Ultralight arms or similar

[junkyard_dawg]

I'm just getting into underwater photography and wanted to go ahead and grab some arms for a light or strobe.

I know Ultralight is the name brand arm mfg. But I see alot of other mfgs....more so than the ULCS. What is the best place to order/configure the arms? backscatter seems to carry a good bit of arms is that the best bet?

I guess trial and error on length of arms and if you need floats?

Thanks

Should've mentioned....this is for a compact with tray so nothing extreme yet. I'm working my way up.

 

[junkyard_dawg]

Buy ULCS arms with 8"+12" segments for each strobe. Add floats if needed. Longer arms give you more potential for creative and effective lighting. You may want to move up to 12"+16" segments eventually.

Thanks for the advice.....I was wondering if the 6" would be too short.

 

[Nemrod]

You are going to want four 200mm arms. You may need these to get neutral, one each side:


My Nauticam floats are much nicer of course but the above I used for several trips without issue. You may look at Stix foam floats also.

James

 

[rmorgan]

t is a TG6 but I'm hoping that it's going to get me into a bigger rig later if I can figure this one out, so I'll probably go with the Ultralight over the Locline just so I don't have to spend it twice. I've looked at it and I've used it at work and it seems durable and very versatile

My partner uses a TG-6 and loves the size of it (as do I) compared to my Olympus rig. With the camera in the Olympus PT-059 housing mounted to a tray, she uses a Backscatter MF-1 strobe on two 6" (or one 6" and one 8") arms; sometimes she adds a constant light as a focus aid or for video, but the MF-1 actually has a good focus light capability. As far as long arms on the TG-6, I don't see any real advantage, but may be missing something.

To me, the main point of longer arms is to get the beam spread wider, which is not really an issue with the TG-6 because of the constrained field of view of the camera (unless you add an external wide-angle adapter). The second is to get macro lighting out in front of a housing to properly illuminate macro subjects. Also not a problem with the TG-6 because the focus point for macro is barely off the glass; One strobe (or a focus light) is a great place to start; Because the housing is small and there is no protruding port, it's easy to position a macro-shot illumination source above, to the side, or below the subject.

I am a big fan of Martin Edge's reference-standard book, The Underwater Photographer ($32 for Kindle)--I reread a lot of it on the way to every dive trip, and especially the lighting section. Regarding strobes, he writes, "You can read as many books or magazines as you like but there is no way in which to determine when it's good to use two strobes, where to place two, the effects of two, what power levels to set until you have shot a few hundred frames with just one strobe." And even for two strobes, when rigged for macro, Edge shows his DSLR rig with only one 6" arm on each side (remember that each clamp adds a couple of inches).

By the way--the TG-6, in the housing but without tray or strobe, escaped once and was found bobbing on the surface, a consideration when figuring out your flotation.

 

[davehicks]

As far as long arms on the TG-6, I don't see any real advantage, but may be missing something.

To me, the main point of longer arms is to get the beam spread wider, which is not really an issue with the TG-6 because of the constrained field of view of the camera (unless you add an external wide-angle adapter). The second is to get macro lighting out in front of a housing to properly illuminate macro subjects. Also not a problem with the TG-6 because the focus point for macro is barely off the glass; One strobe (or a focus light) is a great place to start; Because the housing is small and there is no protruding port, it's easy to position a macro-shot illumination source above, to the side, or below the subject.

The advantage of long arms, even for macro, is flexibility in positioning the strobes. Top lighting, core lighting, inward, even backlighting are essential techniques to creating great and unique images. Long arms enable far more creative choices.

 

[AZTinman]

Around twelve years ago, I assembled my first housed DSLR system. When I was ordering the components, the guy who was mentoring me told me to just purchase a couple of 6" stobe arms. He told me the 6" arms would be a good place to start with learning how to position my strobes.

Within a year, I realized I was really limited with lighting options by just using six inch arms. I opted for sets of ULCS arms in 6" and 8" with UCLS clamps. Ultimately, I ended-up adding more 8" arms and a couple of 12" arms to my equipment bag. Now, in most situations, I use four 8" arms.

When I'm working with aspiring underwater photographers, I usually start them with 6" and 8" arm combinations. I've got loaner arm sets to help them get started. This combination allows a lot of flexibility to begin working with different lighting angles. Eventually, most of the newbies I work with seem to settle for pairs of 8" arms when they purchase their own.

As noted in previous posts, there are lost of choices. ULCS arms and clamps have served me very well. I appreciate the fact that ULCS products are manufactured in the U.S.

Regarding floats, I initially started with trying to make my own. It didn't take me long to realize I'd be better off simply purchasing jumbo STIX floats. The STIX make it easy to adjust buoyancy as housing configurations are changed. Some of my friends use TG systems and the regular size STIX floats work well for their smaller housings and lighter strobes.

-AZTinman

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The other thing to do with arms and strobes is not wait until a dive trip to use them. If you have access to a pool, get some stuff and drop it in and shoot a few hundred shots with various settings. I have enough photos of dead stink bugs, centipedes, spiders, etc to make a nice coffee table book!
Using a set of wetnotes, I started writing down camera and strobe settings, rough arm positions, and where I was relative to the subject.
Then I made a diorama board out of 1/2 inch lexan and used plastic aquarium plants, toy sharks, and action figures. I could move the plants around, position the action figures, etc.
Digital is great because you see the results and if they suck, delete them once you figure out why they suck.

 

[junkyard_dawg]

My partner uses a TG-6 and loves the size of it (as do I) compared to my Olympus rig. With the camera in the Olympus PT-059 housing mounted to a tray, she uses a Backscatter MF-1 strobe on two 6" (or one 6" and one 8") arms; sometimes she adds a constant light as a focus aid or for video, but the MF-1 actually has a good focus light capability. As far as long arms on the TG-6, I don't see any real advantage, but may be missing something.

To me, the main point of longer arms is to get the beam spread wider, which is not really an issue with the TG-6 because of the constrained field of view of the camera (unless you add an external wide-angle adapter). The second is to get macro lighting out in front of a housing to properly illuminate macro subjects. Also not a problem with the TG-6 because the focus point for macro is barely off the glass; One strobe (or a focus light) is a great place to start; Because the housing is small and there is no protruding port, it's easy to position a macro-shot illumination source above, to the side, or below the subject.

I am a big fan of Martin Edge's reference-standard book, The Underwater Photographer ($32 for Kindle)--I reread a lot of it on the way to every dive trip, and especially the lighting section. Regarding strobes, he writes, "You can read as many books or magazines as you like but there is no way in which to determine when it's good to use two strobes, where to place two, the effects of two, what power levels to set until you have shot a few hundred frames with just one strobe." And even for two strobes, when rigged for macro, Edge shows his DSLR rig with only one 6" arm on each side (remember that each clamp adds a couple of inches).

By the way--the TG-6, in the housing but without tray or strobe, escaped once and was found bobbing on the surface, a consideration when figuring out your flotation.

Thank you for the info!

I'll check out that book too....I need all the help I can get!

 

[junkyard_dawg]

The advantage of long arms, even for macro, is flexibility in positioning the strobes. Top lighting, core lighting, inward, even backlighting are essential techniques to creating great and unique images. Long arms enable far more creative choices.

I'm seeing a trend of long arms are better! Thanks for the information.

 

[junkyard_dawg]

Around twelve years ago, I assembled my first housed DSLR system. When I was ordering the components, the guy who was mentoring me told me to just purchase a couple of 6" stobe arms. He told me the 6" arms would be a good place to start with learning how to position my strobes.

Within a year, I realized I was really limited with lighting options by just using six inch arms. I opted for sets of ULCS arms in 6" and 8" with UCLS clamps. Ultimately, I ended-up adding more 8" arms and a couple of 12" arms to my equipment bag. Now, in most situations, I use four 8" arms.

When I'm working with aspiring underwater photographers, I usually start them with 6" and 8" arm combinations. I've got loaner arm sets to help them get started. This combination allows a lot of flexibility to begin working with different lighting angles. Eventually, most of the newbies I work with seem to settle for pairs of 8" arms when they purchase their own.

As noted in previous posts, there are lost of choices. ULCS arms and clamps have served me very well. I appreciate the fact that ULCS products are manufactured in the U.S.

Regarding floats, I initially started with trying to make my own. It didn't take me long to realize I'd be better off simply purchasing jumbo STIX floats. The STIX make it easy to adjust buoyancy as housing configurations are changed. Some of my friends use TG systems and the regular size STIX floats work well for their smaller housings and lighter strobes.

-AZTinman

Thanks you for the advice! Seems like I should probably just get a 6" and 8" to begin with or maybe 2) 8"

I appreciate buying US products as well and that helps my decision on purchasing name brand arms.

I'll have to look into the STIX brand.

Thanks!

 

[junkyard_dawg]

The other thing to do with arms and strobes is not wait until a dive trip to use them. If you have access to a pool, get some stuff and drop it in and shoot a few hundred shots with various settings. I have enough photos of dead stink bugs, centipedes, spiders, etc to make a nice coffee table book!
Using a set of wetnotes, I started writing down camera and strobe settings, rough arm positions, and where I was relative to the subject.
Then I made a diorama board out of 1/2 inch lexan and used plastic aquarium plants, toy sharks, and action figures. I could move the plants around, position the action figures, etc.
Digital is great because you see the results and if they suck, delete them once you figure out why they suck.

Have to say the lizard man kinda made me do a double take!

Great advice to practice....I've been practicing getting used to some "semi" manual settings on the camera. It doesn't have a full manual mode which is probably good for me right now.
It will probably be like golf for me.....just one good shot and I'll be hooked!