Nauticam or ULCS arms

I have a new Nauticam housing for RX100 and several years old S&S strobe arms. The Nauticam rig is at least 4 lbs negative with the WA lens and I'd like to add a close up wet mount lens (or two) which I would take along on most dives, adding even more weight.

Which arms and clamps would you buy?

Are the ULCS clamps compatible with the Nauticam 1" base balls?

I will cast my vote for ULCS. I have seen far more Nauticam Housings with ULCS Arms than I have with Nauticam Arms.

I have a set of ULCS arms and clamps that are at least 150 dives old now. They work just like new.

So to answer the first question - ULCS all the way IMO. Aquatica also has some nice arms, but do avoid arms made by housing manufacturers in general.

To answer the second one - YES, all 1" ball mount arms/clamps/bases are interchangeable/standardized. I know several people with Nauticam/ULCS set-ups (and as of a few days ago, myself included).

It sounds like you want some buoyancy arms as well. I actually have a pair of 2"x12" ULCS float arms I would sell you, but I think you would be more happy with the ULCS ladder frame arms and the "stix" jumbo floats (can't remember exactly how they spell "stix"). These floats are an add of and are made out of foam. This is great because with my DSLR in the past I would use 8 floats, but with my compact I would only use 4 which made it easy to change the arms between the two rigs. Also, now that I have just got a new rig I can adjust the old arms to perfectly fit the new rig without having to buy new arms.

I would go for ULCS - they fit the 1" nauticam balls.

All the arms I have (Nauticam, ULCS, i-Das and Inon) all fit with each other.

I have to say they are all much of a muchness. But I'm mostly using Nauticam at the moment.

One thing to consider is if you want float arms and wet lens, the INON float arms have screw holes to add their wet lens holder, the others don't have this.

I have both the Nauticam and ULCS arms and they are fairly indistinguishable in use (and looks). I would go with whatever cost less at the time.

Since I can't seem to find an online retailer for the Inon 5" arm with YS mount (YS Arm MS) and I will be using an INON wet lens caddy, I will be forced into a mix-n-match system between Nauticam and INON.

I've read some reviewsw/o naming any names that don't like housing brand arms and clamps so maybe I also will throw ULCS into the mix too? I would then only have the two Nauticam base balls to deal with wear and tear concerns, if any. At least all three use same diameter whereas mixing S&S OLD arms and clamps with new Nauticam base balls is a bit wobbly as the S&S balls aren't 1" diameter.

Thanks all for your input - it's been very helpful!

I use the Inon 67mm wet lens mount on my ULCS arms. It just requires you be a little creative with a washer and nut on the other side.

Please try INON float arm system and lens holder:

http://www.fun-in.com.tw/oc/index.php?route=product/product&path=31_81_85&product_id=595

http://www.fun-in.com.tw/oc/index.php?route=product/product&path=31_81_85&product_id=608