Ikelite Strobe Arms

[grouchyturtle]

I'm currently using a single DS-125 with a Canon EOS-10D.

I'm just using the arm that came with the strobe (single 6" section with 1" ends), which I'm starting to realize is WAY too short.

Should I:
1: Add a 12" section to the arm
2: Add a 12" section and replace the 6" with a second 12"
3: Ebay the whole arm and buy a longer (at least 2 12" sections) arm with the 1/25" ends

Do the larger ball joints really grip that much better?

 

[Diver Dennis]

I got rid of my Ike arms and went with Aquatica. Easier to use and I ordered 2 - 8" arms for both side and they seem to work well.

 

[Cacia]

I also ditched mine and am using Ultralite, I think. JB gave them to me at Christmas...

They are nice, with an o-ring type action which makes them easy to adjust. Hope I have the name right. made in Ventura or Oxnard.

 

[hunter991]

I think the best size would be to 8" arms as well. I am a big fan of the ulcs arms. I am a dealer for them as well. Let me know if I can help you out with getting a needed parts list together.

Brent

 

[Warren_L]

I also ditched mine and am using Ultralite, I think. JB gave them to me at Christmas...

They are nice, with an o-ring type action which makes them easy to adjust. Hope I have the name right. made in Ventura or Oxnard.

That would be the one. ULCS in Oxnard. I have a set of four 17" buoyancy arms. I developed a leak in one of them though, and it's now on it's way back to Oxnard.

 

[fdog]

Are you shooting Wide Angle or Macro?

WA I use 8" and 12" ULCS arms on each side; macro, 8"and 5" or just 8".

TLC arms are great, too, but just tougher to find, and ULCS has more strobe adapters and attachment to the housing options.

All the best, James

 

[grouchyturtle]

Wide and macro.

Are you guys using the regular arms or the buoyancy arms.
I'd think with the SLR and 2 stobes the housing may be a little heavy with the regular arms.

 

[hunter991]

I use the regular arms and like them pretty well. I have an olympus c5050, ike housing and two D180 strobes. I have never really thought about the other arms...

Brent

 

[fdog]

I use the regular ULCS arms, but then, I like my housings to be a couple of pounds negative. They stay put when I "park" them on the bottom, and seem steadier at slow shutter speeds.

All the best, James

 

[AUTiger]

I went from the standard Ike setup (it's actually a 5" arm, on top of the handle post that can also hold a slave sensor) to an ULCS setup with two 8" arms. The length difference was actually much more than I expected. I got the ULCS adaptor that puts a ball on top of the ike handle, but it is the short adaptor that does not allow use of the Ike slave sensor.

After assembling the setup, I decided that I would prefer a 5"/8" combo so that the whole thing closes up a little better but still gives me much better extension than the original Ike single 5" arm. When I'm not using dual strobes, I can pair the two 5" segments for a very flexible single macro strobe setup, or use one 5" arm for each strobe for dual strobe macro.

Although it looks like you can mix the Ike parts with the ULCS parts, the o-ring on the ULCS arm balls makes the system lock in place with much less clamp force.

David