Are those gooseneck type of strobe arms any good

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Hi,

I was thinking of maybe adding a 2nd strobe to my setup. I currently have a Sea & Sea YS-01 on a Sea Arm VII arm/tray. Looking at a 2nd arm, it cost just as much as the original tray/arm. Then I saw that many mfg has the ones that ues many balls and works like a gooseneck arm, and a complete tray with 2 arm would cost less than a single Sea Arm VII. I was wondering if these are flexible enough for all types of shooting, including macro shots where the strobe head might have to come back close to where the arm mounts on the tray.

Here is one cheap one that I've seen:

Nocturnal Lights Wide Universal NLFLEXCOMBOWIDETRAYDUAL12 B&H

 

[Larry C]

I've used those for several years. The advantage is they're easy to position. The disadvantage is they're floppy out of water, and if they're long enough for wide angle, they can be floppy in water. Also, in green or turgid water it's easy to bump them out of place and cause backscatter due to poor placement.
If you're shooting portraits and macros, they're easy to position, cheap and can be extended for more flexibility, but in the long run it's probably better to pay more and get a set of ultralights to begin with.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

So are they suppose to be handles where you grab when shooting pix or carrying it around while underwater? If they are floppy, grabbing them could cause the camera to tilt, etc.

The usual arm/ball clamp's issue seem to be their inability to be fully articulate in all angles, so one have to leave the clamps relatively loose so the strobe could twist around, and go tighten them up after positioning of the strobe.

When I got the YS-01, the gooseneck tray was not an option, it was either the useless relatively useless Grip Stay-S or the much more expensive Sea Arm VII. Now they seem to have a gooseneck arm version that is not much more money than the strobe + cable + mask:

Sea & Sea YS-01 LIGHTING PKG w/TRAY/FLEX ARM SS-70041 B&H Photo

Maybe the Sea Arm VII pushed the price of a entry level strobe too high?

 

[dtreid]

It appears from the picture that those are much stiffer than the other loc line arms. They will probably not flop; but if you bend them
too far they could pop apart and would be very difficult to push back together underwater. I would always have a line attached to
the strobe if you are going to use those types of arms. They do not have the flexibility as a ball and clamp system. They can also
be noisy underwater, scarring the fish you might be photographing.

With the Ultralight ball and clamp systems you do not have to leave the clamps loose in order to make adjustments. You do not have to tighten them tight to get them to stay where you want them. There is a sweet spot or two where the clamps hold the strobes where you want them and you also have the ability to take the strobe head and manuver it to a new position without loosing the clamp.

Terry
Ultralight Control Systems
www.ulcs.com

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Isn't the ultralight ball the same as the Sea & Sea's? The rubber ring is what holds it in place. In my setup, there is that sweet spot where it can be moved freely and it will stay. But once I finish the shot and grab the arm and swim off, the camera would flop down due to its weight or intertia. There is no sweet spot for both.

 

[dtreid]

Isn't the ultralight ball the same as the Sea & Sea's? The rubber ring is what holds it in place. In my setup, there is that sweet spot where it can be moved freely and it will stay. But once I finish the shot and grab the arm and swim off, the camera would flop down due to its weight or intertia. There is no sweet spot for both.

I don't know about S&S latest version. They have had many, some with smaller balls, some with larger balls, some that are cast
aluminum, not machined. They copied the o-ring from us. I have never compared their latest version to ours.
Sorry
Terry

 

[diversteve]

One advantage the "gooseneck" (it's called Loc-line) system has is that extra segment are about .30 ea. - or 1.00 ea. if you buy them from Reef Photo. Loc-Line : Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros - they're orange since loc-line only publishes photos in that color. They also come in black and blue. All the arms you've referenced are either loc-line or a clone.

Loc-line also sells a 3/4" starter kit, either directly or through their distributors. It's $12. An additional 12 segments is $9 more. Plus you need a fixed base 2/$7 to mount to your tray. The Original Modular Hose System | Loc-Line - Three Quarter Inch

And the YS adapter - maybe something like this - I'm not familiar with strobe mounting options: Flex Arm & Ball Joint Guide - Nocturnal Lights Or just search for loc-line "U" or YS Adapter - someone obviously makes one since both arms you referenced above have one.

Buy a tray, maybe a grip, and modify it so it will take the Loc-line fixed base. Most people drill a hole thru it and attach it with a waterproof bolt and nut. Or just sheath the first 6" in heavy duty rubber tubing - I saw one once using a mountain bike handgrip.

Sealife uses Loc-line, their strobes are at least as heavy as yours. They sheath them in rubber to keep them more rigid, but since the loc-line segments are hollow, buy some thick wall clear plastic tubing at Home Depot and cut it to fit inside the arm.

You can also run a cable up through the segments from the base to the strobe to solve the "what if they fall apart" issue. Although in 5 years, my buddy's never did - as the previous poster mentioned it takes quite a lot of force to snap them apart. They even sell a pair of special pliers used to join the segments.

Loc-line tubing was originally developed to move large quantities of viscous fluids in machining operations - I'm sure if they fell apart people would have gotten squirted and potentially burned.

Not putting down ULCS arms, they work great supporting a heavy video light my buddy uses. But all the component pieces (tray, grip, 2 arms, clamps, light adapter) purchased were $250 retail.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Thanks for the info. I did look up Loc-line after first being mentioned by dtreid. Maybe it is so cheap because it was an existing part out in the market and the strobe mfg could just piece those components together with their tray....(which in S&S's case, also seems to be made cheaper)...via a sheet metal plate. Maybe it is just for a lower end market.

How flexible are they? What is the diameter of a loc line arm when they are bend 180 deg?

 

[sunnyboy]

Another thumbs up for loc-line. You can buy it many places that sell machinery - it is used to duct coolant onto cutting heads but I've also seen it duct air in smaller tools. It also comes in a couple of diameters. I've been using the larger loc-line for some time to hold a LED dive light on my camera system (now using a SOLA 1200). The SOLA comes with the smaller size fitting (1/2 in??) but I just swapped it out for the larger fitting (3/4 in??). Works great and allows you to position the light almost anywhere.

One big caution using loc-line for lights. Be sure to make a safety line between the light and the housing tray or camera. In rough seas or under other conditions, you can lose a loc-line light in seconds jumping in off a boat (or climbing up a ladder in waves). The safety line will save you doing gear recovery dives.

 

[DSR-3]

I've been pretty happy with them. Yes, they won't support a YS-90 above water, but underwater they're fine. Never had one come apart without trying, but the tether is a good idea if you don't have cables. I like the addition of a 90deg elbow piece to get more range. Also helps to fold the strobes next to the handles when getting on/off the boat.

The noise mentioned is the only issue I've had, and it's more of an embarassment than anything. *Working off the "plastic bottle shark bait" theory, I have shaken/squeeked it rapidly to see if it has any effect... I could not get a school of hammerheads to come up and see me (or even look).