Mounting UK Light Cannon to Housing??
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Hey. I'm mle_osu's MOM. I priced out the ultra light arms and for 2 lights with jointed arms... ouch. $180 per light. I got a tip from the guy at Scuba Toys on how to "macgiver" a system. Well, not HOW... but that it could be done on the cheap....
SO I devised:
1. use the lantern handles on the UK lites. If you only have the pistol grip, go purchase for abt $7
2. You will drill hole through the plastic handle
3. use bolts, rubber washers, star washers and wing nut to attach to "arm"
The arms:
4. purchase 1/8" x 1 1/4" aluminum slat. (lowes/ home depot/etc) ON MY Ikelite handles there are threaded grip knobs at top and at bottom of each handle. ON MY Ikelite there is an inset space. MEASURE to be certain the width of the aluminum slat will fit yours.
5. I determined a distance for the length of the arm.... lying on the floor with camera in housing and proping up the UK's on shoeboxes. Cut 4 pieces of the aluminum slat abt 7" length. JB Weld 2 pieces together for more rigid strength... so now I have 2 arms at 7" x 1/4" x 1 1/4". Round the corners using a grinder so I would not cut myself. Then drill a hole at each end.. one for the attachment of the UK, the other to attach to the Ikelite. I think mine are 3/8".
6. After a dozen trips to the store! I finally got the right length bolt to be able to slip through the light lantern handle. Lots of rubber washers, and star washers, and 2 large wingnuts.. and you are almost done.
7. paint the aluminum with a red plastic spraypaint for outdoor use (the kind of stuff you might paint the handles of tools with). Just make it look nice.
8. pack spare nuts, bolt, wrenches, washers!
My assessment after my dives....
1. rarely in day dive did i really need the lights... just to highlight a lobster
2. 2 lights are overkill: be sure to put the 2 diffusing filters in each of them. (wish i had a 3rd filter)
3. Night dive #1: I used 2 lights/ no filters.... wake up the dead! Washed out my shot
+ I had mounted the assembly from the top of my Ikelite handles. Top half of my shot was lit.. bottom not.
4. Night dive #2: moved the lights to the bottom of the handle. Better, but will need to cut a plastic wedge to aim the lights a bit better. Added the 2 filters in each UK.. much better.
5. It takes a strong crank to tighten the bolts so the arms dont wag.
6. But its a great price.... less than $20!
7. and I LOVED IT when other divers on board would drool over my rig.
I will get mle_osu to upload a photo of the rig. Easy to do. Takes longer to write about it than to get it done!
Good shooting...
SO I devised:
1. use the lantern handles on the UK lites. If you only have the pistol grip, go purchase for abt $7
2. You will drill hole through the plastic handle
3. use bolts, rubber washers, star washers and wing nut to attach to "arm"
The arms:
4. purchase 1/8" x 1 1/4" aluminum slat. (lowes/ home depot/etc) ON MY Ikelite handles there are threaded grip knobs at top and at bottom of each handle. ON MY Ikelite there is an inset space. MEASURE to be certain the width of the aluminum slat will fit yours.
5. I determined a distance for the length of the arm.... lying on the floor with camera in housing and proping up the UK's on shoeboxes. Cut 4 pieces of the aluminum slat abt 7" length. JB Weld 2 pieces together for more rigid strength... so now I have 2 arms at 7" x 1/4" x 1 1/4". Round the corners using a grinder so I would not cut myself. Then drill a hole at each end.. one for the attachment of the UK, the other to attach to the Ikelite. I think mine are 3/8".
6. After a dozen trips to the store! I finally got the right length bolt to be able to slip through the light lantern handle. Lots of rubber washers, and star washers, and 2 large wingnuts.. and you are almost done.
7. paint the aluminum with a red plastic spraypaint for outdoor use (the kind of stuff you might paint the handles of tools with). Just make it look nice.
8. pack spare nuts, bolt, wrenches, washers!
My assessment after my dives....
1. rarely in day dive did i really need the lights... just to highlight a lobster
2. 2 lights are overkill: be sure to put the 2 diffusing filters in each of them. (wish i had a 3rd filter)
3. Night dive #1: I used 2 lights/ no filters.... wake up the dead! Washed out my shot
+ I had mounted the assembly from the top of my Ikelite handles. Top half of my shot was lit.. bottom not.
4. Night dive #2: moved the lights to the bottom of the handle. Better, but will need to cut a plastic wedge to aim the lights a bit better. Added the 2 filters in each UK.. much better.
5. It takes a strong crank to tighten the bolts so the arms dont wag.
6. But its a great price.... less than $20!
7. and I LOVED IT when other divers on board would drool over my rig.
I will get mle_osu to upload a photo of the rig. Easy to do. Takes longer to write about it than to get it done!
Good shooting...
)Biggest tip from the breakdown of the rig for me was the need for double filters on the UK lamps. That's really, really good to know!
I suspect that if you had longer ULCS arms that were higher and spread farther apart it wouldn't wash out as much (never was a fan of the Ikelite video arms even when i had them), but I still would wager the need for 2 filters per light is indisputable.
I suspect that if you had longer ULCS arms that were higher and spread farther apart it wouldn't wash out as much (never was a fan of the Ikelite video arms even when i had them), but I still would wager the need for 2 filters per light is indisputable.
PeaceDog:
You can also consider using ND filters on your camera - assuming your housing will allow for the space. Shooting wide at night as almost a waste anyway - I've pretty much switched to just shooting macro and/or just with a flat port at night anyway.
1. the whole setup
2. closeup of light and arm connection
3. next attempt: reverse the direction of the bolt coming up through the light lantern handle and secure from top with threaded nut "knob"... ;extend arms to 8 or 9 inches ; and make plastic/acrylic/corian wedge with hole drilled through in order to fine tune the aim of the light.
2. closeup of light and arm connection
3. next attempt: reverse the direction of the bolt coming up through the light lantern handle and secure from top with threaded nut "knob"... ;extend arms to 8 or 9 inches ; and make plastic/acrylic/corian wedge with hole drilled through in order to fine tune the aim of the light.
Wow that is pretty cool. Mle_OSU thank you so much, that was an excellent write up. You should post that in the How-to section. That looks better then the rig I had on mind.
Mle_OSU, so the second filter in the UK cannon made a noticeable difference? Explain these differences please. I may just buy another one before my trip.
Guess what? One shop finally emailed me back regarding the ULCS arms inquiry. The shop that responded was Backscatter. They told me that the list I provided of parts appeared to be appropriate for my housing, and suggested that I buy an additional arm for added adjustability. However, they did not provide me a quote???
So I emailed ULCS directly to inform them of the difficulty I was dealing with, and attached the response above. They apologized for the hassle and told me that I could order directly through them. $165. per arm. Yikes!!
I may just go ahead and buy the ULCS arms, since I plan to travel with it and don't want to carry too many tools or have to make major adjustments at the last minute while on vacation.
Mle_OSU, so the second filter in the UK cannon made a noticeable difference? Explain these differences please. I may just buy another one before my trip.
Guess what? One shop finally emailed me back regarding the ULCS arms inquiry. The shop that responded was Backscatter. They told me that the list I provided of parts appeared to be appropriate for my housing, and suggested that I buy an additional arm for added adjustability. However, they did not provide me a quote???
So I emailed ULCS directly to inform them of the difficulty I was dealing with, and attached the response above. They apologized for the hassle and told me that I could order directly through them. $165. per arm. Yikes!!
I may just go ahead and buy the ULCS arms, since I plan to travel with it and don't want to carry too many tools or have to make major adjustments at the last minute while on vacation.
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Want to DIY it? Here's a product you could use to build your own adjustable arms.
http://www.modularhose.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=LL
I've seen similar stuff used by a couple of strobe mfr's. It's supposed to hold it's position. I've never tried it, but there's a thread here about it. Probably in the DIY forum. The stuff is sure cheap enough.
You'd probably have to fab your own mounts, it looks like you could use their flare nut adapter screwed onto the threaded end of your handles with some sort of reduction fitting. If you got really lucky, the other end of the hose might snap onto the ULCS Light Cannon adapter.
http://www.modularhose.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=LL
I've seen similar stuff used by a couple of strobe mfr's. It's supposed to hold it's position. I've never tried it, but there's a thread here about it. Probably in the DIY forum. The stuff is sure cheap enough.
You'd probably have to fab your own mounts, it looks like you could use their flare nut adapter screwed onto the threaded end of your handles with some sort of reduction fitting. If you got really lucky, the other end of the hose might snap onto the ULCS Light Cannon adapter.
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