Mounting a Strobe to a Tank, Cave Diving Style

Does anyone have any tips for the best way to mount a strobe to a tank, cave diving style, which will be pointed behind the diver? I'm looking for a quick, secure way to do this. I have some ideas but would like to hear what others have done.

Thanks,

Andy

Hey Andy

I've recently used a Gorilla Pod with a ball mount and wired slave sensor. The Gorilla Pod wraps around the Tank valve pretty securely and the strobe head can be positioned werever you want it.

Hope this is of use

Nige Wade

Hey Andy

 

I've recently used a Gorilla Pod with a ball mount and wired slave sensor. The Gorilla Pod wraps around the Tank valve pretty securely and the strobe head can be positioned werever you want it.

 

 

Hope this is of use

 

Nige Wade

Too funny! That's my setup only with an Ike strobe. I hadn't thought of mounting to the valve. Is it visible in the photos? Thanks!

Too funny! That's my setup only with an Ike strobe. I hadn't thought of mounting to the valve. Is it visible in the photos? Thanks!

The beauty of the "Pod" is that it can be squeezed quite small around the valve pillar and the strobe head can be positioned so it can't be seen, it holds it all nice and tight.

Although I haven't tried to light a cave / canyon / reef wall from this position, rendering the diver as a sillouette and as the source of light would look awesome.

I've only had the chance to briefly experiment with the set-up and have concentrated on backlit profiles.

Good luck with your "Project" Andy and lets see the results

Nige Wade

Does anyone have any tips for the best way to mount a strobe to a tank, cave diving style, which will be pointed behind the diver? I'm looking for a quick, secure way to do this. I have some ideas but would like to hear what others have done.

Bungy.

I've only used this on twinset's (doubles), but I suspect that with some bodging you could make it work on a single tank. Make a loop of the bungy, pass it under the tank band, place the strobe into the 'groove' between the cylinders, now put each end of the loop over the strobe's ball joint, job done.

It's simple, quick, flexible (you can easily move the strobe between divers underwater) and cheap (which is not normally a word I associate with either 'underwater' or 'photography', let alone both together!).

If you don't want the model to hold the sensor you can also mount it on the manifold in a similar fashion (making sure that it doesn't interfere with the ability to manipulate the valves).

hth,

cheers,

Paul

What remote trigger is that you are using?

Cheers

Todd

What remote trigger is that you are using?

 

Cheers

 

Todd

Hey Todd

It's a custom made jobbie constructed with a delrin case housing the sensor and a nikonos five pin connector on 800mm of w/p cable.

I'm afraid they're not available commercialy, a friend at BsouP made it for me.

Sorry I know thats not much help,

Nige Wade

Heinrich Weikamp makes small strobe slave cell that should prove excellent for the job.

a thin (not too thin but bendable thin) flat aluminum plate with a 1"/25mm ball bolted to it for attaching the strobe, slide the plate between the tank and the belt that hold the tank (i know there is some fancy name for it in english but it escape me)

Two Velcro strap wrapping around the tank and grasping a strobe arm section on which the strobe is mounted could also do the trick.

Thanks for the replies. I'm thinking I'll try a bungie and Jean's velcro and strobe arm trick, see which works best, and mount the strobe low so there is less chance I'll see it. I'm using an Ikelite manual ev controller for my setup. It seems to work really well. I'm hoping to get some practice dives in soon but the ice is forming. Thanks a bunch.

Thanks for the replies. I'm thinking I'll try a bungie and Jean's velcro and strobe arm trick, see which works best, and mount the strobe low so there is less chance I'll see it. I'm using an Ikelite manual ev controller for my setup. It seems to work really well. I'm hoping to get some practice dives in soon but the ice is forming. Thanks a bunch.

Yeah its the crappy season now, the ice is just not thick enough for Ice diving yet and too thick for open water... the local Blockbuster is getting to know me a lot

Yeah its the crappy season now, the ice is just not thick enough for Ice diving yet and too thick for open water... the local Blockbuster is getting to know me a lot

Same here. We dove the river last Sunday and the air temp was about 22 and water temp 33f. It's getting to my limit. I've been watching Sea Hunt episodes to tide me over for the winter.

Bungee cord