Going Nauticam...

[Maurillo]

Hello all,
I'm tired of the stiff arm of my Panasonic compact camera. Thinking to go Nauticam.

From what I understand, I should be able to mount my Intova ISS 2000 strobe on the Nauticam single-ball arm, so this is what I concocted:

Anything I'm missing/should be aware of?

 

[fmerkel]

Didn't know Nauticam made "stick" arms. I prefer this kind:
Nauticam 125mm (5") Double Ball Arm
Seems to be the same price, at least in the states. I do use the foam floats and they seem easier to use with this style of arm. My wife has a different brand stick arm and it does not seem to be as good. The Nauticam may be fine.

If you do need flotation you might consider arms with built in floats. I did not and would certainly consider it now if the price of the arms + floats is in the same general range. Having an almost neutral camera is just about a requirement.

 

[Maurillo]

The plan is a short (3") double ball as the one you describe, and the final long (5") ending with the strobe. Simple, but hopefully flexible enough. With a flat front compact and one strobe only, I hardly attempt any wide angle, so hopefully this gear will give me the flexibility to do macro and a few middle angle. Am I missing any key piece? I had to learn on the spot what's needed in this kind of systems...

Nope, definitely no flotation needed. The case is strongly positive, and even with the strobe I use some 300 g of extra weight attached to the present tray. Will need to reconfigure with the new system...

 

[fmerkel]

Might work out. The plastic was probably near neutral. You'll be adding a bit of negative weight to the system. Some of those dual strobe DSLR systems are really heavy out of the water. I have a 4/3 Olympus dual strobe system and it's hard to hold up to take a picture out of the water

 

[Maurillo]

Thanks.
And I'm reconsidering the 3" arm, too short, perhaps: having two 5" arms will give me an extra chance, in the few cases when I attempt wide angle.

 

[mattia_v]

The arms add some weight, and you may need a float; my RX100 (housed in Acquapazza) is more or less neutral on its own, but just a touch too heavy with a direct mounted arm (nauticam arms and ULCS clamps, which are smaller and lighter than the Nautciam - I have one of the latter and two of the former because the shop was out of stock on the ULCS).

Like the system, but I'll be using the floats I bought (but didn't take along) next time I dive.