Question Just one strobe rig buoyancy

[tonikamo]

Hi! I've bought my first underwater camera, g7x ii with Fantasea housing and a Z-330 strobe. I'm planning on a compact rig similar to the picture. And I'm worried about buoyancy. If I put some stix on the arms, I think it will be off balance, but I don't know what other possibilities I have. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[rmorgan]

A couple of thoughts. First, with one strobe, you might not find two arms helpful. You won’t be shooting very wide, when is when two arms per side is most useful. But that’s something to experiment with. As to flotation, one possibility is to put one arm on each side of the tray; you can put Stix floats on each side, even though there’s only a strobe on one side, and cap the other side with a clamp to keep the foam in place. Another thing to consider is a $20 Marelux Flexibuoy, a funky bladder-in-a-sock which lets you adjust inflation on the dive; it can clip to both handles so that buoyancy is independent of the strobe position.

 

[tonikamo]

A couple of thoughts. First, with one strobe, you might not find two arms helpful. You won’t be shooting very wide, when is when two arms per side is most useful. But that’s something to experiment with. As to flotation, one possibility is to put one arm on each side of the tray; you can put Stix floats on each side, even though there’s only a strobe on one side, and cap the other side with a clamp to keep the foam in place. Another thing to consider is a $20 Marelux Flexibuoy, a funky bladder-in-a-sock which lets you adjust inflation on the dive; it can clip to both handles so that buoyancy is independent of the strobe position.

Thanks! I'll be probably buying a Nauticam Easytray II with just one handle but couldn't find a picture with that and one strobe.
Flexibuoy doesn't sound bad at all!

 

[Searcaigh]

Get two handles on the tray, it will make it easier to handle

 

[tonikamo]

A couple of thoughts. First, with one strobe, you might not find two arms helpful. You won’t be shooting very wide, when is when two arms per side is most useful. But that’s something to experiment with. As to flotation, one possibility is to put one arm on each side of the tray; you can put Stix floats on each side, even though there’s only a strobe on one side, and cap the other side with a clamp to keep the foam in place. Another thing to consider is a $20 Marelux Flexibuoy, a funky bladder-in-a-sock which lets you adjust inflation on the dive; it can clip to both handles so that buoyancy is independent of the strobe position.

Oh, ok, now I get it. I mixed "arm" with "handle" (English is not my native language)

I guess I'll get a tray with 2 handles (maybe something cheaper than naitucam one) and one arm (12-15cm seems to be a good length) on each handle with some stix floats.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[Doctorfish]

I use a similar rig. It's light enough underwater that I don't need any additional flotation.

Definitely two handles. You might want to mount an aiming/video light on the other side or buy a second flash in future. Don't cheap out on the tray/handles/arms. They will last you through several cameras.

 

[tonikamo]

I use a similar rig. It's light enough underwater that I don't need any additional flotation.

Definitely two handles. You might want to mount an aiming/video light on the other side or buy a second flash in future. Don't cheap out on the tray/handles/arms. They will last you through several cameras.

Thanks for your feedback. So, I'll buy Nauticam tray, it seems a great bang for the buck. How long are your arms? (I'm assuming you also have a compact camera).

 

[rwe]

The Fantasea housing with camera will likely float. The Inon 330 will definitely sink. Trays all sink and weight varies depending on which company you buy from. You may want to consider adding some floats to something like these. They are cheap on ebay and other sites and you can add floats, lights, etc. You may want to add one or more floats close to the strobe to help balance when it is extended. With respect to arm length, I presently use an 8" and 5" or 6" but I have also used two 8".