Strobe arm configuration?

This question has probably been up before, but here goes,

What lenght and setup of the arms do you think is the most optimal.

I have more or less decided to go with Ultralight arms.

I guess I will be shooting more macro that wideangle but if it is possible I would like a setup that works fine with both. And still folds up nicely at the end of the dive.

I have found out that a 3 and a 5 inch section would make a nice macro arm?, but is this arm to short for wideangle?

/Jonas

Hi Jonas, it all depends on how wide you will go. If you are using the Nikon 10.5 fisheye lens then I think you would need longer arms (unless you are shooting in very clear water). But if you have only rectilinear wide angle lenses you may find your current selection to work ok.

Luiz

Jonas

In my experience over many years of ttrial and error I recoment one particular combiantion that is perfect for macro as well as wide all the way to 10.5 (or 16mm).

This is a 4 x 8 x 8- 4"base, with 8" section x 2 and the strobe mount. This will give you all the flexibility of going in very tight, including back lighting as wel as all the way open for wide angle.

Ultralight and Technical Lighting Control (by aAquatica) are your two options.

Let me know if you need more information on the TLC as you already seem to know the info on Ultralight.

Regards

Mauricio Handler

207-504-0733 EST

Im a cannon shooter so as wide as the fisheye is out of teh question , yet?!:-)

Handlerphoto>> do you suggest a 3 section (4 clamp setup) seems a bit excessive?! do you have any pictures of this rigging?

The reason for my initial suggestion was that I have seen pictures of such a setup with the strobes neatly folded up towards the housing.

I am not a fan of long strobe arms for macro, so I use one 5" inch segment for each strobe. When I shoot wide angle, I use two 5 inch arms on each strobe, even with my 10.5. I just pull them out to the sides, make sure they are behind the lens, point them outward and I am good to go. I use this in California waters where is is sometimes dirty with plankton or runoff. I get decent results.

Joe

Hmm, I looked at the ULCS homepage today and found out that I was a bit off regarding the lenght of the segments. The one i thought was the 3" section, actually was a 5" .

That makes quite a diffrence doesent it.

A 5" and a 8" is what I have been looking at before.

With ultralight (or any other modular system) I seems to be quite easy to reconfigure it the situation (or preference) changes.

The 5"/8" ULCS set is the most popular combination we sell. When using the 10.5 for close focus wide angle, the strobes will be in a lot tighter to the housing than you'd expect, so longer segments can get ungainly.

When shooting more traditional wide angle in dirty water, longer segments come in handy.

How is the 5/8 combination for macro?

Its seems to be fairly easy to change to a 8/8 strobearm if I feel that the 5/8 is inadequate.

I like to use one 5" on each side for macro and add a 12" for WA work. The 5 x 8 combo would work just as well if not better.

Todd

I use 2 arms both made up of a housing mount + clamp + 8" + clamp + 5" + clamp + Inon stobe mount. It works well for macro and wide-angle and isn't too complicated to manipulate quickly; or to fold up and clip (using Fastex fasteners on the 8"arms) in a triangle for entries and exits.

I also clip a Fastex on each 8" arm which connects to clips on my BC D-rings