Buoyancy arms/floats

I've discovered that my new housing (Sea & Sea MDX-D300) is a little more negative than I'd like. I was thinking of either buying some of the Ultralight buoyancy or double buoyancy arms, or the Stix floats. However, without knowing how much buoyancy I need to counteract the weight of the housing plus strobes, I don't know what to order. Also, I can't find a site that explains how much buoyancy the Stix floats add, while the ULCS site does have a chart specifying how much buoyancy their arms and their double arms provide. Anyone know how much I will need? I prefer a slightly negative rig, but not as negative as it is right now. What should I factor into this decision?

The easy way is to just assembly your rig & submerge it in a pool or big tub while hanging from a fish scale. Now you have the in-water weight. Keep in mind that different system configurations will weigh differently. Subtract the negative weight you desire. What's left is the amount of buoyancy required.

Give Stix a call. Tell him (John?) what rig you got, strobes, arm lengths, etc. and he'll tell you exactly what you need. Super helpful guy. Or call Backscatter - I know they carry Stix and they're always helpful. They'll know ULCS as well. Same with Reef Photo.

I've used the Stix since I put my system together and love them!

Phil

Hi Natalie,

Remember that the floats you need are dependent on the port/lens setup. On my 40D S&S setup for wide angle with the big NX dome the rig is about neutral. With the 100mm macro port on it wants to sink like a rock and its nose heavy. Ryan at Reef Photo fixed me up with a couple of float arms from Stix and we put the Stix float collar on the port. Huge difference in the ability to balance the rig. Huge. Macro is fun again! Phil's got it right, don't spend a bunch of time experimenting on your own unless you enjoy frustration. Give one of the advertisers a call. Let us know how it turns out.

Cheers,

Steve

Thank, guys! I'll give one of those dealers a call or email. That's a good point about the dome, Steve. I'm finding that the compact dome is nose-heavy. I haven't used my macro port yet (not much macro around here).

Off topic, but I notice that two of you (Steve and Phil) are using the YS-250s. How do you like them, and did you upgrade from YS-110s? I'm thinking of getting the YS-250s, but I like the fact that I can use AA rechargeables in my YS-110s and I get a lot of flashes out of them. Is the number of flashes per charge in the YS-250 pretty decent? Approximately how often do you have to swap out batteries?

Hi Natalie,

To continue off topic, I like my YS-250's. I get about 180 flashes at full power per charge and I rarely shoot full power all day so they last a long time between charges. Nevertheless, I have an extra set of batteries just in case and I'll recharge every night if I'm on a dive trip. The downside is they are big, heavy and take the proprietary battery which means more chargers, cords, etc. Since I mostly travel for diving, I have considered another set of strobes (Inon Z240's) but haven't taken the plunge yet.

Hope that helps,

Phil

The YS-110s are great for travel, being small and lightweight: I can fit both of them in my carryon bag along with all my lenses, camera and accessories. I'm thinking the YS-250s might be good for my local wrecks; sometimes I feel like my YS-110s are underpowered. So far they've been pretty good for tropical wide angle & macro shots.

Strobes are a never ending discussion with lots of things to consider. I was used to big strobes coming from the old Nikonos 102, it was huge. I love the YS250's. My son had 110's on his rig and one day I made the mistake of trading with him on a dive and I had to chase him halfway across Bonaire to get them back. The biggest advantage is the super short recycling time. It provides just amazing advantages in the right situation. I love them for macro work as strange as that sounds to some people. I get three or four shots in the time I used to get one. They are heavier and cost more. I view it as you get what you pay for. The only time I carry the 110's is when I'm on a small boat for a few days with no 110v power to recharge the batteries. Good luck.

Cheers,

Steve

.... I love them for macro work as strange as that sounds to some people. I get three or four shots in the time I used to get one. ...

That's a very good point, Steve. I often miss shots when I'm shooting macro because my YS-110s haven't recycled fast enough. Thanks for the info!

Check out the Inon 240s! Small, light, powerful, fast recycling AND they use AA batteries - rechargable or disposable.