New Sony Snapper Here ....

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Chrisan

Registered
Messages
31
Reaction score
7
Location
Michigan
# of dives
50 - 99
Hey folks, I'm Chris from Michigan. Been lurking here for a while and thought I would jump in.

I'm an old Nikonos V photographer who's been out of the hobby for a while, just getting back in. So far I have a Sony A6500, a lens, a couple strobes and some fiber optic cables. Next up the most exciting part of the rig - arms and clamps !! Couple questions - any big advantage in having 2 arms per side or can I get away with one per for now? Also, I keep seeing lanyards on various sites and am not quite sure what they are used for. Do they keep the rig intact if a clamp comes loose and that way you won't have an expensive strobe sink into the depths? Or something else?

Really looking forward to getting some modern gear into the drink ....
 
Welcome!

2 arms per side will help give you more options for how you light your subject especially if you have a wide angle lens. You could even argue that it helps with getting more even lighting based on how you arrange them. I stick them into bunny ear mode, almost straight out, to light large scenes where I want the strobe to illuminate further back. I go farther apart if I am shooting a wider scene. It also helps minimize backscatter even more. Essentially, where you have your clamp for the next section of arm is another pivot and extension point for more options.

I use a coil lanyard to ensure I don’t lose my rig in case I need to let go of it or if I drop it.
 
If you mean one arm segment per side, the main drawback is that you'll be limited in where you can place your strobes. The difference is akin to the number of positions you can place your hand when you're able to move your arms freely, vs the more limited range you'd get if your upper arms were tied to your torso and you could only move your elbow and wrist.

While this limited arc of movement may work for macro, the typical rule of thumb for shooting wide angle is that your strobes should be the same distance from your housing as you are from your subject, so having just a single arm will limit the range of distances you can be from your subject before introducing backscatter or lowering the amount of light illuminating your subject.

Coil lanyards are to save your gear and your wallet when you inevitably have to take your hands off of your rig underwater for some reason. If you're talking about the thick "carry lanyards" with boltsnaps on each end, those are usually used as obvious handles for people to carry your rig around with. Helps avoid having some newbie DM attempt to pick up your camera via the strobes when handing it to you over the side of a boat.
 
Adding to the two excellent prior replies...

The coiled lanyard is VERY good insurance especially with a rig that has negative buoyancy. Secures the entire rig to your BCD. ONE time I didn't have it clipped (I had been handing the rig to my buddy so he could take my picture, forgot to reclip) and my rig went for a 60' slow sink during surfacing. Had just enough air to go get it. Haven't not used one since. I also make sure my rig is now slightly positive so at least it rises lol.

Which is where the arms come in. Float arms are an easy way to add lots of buoyancy to the rig. Do not, however, attach the thicker carry lanyard to the float arms as they can fail under the weight of carrying the rig above water. I use a set of standard girder arms off the tray and then the float arms. This way the bulk of the weight is transferred through sturdy components relieving stress on the float arm ball mounts. As mentioned earlier double arms also allow more flexible light positioning.
 
Thanks everyone - I guess I have used a "lanyard" before - an old Canon camera strap clipped to my Nikonos rig with the other end clipped to my BC - LOL. Thanks for the helpful hints regarding the strobe arms.
 
OK I bought 4 arms for the rig. Four 8" arms. They seem a lot longer than I realized. Any issues using 2 arms per side at 8" each? This thing just seems a LOT larger than my old Nikonos rig. Probably because it is. LOL

Thanks, Chris
 
OK I bought 4 arms for the rig. Four 8" arms. They seem a lot longer than I realized. Any issues using 2 arms per side at 8" each? This thing just seems a LOT larger than my old Nikonos rig. Probably because it is. LOL

Thanks, Chris
Two 8" arms per side would be a bit big for folks just starting out (most shops would probably recommend a 5" and 8" per side). However, having two 8" arms per side gives you much more flexibility when shooting wide angle, so that's probably a good option. I started with 5" and 8" regular arms and just recently upgraded to 10" float arms (for buoyancy) that I'll either pair with the 5" or 8" depending on what I'm shooting. So no issues with using 2 arms per side (I'd recommend it anyway) and yes, even the mirrorless setups (I also have the a6500 in a Nauticam housing with dual INON Z-330 strobes) tend to get a bit large when fully put together. LOL!
 
Thanks Redrocks. I guess I just need to jump in the drink and start figuring out what I like to work with. And don't like to work with. You from Phoenix or Sedona?
 
StiX Floats fit most girder style arms and can help add buoyancy to the top half of your rig to improve trim if you find the rig wants to roll. I use a SeaFrog housing which is rather buoyant so I've even added a 1lb lead to the tray to drop the centre of gravity even further to keep the rig upright with little effort.

You'll find the spread you can get with the double arms will help light subjects more creatively and with better angles to reduce backscatter.
 
Thanks Redrocks. I guess I just need to jump in the drink and start figuring out what I like to work with. And don't like to work with. You from Phoenix or Sedona?

Originally from NYC, but living in Scottsdale.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom