Buoyancy arms or floats

Hi,

From advice off Cathy Church (what a great lady!) at the weekend at Visions in the pool she said to me that I need buoyancy arms and a little extra length for my wide angle. I have 2 8" ultralight arms each side. Would people tend to just add floats or would you buy 2 12" buoyancy arms for wide angle shots. I have an 8" dome port and z240s

Your opinions would be most appreciated

Cheers

Woody

Hi Woody,

I originally had the 2-8" ULCS double ball arms on either side of my housing but wanted additional buoyancy so I purchased the 8" ULCS buoyancy arms to replace them. I found that this was not enough so I switched back to the double ball arms and added Stix floats to them. They work great and also allow a great deal of versatility as I can add or delete some of them depending on which port I'm using to maintain neutral buoyancy. As far as longer arms, I beleive that the 8" are quite sufficient. Hope this helps.

Mike

Hi Paul, It was great to meet you at the weekend. What a terrific event, eh?

I use ULCS arms in the following configuration:

2 x 5" lattice for macro - occasionally I add a 3" dumbell if I am looking for a bit more reach when I'm shooting portraits

2 x 5" lattice and 2 x 8" buoyancy for w/a. Occasionally I'll subsitute the 8" buoyancy for 12" buoyancy when shooting inside wrecks or I have to shoot w/a with a lot of backscatter present.

I have tried foam floats (30 kg / M3 density over the 30 mm tubes of the buoyancy arms) which are next to useless deeper than 20 metres but they do make a big difference when shooting shallow and really help the C of G.

HTH, Tim

Thanks Mike What is the most amount of floats do you find you need?

Hi Tim, yeah fantastic wasnt it, glad I went! and to meet you and CJ.

Thanks for that Tim. Mixed opinions already!

Tim, are your numbers each side or altogether?

I think that you are making underwater photography far too difficult for yourself. It is not that hard, honest.

Yes, in the future you might want longer strobe arms than 2x 8" arms on each side. And I'm sure that your Aquatica is not a complete brick. Not perfect, but fine to get you going - you're an experienced diver and young and healthy - I think you will cope. Yes buoyancy might improve the handling, but it is not essential. But right now the most important thing is to get in the water and shoot - and not spend your time thinking what you have in inadequate.

You already have strobe arms (don't waste money now on more). And your strobe arms are already longer than mine. And my photos come out sometimes. Yes, some of my pictures could be improved by having longer strobe arms, but I can take plenty with what I have got.

Alex

4th Generation floats work great as well. I have Inon arms. My 5" arms have a float and 1/4 while my 7" arms have 2 and 3/4 for a total of 8. This configuration makes my set-up just negative. It's very comfortable UW. 4th Gen floats are a great option if you don't want to purchase new arms. I use this for both WA and macro.

Jeff

I think that you are making underwater photography far too difficult for yourself. It is not that hard, honest.

 

Yes, in the future you might want longer strobe arms than 2x 8" arms on each side. And I'm sure that your Aquatica is not a complete brick. Not perfect, but fine to get you going - you're an experienced diver and young and healthy - I think you will cope. Yes buoyancy might improve the handling, but it is not essential. But right now the most important thing is to get in the water and shoot - and not spend your time thinking what you have in inadequate.

 

You already have strobe arms (don't waste money now on more). And your strobe arms are already longer than mine. And my photos come out sometimes. Yes, some of my pictures could be improved by having longer strobe arms, but I can take plenty with what I have got.

 

Alex

Thanks Alex, I think I will, thanks for your opinion which is also highly valued, but when I get immediate advice off someone like Cathy Church I dont take it with a pinch of salt This is the first thing she noticed as soon as she picked up my rig underwater when composing for a portrait wide angle shot

As to the young and healthy!!?? Thanks

I'm also a bit concerned about the speed it may fall to the bottom if it got detached from myself, as I did find it pretty negative in the water myself

Hi Woody,

The Stix floats I use I got from 4th generation Designs. http://stores.4gdphoto.com/-strse-68/FUL-d...loat/Detail.bok

I have four sets of these, but keep in mind I have two YS-250 strobes, you may not need this many. I Bought a digital fish scale and filled a drum with water and then weighed my setup, with the differant ports and with and without strobes, this way I know how many floats to use with each setup. I used fresh water but it doesn't change the buoyancy that much going to salt water. I feel having my rig close to neutral makes it easier and keeps your arms from getting tired.

Mike

"I think that you are making underwater photography far too difficult for yourself. It is not that hard, honest."

Alex

Alex hit the nail on the head! You can drive yourself nuts and in the poor house trying to get your kit perfect (I know I did). Get wet, shoot and have fun!

Mike

Hi Woody,

The Stix floats I use I got from 4th generation Designs. http://stores.4gdphoto.com/-strse-68/FUL-d...loat/Detail.bok

I have four sets of these, but keep in mind I have two YS-250 strobes, you may not need this many. I Bought a digital fish scale and filled a drum with water and then weighed my setup, with the differant ports and with and without strobes, this way I know how many floats to use with each setup. I used fresh water but it doesn't change the buoyancy that much going to salt water. I feel having my rig close to neutral makes it easier and keeps your arms from getting tired.

Mike

Thanks Mike, great idea! I have the "tools" for this so I should be able to try this out quite easily, I've now found the lift values of the floats off Backscatter (no access to your link in work) what final underwater weight were you happy with, thinking you want some slight weight reading?

Cheers

Woody

"I think that you are making underwater photography far too difficult for yourself. It is not that hard, honest."

 

Alex

 

 

Alex hit the nail on the head! You can drive yourself nuts and in the poor house trying to get your kit perfect (I know I did). Get wet, shoot and have fun!

 

Mike

When it starts driving me crazy, thats when I'll give in I'm enjoying all this! all a great learning curve which I'm happy to take on!

Hey Woody,

Your weight will probably vary somewhat from mine. I have a D300 in a Sea & Sea housing. What I did for instance was weigh the housing in water with camera and 60mm lens and port and it came to 23oz. I then weighed 1 strobe arm and 1 clamp in water, 3oz. Then the strobes, 5oz. I did this for each of my port/lens combinations so that if I want to go with or without strobes or use one or two arms per side I can easily figure it out. I know it may sound a bit anal (ok, I admit, it is a bit anal) but it simplifies things when I'm out diving. However, as others have stated here, don't let yourself get cought up in to much of the technical stuff, I know I do better when I just relax and enjoy the dive!

Mike

I use stix floats and like them a lot. Since the are hard, they work the same at all depths. Easy and light to pack and use. I used a fish scale at a pool and got my rig about 1 lb heavy in fresh water. its easy to handle at that wt so I never think about that when diving/shooting.

HTH.

Dave

Thanks guys, will give it a whirl soon and let you know how I get on

I find having my rig neutral or just positive underwater helpful for underwater photography. It is easier to hold the camera steady when taking photos and carry on dives. I have tried ULCS buoyancy arms, but now use StiX arms. StiX arms are light for travel and you can customize them with different size floats to adjust the buoyancy.

Elmer

Thanks for all the replies. Weighed my macro rig flashes and arms 17lbs....underwater 16oz! Therefore I'm gonna get 4 large stix floats from Backscatter to give me 13.5oz of lift! Should do the trick!

I've got a similar rig but with longer TLC arms and Ike strobes. 3lbs negative was a bit much after only a short time, but two StiX jumbo kits balanced nicely. I've only taken the floats to 170ft so I can't vouch for their buoyancy at deeper depths, but so far so good.

Jimmy Herbert!!!!!! They actually let you on Wetpixel!?? There goes the best Forum on the web!!!!LMAO. Now all you have to do is figure out who I am!

Mike