How much float is required for my Nauticam EM1

Hi,

I have just bought a Nauticam EM1 house and the 65Macro port for 60mm Macro lens. I am going to buy a 8"~10" float arm with 2 ball joins adaptors, one connected to the EM1 housing and the other to my Inon Z240 strobe to complete my Macro rig. I would like to keep this rig as compact as possible. Thus I chose to use only one 8~10" arm and a single Z240 strobe. The Nauticam carbon float arm seems to be attractive and suit my needs.

I want to keep this rig as neutrally buoyant as possible with only very slightly negative buoyancy. I just wonder how much float I would need and which of the Nauticam Carbon float arm I need (a 60x200 or a 60x250 or.......). As the housing will arrive in mid of next week and I will go travelling to Manado/Bunaken at end of next week, it is not possible for me to try and figure out the required float locally.

I would be very much appreciated if you could share your view or experience.

(PS: Iprefer carbon float arm to Stix foam or Aluminum float arm due to the travelling weight concerns and durability concerns).

Thanks

My guess is that you will be negative with that rig. It's hard to say by how much.

I use an EM5 in a Nauticam housing with the same port but with 4 nauticam short arms and 4 Stix floats and mine is negative, though not so much that it affects usability in any significant way and I can easily shoot one handed if necessary. The arms float on their own with the Stix installed so one offsets the other, and I guess the overall negative balance is thus down to the housing, which we are almost in common with.

That carbon float arm has a buoyancy of 240g. Each jumbo Stix float has a buoyancy of 140g, and you could get three on a 200mm arm or four on a 250mm arm.. You really do not have to worry about durability with those things.

My guess is that you will be negative with that rig. It's hard to say by how much.

 

I use an EM5 in a Nauticam housing with the same port but with 4 nauticam short arms and 4 Stix floats and mine is negative, though not so much that it affects usability in any significant way and I can easily shoot one handed if necessary. The arms float on their own with the Stix installed so one offsets the other, and I guess the overall negative balance is thus down to the housing, which we are almost in common with.

 

That carbon float arm has a buoyancy of 240g. Each jumbo Stix float has a buoyancy of 140g, and you could get three on a 200mm arm or four on a 250mm arm.. You really do not have to worry about durability with those things.

Thanks for sharing. It seems that the required float for a Nauticam EM1 rig is more that what I expected. I think I will need to have 600g~800g net additional float for my single strobe system. Now has some idea on what I need to buy and add to it for mix and trial for obtaining the optimal buoyancy.

I think you will find that you need a lot more float than you think. I have an em-1 with the same port. With an Ipro video focus light it is way negative. Using 1 12 inch stix float and 3 divinycell (12 x 1/4 x 3 inches) I have a total of 1000 grams of lift and it is still negative. 2 of the 60x 200 arms will give you about 600 grams of lift. 2 of the 90x200 arms will leave it (with the focus light and some strobes) about 75 to 100 grams negative but it depends on your strobes.
Bill

With a single arm segment you need a mega float arm a normal one will be far too light. The strobe and clamps will be around 160 grams tray another 200 grams housing port 250-300 grams total 600+ grams

If you want to go nauticam you need the 90x200mm that gives 655.

Hi Bill and Interceptor,

Thanks for the information and advices. I have decided to buy a float arm with approx 600g float similar to the Nauticam 90X200 carbon flow arm. I managed to buy one locally using industrial grade foam. This can give 600g float but at a mud lower cost.

Thanks again.

Hi all,

Just returned from my Manado/Bunaken trip using the Nauticam E M1 with 60mm macro lens and port. Just want to give an update on my buoyancy/float arm settting.

I used one Inon Z240 strobe, an unbranded focus light with aluminium casing weighting approx 350g. During the trip, I used 2 float arms with total 950g net positive buoyancy, one float arm with 600g net positive for the focus light on one side, and the other float arm with 350g net positive for the strobe at the other side. The result is a balanced and nearly neutral buoyancy rig. When I released it hand free in clam water, it remained stable and sank very slowly. I may want it a bit more negative for more stable hold.

After that actual use and test, I opine that total 2x600g net positive buoyancy would be good for the Nauticam EM1 rig with macro port using 2 strobes. For one strobe, 850g ~950g would be good. Of course, the float required depends on system configuration.

Hope these information can help other users.