This is a great do it yourself bracket for anyone that likes to shoot at night and does not have a built in modeling light.
Even though I dive with a small light, it can be a pain juggling a camera and a flashlight at night. I figured there had to be an easy way to mount one to the other, but knew that Velcro or rubber bands would not be strong enough.
Most of the materials were bought at Home Depot, the rest I had lying around. Even if you had to buy all, it should still cost less than $10, plus the flashlight of course. I really like the Ikelite PCa which you see in the photo below. You will also see a ¼ 20 hex head bolt, washer, 1.5 wide galvanized metal strap, and package of surface guard plastic dots. I also used a ¼ nut, some Velcro, and some thin rubber weather stripping. The metal is about 1/16 thick, which is perfect for bending.
For tools, you will need a hammer, a hacksaw, a file or power sander, and probably a vise or piece of wood to pound on. The measurements I give will be for the PCa. My housing is the Canon WP-DC300 for the Canon S30.
To start, I bent the metal 3.5 from the end to a 90 degree angle. Then I went another 1.5 and bent another 90 degree angle. I used the vise to bend, then placed a 1.5 block of wood in the middle and pounded the angles perfectly square. When bending, you want the bracket to be a small amount wider than your flashlight, and you want the predrilled holes to line up.
I then cut the bent piece off from the stock and sanded the edges smooth. Be careful using the hacksaw, and make sure you get all sharp edges smooth. I installed the plastic dots on one side and used a wider piece of rubber on the other. The rubber and the dots grip the light nicely without having to tighten too much. I then cut some Velcro to the size of the tripod mount and punched a hole in the middle using an office hole punch.
Below you see most of the finished pieces ready for assembly.
One piece of Velcro goes to the tripod mount, one on the bracket. This keeps the unit from twisting. I threaded the bolt through one side of the bracket with a washer, then a nut, then into the tripod threads. Squeezing the bracket slightly gives you some slack for easy threading. When the bolt is in solid, thread the nut towards the housing until snug. The nut isn't necessary, but gives additional strength.
You do not need tools to mount and tighten this setup. FINGER TIGHTEN ONLY! I would guess with a housing like the Canon, you could cause damage if you used pliers to torque the bolt.
I do not have an off camera flash, so I cant say if it is easy to adapt to that type of bracket or not. I know that Ikelite makes an adapter to put a light just under their flash, so this may not be needed.
I just built this and have not tried it out underwater. It seems to hold the flashlight very tightly and attach to the housing very solidly. It balances well, and mounts and unmounts easily. However, this bracket may have some problems. It may rust, especially where cut. The peel and stick Velcro or dots might not hold. I do think it will be useful and in three days I will be using it in Roatan. I expect to do one or two night dives every evening. Ill edit this report when I return.
I posted this on Rodales a few days ago. The general consensus is that I WILL have rust problems. A couple of good suggestions came from there. One is to use aluminum instead of galvy if you can find it. A brass bolt would also be better. Another good idea was using 'tool dip' , a rubberizing liquid to protect the metal and help the grip. If I like using the bracket this trip, I'll improve it for the next time.
GB
