Strobe Arm/s length ?

Hi,

What strobe arm combinations and lengths do you use?

I've recently upgraded from P&S to a dSLR rig. Through excellent feedback and advise here on wetpixel its become apparent, I need a strobe. I'm gonna invest in a Inon Z240, but wondered what arm length and combinations everybody uses?

I will be using the strobe with a Tokina 10-17 and a Nikkor 60mm Macro.

Your advise and opinions very welcome.

Andy.

PS Merry Christmas everybody..

I use 2x 8 inch on both of my 2 strobes.

I use a 5" and an 8" on each of my strobes. Seems to cover all eventualities: macro and WA

I also use 8" x 2 for each strobe.

I'm with Tim Andy. A 5" and an 8" on each side. I take off the 8's when I'm shooting macro. With only one strobe you'll need to think about a setup that will allow you more versatility. You'll probably want to light from either side, top, etc.

Have fun,

Steve

Have you considered making your arms out of loc-line? I recently made my own arms for my DX-1G and two YS27 strobes using the 3/4" loc-line with the YS Loc-line adaptors to connect the strobes.

The arms are great and can be quickly positioned into any position you want. The arm lenghts are about 30cm each side and they are mounted on top of two handles from ULCS. The best thing about the loc-line is that it is easy to add and remove segments depending on requirements.

Also once underwater the weight of your strobe isn't a factor and the loc-line holds them in place easily.

Just a thought.

Karl

Have you considered making your arms out of loc-line?

What is loc-line?

Loc-line is used in industry to make high pressure hose lines. It comes in different sizes including 1/2" & 3/4".

Attached is a photo of my set up - you can see how flexible the loc-line is and it can be positioned very quickly. I am using the 3/4" loc-line.

Karl

Hi Guys,

Sorry I haven't thanked you all for the info earlier, been doing the usual Christmas thing with the family. Hope yours as been good.

Back to the strobes though. It seems your all using two! Is this the norm? and are most of the shots taken here on wetpixel produced using two strobes?

Karl, your homemade arms look great. They look like some I have seen commercially available. I have done a google search and it seems the Loc-line product is widely available in the US but I haven't found it in the UK yet. I'm gonna look further into it.

Regards

Andy.

I have two strobes on my camera most of the time, but for some shots, I might turn one off!

I use a 12" single piece for WA-to be honest, two pieces was just too complicated for my poor little mind.

The Inons have pretty good coverage, and by putting them 12" out, behind the shades on the port and pointing them slightly out, I can get even coverage.

If I'm using only one strobe, I still use the same arm, just arrange it over the top of the dome.

For macor, I find I can arrange the strobes directly onto the housing adaptors.

I would suggets considering buoyancy of some form on your arms-I use the ULCS double buoyancy ones and find them excellent.

Adam

Hi,

 

What strobe arm combinations and lengths do you use?

I use a range of combinations that I frequently change. I have at least two of each arm section length (3 to 18") in my kit. I would start with more of the shorter lengths as they can be used end to end to make a longer arm. One can use folded longer arm sections with macro but then the 'elbows' sort of stick out which can make it difficult to shoot in nooks and crannies. I have made the mistake of just taking long arm sections on trips to save weight. With three shorter sections one can do a Z with the arm that can stretch out when needed. One needs to fit the arm to port length, longer overall arm for longer ports. Doing higher mag requires shorter arms than even slightly farther away.

Another decision is how to attach the arm to the housing. I like having the ball directly attached but prefer a shoe if I have to frequently remove the arm -- so I go back and forth with this.

Back to the strobes though. It seems your all using two! Is this the norm? and are most of the shots taken here on wetpixel produced using two strobes?

I use two most of the time for scuba pix. I have also used just one. I started this way. Recently I have been using just one, but a super-wide strobe, centered over the middle when shooting a fisheye. These are non-scuba shots!! I optionally use a slaved strobe or strobes with the this set up as shown here -- http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...mp;#entry234554

I have also used just one strobe recently for semi-available light pix as described in the next post.

After posting I remembered I had this technique shot so quickly cranked it out of Lightroom. On the left is my housing with the fisheye and centered WA strobe (a Seaflash 150) with two slaved S&S 250s on light stands. Over on the right is a wee Inon by itself protruding out of the water. For the Inon arm I attached two 12" sections end to end to make it about 2 feet long. The housing it is attached to has a D2H in it with a Sigma 20/1.8 that I was shooting at f/4 at ISO200. The strobe here was just proving a kicker light whereas for the other set up most of the light was from the strobes. Otherwise the D2H shot was by available light. As you can tell by the dull contrast it was rather overcast. Post #29 in this thread has a shot taken with the Inon set up-

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33642

I was using a smaller aperture for the fisheye, either f/9 or f/10, so needed much more flash power (ISO was 250).

I have two strobes on my camera most of the time, but for some shots, I might turn one off!

 

 

For macor, I find I can arrange the strobes directly onto the housing adaptors.

 

I would suggets considering buoyancy of some form on your arms-I use the ULCS double buoyancy ones and find them excellent.

 

Adam

Thanks adam,

I hadn't thought about the buoyancy arms, but I'll check them out. Mounting the strobe directly into the housing adaptor seems a really good idea. Cheers

 

I use a 12" single piece for WA-to be honest, two pieces was just too complicated for my poor little mind.

 

Adam

 

 

I'm with Adam on the 12" single arm...I always feel like I'm wrestling an octopus with two arms on each side.

 

I really like the loc-line idea Karl, but not sure if it would hold up my heavy YS-250's.

 

Mike

After posting I remembered I had this technique shot so quickly cranked it out of Lightroom. On the left is my housing with the fisheye and centered WA strobe (a Seaflash 150) with two slaved S&S 250s on light stands. Over on the right is a we Inon by itself protruding out of the water. For the Inon arm I attached two 12" sections end to end to make it about 2 feet long. The housing it is attached to has a D2H in it with a Sigma 20/1.8 that I was shooting at f/4 at ISO200. The strobe here was just proving a kicker light whereas for the other set up most of the light was from the strobes. Otherwise the D2H shot was by available light. As you can tell by the dull contrast it was rather overcast. Post #29 in this thread has a shot taken with the Inon set up-

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33642

I was using a smaller aperture for the fisheye, either f/9 or f/10, so needed much more flash power (ISO was 250).

Tom,

Thanks for all that, both excellent and comprehensive advise.

I'll need to read it a few times to absorb it.

Cheers Andy

Tom,

 

Thanks for all that, both excellent and comprehensive advise.

 

I'll need to read it a few times to absorb it.

 

Cheers Andy

Hope you can use it. Not scuba, but illustrative that about anything works!

I'm with Adam on the 12" single arm...I always feel like I'm wrestling an octopus with two arms on each side.

 

Mike

I think I'm gonna start off in a small simple (easy) way with one strobe and one arm. Then as my experience grows I'll add a second.

Theres a lot of experience here on Wetpixel and I'm not there yet. But I'm looking forward to the journey. Thanks guys.

I've noticed you all see to use FlickR, so I've created ( bungled) an account. I thought I'd pop my head up and show you some pics. ( if the link works) Any way just picked these a t random. Not my best or worse pics, but as you know available light.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andycolley/

Have a look and let me have your opinions. Good or bad!

Thanks again.

I think I'm gonna start off in a small simple (easy) way with one strobe and one arm. Then as my experience grows I'll add a second.

 

Theres a lot of experience here on Wetpixel and I'm not there yet. But I'm looking forward to the journey. Thanks guys.

 

I've noticed you all see to use FlickR, so I've created ( bungled) an account. I thought I'd pop my head up and show you some pics. ( if the link works) Any way just picked these a t random. Not my best or worse pics, but as you know available light.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andycolley/

 

Have a look and let me have your opinions. Good or bad!

 

Thanks again.

You have excellent shots here!! I especially like the tonality and composition of _DSC0112.

I use a 6-inch and 8-inch arm on each side. Even if I had only 1 strobe, I'd want 2 arms for the flexibility - for macro and wide-angle.

good luck!

Scott