grams of buoyancy. It's a lot cleaner looking than a foam belt too. My first versions relied on painting with epoxy resin to seal it, but I've since been able to make versions without added sealants that stay watertight to 100feet over multiple dives. I want to keep iterating to reduce the dry weight and wall thickness a bit more before sharing. I've made prototypes for the Port60, Port87, and Port60+20mm extension. These have been especially useful to counter the added front weighting of a Dual Flip adapter with a couple of diopters attached. It should be very possible to design one of these for the WWL-1. I have a WWL-C, but it includes a built-in aluminum buoyancy collar.

My HF-1 beam restrictors, which can sit on top of a diffuser : 60mm With 38mm option: 3D print shared at: https://makerworld.com/models/865305

Please include photos, not links.

It doesn't look like the hood is removable, which would be a problem in a dome port. And it's still rectilinear not fisheye. Perhaps it could be made to work, but I'm guessing it would need a larger dome port such as the 8.5".

The Backscatter HF-1 strobes are great, but it's also nice to have a spare strobe or two. I'd hang on to your Inons, or at least one of them. I use the Nauticam Nikon manual trigger. I don't need TTL. The nice thing about this trigger is that it's fast and the battery lasts basically forever. I change them each January and reuse them in the vacuum circuit. (which chews through batteries)

Try to polish it gently with a microfiber towel. It might not be a scratch, but a deposit of metal. Scratches tend to flare in bright light, not leave black dots. Failing that contact Nauticam.

The WWL-C and 24-50z lens are a fantastic combo. Honestly the best reason to move from a Nikon DSLR to Mirrorless Z body.

Then change lenses and do another dive! But i think this was made for camera systems that don't have great lenses options. Which one could that be??

Totally different product. It magically turns a 90mm lens into a 60mm. 🤔

I am still waiting for Generative Expand in the crop tool. This is super useful if you crop and rotate and the corner goes outside the frame. Photoshop has had this feature forever and its one of the reasons I ever need to use it.

If you are looking to get a Nikon/Nauticam setup the cost of the camera body is really not the biggest expense you are looking at. The housing costs nearly twice what the camera body does. Strobes are $1000 each or more. So, the difference between a Z6 and Z8 is a pretty small fraction of the purchase. With an investment like this you are usually wise to by the best, most advanced option. Especially if you plan to keep it for years to come. You can buy used bodies and lenses from reputable sites like KEH or B&H Photo. Unfortunately, a used Z8 only saves you about $300 but you can really save big on lenses sometimes.

Agreed on all of that, except the last point. At least with the Nikon Z cameras, you can change a setting to reduce (slightly) the size of the EVF. This makes the older Nauticam 45deg viewfinder perfectly usable with my Z8.