MWB card mount?

I'm looking to create a mount on my leg to hold the WB card.

The connectors are the problem.

Along the lines of using your white fin, I wanted to make a mount to hold my WB card. I have a rigid WB card that I will be carrying.

I had thoughts of a leg strap with a connector mounted on it. The card has a connector already attached. When WBing, I take the card off my BC and snap it on to the connector on my leg. It holds it rigidly in the necessary direction.

When done, disconnect and reattach to the BC connector.

A connector grasping the card and attaching to the strap is the problem.

Thoughts?

Why not mount your WB card to a slate and mount that to a recticulated arm which, like your lights, can be attached to the housing. I've done this with my Gates housing and it is easy to use, push away when I'm done and no chance of it being lost. I use Warm Cards from Vortex media as they are standardized 100ire. However, I use the Warm Card 1

Steve

Shasta man,

I have been down this road several times until i settled on my best alternative. I even went as far as attaching a telescoping tripod leg to the bottom of my housing with a flip up white card. Worked like a charm at first...then deterioriated and began to dangle...and worse...added to the already difficult drag situation with video.

The problem with fixed attachment for wb cards is that you can't control light temperature. Balancing by shooting down, shooting up, shooting sideways, angling the card toward/away from the light all give you a greater degree of control when looking for the perfect WB. This can make a noticable difference when trying to get those reds right (warmer or cooler).

What is working great for me is my most recent system. I am using a retractable wire lanyard. I have it attached to my left D ring on my BC. I carry the slate in my open left BC pocket. When I need it, i whip it out with my left hand, hit the WB and put it back. Clean and efficient.

Shawn

Many thanks for the responses, guys.

I have two problems with trying to WB with one hand:

1. Some difficulty with performing WB with one hand because I have the HC1 and use the touchscreen.

2. Is the slate far enough away?

#2 is a real concern as I would wonder whether WBing six inches from the camera may not give me the right balance for objects I'll be filming which would likely be three feet away.

Am I wrong here in this concern?

I am looking at this thing called a "Plamp" by Wimberly Pro Gear which is a piece of locline mounted on a clamp with a another clamp on the end to grasp stuff. It's expensive compared to the parts but I don't know how to mount it to a clamp. It would provide a portable solution to use with the still and video camera housings.

I even thought of clamping it to my fin to WB and remove afterwards. But what to do with it in between...

Shasta man (name?)

You are correct about distance being a factor...but the equation is not simple. If an object is further from you, there is more water between you and the subject...so less color. However, if you are shooting up on a bright day, the subject will have more light so more color (and shooting down less light and less color). As a general practice, it is so much work (and weight) to engineer solutions to move the card away from you for white balance. Experience is a more effective measure.

What I do is consider where my subject is or will be (how far, how much light, shooting up, leve or down [try to avoid]). I then hold my slate and adjust the angle of the slate to capture more or less light (cooler or warmer). This will compensate for distance from the subject and whether they are well lit of not. If the slate isn't doing it and things are too red, I point my cam at the surface and balance of light at the surface. Interesting find: by zooming on the surface light (sun) you can cool the picture even more. This is very effective for very red coral environments and for shallow dives where mantas are flying over. Removes all that red burn out and pink water.

Again, having engineered some very complex contraptions for the slate, I can state unequivically that throwing all that way and learning and expirimenting with techniques has delivered far better results for me. A single method will only be good under certain circumstances. I use all the following for white balance depending on what I need to get it right: clouds, slate, water surface, zoom surface, boat bottom, my hand, sand, sponge coral, other diver, etc. Focusing on a single method will only make you good when that method is appropriate.

Steve's suggestion is a good one i would say.

personally i have a white slate on a retractable pulley that i attach to either the housing or my BC. Works for me fairly well

Mike,

Me too...i think it works really well and is simple to manage.

Many thanks for all the informative replies, particularly ShawnH. The broader response of "one size doesn't fit all" was particularly helpful.

Hmmm... back to the "can I WB with one hand" question....

Shasta, its kinda difficult to WB with my gates as well. What i did for that was cradle it in my left arm and hold the card in front with my right, i then depressed the lever at the back with my left hand...

sounds strange but worked pretty easy once you do it a few times.

Not sure what set up you have or how you access the WB

I would avoid clamping any extension to the housing. A real pain in currents and easy to damage.

Doing the one arm shuffle will work once you find out the best way for your set up.

I recently changed from an electronic WB button on the top left of my housing, to a manual knob on the front right. I had real trouble at first, but then found if I gripped the housing underneath with my left hand, and extended the WB card with my right, I could press the WB control with one of my left hand fingers curled up around the right side. I know that sounds complicated, but now it's tried and tested and I'm all set. I'm sure you'll find a similar contortion that works for you.

Of course WB off the surace (thanks Dan! - earlier thread) is even easier...

Having the card on a retractable wire or coil makes things tidy. Before this I had the card on a long lanyard stuffed into my BC pocket. I'd often find the thing dangling in the breeze or dragging across the coral <_< oops!

Shasta man,

I cradle my LMI housing in my right arm, reaching under the housing and around with my hand to depress the button on the left side (imagine carring a football but out in front). I then reach out with my left arm and hold the card out. if the button is on the right (like Nick's) reverse arms. Took some practice but now works well.

Shawn

OK! Now the real info is flowing! Housing wrestling tips!

BTW, I using a OI housing for HC1 and my name is Jay.

OK, now I see that holding the WB card will be possible, since the housing will be "weightless".

I'm seeing it coming down to the obvious: practice makes perfect.

I'll try this out. Many thanks for your assistance!

Now to read up more on those WB methods (surface, sand, etc)

Are we all solo divers on this thread..

I myself have a great system of my mate and buddy, Jens. who (once I get round to owning my new housing) will hold my W/B slate in the desired position

This works fantastically...

Tomorrow my aquatic chums...tomorrow I purchase the 'PRO EVO' ha, ha haa the world is mine

Dive safe

DeanB

Pinning it to my dive buddy's a....actually, I was thinking of that.

Darling, can you come here a minute?....

Until someone introduces me to desireable single female in Yap then i dive alone!!!!

I thought you were more interested in chasing female mantas Mike. What about the white underbelly

I guess it might be hard to get them to stay still for a minute tho

You read what happened to Wagsy when he tried that.....

Lots of little mantas? I don't think he's telling the whole story - for sure he'd have dropped the cam

OK, retractable lanyard obtained at great expense.

Label it "scuba" and triple the price.

WElcome to the dive industry Jay!