strobe arms

[Scotttyd]

I am looking to upgrade my strobe to a z-240 or d-2000. My question is about strobe arms. I had one of the larger dealers quote me a price on the strobe arms and lens caddy, and of course it got very expensive ($370). It was a high quality ultralite set with two arm extensions, but I have seen other sets for much less and I was wondering what are some cheaper alternative that will still provide what I need? I use a nikon p5100 in ikelite housing and want something that I can position correctly for wide angle as well as something flexible enough for macro, I also like the idea of being able to adapt the arm (add different arm lengths if I decide in the future something else works better for me?

Would something like this beable to do the same job for considerably less money?

Optical Ocean Sales Single Underwater Tray/Arm Set 1 - Optical Ocean Sales Underwater Photography

 

[shellbackdiver1]

Ultralight is the way to go. I have some replicas and they don't tighten and un-tighten and maintain the color as well. Your price quoted seems to be a bit skewed so you may want to shop around on the international market.

 

[Scotttyd]

Ultralight is the way to go. I have some replicas and they don't tighten and un-tighten and maintain the color as well. Your price quoted seems to be a bit skewed so you may want to shop around on the international market.

what do you mean by maintain the color?
Where are some sites to look for less expensive outlets (the price also did include a lens caddy and two segments as well as an adapter for the inon strobe)

 

[parabolic]

You simply can't beat Ultralite. Nobody ever has.

 

[bvanant]

what do you mean by maintain the color?
Where are some sites to look for less expensive outlets (the price also did include a lens caddy and two segments as well as an adapter for the inon strobe)

I think he means that the anodizing (the black stuff on the surface) either fades or peels or flakes off. A lot depends on what you want to spend. For the d2000 strobe, you can use the locline stuff (if you don't mind the squeaks when you move it around). It is a lot less expensive than the ultralight control stuff but you can't lock it down nearly as well. For small strobes (sometimes I shoot the s2000) the locline arms are perfectly fine, for the larger (z240) strobes they are a little underpowered. The arms from Jack's shop appear to be from Fantasea; you can check out their site at fantasea.com. If you want the ULCS arms (they are the best IMHO), then I don't know of anyone selling them for much less than either Reef or ULCS themselves.

Bill